Tuesday 8/12/08

Today I gave Kolya his Leap Frog Leapster. He is in little boy heaven! His friends returned from the "camp" around 11 am and he was so proud to show them that he had this new toy and asked if he could keep it with him when I leave. That was a definate No. I have seen how these children treat their things and I do not want it to be broken! It took me hours on E-bay to buy all the games for it. He has already aced the math games as they are all too easy for him. I bought the ones for grades up to 5th. Addition, subtraction and multiplication. I am glad I did this as he hates math and he feels very good about himself when his score is high! The English games are Batman, The Incredibles, etc and it will take some time to figure those out.
I spoke with Nastia Fields and Anya Garrett as soon as they returned today and this time I had an interpreter, Tanya, with me so I know they understood that both families are fighting hard to get here. Anya was so grateful she kissed and hugged me. Nastia was her shy self. They both will be at Kolya's going away party tomorrow. They may be part of the dancers and singers. I plan to video tape the party and will get as many pictures of the girls as possible.
Tanya has explained over and over again the situation with Kolya's pension money. We called both Edward and Valentine for their advice and they both said it is not right to take the Ukrainians money they are giving to an orphan and go home with it. It is to be given to the orphanage. I think Ranya wants to make sure I do not leave with hard feelings regarding this issue. I figure when in Rome, do what the Roman's do, so I will give the orphanage the money as is traditional and deligate it to what Kolya says they need the most. We asked Kolya yesterday what he feels the orphanage needs and he said his mattress is fine. He said they never have enough winter clothes or soccer shoes. So I will designate the money for winter clothing, shoes of all types, DVD players (theirs broke this week), TV's and Playstations. Tanya explained that the mattresses need to be custom made and the money would never be used if I specify they spend it on that.
Today we obtained Kolya's original birth certificate and need to get 2 notarized copies. We took a taxi to the notary that we had been using and found out she is on vacation (of course). So Edward told us over the phone (as he is in Donetsk with the Matthews) to walk the streets as there are hundreds of notaries that will do this for us. Real helpful huh?! They do not have phonebooks in Ukraine. So Tanya dropped me of here at the internet cafe and she is running around finding a notary. We then must go to the inspectors office to get copies of some of the papers. Tanya wanted to know if I knew how to get there. Now, I thought I was doing good knowing how to get to the notary, but to get to the inspectors office is a alot to expect from me! Plus i must not talk inside the Taxi because if they find out I am American the cost of the Taxi increases X 10! So I sit in the back seat and point so the driver cannot see me, which ways to turn.
Tanya just came in the Internet Cafe asking if my phone was out of service. She tried to call me 6 times. I said no but the Sim card we put in it has limited service and she could not call me. She had gone outside and asked a random man if he knew where a notary was and he sent her on a long journey which she ended up at the notary that was on vacation! She then decided to walk up and down the main street and she found one right away! Everything in Ukraine must be notarized and I am getting an extra copy of Kolya's birth certificate notarized just to have one. She was trying to call me to ask if $4 was too much to pay for it. Oye, as the Ukraines say.

Tomorrow is the going away party which I must bring 3 large boxes of fruit and donations for the kids. The Matthews gave me the bags with the winter clothes in them but they have decided to give those to the orphanage they are adopting from. So on my way out of the country I will be passing through Donetsk and will give them the clothes. Kolya's orphanage will get the toys and 12,000 grivna. I think that is plenty! Edward says it can take up to 10 days to get Kolya's passport unless he can find someone to bribe. I sure hope he finds someone because I am so ready to be home!
FYI, Christmas here is on January 7th and it is a quiet religious holiday celebrating the birth of Christ. New Years Eve is a big deal where Jack Frost brings presents to all the children and it is celebrated on Jan. 31st.