In exactly one month and 8 days we will have been home from Ukraine exactly one year.  It's hard to believe, but looking at the pictures makes it real.  She has changed so much in what seems like so little time.

 

Anya and Luka have reached a settlement.  Let's just say the first 6 months were.....rough.  Very rough.  But, they have come to some sort of an agreement and manage to play for longer periods of time now without trying to kill each other.  Well, actually, it was more Luka's problem than Anya's.   She was the intruder in his space and he wanted nothing to do with her.  I recall a few times that I think he might have actually tried to get rid of her, but we won't go into any details!  Now at least I can say that there's definitely more laughter in the house than screaming and crying. Score one for the parents.

 

So what's new?  

Anya celebrated her 2nd birthday in August and Luka turned 5 in December.  WOW!

Chester celebrated his 14th birthday in September.  Woohoo!  Way to go Chester!

Christmas was amazing; Anya's face when she realized the presents were for her was priceless.  Both of them had such a great time opening their gifts.

Anya had an assessment with a speech-language pathologist last month and they told us that she's about 8 months behind; we're trying to work with her everyday with the suggestions they gave us.  It's very difficult to do and she gets frustrated very easily, but we have to perservere.  Next month she'll start a playgroup that will focus on increasing her expressive language....  Hopefully that will help her.

 

Well, time to put them to bed......  yay!

 

 

How quickly time passes when you don't have time to look at the clock.  It's May already and that's so hard to believe.  Four days ago we celebrated being home for 2 months; well, it wasn't a real celebration, it was more of an acknowlegement in the midst of all the craziness! 

 

I really had no idea how busy it would be.  At the end of the day when both monkeys are tucked snuggly in their beds with sugarplums dancing in their heads, Mark and I settle down for a glass of wine and can finally release our breath. 

Ana and Luka are better with each other now but it will take a lot more time. I still don't feel comfortable leaving them alone together and need to remind him constantly to be gentle with her.  He thinks that because she can jump on him and lie on his belly that he can do the same to her.  NOT!  Because of their backgrounds they are both so needy and demand so much of our attention.  Ana wants to be held all the time and screams like a banshee when she's put down.  Luka has fears that we are battling on a daily basis (of the dark, of being alone, of noise, to name a few).  It can be very, very draining some days.

 

But then, there are those things that make it so worthwhile. 

  

I absolutely love witnessing the small exchanges between them: 

 

I love the way Luka asks if she's awake yet and then races me up the stairs to go get her. 

I love the way she screams his name when she's upset over something she's been reprimanded for (picking the cat up by his fur, for example).  She calls him "Ya Ya" (how this come from "Luka", I'm not sure but it's SO cute!!  *SCREAM*...  Ya Ya ... *SCREAM*).

I love watching them hug and their nose flattening kisses.

I love our family dinners and watching how they raise their glasses to each other for a toast. "Cheers!" or "Ha-Zdorovlia!"

I love the way Luka will nonchalantly touch her hand or her hair as he walks by her.

 

As busy as it is and as exhausting it is, I wouldn't change it for anything.  In tough times I try to remember Mark's words of wisdom, "ten seconds of happiness can bring you through 10 days of difficulty".

 

I think back and remember that with Luka things didn't comfortably settle down until about a year later.  So...10 months, 11 days, 9 hours and 36 minutes to go.... 

~sigh~ 

Thank God for an amazing husband who is parenting right alongside me, and for family and friends who stand by us and are there for us at the drop of a hat.

 

Now with 2 children, I have a mission to make our home as natural as it can be.  I want to stop using all those awful chemical products that have been linked to so many diseases.  I want our children to get the best start in life as early as possible and right now it's up to us as parents to provide that.  I plan on going to the library today to research environmentally friendly cleaning products and plants that help clean the air in your home.

Let's see what I can find...

 

Cedar's purring in my ear is lulling me to sleep and my feet are being warmed by dear, sweet Chester. It is so late, but for you, I shall put off going to bed for 5 more minutes; that's all I can promise you without drooling on the keyboard.  

 

Dare I say it - could I have lost my mojo in Ukraina? 

 

I don't know if it's true, or if I am just too exhausted to formulate a sentence but I can't think of what to write.  I would be completely and utterly satisfied right about now to just stare at a wall, watch tires rotate at Home Depot, or hang low with my dearly missed friend, Mr. Vodka.  Is this what being a parent of two does to you? Why am I stuttering, even when I think?  Disjointed thoughts; one day spinning into the next; not enough sleep, a jealous 4 year old..... Diapers and vomit and spit-up.....oh my!  It's all a blur.  When I close my eyes for a second at the most, I find myself traveling in hyperspace lost in a Star Trek episode.

Ethiopian coffee would be like a cup of chamomile.  Bring me the real stuff.  Please!

 

I hear you.  What's the problem?  What could possibly be so bad, so time consuming? 

 

Let's see......

 

2 kids (believe me, this is usually enough), a house renovation, a 13 year old golden retriever who has recently started taking testosterone and gingko biloba for his senility (a blog in itself, let me tell you), 2 birds who maintain a love/hate relationship, and a cat who believes he is 100% your equal and who ejects hairballs the size of Italian sausages on a daily basis with a dramatic flair.....

C'mon, ask again, but come closer this time.  I double dog dare you.

 

Basically it amounts to this: you learn to pee when you wake up and before you go to bed, anything in between is inefficient and is considered a luxury, food is obtained by picking scraps off moving plates, the 5 second rule no longer applies and has been changed to "it's still good no matter when you pick it up", showers are combined with brushing of the teeth, and you learn to quickly turn your head and abide by the motto "what you don't know can't hurt you" as you catch a glimpse of a little hand dipping into the dog food.

 

You learn to laugh and go with the flow.

 

Ana has only bungee jumped out of her crib and fallen on the floor- ONCE, she has only swallowed ONE Band-Aid, and has fallen into our sunken living room twice, oops, our bad.  But on a positive note, when she fell into the foyer, she landed on the dog's bed.  Score one for the parents.

On that note....it's time to pee.

 

 

 

 

March 15, 2007

 

To Our Beloved Family and Friends,

 

 

 In the past seven weeks so much has happened, yet at the same time, it has passed in the blink of an eye. The memories will be forever etched into our hearts and minds; everything from the people, to the sounds and smells of Ukraine.  How quickly time passes.  Friendships forged, new adventures experienced, bonds formed, marriage strengthened, but most importantly, our family has grown through the addition of our darling little one - Ana Sofiya. 

Your support and knowing that all of you were standing behind us, enabled us to become strong enough to take on the many challenging experiences we faced while here in Ukraina.  One thing we learned when adopting Luka and know for certain once again, is that without family and friends you are nothing.   So having said that, know that these next two little words carry a lot of weight....thank you.

 

Oh yes, one more thing. 

 

 

Where should we begin? 

As your parents we want you to know this.

 

While we, with the names of Mama and Tato sit in this apartment, we believe we are as small as two grains of sand amidst all the beaches in the world.  Finding you both and having you become part of us, is testament to a higher power.  There is something else in this universe that pulls you toward those you are meant to find, meant to learn from, meant to love.  We walked through the dark only to be rewarded by a light at the end that has surpassed our wildest dreams...twice.

 

We want your hearts to find peace when you stand under the sky and warm your faces to the sun, when you lie on your backs counting the stars beside the bonfire, when you feel the gentle breeze on your faces and catch snowflakes falling from the sky on your tongues.  Know that there is much more to life than what stands before you.  Know, and take comfort in knowing, that many before you have wondered and questioned the meaning of all this, just as you will.  The happiness and suffering, the solitude and togetherness, the joy, the pain - it's all fleeting.  Nothing is insurmountable.  Revel in 10 minutes of happiness because that is what will propel you through 10 days of difficulty.  Know that, it too, shall pass.  Look to others for comfort and give comfort to those who are looking.

 

Our sweet Ana and precious Luka,

Learn from each other and love one another.  Discover together that love reaches far beyond genetics and DNA.  You will have many teachers in your lifetime: parents, school teachers, family, friends, mentors, coaches, and we are but two.

Bringing the two of you into our family has taught us powerful life lessons. Life is about helping others.  About making a difference.  About opening your heart and in doing so performing your own little miracles.  Some people only dream about what they can do to make a difference in the life of another.  We were given a chance to actually make it happen and are thankful for that from the bottom of our hearts. You were born with a purpose; you were born for us.  If we can teach the both of you one thing, it would be to let your hearts be big enough to let love in; to realize the human potential and exactly how much each one of us actually has to give; when your heart is open there are endless possibilities.  We pray that in loving you, we will be able to teach you this.  We want you both to strive to pass on the love we have shown you.

 

Parenting is the hardest job in the world, but let us tell you both now, that despite all the day to day "stuff" that you deal with as a parent, the meltdowns, the time-outs, the tears, the frustrations, the warnings, the yelling (not too often!), at the end of the day, when we crawl into bed, it is the love we share for both of you that helps us rest peacefully at night.  The good always outweighs that which is less than good.  You make us want to be better people, and for that we are grateful and want to say, thank you. 

 

On a final note -

 

There are so many loving arms that await your arrival, precious Ana.  So many people who want to kiss your cheeks and embrace your warmth.  Go into their arms, little one, they all have so much to show you- life is grand!

 

 

Goodbye, from Ukraina...for now

xoxo

 

 

ALO

from Pushkinska 9B, our new crib in Kyiv! 

We're down, we're hip, we're happening, we're in the know, we're SO TIRED!

 

So,

We've learned a few things about our Ana in just two short days:

 

Cut a hole in the box,

Shove your kid in that box,

Kid will sleep in that box!

 

Ana Sofiya has absolutely no problem falling asleep, will sleep anywhere, and will stay asleep no matter how many times you move her. 

In a train, in a plane, in a chair, with a bear, etc.

She is a true Kramarchuk/Lotozky.  This afternoon, we fed her lunch and by the time I had placed the dishes in the sink and turned back around to Ana, she was asleep sitting up in her chair.  Luka thought she was joking.

She makes adorable cooing and babbling sounds that wake us up before 7 am (not that cute so early in the morning).  Definitely NOT a Kramarchuk/Lotozky trait, but we intend to make it a priority to change that.

 

What else?

She loves music and has amazing rhythm and moves to the groove whenever our cell phone rings; Taras did too, it's actually a very catchy tune.

She's stubborn and has a temper.  Let's just leave it at that.

She has a fear of water and loves cars - we're thinking of combining the two next time she takes a bath.

She loves being picked up and walks after you like an orangutan with her arms waving in the air; God help you if you're trying to put her down for just the slightest motion of you releasing her sends her into a tizzy.

She drools alot because she's teething and constantly needs a bib.

She has a calm spirit and exudes this air of peacefulness when you're with her.

We are falling in love....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Our bag is packed and sitting by the front door; new pink snowsuit, brown boots, hat, purple sweater and white pants with little purple flowers…. 9 more hours and we will be together.

 

We are scheduled to meet with the orphanage Director at 9:30 tomorrow morning.  We’ve prepared a gift bag for her as a thank you, and we’re also bringing in a tort, apple juice and cookies for the kids in Ana Sofiya’s group.  A little going away party, if you will.   They’ve asked us to bring in new clothes for her to leave the orphanage in and are allowing us to photograph and videotape her group (hroupa) - her family up until now.

As happy as we are to have Ana join our family, I’m sad for her that she’ll be leaving the only family she’s ever known.  She is comfortable there and I worry that the next little while will be very stressful for her; new family new environment, planes, trains, etc.  I hope she’s not too overwhelmed.

 

We are off to bed as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.  After picking up Ana, we have to get her passport and then catch our 6:30 bus to Kyiv.  It’s the “Deluxe Express” and takes 5 hours.  I asked them to define “deluxe” but I don’t think they understood me!  I’ll let you know…

 

Goodnight

xoxo

 

Thank you Odessa - it was a blast!

 

Ana Sofiya Kramarchuk

HOORAY! 

 

Today Ana has officially become a member of the Kramarchuk family and three have become four.  We are overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t be more content right now.

The 10 day, court imposed, waiting period has finally ended without anyone turning up to contest the adoption and now no one can ever take her away.  She’s ours.

 

This morning Mark went with Svitlana to pick up Ana’s new birth certificate while I went to the orphanage with Luka.  After a lot of pleading with them, they finally agreed to let me take her outside.  I said that I wouldn’t be longer than 5 minutes, which quickly turned into 30.  It’s beautiful outside today, at least 10 degrees.  She wasn’t able to walk around because she had slippers on, but this didn’t seem to bother her for she was content just to sit in the sun and enjoy the swings.  Luka had a great time playing out there too because there’s a lot of toys to choose from.

 

It’s 3 pm now and everyone in the apartment is napping, except for moi.  Svitlana has gone downtown and I am using this period of calm to do my journaling.  I’m supposed to wake them up at 3:30 but I haven’t yet decided which pots to use to accomplish this task. We’ll be leaving soon for our afternoon shift at the orphanage!  I can’t wait until we bring her home on Monday.  It was supposed to be today, but because of the four day holiday, the Director refused to come in and sign the release papers.  We’ve learned not to ask why.  On Monday we’re supposed to bring in new clothes for Ana and flowers for the Director.  They are also permitting us to film and photograph her “groupa” – where she slept, ate, played, etc.

 

We are leaving for Kyiv on Monday and need to determine which method of transportation to use: plane, train, bus, or car.  There are pros and cons to each of these thereby making it a difficult decision.  We need to factor in price, 2 kids, time of departure/arrival, and 800 pounds of luggage.

We’ll let you know….

 

One last question:   Just out of curiosity, really, how difficult is it to get a dog out of Ukraina?

Friday, March 9, 2007

We decided to take a taxi into town, but not before spending some time with our girl.  Luka and Ana played beautifully today and she really enjoyed it when he read her a story.

It was about 8 degrees today; just right for walking around downtown Odessa.  Luka absolutely loved all the ships and ocean liners at the seaport.  Our taxi driver, Vasyl, told us that he’d traveled to many seaports in the world and Odessa’s was the most beautiful. Vasyl waited for us to finish walking around the port and then dropped us off at a 4 story shopping mall.  The architecture was stunning on the outside, but inside it was just  a regular shopping mall. We stayed long enough for Luka to go potty and Mark to look at music CD’s!

 After working up an appetite, we still had to walk for about an hour before we found a place to eat. Thank goodness Donna and Taras brought along their son's stroller for Luka to use, otherwise we would have listened to our least favourite tune that you're all familiar with, "Pick Me Up Mama" .  We’re glad we took the time, though, because it was the perfect, and I mean absolutely perfect, place to go.  When we opened the front doors and we were serenaded by 2 Ukrainian girls in full costume along with a man playing a violin and another guy playing an accordion.  Aidan you would have loved it!  All the waitresses were dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothes as well. The tables were covered with embroidery and there were Ukrainian artifacts on the walls and shelves; excellent food and outstanding atmosphere.  The best part of the night was when we asked our waitress if we could take some pictures of the group that was singing.  She said, not only can we take their picture, but she’ll send them over to serenade us!  The four of them came over to our table and sang “Chervona Ruta” – my favourite song!!  We taped it and can’t wait to show it to all of you when we get home.  PY, you’ll love it.   We all said, “Now we really feel like we’re in Ukraine”.

Daddy,  now you know why we stayed so long.; I waited for you to call me back?? 

Missing everyone dearly….

xoxo

7 more days….

p.s.  Yes, that really is Markie riding off into the sunset (for 30 hrivny); and he thought he was getting a free ride! We all laughed so much at that, but no one laughed harder than Luka to see Mark struggling to get on a horse!

We have now christened him “Hetman Markie”.

Rest assured that tonight we will raise our glasses in a toast to you all.  This morning I was greeted with breakfast in bed consisting of a cappuccino chocolate bar (my favourite!) and many kisses and well wishes.  My little Markie's not so bad today.

Ana's nurse at the orphanage took my hand and said she wished me good health, happiness and great success as a new mother to Ana, as a wife and in life.  It was very touching.

 

I hear you my fellow North American girls;  four days? Flowers?  Breakfast in bed?  Almost reason enough to move to Ukraine.  I said, almost.  There is nothing commercial about this.  Personally I like to take the advice I give my students, "all you need to do is use your words".  It's my belief that we need to be more expressive with those we love.  Don't take things for granted and don't assume they know; open your mouth and speak - woof!

 

 

We would like to honour one woman in particular today.  The one who dedicated a good 3 hours of her time yesterday to booking our flight home....with success!!  And no doubt, she also incurred a big long distance phone bill that she'll want to send to us.

Who is this green eyed, spiral haired, humorous, intelligent, and oh so sexy one?  Who has the ability to part the sea of weary travelers with her fair skinned, lilac-scented hands, only to make room for a stressed out family of four? 

It is the one, the only, the "when they made her they buried the mold deep under the sea"....my niece......my friend....MY:

 

 

We depart Ukraine, Friday, March 16 at 6:45 am and arrive in Toronto at 4:40 pm, via KLM with a 5 hour stopover in Amsterdam.  We had no choice but to buy new tickets altogether.

Counting down.....9 days.....

 

Thank you SO much Odarka, for helping us out yesterday:  You da man!

 

It's 4 pm and Ana's waiting....

 

One more thing.

So, Ana loves to look inside the bags we bring to the orphanage and gets so excited when we start to open them.  She lets out a "uuuhhhaaaauuuu" in anticipation that makes us laugh every time.  I wish I could have taped it yesterday when she saw her new boots.  It was priceless! 

When we arrived this morning a nanny was feeding her lunch (I posted a picture; now we know why she's our Ana Big Banana!) and we had to wait until she was done to play with her.  Like always, we went into our room and began our routine.  Coats hung up, Luka's shoes off, Luka bouncing on bed,  entirely making ourselves at home.  We like to leave unzipping the bag until last since Ana looks forward to it.

After a few minutes Ana comes walking in with a big smile on her face upon seeing us, and an even bigger one when we showed her the bag; the "designer" plaid one, in case you weren't sure.  So over comes Ana, anticipation growing, sounds beginning, reaches over and grabs the bag, bends over it, sticks her head inside and, barfs...a little.  A little goes a long way though, doesn't it?  Especially if your camera, camcorder, gloves, hat, toys, and a poppyseed cake are inside.

And on that note....

 

After many frustrating phone calls the bottom line is that we will have to purchase new tickets.  It doesn't end there, though.  After checking Air Canada, Lufthansa, KLM, Austrian, Czech, and  few others, the earliest flight out is March 19th; all the  rest have either 2 stopovers, one night's stay (in Vienna..would be nice but not with 800 lbs. of luggage, 2 kids and a stroller).

The jaw dropper:  all were over $2000.00 per ticket. 

This country just doesn't want us to leave.

TD Travel told us that our best bet would be to go to a travel agency here because the rates might be cheaper but she couldn't promise anything. 

HELP GET US OUT!!!!

PLEASE!!!

 

On a positive note:  I never thought I'd be happy to see a baby cry, except for today.  Today was the first time Ana cried when we left her, making it so hard to leave her. Our baby's getting to know us!

March 28th - That's the next flight out to Toronto.

 

It's Tuesday and we have just spent an hour tring to get the date of our original tickets changed (with a $250 US penalty per ticket, of course.  We spoke to the KLM office in Kyiv and were told the soonest flight out is March 28th with our class of tickets (economy class).  So the next logical question to ask was:  can we upgrade our tickets and pay the difference?  No. They are NOT upgradeable.  BUT, if we buy completely new tickets, then we can leave on the 16th like we intended to.  Suddenly there's room; I don't get it.  That means we lose our original tickets plus the money we paid only to pay the same amount again for new ones.  Does this not mean there's room on the plane!!!!!!! 

SO- we asked for KLM's number in Amsterdam and were given one that "according to another passenger is not the right number, but it's the only one we have".

Mark and I are off to buy a phone card so we can speak to someone in Amsterdam.  This is ridiculous!

March 6, 2007

 

We hopped into a cab and went downtown for the afternoon.  Odessa is such a diverse and architecturally beautiful city and we had a fantastic time. We sat on the famous Potemkin steps, enjoyed dinner in a really great European bistro, and then went clothes shopping for Ana!  We bought her adorable boots and shoes and a beautiful red jacket (Fashion Policeman Luka picked it out!). 

Enjoy the pictures and we’ll post more of them tomorrow!

Goodnight!

 March 6, 2007

There comes a time in one’s life when they feel themselves slipping into the world of insanity.  A fine line, indeed.

It’s finally come to this, has it?  Six weeks can change a person.  Some might say for the worse, some for the better.  We have been forced to become more aggressive, louder,  stand a little taller, learn to fight for our spot in line, and battle the Kamikaze Babushkas out of the way so we can at least get on the streetcar.  Kind of like a Popeye/Spinach scenario.  Hopefully for you all, this will dissolve like Tums in a vodka glass once our plane crosses over into Canada; no promises made.

Living in a country like Ukraine teaches you hundreds of things but two rise above the rest.  One, how to talk like you’re angry all the time to get people to hear you, and two, the life skill of ordering a taxi (which is harder than opening a black walnut). 

I digress, back to insanity.  How do we know about insanity, you ask?  We know.  We took the test.  Go ahead, take it yourself: http://www.penddraig.co.uk/pen/tests/sanity.htm   What’s our biggest beef, you ask? 

Noise. They’ve done studies you know, that prove that noisy environments make people irritable.  Factor in some insomnia and PMS and you’ve got a BIG pot of wickedly cranky stew. What’s so bad about living in an ant-hole of an apartment surrounded by a million other ants?  Let’s see.  Lunatic. Crazy. Certifiable. Rico.  Koo-koo. Yes, we are starting to reuse dirty plates instead of washing them as we have started saying, “what is the point of washing plates when we only dirty them again”. Yes, we are experiencing violent urges; we would like to introduce the man downstairs to his hammer in a very personal way.   Yes, Elvis is alive.   

The type of crazy that will cause you to ride down the Potemkin steps on your skateboard.  No helmet. The kind that will cause you to turn and face the people in the pee-smelling, matchbox of an elevator that gets stuck every 4^th trip and laugh uncontrollably because you just don’t care anymore! The kind that will cause you to throw your cat in a Dominion cart and push it around the block, around, the block, around the block.

Here’s the bottom line:  It’s just too loud living in a complex with walls as thin as Melba toast. The renovations below us, that coincidentally began the day after Taras’s flood. The constant sound of a drill that drowns out the voice of the person sitting beside you, sandpaper scratching the walls, people doing laundry every morning, loud banging that sounds like someone’s trying to crack a very large egg, voices…ENOUGH!  We feel like we are being witness to convicts excavating their escape.

But it’s not all.

Radiators that heat our rooms to tropical proportions without knobs to control the temperature, a toilet room or “the echo chamber”, has acoustics that make the Sydney Opera House seem like a shower stall (ie. mouse fart equivalent to trombone), the incessant bantering of the couples above us, the European pillows that weigh more than a small calf, the well intentioned whispering of “The Fam” in the next room that makes you believe you’ve replaced Nicole Kidman in The Others.  

Yesterday I had the privilege of riding the elevator with the black dog that lacks manners.  He didn’t even thank me for pushing number “grrrRorteen” for him.   Just use ‘em and abuse ‘em! In the end, you shrug your shoulders, say, “This is Ukraine”, and learn not to ask why.

The good news is that it looks like we’ll be home for Easter.  The bad news is….we’re NOT hosting!

 Bdee- Bdee- Bdee. That’s all folks.

March 3, 2007

The washing machine is not working properly as the barrel is getting stuck all the time, so we are left with no choice but to do it by hand. As a result of this we’re all walking around like the Tin Man despite using something that resembles fabric softener.  Cardboard clothes are definitely not fleecy soft.

Luka still has a cough and gets the sweats easily, Mark is feeling a little better, and I am not getting any worse.  I guess that’s a good thing.

So somebody or something is playing with my mind.  Before I go to bed I like to open the kitchen window and look out at Odessa and for about a week now, every time I’m doing this, I hear a meow.  Yes, as in cat.  Tonight I called in my reinforcements but as Murphy would have it, there was only silence when Mark stuck his head out the window.  I’m certain he would have heard it had he stayed long enough! 

Open window + fear of heights + no screen on the window = Markie not letting go of the kitchen table and donating his attention for no longer than a nanosecond!  He thinks it’s on the street.  Na-uh.  I don’t think so.  We’re on the 14th floor so how is it possible to hear something like a meow from 14 stories down?  Exactly what size cat are we talking about here?   Or (here’s my theory), there’s a broken, boarded up window one floor down to the left of our kitchen window that could contain this homeless feline. I think I’m right…. Mark thinks I’m nuts; not because of my theory but because he knows what I’m capable of.   We’ll see what happens when I feel a little bit better.  I want to rescue it. 

March 2    -  S.O.S

 The dreaded has finally happened.

 We’ve avoided, skirted, shunned, and dodged them successfully for weeks now, but to no avail for they have found us.  All three of us are held captive and are hosts to trillions of nasty microbes.  It’s true.

 Luka awoke yesterday to a fever of 104 Fahrenheit (about 40 Celsius), screaming that he wants to go home and something about a train crash and water being on fire (so delusional!).  Mark’s hacking cough is lingering from the first week we arrived in Kyiv but to its delight, is now accompanied by stuffed sinuses and a renewed sore throat.  I on the other hand, have spent way too much time bragging how strong my immune system is.  What’s the saying?  I believe it’s something like don’t tempt fate.

 We have been sucked into a foreign world of nameless antibiotics, what you hope are saline nose drops, and cough syrup that you need to mix with water and use immediately.  When you’re suffering though, you’ll try almost anything.  I guess it’s inevitable if you choose your new hangout to be an isolation ward.  The risks you take when you’re in love; on this note, we are sad to report that we will be banished from the isolation ward until further notice.

 Today, Nurse Betty is pleased to report that Luka’s fever is better, Mark’s throat is better, but…… Nurse Betty herself is worse.  What do white dots at the back of your throat mean?  My lymph nodes are on rotation; first I feel a stabbing pain in my neck, then it travels to the back of my head, and onward and onward, round and round.  Someone stop this merry-go-round.

 At breakfast this morning as I ate my poppy-seed roll and bit into something way too crunchy for my liking, Mark brought up the subject of haircuts.  To my amazement Mark and Luka are actually contemplating going for one.  Playing their game and knowing they’re both too chicken to try something new, especially with something as important as hair,  I told them that they’re a dime a dozen for sure; lawyer/butcher/hairdresser, available on every block.  You just hope they don’t confuse the latter two.  I think the Ukrainian antibiotics are clouding their judgment.

 

 

February, 28, 2007

 We arrived at the orphanage this morning to find the front doors locked.  We knocked and an old Babushka told us to go around and take the side entrance because the building was now under quarantine for the flu virus and nobody was being allowed in (except for the director,  the doctors, nurses, lawyer, the nannies,  the cooks, and the cleaning people and a couple of stray cats and of course the orphanage dog, Phatso).  But they couldn’t possibly bring in any unwanted flu bugs – just the parents can! 

 I’m telling you, nobody can write a better movie script than this.

Once inside, I explained to a lady at the desk that our facilitator spoke with Ana’s doctor yesterday, told her we had the court date and stressed how important it is that we spend time with her.  Would they rather have us come next Saturday, take her out and put her on a train to Kyiv without getting to know us first?  How traumatic would that be for her?  This orphanage operates in stark contrast to the one we adopted Luka from.  We were allowed to take him home with us, out for walks, feed him….practically everything, so that when we finally took him out for the last time, he was comfortable with us and knew us well.   It’s not that way now.  They initially told us visiting hours would be from 10-12 and from 4-6, but it seems to change daily and it also seems to depend on who’s working.

After waiting for about half an hour, a woman with a stethoscope came in and told us we could have 15 minutes and that we shouldn’t come back in the afternoon.  What can we do?  I wonder how long this will last.

Ana still has a hacking and phlegmy cough and has a runny nose.  It actually scares us to watch her experience a coughing fit because she turns bright red and has a hard time catching her breath. Poor thing looks to us for reassurance.  We’ve offered many times to buy her the medication she needs to get better and build her immune system but they keep refusing saying it’s not necessary.  What makes it worse for Ana is that she’s lying in a crib all day and night and the only time she gets out and walks around is when we come, but…

It’s very frustrating.

 **********BUT, TODAY WE’LL LEAVE YOU ON A FUNNY NOTE************

 We only have one set of apartment keys between the four of us and have been pretty good at coordinating who takes the keys and who will be home first. 

Well, yesterday was an exception. 

Mark, Luka and I had about an hour to spend waiting for the rest of “The Fam”, as we now lovingly call them, to come home.  Believe me, there’s only so much you can do in a drafty hallway in front of the elevators on the 14^th floor.  Did I mention it was 2 hours past Luka’s nap time?  He was super cranky man.  I had already called Taras twice on his cell telling them to hurry up and get out of the bank but their facilitator/taxi driver Yura was nowhere to be found.

Picture this:  An hour later, Luka’s screaming and crying about wanting to sit down on the floor but not wanting to because his pants will get dirty;  Mark’s picking lint off his hat; and I’m playing  SnakeEX2 on our cell phone counting the seconds for the elevator doors to open.

 We all heard the elevator and looked up in anticipation of  Donna and Taras, but it wasn’t them.  All of our heads dropped down as we watched a black mutt get off the elevator by himself and trot over to us.  He was really dirty but cute, all the while wagging his stump of a tail.  He sniffed my hand and then walked away through the opposite hallway to another