26 Oct Update

26Oct2008

We had the girls again all day and had a blast. We decided to do some touristy stuff. The highest peak in Crimea is just outside of Yalta which has a cable car from bottom to the top. We had our driver take us to the top with a few stops along the way. Most stops were unplanned because the older one was getting car sick. The roads are windey, rough and these drivers think they’re in a rally race (Moose, they run a rally each year from top to bottom; check it out).

We stopped at a Tartar village on the way up to eat some real kabob. We had meat, rice, mountain tea, vegetables and local bread. Talk about good eats!! We got a few pictures of all the girls on horses. I think we are making some wonderful memories of the girls home for them to keep close to their heart since this is their first home. We finished the trip to the top and did quite a hike to reach the peak where we got some wonderful pictures. I was even able to take a few aerial shots of the town where their school is. The girls did some shopping and I tagged along looking for picture opportunities. We then took the cable car down to the bottom; all this taking most of the day.

When we got to the apartment, the girls played some cards and then they all made a salad that they make in the school. Both girls like to help in the kitchen and know how to prepare some dishes. They cut the meat, pealed cooked carrots and sliced them (I panicked each time they were using knives but it’s normal for them at their age). They did much of the preparing and did much of the eating. The salad was scrumptious and we all ate plenty of it. What should have easily fed 6 people fed the 4 of us with just a tiny bit left over.

We played for the next hour before we had to take them back. We’ve been lucky in that we were able to have the girls all day for the last two days. We’re still trying to get the paperwork from the school principle to we can get this process going. We can’t do anything till the principle does her part; then we can apply to the court for a hearing and get the paperwork to the SDA. Until then, we’ve been waiting for a week without any paperwork progress. Our team can’t do anything till the principle does hers. The gal in charge of the orphans has wanted us to get the paperwork last week so we go move forward, but she doesn’t have the power to do that since the principle has to sign it.

If anyone wants to know more about the area, just ask and I can give descriptions of what I’ve seen. This place isn’t as fashionable as Kiev. Not nearly as many short skirts and spiked heals. These streets plus spiked heals = broken shoe or busted leg. It can be hard enough in flat shoes to walk around here.

I did record the girls talking and playing and even made a short movie of them playing a card game. We also worked on their names. In the end, they decided to keep their original names and we gave them American middle names. The older one picked Angela and the younger one picked Cassandra. Gotta run so I can post this before they get back from picking up the girls (it’s Monday morning so I’ll have to catch up today tomorrow). I’ll have to get some pictures formatted and get them posted tomorrow since I don’t know if there’s any place in the village for Internet access.

Signing off from Yalta for now J.