27-28 Oct Update

27Oct2008

No paperwork action today since it’s fall break and the principle is out. Maybe tomorrow. The one advantage of this is we get the girls all day again to our delight. Update on paperwork. We did need to go to the Notary at 9am for some paperwork. They told us they couldn’t find 3 pieces including both copies of the girl’s birth certificates. Also, most everyone was out sick so it was looking grim but they came through and we got our papers.

We did a bit of shopping today for the girls. We picked up a top each and an over-sweater type thing. We are trying to spread out the purchases so we have something to get them every few days. This is all stuff they will need since they will not leave with anything from the school; that includes the cloths. We haven’t been told this but it’s usual practice since most of the cloths are community property.

We spent most of the day in the apartment playing games and just having fun. We found out that the kids at this school watch a fair bit of TV. A benefactor donated a large screen TV so they all like to watch it. We’ve been trying to keep the TV to a minimum and spend time together instead.

While out shopping, the girls asked who was cooking tonight and Irina said I was. The older one chucked and didn’t did Papa had it in him to cook anything. Actually, I was only cooking the appetizer and Virginia was cooking spaghetti carbinara (sp.). I sautйed mushrooms in butter and garlic and then melted cheese in the mushroom bowl. Not much left of either dish and they were impressed that Papa could use a knife. Irina remarked that the girls have been taught to cook amongst other things which leads her to believe the Mother took car of her children. I would love to believe that. We won’t know for sure till they open up with us.

The other night I was washing dishes after others made the meal. The girls asked if I always did the dishes and we explained that Virginia and I share the duties around the house (they will have to as well). When these girls get older, if the boys make it past my shotgun, then they’ll be in for a surprise because our girls will expect much from them.

The language progress is coming along slowly. I think I’m learning more Russian than they are English…for now. They are a little scared about the language problem and we are trying not to scare them too much. We use an English phrase or word and follow it by the Russian term. They are catching on. I think their favorite phrase is “Let’s go”. They know exactly what it means. We wanted to spend some time on the Alphabet but couldn’t find enough time to fit it in.
Some of the pictures just updated contain some women’s fashion shots as requested. Kiev is much more fashionable than here in Yalta. Kiev is pretty much Ukrainian and Yalta is pretty much Russian. Most of the people we’ve talked to..OK, everyone we’ve talked to here claims to be Russian, not Ukrainian and wants to be a part of Russia.

28Oct2008

Hurray, we have movement on our paperwork. The principle called in sick so the paperwork was done by someone else, I guess. There are so many confusing twists to this adoption that I can’t keep track, but who cares when the process is finally moving forward. The children and school paperwork make it to the inspector’s office today so they can write the conclusion. With that and some more paperwork from the school, we can send it to Kiev. It’ll still be later this week before that happens. Seems that is no direct route for paperwork to Kiev from here so Irina is finding out the best way to get the docs to Kiev. If things flowed perfectly, court is still more than a week away so we’ll be here for quite a spell (20 or so days +-). Then we have to wait for passports before we can go to Kiev so maybe early to mid December we can be on a plane.

And, we had the girls again today. They don’t share shoes so we went ahead and bought them new shoes, socks and stockings. Their shoes were either falling apart or were way too big for their feet. This family thing is going to get expensive because they need new of everything. For the most part, they are good about not wanting everything they see. We buy some small things and not others, but the buying will need to stop for awhile since the money burn rate is rather high. Irina is helping us keep the costs down but it still costs a fair bit for these things.
Tomorrow we move into a flat near the school. We’ll lose our cloths washer so it’ll be done by hand. We should be able to see the girls on a more regular basis (though we’ve seen them every day for the max time) and they should be able to eat in the evenings with us. We can have them bathe more often and start working on better hygiene like clean socks every day, or every few days, or even once a week. New shoes, clean socks and feet should keep some of the French Perfume down to a minimum.

We can’t wait to post some pictures of them after court. The older one is a little camera shy but I’m working on that. I got some really good pictures of her today and I seem to always get good pictures of the younger one. It usually take me at least 1 hour in the evenings to look at the pictures and transfer them to the computer. I have my DSlr I use and sometimes let the girls use. I brought another digital camera for Virginia, but the girls use it and they also love to use Virginia’s cell phone. We’re letting them use the cameras so they can record what they see and will remember. We’re having a good time with it and they are getting some really wonderful pictures. They put their hands together and open them like a clam to tell us they want to use Virginia’s flip phone. The younger one will make camera click sounds to tell us she want to use the other digital camera. It’s quite effective at getting their points across.

Speaking of language, both are doing a little better. The older one will have no problem with language and want to go to school ASAP when we get back. The younger one has the cutest accent which is quite thick and endearing. I’m thinking she’ll learn much from her older sister, language wise. On the ride from Yalta to the school, I worked with the older one on please, thank you and you’re welcome. She knew the first two but not the last. Russian has the same word for please and you’re welcome so I had to convey this in English. I handed her my pocket knife and motioned for her to give it to me. When she did, I said “Thank You” and followed it with the Russian. When she repeated what I said I knew she didn’t understand so we did it again. This time she didn’t repeat what I said and then made it understood about “Your Welcome”. #3’s the charm because she understood about this communication transaction and even said “Your Welcome” when appropriate. “Your Welcome” is a pretty large word to start out on but she’s sharp…they both are.

Jerry, could you email us a picture of Virginia when she was young. You have some from the disk you made about your Mom.

There’s an uncanny resemblance between the girls and Virginia when Virginia was young. The school admin even commented that Virginia looks a lot like them. Virginia is European by birth and Mother so this makes sense.

****Note: Virginia’s phone has died a painless death. It seems to have died in it’s sleep so she will not be able to receive any more text messages. We can’t get this thing to charge at all, even from various different chargers. We’ll see if we can breathe some life into it by replacing the battery if we can find one.

I have no idea if there is any Internet connectivity or cafй in the village we are off to. If not, it may be awhile before we can update again. I’m hoping they have something. Also, for those waiting to travel and intend on bringing a laptop, make sure you have a very good antivirus always running. I use a USB drive to upload these updates and pictures. I don’t write to the stick but always come back with several viruses/trogons on it.

Last post from Yalta…Cheers

Chris and Virginia

Almost feels like we’re heading into a black hole or something. It’s really not that bad here, actually it’s very nice and we’re enjoying ourselves. It’s a major tourist destination and quite beautiful so we’re not complaining.