First Day with the Kids - Part 3

After lunch we went back to pick up the documents at the inspector's office and Brian thought something was wrong when it took longer than expected to just pick up the papers. We waited downstairs. When S got back he gave us the thumbs down sign! :( He said it was a no-go and the inspector was insisting that we must get an answer from the children here, and the signature of the director before he could sign off on our petition to adopt. He said he could lose his job if he didn't do things the "right way."

So, with sad hearts we returned to the orphanage at about 3:45pm. There are no pictures from the 2nd visit today, but I still have more photos from the earlier visit to post ...

More time with Daddy and the puzzles

Upon our return, Snezhana had changed clothes - I assume what she's wearing in these photos is something like a school uniform or "dress code" as it is very similar to other photos we've seen of her taken at school - black skirt and button up shirt. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a white flower tied around it. Now she was wearing black and red checkered pants and a Betty Boop sweatshirt (though she nor the teacher seemed to have any clue who Betty Boop was).

During this visit we were taken to the third floor because the 2nd floor was occupied with children and teachers hanging paintings made by the children and decorations for New Year's. There were about 6 boys in this room playing loudly on two different ping pong tables. At the far end was another room in which we could see a TV. We sat on a bench near the door and tried to talk over the rowdy boys! I asked her who the boys were and said said most were 9th grade boys and told me their names - one was Denis, a boy she had borrowed a cell phone from the night before to call me.

Snezhana reading a book with "classic" Disney cartoons in it -

both Russian and English text

We bought a blow up ball for Denis while we were at lunch and he and Brian tossed it back and forth for a while. The teacher gave Snezhana a magazine and she sat next to me (again after much coaxing) and we browsed it together. I asked questions about several words/pictures and S translated between us.

After the ping pong ball hit the teacher several times, and she got tired of the volume, she yelled at them and shooed them out of the room!

When the teacher got up S started to ask Snezhana about her concerns about adoption again. She stopped talking and looked down and did not answer for several minutes. She said she was scared. I asked about what. She said everything. I said I can't answer everything, but I'd be happy to address her concerns or if she had any questions. The teacher returned shortly and Snezhana must have told her what we were talking about because in less than 1 minute she leaned over and told S (in Russian) that we were not allowed to ask her if she wanted to be adopted without the director being present. We weren't actually asking her that, only what she was concerned about. Maybe she was feeling pressured by us with these questions.

Denis coloring penquins - which sounds almost the same in Russian!

So, she finally tried on the coat and boots. She said the boots were too big, but I told her to wear the boot socks we sent her from America and they would feel better. Brian also helped her tighten up the laces and she said they were ok. She still would not wear the shoes or the coat out into the snow when she took Denis back to his room when we left.

I was very upset to see large holes in Denis' shoes and when we took of a shoe to see the size one of his toes was poking out. I inquired of the teacher if he had any of the shoes we sent him from hosting or the boots we sent last month. She said she didn't know but that the 3 care givers in his dormitory sometimes keep the good clothes for special occasions. That did not make me happy - we've spent a lot of money to get him good shoes/clothes and mail them all the way from the US so I don't appreciate them "keeping" those while he's wearing holly shoes/socks. I said I would buy him new shoes/socks if he doesn't have any decent ones to wear. She said she would ask one of his care givers tomorrow.

The finished puzzle - Polar bears

After the boys left, a friend from the US who is currently paper chasing on her way out of Lutugino arrived! I was so happy to see her and she was happy to see me as well! We hugged and chatted for a couple of minutes, but she had to get over to her boys. She hugged Snezhana on the way and told me we would talk later. We left before she could connect with me again, but I was SOOO glad to see her! I hope Snezha will talk to her boys about her concerns about being adopted - one of those boys has been waiting over a year for his family from the US!

Snezhana finally, with much pushing from both me and S, accepted the cell phone. She showed us a photo in a magazine of a fancy/expensive phone and said her friend has one of these. S said maybe she wanted one of those and wasn't happy with the cheap phone. After she took the phone she asked if phones in the US came with SIM cards. I told her this phone would only work in Ukraine, but that all teenagers in US have cell phone and we would buy her one.


She called us just before 10pm. Said she couldn't sleep. We told her we had fun today and asked if she and Denis had fun. She said yes. We asked what she wanted to do tomorrow. She said she didn't know. She said she wanted a futbol, which we're pretty sure is a soccer ball. She tried to tell me what movie she wanted, but I had to get S on the phone to tell me. Vampire Diaries ... hmmm I haven't seen that one, so I'm not so sure!

We skyped with the kids back home and I got a call from my friend here, who gave me an email address for one of Snezhana's friend's who got adopted by an American family this past July. I'll be doing that and then signing off and heading to bed.

We get to sleep in tomorrow!!! Nothing we can do as far a paperwork or anything until we can see the kids at 3pm. We'll keep you updated!