We are just in from dinner and not even sure where to begin. We had an awesome day today. We've gotten into a pretty good rhythm even in our short time here- our hotel is about a 5 minute walk to the orphanage, so we've been able to grab breakfast here with our new friends, the Trumps, who are adopting Tatiana, and then walk over to the orphanage, meet up with Sergei and Tatiana and spend the morning hanging out, playing Uno or bingo, tossing a ball around etc.
Yesterday was Dana's birthday and Sergei gave her a necklace with two hearts, Tatiana had made a necklace and earrings from a jewelry kit, Nastya (a girl we had not even met yet) had embroidered a picture, and Tatiana and Sergei had beaded a bracelet. Craig got a cake from a local market and we met after lunch for cake in the cafeteria with Larissa, Sergei's lead teacher whose birthday is 6/28. Larissa had a jewelry box as a gift for Dana...all really nice things that just warmed Dana's heart. We then went to a local lake with the kids at the orphanage and watched them just jump in, swim and have fun before they had dinner.
We had a great dinner out with the Trumps and Sergey, our guide, at Eden- except for the boom-boom-boom of the Euro techno music in the background.
Today- our signals got a little crossed with Sergei. We thought he was at the lake again and we walked over there, but he had gone to the nurse to get his cough/cold checked. However, at the lake, the younger kids were there (10-12 year olds) and we had fun with them. As our dear friend Becky Welsh says.."they are all so precious". We then connected with Sergei who continues to wear the same green bathing suit and played uno, got some ice cream from the local store, and got his passport photo taken via Sergey(our guide) since we cannot take him offsite ourselves. Then..we went upstairs to the floor where Sergey lives and the teachers who have had him and Tatiana in class for all these years (Sergey- 8 years, Tatiana- 4 years) had a send off party for them. Although there was not a whole lot of shared language, it was so clear how much they love these kids. We asked if Sergei was a good kid :-) and the teachers gave us two thumbs up. We showed them photos of Pat and Evan, the dogs, our house- and got questions about our house, how many rooms, etc. that one could expect when traveling in Ukraine. The kids all leave (including Sergei) for a summer camp about 18 miles away tomorrow, so some of the teachers likely won't see Sergei again before he leaves.
We then went outside and PLAYED AND PLAYED AND PLAYED - nerf football, soccer, frisbee, jacks, with any and all of the kids who wanted to play on this dusty, sandy, weedy field on the orphanage grounds that wouldn't get a second look back in the US. Sergei was a little bit like..."why are all of you kids hovering around MY parents?" but we all got into just having fun. There are so many good kids here that it is overwhelming to think how we can help them. We got a bagful of Cokes and Sprites from the local market after we were finished playing and you would have thought that we had given the kids gold. One little guy, Maksim, kept giving Dana sips of his Sprite on the ballfield. (Earlier in the day, the kids were given hard candy for a treat and you wouldn't believe how many of the kids gave US their candy since we were guests). We talked with the Trumps over dinner that we are going to be advocating and praying for these kids to be hosted by New Horizons over Christmas. There is a spot in someone's home and heart for these kids- we just need to find it.
We will find out on Wednesday when our first court date is. There is a 50-50 chance it will be on 7/01 (Sergei's birthday) which is about a week ahead of schedule. If not, it will likely be on 7/05 which is still ahead of where we thought we would be.
Tomorrow will be a little different- we'll get a taxi out to the camp and spend just part of the day out there until we get the lay of land. Craig is teaching an online class for Drexel while we are here so it will give him some time to grade papers. Sergei will be in the camp until he departs, although there will be some back and forth for court dates, etc. The orphanage itself essentially closes down to allow for vacation time for teachers and staff.
More later---keep us and these great kids in your prayers.
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