Happy Birthday, Lois! and A Change in Plans Necessary

Up in time to exercise. Just an egg for breakfast. We toted our heavy bags down to the corner where Sergei was already waiting. We stopped first to exchange money, then to purchase envelops and finally to the French pastry to purchase treats for the caregivers in Daniel’s group room. We really had plenty of time before the ‘10:00ish’ scheduled party time, so we each had a cup of coffee and a pastry with chocolate, too (the frothing portion of the espresso machine was broken).

I put address labels on the photographs, Sergei wrote ‘thank you’ in Russian on each envelop, John checked the contents of each envelop before we went inside. Upstairs we were told that Daniel has a cough today and a fever (37.5 C) so the doctor asked that we not take him out of the group today. It was disappointing but we are willing to honor their treatment preferences. They did, however, say we could still have the party. I will just say here that the entire morning required many intervals of waiting, but it was a very satisfying half-day. We were able to tell the director how much we appreciate her work to provide excellent care to the children and present our gift to the orphanage (actually had to deposit it directly into the orphanage account at a bank) and while they set up a nice table (for photographs) in Daniel’s room she took us to see the section of the orphanage undergoing much-needed renovation where our gift will be used.

In Daniel’s room they had set the table with a table cloth and matching china cups and plates with a cute little pig design. Once we brought out our bag they attractively added the giraffe napkins and prepared the food. First they thought maybe not the oranges, but then they thought just a couple. Daniel was on the carpeted floor in the play area with a caregiver. He actually was not too happy to see us. I think being in his room was confusing. However, after he pushed his hand against me and turned his head away I chuckled a little bit and he grinned as he does when he teases us (asking, at every single visit, for my knitting project, and never receiving it).

All five children were brought to the table, each received a whole peeled banana, some pieces of orange, a full cup of juice and as many crackers as they wanted. I was astonished to see Daniel power down an entire banana and most of another half, a few cut orange segments, many of the duck crackers and all of the juice (he needed help for the juice). It was a party mood and all of the children were given as much as they wanted to eat, which was more than they were actually able to eat - about thirty minutes before their lunch was delivered!

The doctor present for our entire visit (not one of our usual two, but a familiar face) assured us she would be writing out Daniel’s entire schedule and what he requires for therapy. She showed us the equipment in the room that has been helpful for Daniel: a heavy cushion he sits up against to play, parallel bars for walking and a plastic toy that resembles a walker (he refused to demonstrate because it was during the eating part of the party). The staff were great and when we told them John was planning to construct equipment for him at home they dug out a ruler.

Here, too, we were able to tell them how much we appreciate all of the care given to the children. I was disappointed that Daniel’s favorite Natalia was not present, but Dennis’ Tanya was and I thanked her for having such an open heart and making it possible for Dennis to love us. If a child doesn’t attach to a person when they are very young (usually by 18 months) it is very difficult and perhaps even impossible to attach to people later. Tanya was Dennis’ person and it appears Natalia is Daniel’s. We left blank note cards for the caregivers to write messages for Daniel (or Nick or Dennis) if they choose.

Down at the kitchen (they have one chef, two cooks, two assistants, and four milk-kitchen staff) we expressed our appreciation and left index cards in case anyone cared to share a recipe for the boys.

We also received our answer from the Director: I would need to be present on the day Daniel left the orphanage. I have to say that I have been torn in my feelings of leaving so early anyway. “Gotcha Day” is a big event, not a minor formality, and deserves to be remembered and later retold by more than one person. Sergei appeared to feel bad to have to tell us, but we assured him we are convinced that this is all happening according to God’s will, no one failed in their persuasions or decisions and we would simply readjust our plans accordingly, although we needed some time today to settle on those new plans.

By the time we left it was 12:20. We wouldn’t be able to visit Daniel again today because of his fever so the afternoon was available for another all-important document-chasing marathon. We stopped back at the apartment first for our documents and my knitting. We also both put on jeans and tennies - ready to be comfortable and not needing to impress anyone again today. We headed off in Sergei’s trusty Chevy, and then came back to the apartment for our documents (oops). We needed to stop for gas. No stations here are self-serve.

Sergei received word that our Tax ID numbers were ready (so I could give John power-of-attorney, no longer necessary). We decided to proceed with the power of attorney anyway, since John would be alone with Daniel in Ukraine at some point. The Tax ID office was our first destination. We arrived 20 minutes before it opened at 2:00. Good time for lunch.

A short walk later we decided to give “Frito Boom” (that’s the transliteration, Sergei says the name doesn’t actually mean anything) a try. John theorizes it means “Everything is Fried”. We had spicy hot dogs and mustard baked in pastry, donut-like items filled with meat (Sergei and me) or potatoes and mushrooms (John). Sergei and I each had a different salad and we had one order each of what looked like onion rings. I think one was. Another was calamari and the third peppers with spicy paprika. We also had mochaccinos. Two rounds of those, actually. They were small.

Back at the Tax ID office I guess we were an “exotic” case that took a full week to process because the main office didn’t know how to translate “Oshkosh”. The nice lady we have been working with here in Kharkov found it on a map and told them how to spell it (in Russian).

Next stop: bank. Needed to make the deposit to the orphanage (they actually charge a 2% fee to make a deposit in someone else’s account) and look into an account in Dennis’ name. Needed more official documents, of course.

Off to the notary for: the Power of Attorney; a notarized copy of Daniel’s birth certificate (for passport application after the 10th day); and a notarized copy of the court decree from Dennis’ adoption for the bank. The Power of Attorney document had to be tweaked a few times, but as always the service for such important and official documents was remarkably swift at this office. Sasha last time and Sergei this time always use the same office and we understand why. Sergei explained that they have very wide experience, have many document templates available and are not intimidated by the needs of international customers. They also have several notaries at this office, not just one, so someone is always available.

Back to the bank, still didn’t have everything they wanted but it will be here from Sasha (in Kyiv) in a couple of days. Home. Sergei dropped us off at the Billa on his way back to the orphanage to drop off a paper they needed.

We hadn’t actually planned to shop but managed to spend some money as we are prone to doing. Water, Coca-Cola and chocolate, mostly.

Not hungry enough to eat supper. Eventually John put peanut butter on bread for each of us and I’m on my fourth cup of tea (feeling dry if not hungry).

Hope Daniel is well enough to spend time with us tomorrow. We plan to show up at the usual time and see what happens. Sergei will be at the court house to review the decree for errors before it goes into effect next week.

At this point I plan to return home next week Friday (seven days later than expected). I will go to Kyiv this week to sign papers for the US Embassy (hopefully there an back on Thursday by train, lots of good CME time), we will take Daniel out of the orphanage on Thursday and I will fly out of Kyiv early on Friday morning. We’ll see what God has in mind as the weeks progress.