We’ve been offline because we have moved… again. We’ve left the hotel in Mukachevo, and now we are about 25mins outside the city limits in a rural area in the Carpathian Mountains- there’s a name here, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is.
We moved mainly because- well, actually, I’m not sure. We went to see this place because Vladimir our driver knew about it, it’s actually within walking distance of another orphanage and it’s in a very pretty place. It’s the same price as the hotel, was but it has a washing machine which is the main draw. It also has a kitchen in the basement, so we can cook our own meals, though eating in restaurants is cheaper sometimes if you know where to go.
Funny enough, the only Ukrainian adoption blog I have read pretty faithfully was from a North Carolina couple who adopted a little girl named Pavlina. When we arrived here at the house, the owner showed us a guestbook where people had written a bit about themselves and their experiences in the area, and lo and behold we are staying in exactly the same place as the other family from the blog! Out of all the places in the entire country- here we are. I liked their blog because they also had double cats and had a similar sense of humour as Ois & I, and were on the same roller coaster adoption ride. I’ll have to give a link later in this post so if you want to read about their experiences, you can.
The main problem with being here is the lack of internet- when we originally came to check out the place, we were told it worked, but not for the certain type of 3G network we have. There is a guy coming in 3 days or so to sort it all out though, so hopefully it will be up and running. In any case, we’re now in a very large rural home, one half of it the family lives in, the other half is intended for guests. It is beautiful being out in this area- the trees are all aflame in colour, and truthfully, it looks a lot like Vermont with the rolling hills and greenery and pretty houses dotting the mountains. So we’ll have to hopefully upload blog entries and check Facebook in town if we can get to an internet café after visiting Mena. Vladimir-the-sweetheart (as he’ll now be known) has made a deal with us for $20 a day to drive us the 30mins into town, he waits at the orphanage while we visit Mena for a couple of hours, and then he drives us the 30mins back again. Sometimes we’ll go twice a day, other times once- for the same rate. As I keep saying, I don’t know how we managed to have horseshoes up both of our arses for meeting such lovely, good-hearted people who somehow save our hides like this everywhere we go, but we do.
Anyhow, Mena stories: Today was raining and there was lightening in the grey skies as we arrived at the orphanage. Each day we’ve made the same routine- we arrive at about 4pm, and we enter Mena’s playgroup/classroom where all the little kids are, and they freak out en masse. Everybody wants a hug and a cuddle- one little boy and girl in particular. The little boy looks like he is Roma (Gypsy) and his back is very stiff, and he is very delayed. He definitely has a major disability of some sort yet he is just a ray of sunshine and I love him to bits! He is always giggling and smiling, and when I pick him up for hugs and kisses and cuddles, he arches his back and grins and laughs at the ceiling. You can feel his entire body melt into you with affection and pure happiness, his dark eyes sparkling. He is just the sweetest little guy! Another little girl with sandy hair and brown eyes is the same way- she is such a pretty little girl, full of energy and joy, and she is aching to be picked up and cuddled. The interesting thing is Mena’s reaction in all of this; Ois is worried that the other little ones will think we are adopting them too, but I know this isn’t the case. The caretakers explain to the kids what is going on, and which child has the Mama & Papa. Mena doesn’t get upset or envious, and she doesn’t want to jump into our arms to prevent someone else getting cuddles. She is a very astute and bright little girl, and though she is attaching to us for certain, she is not threatened when we hug or cuddle her little friends. She seems to understand we will be her “forever” Mommy & Daddy, so it’s OK to give attention to the other children too. It’s so hard to switch off your emotions to the other children, and just focus on leaving with your daughter when it’s time for us to head back to our hotel. It is just so unfair that those other children are stuck there without permanent families and when I’m looking at the ceiling at night, I don’t know whether I want to cry or scream. They are ALL gorgeous. They ALL deserve to be wanted and loved forever. And there are so many people in this world who could provide a loving family to them- but they are prevented either by personal finances or government bureaucracy, or getting time off work- or any other thing or a combination of all of them. And even though the road to international adoption is full of bumps and potholes and hairpin turns, I have to admit I’m already thinking about what it would be like to do it again.
We’re in the basement kitchen as I’m writing this, there is another older couple from Italy who has just come downstairs and are preparing their supper. They’ve put out placemats and have polished their cutlery (dollar store, people- dollar store!) and have put out paper towel napkins and a bottle of wine. I can’t help but think that they think we are Americano animals, having eaten our roast pork chunks with potatoes and onions and cabbage rolls pretty much in thoughtful silence- straight off the old Corningware plates and plastic table cloth, no placemats in sight- and having bits of cut meat fly off the slippery plates and into laps, and mashing fresh peppercorns primitively against a plate with the back of a spoon- ha! Oh well, whatcha gonna do, eh? I love the creativity that comes into play when there is a language barrier. I think it makes the world and people so interesting, and it’s almost the part about travelling that I love best. Anna, the lady who owns the house with her husband, had to call a neighbor next door who speaks English to tell us that we can move to an upstairs bedroom as planned this evening. And this morning I would have been lost without my little “Point It!” book which made it possible to communicate with Sveta, Anna’s 12-ish year old daughter that we needed towels. I will also give a link to the book at the end of this post: we’ve used it whenever we’ve been someplace where you just can’t communicate or figure out how to say something like, “I want a room please with a sitting-down toilet, and please no goats for supper.” It is the greatest picture dictionary for travelling ever- with over 1300 items clumped together intelligently to help grease the wheels of international sign language. It’s a God-send.
With that being said, it’s time to lug all our stuff up to our new bedroom. It’s 8:15pm and we are like senior citizens with nothing to do. We’d go for a walk but it’s raining and it’s pitch black in the country. So I guess it will be more Ukrainian MTV and books downloaded onto the iPhones until we go to sleep. Tomorrow we’re going to visit Mena twice: once in the morning and then in the afternoon. It’s her 4th birthday on Oct 26th, so I’m going to find out if it will be permitted to bring a cake for all the kids to share- I have the million boxes of crayons I bought for 25 cents each at Target before we left, so all the kids will get a present too. And I am hoping that I will be able to find some party hats and some balloons someplace in Mukachevo so we can really mark the occasion in style. We want to make it a fun afternoon for everyone- and have all the kids feel excited and loved and important, even if it’s only for one afternoon.
Point-It: The best picture dictionary for travellers, ever!http://www.amazon.com/Point-Travellers-Language-Dieter-Graf/dp/3980313026
Leslie, Crawford & Pavlina’s Ukrainian Adoption Blog: http://leslieandcrawford.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
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