Day Twenty One – In The Ukrainian Groove

A quiet day – we visited Peter in the morning and arrived just as he was leaving by car with his 'groupa' for activities unknown. We let them go and stayed long enough for them to return. We took a short walk together and left before lunch.

The afternoon was disrupted because Todd participated in a conference call (by Skype!) and Sherri visited with Peter for a second time today. She discovered two new things about riding the bus—first, you must have small bills to pay your fare or it can be a problem, and second, it is perfectly acceptable for your bus driver to stop for a Kbas (an alcoholic drink made from fermented bread) if he gets thirsty. We finished the day with new dining experiences, some positive (Todd's herring) and most neutral (Todd's rice and Sherri's mushroom soup and grilled veggies).

We have been wondering about the adoptability of some of Peter's classmates – most seem quite attractive in terms of both health and social activities. Well, we learned today that the only girl in Peter's class - who is just a delightful child – has a eighteen year old mother. The mother visits just twice a year, but says she intends to recover her daughter at a future point when she is capable of providing full time care. We are pleased to learn that at least one of these children seem likely to be reunited with their birth mothers.

We have developed some names for Peter's classmates. Ivan is 'the boss' – he is very engaging and manipulative. He understands the adoption process and continues to attempt to win our attention But, he's a tyrant when he doesn't get what he wants – just like a bad boss. Another classmate is 'the singer'. He was recently one half of a duo, but his singing partner was adopted last week by a Ukrainian family. Sherri reports that, during music class today, 'the singer' performed solo without his adopted partner.

We are planning tomorrow to buy the orphanage a lawnmower as a gift – something the overgrown, mosquito-filled location can really use. It was their request, not our recommendation, but we're happy to provide something of real value to everyone at the orphanage.

Our Ukrainian pantomime is getting better – this morning, Todd was able to convince the hotel 'floor mother' to wash our clothes today. She said that they would not be ready until tomorrow, but when we came home from dinner, we returned to quite the animated discussion. The clothes were ready! Clean, but still damp – a huge bag (about a week's worth of dirty clothes for two people) for 20 UAH (that's about $4) – what a deal!