Look at this! I will be all caught up after this! Don't plan on it staying that way though! LOL By the way, I went back on whatever day our SDA appointment was (the post with only pictures) and added some information about it and all. Go back and check if you'd like. I know at least Steph had asked for that. :^)
Okay, on to today. With the bus schedules the way they are, we couldn't go to church AND visit Ira. At least for this week, we felt it was more important we visit with her instead. We caught a 10:30 bus to the village this morning. We got there about 12:30pm and then walked to the orphanage. It was quite cold! It only took us 15 or 20 minutes to walk there, but still! It's not too bad without wind, but man, that wind is a killer! Luckily it was only a gust here and there instead of all the time.
We were taken up to our usual room when we got there. The kids were eating lunch so it took Ira a minute to get up there. We had the psychologist with us and were told some interesting rules while Ira went to go get Little Masha to come play too. We aren't to communicate with the other children at all. No pictures. No wandering around the orphanage at all. And, we have to have the psychologist (or someone from the orphanage) with us in the room at all times. I don't mind someone being there with us all the time, but it's so hard to think about not being able to see the other kids or take pictures! Please pray for hearts to be softened as we visit so that the restrictions might be lifted.
We did have a nice time though before we headed back on the bus. The bus was quite cold as well so by the time we got home, some hot chocolate hit the spot. :^)
We're trying to move to a different apartment, hopefully tomorrow, so we don't know if we will be able to go visit again or not. It will be a place with unlimited internet as well as two hide-a-beds which will fit us better for when Lana is here with us. Our paperwork starts tomorrow as well, but I guess we don't need to do anything for that yet. It's all stuff Lana will take care of. Again, sorry I can't post the pictures yet! It was hard not to take any today! :^(
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Day 6 (Sat Feb 12th) - Dnepro - Visit Orphanage
Yesterday we slept in and took it easy in the morning. the orphanage director wanted us to visit sometime in the afternoon so we weren't in much of a hurry. By the time we got down to the bus station and got a schedule we found we were too late. By the time we took the bus out there we wouldn't have any time at all before we'd have to catch the last bus back to Dnepro.
Disappointed, we looked into taking a taxi and he was only 500 grevnas (about $40 or $50) so we decided that for that day it was worth it.
Holy cow though. He was a very skilled driver (I'm not sure I"d call it good) but he had very interesting tactics. Such things seem to be common here. For example, he was literally all over the road, going very slow, to avoid any potholes. I thought maybe he was afraid of fast speeds. Ha! Not so. More on that in a second.
We got a bit farther from the bus station and he started going a little faster. He would still pull into oncoming traffic to avoid potholes though. I would have thought another vehicle hitting him would have done more damage to his car, but what do I know?
The other very fun thing is most of the way we drove down the middle of the two lane road. Literally, the dividing line was going between our tires. This was happening whether there were other cars coming or not. It was especially interesting because the roads today were very snowy, not plowed, and we were going 120 km/hour at times. We did stop twice to help people that had slid off the road.
He told Masha he was a champion in a car race. LOL Watching him drive I can totally see that. He was super crazy but I always felt he knew what he was doing and had the skill to do it. That doesn't mean he didn't freak me out though!
The visit to the orphanage was awesome. Ira was back to her usual self. we got to see all the kids that had come over to America except for Yuri. We actually saw very few boys. Mostly because we were with girls, I think.
When we first got there we went into the same room we were in the day before. Masha and I went to the bathroom and got to see where Little Masha was having "sleeping hour." When we got back to the other room Little Ira was in there with Husband and Little One. It was good to see her again. Word soon got out that there were visitors and the kids started coming. It was so good to see them all again!!! I can't even think about having to say goodbye to them for good.
We sat and played with the kids. Mostly Husband. LOL He and Little Masha had a lot of fun together. Olga did Masha's and Little One's hair. Olga made Masha a little beaded spider. We also gave the kids the gifts from their families. It was fun just to visit and watch the kids interact. A good day. :^)
Disappointed, we looked into taking a taxi and he was only 500 grevnas (about $40 or $50) so we decided that for that day it was worth it.
Holy cow though. He was a very skilled driver (I'm not sure I"d call it good) but he had very interesting tactics. Such things seem to be common here. For example, he was literally all over the road, going very slow, to avoid any potholes. I thought maybe he was afraid of fast speeds. Ha! Not so. More on that in a second.
We got a bit farther from the bus station and he started going a little faster. He would still pull into oncoming traffic to avoid potholes though. I would have thought another vehicle hitting him would have done more damage to his car, but what do I know?
The other very fun thing is most of the way we drove down the middle of the two lane road. Literally, the dividing line was going between our tires. This was happening whether there were other cars coming or not. It was especially interesting because the roads today were very snowy, not plowed, and we were going 120 km/hour at times. We did stop twice to help people that had slid off the road.
He told Masha he was a champion in a car race. LOL Watching him drive I can totally see that. He was super crazy but I always felt he knew what he was doing and had the skill to do it. That doesn't mean he didn't freak me out though!
 |
| The outside of the orphanage |
When we first got there we went into the same room we were in the day before. Masha and I went to the bathroom and got to see where Little Masha was having "sleeping hour." When we got back to the other room Little Ira was in there with Husband and Little One. It was good to see her again. Word soon got out that there were visitors and the kids started coming. It was so good to see them all again!!! I can't even think about having to say goodbye to them for good.
We sat and played with the kids. Mostly Husband. LOL He and Little Masha had a lot of fun together. Olga did Masha's and Little One's hair. Olga made Masha a little beaded spider. We also gave the kids the gifts from their families. It was fun just to visit and watch the kids interact. A good day. :^)
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