Dearest Alex,
Well, this was the penultimate day of visiting you. Only one more day of visits and then we will get to take you away with us. The funniest thing happened this morning. We were heading out the door to meet our driver, Sasha, when Sasha the facilitator called from Kiev and said that his car was broken down and a taxi would be pulling up outside at 10:00 am. He gave very specific instructions - it was black with the number 76 on it. So we dutifully waited. Within about 2 minutes, right on time, a grey taxi pulled up and stopped. It had a bunch of numbers on the side, maybe a phone number or address (I couldn’t tell which) but G3 and I looked at each other and just hopped in. We assumed that the colors had gotten mixed up, but how many taxis were there that would pull up outside our building at 10:00 am on a holiday here with the number 76 on it! The driver looked at us and started speaking in foreignese (couldn’t even tell if it was Russian or not), so G3 pulled out his phone and started to type on Google translate. Now, Google translate is usually pretty good for communicating the basics if you use short sentences. We haven’t had much trouble with people understanding it. But this was a first - I don’t know if he was not able to read or maybe didn’t understand Russian, only Ukrainian. But regardless of the reason, we were stuck without a way to communicate. So we had no choice but to call Sasha in Kiev on the phone and let him speak to the driver. We felt so bad and stupid of course. Poor Sasha has been so wonderful and he was just trying to have a quiet weekend holiday with his family, and here we are - unable to follow the simplest of explicit instructions!
This is the outside of the apartment building we are in now. We are on the 7th floor, with a little itty, bitty lift. It can only really fit 2 people. We will have to get a picture of it.
After a minute of talking to the taxi driver, he handed the phone back and Sasha confirmed what we were now fearing, this was not the right taxi. And right as we got out, a couple walked out of the apartment door right next to ours and waved at the taxi. I am sure they were wondering what these people were doing stealing their taxi!
We were so embarrassed. But as we turned around, there was a black taxi pulling in with the numbers 76 in its license plate. We very quietly slunk in and went to the orphanage. There was no more discussion of transportation, and when the driver left us, it was obvious he did not speak English, so we just assumed Sasha would call us when it was time to go. We did not want to call him back and be even more pesky that we already are.
We had a wonderful visit with everyone. You and Sergei, the Radzinski’s, and us, have all fallen into a routine of sorts, hanging out together. The only hard part is Max, who is so little that he keeps getting taken away to sleep by the orphanage staff, so he isn’t having the chance to interact with the other boys and families as much. It is hard because I think if he could see the other boys and how comfortable they are, he would be more at ease as well.
Anyway, we had a great time. The boys played video games for a long time on a variety of gaming devices from Nintendos to iphones to ipads. They were having a great time but every hour or so, we would pull you away and make you do some English study. I found a great workbook at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago and worked with you on it for a while. I was so pleased to see how well you read English. It was far advanced from what I thought you could read and what you can speak. But I guess thinking about it, that is the way I am in Russian and Spanish. I can read far faster and understand more reading than listening to native speakers and talking it.
Here we are working on some of the workbook. I was having to use the ipad to add a little bit to the lesson, but otherwise you were doing so good!
We drilled with some of the flash cards too and roped Sergei in to school work as well. It was fun doing it together.
Here are Sergei and you doing flashcards with me. Amanda was learning the Russian as you all were learning the English.
Then everyone filed outside for fun with sidewalk chalk. We had found some at a store near the apartment for about .50 a pack. It was a big hit, with even the older girls joining in. G3 drew a big hopscotch and everyone was having a great time. It was such a fun day with beautiful weather. The trees were starting to bud when we left to go to London, but now they are fully green and beautiful. There was a slight breeze blowing and clear blue sky. I think with the holiday and the weekend, the steel mills are not spewing out their usual pollution. You can really tell, and Mariupol is such a beautiful place without the pollution.
By now it was 1:00 and we were wondering about when to leave the orphanage. We hadn’t heard anything and as I mentioned earlier, we didn’t want to bother Sasha again. So we just waited. We played some card games with the boys, more video games, and more school work of course. At about 2:30 he called and asked if we were still there. We said yes and I think we have upset the apple cart a little because he told us it was too late to be there and we had to go. We felt really bad, we don’t want to upset anyone, but there was no one around, the orphanage staff didn’t seem to care, and we just figured when it was time to go, we would get called.
It was hard saying good-bye again, but I know that there will only be one more time of saying good-bye. Then, it will be lifetime of Hellos!
Love you bunches,
Bethany, G3, G4, & Amanda
The video game addicts! Absolutely riveted by their little screens. The building could have been falling down around them and I don't think they would have moved!
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