November 16 2007-Vorzel-SNOW!

We walked through snow and ice to see Kara, it had gotten colder and the snow continued to float down and cover everything. It was beautiful and I loved seeing it, but Tom was sick with a kidney stone and I was fighting off a cold or an allergy to the feather pillows and wool blankets. We both felt rather ill. Meghan seemed fine, she adored all of the snow, she did not adore the food in the dining hall, so we bought her some things at the little market down the street.

Kara was not very happy that day either, she just cuddled to us and I enjoyed holding her a bit, most of those first visits we just followed her around the room after she was tired of the toys we brought for her. We did not bring her candies and such, she could not chew them.

We could not take her outside, the snow was very deep in the front yard of the orphanage, and it was snowing constantly. They did not let the children outside until the temperature was about 35 Celsius.

The trees were all over-burdened with snow and throughout the forest you could hear cracks as branches and old trees fell to the weight. We had to walk over a huge log in the front of out Corpuce to get to Kara that day.

We both wondered if the snow was going to be like this the entire time we were there, and were scouring the two little stores which sold clothing for snow boots and pants for Meghan, neither had any in her size. We needed to go to Kyiv or Irpen to look, but had not heard from Yelena for a couple of days, and could not get through to either her or Alex, our cell phones had hit or miss reception.

Yelena was off making arrangements for court, getting all the paperwork in order, as well as doing her regular job, and taking care of her son and home, I think that all of it was a bit overwhelming for her.

We decided not to take Meghan back to the orphanage that evening, I went by myself see Kara, Tom was in pain, and I think, happy to rest.

I was amazed at all the icicles, there were even some on the grills of cars. We had one that had formed on a vine outside our window, but never got a good picture of it.

The brown on the road is mud, salt and thick ice. We skidded on that all the way to the orphanage, we finally figured out that walking on the snow along the sides gave us better footing. I liked the way the teenagers got around, they would run and slide on the ice all the way down the road.

We watched a van trying to leave the orphanage directors office and they could not get up the little hill, the van would slide and skid, and we got well out of the way. The driver finally gave up and the van slid backwards to the driveway it had left, and went back the way it came.

We saw a lot of folks walking, but very few people in cars, we figured they could not afford cars and if they had them, they could not afford the chains or snow tires. You could tell our part of Vorzel was a poorer community. When we paid for our groceries at Market Chek, they were always amazed when they rang us up, it was akin to spending $20, but it was a lot of money to people making less than $3 an hour. We had to buy toilet tissue, Kleenex, paper plates, meat, cheese, and yogurt, and any fruit we could find. We got food Meghan wanted to eat, liquid yogurt (think Actonel) and lots of juice. We kept all of our food requiring refrigeration in the space between our windows. It stayed very cold and served as a refrigerator for us. We saw a lot of folks hanging their food in plastic bags from their windows, but it got freezing cold out there, so we used the window.

Meghan would not drink the milk, it was thick and sour and not what she was used to. Something adoptive parents need to keep in mind when they serve milk at home to their newly adopted children. Kara will not drink our milk here at all, but she eats yogurt so I am OK with that.

These were the windows which would serve as our refrigerator, the yogurt did not require refrigeration, but I did not know that then. We often got boiled eggs at night, and we noticed that most of our fellow diners would take the eggs back to their rooms, we all had a lot to eat, and the eggs were for later that evening. We often ate ours for breakfast when we had paperwork to do that day.

We had food at the dining hall, but Meghan and Tom we on a strike, neither liked the Kefir, the sour milk squares, the Buckwheat, beets, or the Cole slaw served at nearly every meal. They ate the yogurt at breakfast, though at times I would take it back to the room with us, Tom ate the bread, drank the tea, and had soup at lunch, but little else.

After a week of mashed potatoes, sometimes cold wheat noodles, or buckwheat served with gravy and a small piece of meat nearly every day, I think he had enough. (and what was served the day before was often part of breakfast the next day.) I personally was enjoying most of the the food, some was not a taste I was used to, like the beet salad, (which I still crave from time to time) but I loved cabbage, the pickles with lunch, Kefir at night (I put a teaspoon of sugar in my Kefir), so eating it daily did not bother me. I was not fond of the buckwheat though, nor the breakfasts served there, mashed potatoes for breakfast, it was too much.

I never did get used to the cold raw fish and onions they sat on the table weekly, though the few times Yelena joined me, she savored it, it is a country favorite. She also ate the caviar we had once, and I was glad to give it to her, I have never cultivated a taste for the very thing my grandfather used for fishing. I guess you have to grow up eating it?

I was upset with Tom for his attitude about the food served at the dining hall. To his defense, he was awfully sick with that kidney stone, so I am sure all the food had little taste anyway. It was difficult for me to sit and eat and try to enjoy the food, when he was moving everything away and buttering stale bread to eat instead.

I think all three of us were not at our best, it was a long first week and both Tom and I were trying to get over our Internet addictions, you do not realise how much you count on something until you do not have it...we did ask if we could please go to Kyiv to update this blog, but no one had the time to take us there. This made my husband VERY unhappy. I was beginning to take on the attitude of Que Sera Sera, what will be will be.