Catching Back Up - Sunday

It has been a few days since we have been able to post and you will understand why after I explain the events of the past days.  I will try to keep to a daily update so that I don't forget anything.  Many of you who follow Kelly on Facebook know some of the details already so I will try not to be too repetitive...

We went with the Mariia's orphanage group to a cat show on Sunday.  We had no idea what to expect and found out while walking to the orphanage that our translator was not going to meet us!  The kids left the orphanage in waves by group.  Their groups are like their family units and we are finding they really stick together.  It has been impressive to see how the older kids in the group take care of the younger ones.  They truly act like big brothers and sisters among each other.  We walked about a mile through the city to a small civic center. 

The cat show was not what you would think...at least what we thought.  It was a room about the size of a quarter of a gym with four long rows of tables.  Cat cages were side to side on all the tables and you simply walked around looking at the cats.  More cats with out hair than I have seen in my life!  The kids did enjoy getting out though and we spent quality time with Mariia and some of her friends.

We did laugh as we spent 35 minutes walking there, 10 minutes looking at cats and 35 minutes returning!

The rest of the day was spent with Mariia and her friends playing inside and outside the orphanage.  Unfortunately, the pictures below are only from the afternoon.  After taking probably 200 pictures in the morning, we realized that one of the kids hit "delete all" on the camera.  We have since stop letting them take the camera out of our sight.

We spent a lot of time at the orphanage on Sunday and began to see life in an institution from ground level.  We will probably post more at a different time about some of the realities we are coming to understand about these kid's lives.  The more time we spend with Mariia and the other kids, it sinks in what they face each day...and the tough future they have ahead of them.  Again, words for another time.

Playground that is next to the "baby house" where kids 5 and under live.  Older kids can play on it as well.

As you see, "bunny ears" is a national pastime in Ukraine Orphanages!

Just hanging out on the playground!

Response that "no more candy bars" gets!

Our challenges began Sunday night when we heard from our facilitator, Tanya, that the outlook for our meeting that was to occur Monday was not good.  The Inspector (child services director for this region) told Tanya she was not in favor of us adopting Mariia given her family relationship with Kiril.  They want us to adopt both children...even though they know that the Charbonneau's, who he loves and adores, are coming for him soon.  She told us that we would talk more at our meeting on Monday.  On top of that unsettling news, Kelly got food poisoning Sunday night.  For families reading this with plans to adopt here, do not eat any pasta dish that looks like fettuccine alfredo when in country.  It was a rough night for Kelly as she did not sleep much at all and felt worse than she has ever felt since I have known her. 

We have been speaking to the kids regularly, mostly on the phone as Skype has been a little unreliable for us.  Larry and Sandy took them to church on Sunday and then spent time making video's for the kid's school projects.  Thank you to all who have checked in with them as I know they appreciate hearing familiar voices...and so do we if you have Skype!