I had to pay the bill for the last 2
nights I had the smaller room. I was running short of grivna, so I
wanted to get to the bank to exchange money before I left for the
day. I also hoped to get a pair of sweatpants to wear that weekend,
as my jeans had not been washed in almost a week and my other pants
were pretty dressy to wear to a camp retreat. I waked down to the
bank, which did not open until 9am, another 15 minutes. That would
give me time to get to the open air market and find some sweats. I
found a few potentials at one place, but not exactly what I wanted.
Then another place had some gray ones that seemed pretty warm and I
thought Ellie would like them when I got back home. I had been hoping
to spend less money, but ended up spending about $24. At this point
it was worth it, as I know I have a few more weeks of hanging around
with not much to do.
I went back to the bank and had the
same teller who has exchanged for me several times. I got out the
passport and she waived it away in recognition, she had seen it
enough times, I guess. I had no waiting this time and was able to get
back to the hotel quickly. I stuffed the sweats into my back pack and
brought my things downstairs. I paid and checked out. There was
another American there who we had seen before and we chatted a few
minutes. He offered to help me if I needed anything as he knew I was
there without my husband now. I thanked him and wished him well, as
he was there to try to find a wife. I had the clerk call a taxi for
me to get to the train as I did not want to have to take the suitcase
on the bus. The taxi got me there in plenty of time to get my ticket
from the same girl as yesterday and I went back to the platform to
find a place closer up front this time, hoping to get a seat.
 |
| No more sleeping in this bed for Sergei! |
The crowd must have been smaller today,
as I was able to get in and find a seat with space for my suitcase.
Not so many people were left standing. This time I did not have a
book or really anything to occupy my time. I had brought a muffin
that I planned to eat for breakfast but had not had time to eat
before, so I ate that about half way there. Otherwise, I just spent
my time people watching. Not sure why but this time the train was
faster. I texted Anika that I thought I would arrive a little after
12, she said the taxi would be waiting for me. We actually arrived
before noon, and fortunately, the taxi was already there. I loaded up
and he took me to the ophanage. I was not sure where to find Sergei.
Some of his friends were working in the yard to the left as I entered
the gate. They called out greetings and I greeted them in return.
Sergei was not there, so I went toward the sport field. He was not
there either. I went back to his friends that were near the gate
after depositing my suitcase in the gazebo. I did not want to have to
lug it all over. Dima (Deniss's brother) volunteered to help me find
Sergei. He went to the main building first to check the class
schedule. Then we went to the school building and checked in one
classroom and then a second. He found Sergei and Sergei came out to
me and then went back to let his teacher know that I was there. I
thanked Dima and he went back outside. Sergei was again glad to see
me. I asked if he had his things ready to go and we went back toward
his sleeproom. As we were going I got my suitcase and Nina came out
of the door and called Sergei. I was still concerned that she might
change her mind and although Ksenia believed it would be fine, I
still was unsure until I had him in the taxi with me. He came back
out a minute later and said Nina just asked if we were leaving yet.
He had told her that we were not leaving until later in the afternoon
and she was fine with that. He said that the teacher who had the key
to the clothes closet was not going to be back to the school until 3,
so he would not be able to get some of his stuff until then. I texted
Ksenia to let her know that we would not be able to leave until 3 and
she let our taxi know. So we had a while to wait and spent most of
the time in his sleeproom. We put in a movie to pass the time and
just before it ended, his teacher arrived with the key to the closet.
He got out his new shoes that I had given him. I had hoped he would
bring most of his stuff with him, but he only packed a few things. We
still had not gotten his camera back from the teacher that was
keeping it for him. Evidently she got sick and had not been to school
for a while. Once we had everything together, we went out to find
Sergei and load both our things in the taxi. Then we went in to talk
to Nina. She spoke with Sergei a bit and asked me how long we would
be in Sumy. I was not sure if she was planning for me bring him back
early, so I said I did not know, because we would have to wait there
for passports. She wanted to make sure that I would be back on the
31st to sign the documents. I assured her that I planned
to do that. I was relieved that she did not expect me to bring him
back before that. She gave Sergei back the phone that I had given
him. She gave me the email address for the school and asked if Sergei
could write to them, I said absolutely we would keep in touch. As we
were saying good -bye I gave Nina an envelope with a donation for the
school. Darren and I were not sure what to do, but we wanted to do a
little something as a thank you for letting Sergei come with me
earlier. We also hoped that it might do something to improve the
chances of more children getting to their families.
I was so relieved, he was free to go!!
As we were about to get in the taxi, he remembered the cell phone
charger was still in the closet. He went back to his room quickly for
it, but came back empty handed as it was locked again and no one was
around with a key. He got in beside me and we left once more, this
time I did not have to say good-bye! He was happy, he did not have
any sense of sadness at leaving everything he had known the past 8
years. I think I was a little sad for him. I know that at some point
in the future it will be hard for him. I hope that the photos and
contact with his friends that are in America will help make it
easier.
He was also happy that we would be
going to camp with the Open Arms team and was anxious to see Anika,
Annie and Melissa. But we still had several hours to get there. Taxi
Sergei got us to the bus station on Oktyrka. I hated to have to take
the bus again, but I did not want to wait for the 5:20pm train.
Sergei found us the right bus and spoke to the driver to tell him
that my Sergei spoke Russian, but that I did not and he let him know
where we were going. This time the bus was only 20 grivna each. Al
least it was a little cheaper than the other times. We waited a while
and then around 4:15pm left the station. Before we even got out of
Oktyrka, he pulled into a gas station and had everyone get out. All
the passengers went over to the side of the road near the exit. Most
had left their belongings on board, so we did the same. It was a
little weird to me, but everyone else seemed like it was normal.
After he filled up, he brought the bus over to us and we all loaded
back in. Finally we were on our way to Sumy. As we rode, I texted
Anika to figure out arrangements for getting Sergei and I to camp.
Once we hit the city limits, we were able to come up with a plan. She
had had to take a taxi back for a few things that they forgot and
would meet us at Mcdonald's. As we neared McDonald's I had Sergei
take his things to the front of the bus, I carried my stuff and we
got off across the street from Mcdonald's. We walked over and I
checked with Anika to see how soon she would be there. We were both
hungry and I thought we might buy some burgers. She said she would
only be 5 minutes and dinner would be ready when we got to camp. We
decided to pass on the burgers and eat at camp. She was there shortly
and we loaded our bags into the taxi. On the way out of town, he
stopped for gas as well. At least this time we could stay in the car.
Sergei was feeling a little car sick. I rolled his window down a
little and he tried to lay his head back and sleep. We had at least
another 20 or 30 minutes, so I hoped he would be able to sleep and
feel better. It looked like he was able to rest okay and by the time
we pulled into the camp, I had to wake him up.
 |
| Yarik and friends Playing Uno!! |
We took our stuff upstairs to the
bedrooms. Anika said that Yarik had saved Sergei a spot in his room
and we took his stuff in and claimed a bed for him. She took me to
the girls' room and I claimed my bed. Then we went down to eat.
Sergei found some friends and ate with them. Katya saw me and gave me
a hug and said she had missed me. She wanted me to sit with her. I
saw Yarik in the back of the room, but could not get to him until
after dinner. I was really happy for them to be able to get this
chance to be with their friends one last time.
The team had some activities for the
kids. Then later they had planned popcorn and a movie. I had
volunteered to help and they asked if I could do the cooking so they
would be more free to be with the kids. I was happy to do that, so my
first task was to make popcorn and hot chocolate. I got the popcorn
going while they did the activities with the kids. Then I heated the
milk for the hot chocolate. I made three big tubs of popcorn the old
fashioned way, on the stove top. Only one batch got a little burnt
when one of the kids came to ask me to help him find something. I am
so glad that Darren showed me how to make stove top popcorn recently!
It was a big hit.
 | |
| Sasha stirring the milk for hot chocolate |
In between stirring the milk, I was
able to come to the room where they were doing their last activity.
They all were wearing some type of costume and had to improvise some
type of situation. Most of it I could not understand, but it was
still hilarious. Hopefully the pictures will explain, where words can
not.
After the activity, Sergei was not
feeling well. I gave him some Ibuprofen and he decided to go to
sleep. He went up and put himself to bed. I gave him hugs and checked
on him later. I can imagine that today was a pretty big day for him
and that he had to be emotionally exhausted as well. I was pretty
tired myself and tried to last a little longer, but ended up getting
to bed earlier than everyone else as well. Unfortunately, the room
was freezing and the one small blanket was not warm enough to help me
get to sleep. I was still awake when the others came to bed. I did
not sleep well, that night...no one really did. Finally by morning,
it started to warm up and I slept a little, but not enough. Around
7:30am, I was awake and could not get back to sleep, so I went
downstairs to start breakfast. I was making breakfast pizzas and
needed to shred potatoes for the hash brown crust. But that is for
the next day's blog....
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