Ukraine Travel Journal

Day 11
We visited Timothy at the orphanage. We got to feed him today. I was really surprised at the quantity of food they gave us to feed him. I don't know if they were just trying to impress us but this guy had enough food to satisfy me. He was given a good size bowl of some sort of soup or broth with bread broken up in it. He also had another good size bowl of some sort of grain or cereal with some ground up chicken on the side. He was also given what looked like a cup of tea. We had just given him a banana and a cracker and some juice. He definitely didn't go hungry today. Later in the day we went shopping for clothes. We were shopping outside in an area where there were all kinds of people selling things. It was like a huge outdoor flea market except in the winter. I don't know how these people can stand around in the cold all day trying to sell their stuff. We had to buy everything from a coat and boots to shirts, pants, socks, mittens and pjs. The grivnas were flying out of my wallet. I'm glad our translator was with us. Figuring out sizes in metric was a challenge.

Day 12
On the way to the orphanage we saw an old motorcycle and sidecar cruising down the road. It's not what I imagined I would see in Ukraine in the winter time. We visited with Timothy for another 2 hours today. He is always eager to see what food we have for him. He acts hungry but after the portions I saw him get yesterday, I'm wondering why. We got to feed him the orphange meal again. He had one plate of beets and what looked like a mound of potatoes....not sure....they seemed pretty rubbery. He also got a bowl of what looked like a cross between soup and gravy. It had bread in it again. We fed him until he lost interest. It really was a good pile of food for someone his age. When we got done spending time with Timothy, we got dropped off at the apartment and then went out wandering on our own. We did a little more shopping and found a few small toys to distract Timothy on the way home. These outdoor markets have everything. There were people selling men's suits, puppies, tropical fish, birds, spices, produce of every kind, meat, boots, coats, toys, paintings, crafts and just about anything else you could imagine. Things are going well for us. We're just waiting for the process to end. We are waiting for our documents to be signed at the NAC in Kiev and then sent back here to where we are. If we do have the court hearing on Tuesday, we will then go to Timothy's town of birth to get a new birth certificate issued. We will also have to get his passport. Estimated day of arrival back home is still up in the air. There are just too many variables at this point.