The Little Top
Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, three weeks into our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For the next few weeks, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane…
Wednesday, 6 June, 2007 – The Little Top
It dawned on us this morning that our time in Ukraine is almost over; we only have five more days in town. On Monday morning, our 10-day waiting period will be over, and the court decree for our adoption will be final. We will be able to pick up all the court documents and then go to the orphanage and pick up our daughter!!!
At about 5:30, we were off, and 10 minutes later, we pulled up to the circus tent. Unlike Monday, people swarmed the field. Performers had little stands set up to sell trinkets, and the aerialist couple had a large swing suspended from the peak of the Little Top. For 5 grivna, kids could ride up to the top of the tent and back down.
The girls all bought little balls on rubber bands, and a little light-up thing. It’s interesting to watch them all discuss amongst themselves and agree on what will be purchased, and then all get the same thing…they are very good at reaching agreements, but they don’t seem to realize that buying different things (or riding different rides) is even an option. They are sticking together!
Our thoughts….If we heard a news report next week that the tent collapsed in horrible flames, we would say “yeah, that seems about right.” Not that we want anything to happen, but the whole place seemed to be an accident waiting to happen. A 4-year old child was able to shake the whole structure by swinging on a support post; a performer dumped broken glass all over the ground early in the performance, and the finale “spinning chamber of flames” looked about to topple over. The butane fumes from all the fire acts quickly filled our nostrils, and we were coated with dust before the show began. It’s how we would imagine a traveling circus from the 1940s.
Have you ever seen a traveling circus? Leave a comment…
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About Christine
I am a writer, a project manager, and a corporate refugee with a heart for orphans around the world. My two daughters were adopted from Ukraine at ages 12 and 14. I post about writing, chasing dreams, and making a difference in the world, and sometimes I share fun snippets of fiction in-progress.