Um…

Monday, 4 June

I spoke too soon about the rain. And the heat. And if there’s not much to do except go to the park on days that are hot and sunny, there’s even less when it’s cold and rainy.

We spent another quiet morning reading, writing, going through photos. We received calls from both Sveta and Kseniya to coordinate our driver to pick us up at noon, but when noon rolled around, there was no driver. At about 12:15, Kseniya called to tell us that they couldn’t find our driver and that they were looking for another driver to cover for us.

Fortunately, Kseniya has a friend who drives a taxi, and he was able to fill in. He arrived about 12:45, with instructions to take us to exchange money and then to the orphanage. When we got in, he asked us how much we needed to exchange, and I scrambled to remember the word for $200 (advice when coming to Ukraine…learn numbers in Russian!!!). He chattered on for a minute, and I figured out that he was making sure we all agreed that the exchange rate of 5 grivna to a dollar was current and fair, and then he whipped out 1000 grivna and handed it to me, while careening around the town center. With a bit of surprise, Mark fished out $200, and Oleg proved that efficiency is known to *some* in Ukraine!

When we arrived at the orphanage, Kseniya asked us to wait in the Room of the Loud Bird, and Masha appeared a few seconds later. We were told that the Director wanted to speak with us (which was good because we wanted to speak with her, too), so while we waited for her, we pulled out the laptop and showed Masha through some of the photos from the past few days. When we were called in, we left Masha on the couch with it.

We came back out about 30 minutes later, and Amina had arrived. They had pulled up an MP3 player application, but hadn’t yet found the play button. By the time we emerged from the psychologist’s office after half hour, the girls had gotten a DVD from upstairs and were watching that. They popped it out, and Amina scrambled back upstairs when we announced it was finally time to leave for lunch.

For the entirety of the hosting time last summer, Masha called us Mark and Christine. Since we’ve been here, she’s still called us Mark and Christine, but she’s also been calling us “Um.” Kind of like when you first get married and you’re not entirely sure what to call your in-laws, we’re hearing a hesitance from her…. “do I call them Mom and Dad, or Mark and Christine? I am not sure. I think I will call them Um.” We are referring to ourselves as Mama and Papa, but not forcing the issue. So when we took Masha for a quick, uneventful cafeteria lunch, I was encouraged that she called me “Ma” when she offered me a bite of her ham salad. At least, I hope it was “Ma” and not a dyslexic “Um.”

After lunch, we took Masha back to the orphanage and made arrangements to return at 5:00; we had received special permission to take the girls to the circus that night to celebrate Fred and Lisa’s successful court hearing! We all piled into the cars and headed through an unfamiliar part of town to the circus venue. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but it was certainly not the Memorial Coliseum! It wasn’t even a Big Top…is was more like a Small Top.

Perched on a knoll beside the streetcar tracks, between two high-rise apartment buildings, was a bright orange and yellow tent. A few small trailers dotted the lot behind the tent, and a muddy trail led to the ticket booth that sat in front. We were a bit early, but no people could be seen on the grounds. The girls rushed ahead, and were deep in conference when Kseniya announced to us that there was no circus performance tonight. Uh oh.

She promised the girls that we could all go on Wednesday when shows resumed. We were amazed that they all handled this news quite well, shifted gears, and asked to go to the park. Despite the fact that it was in the low 60s, overcast, and sprinkling rain off and on, we agreed. The girls were so happy just to be together again that they were all in great spirits, even when we arrived and announced that none of the park rides were running. They just raced off to the playground and had a grand time.

At one point, Masha came up to me and asked “I want to bubble gum.” She got the requested gum and a huge hug along with “Good English!” from me! Right now, it’s the effort that gets the reward…we’ll worry about correcting her later!!!

We returned them late and tired to the orphanage, and we headed home. Quick stop at the grocery for a couple things, and we were in for the night.

On a side note, our meetings with the Director and Psychologist were very good. We talked a lot about Masha’s recent moods. They agree that she is afraid of coming to the US, but that she still loves us very much and wants to go with us. Both meetings were very informative, and we learned a lot about how to tailor our efforts when we get back home. We talked with the psychologist about some very concrete strategies to help her adjust, to build trust, and to motivate and encourage her. It’s also very interesting to compare her personality traits and coping styles to our own; God knew what he was doing when he put us all together, and she is definitely our daughter!!!