WE ARE CRASHING THE SALT LAKE AIRPORT

Attention all people who love Becky and Kevin! Becky and Kev have graciously invited all of us to be at the airport when Max and Sergei arrive home. We are excited to have a BIG crowd. I am sure Kevin and the boys will be exhausted but this is a great chance for us to see the big homecoming before Becky and Kevin head home with their little family to get settled in.

I have a big suprise for the boys and Kevin so if you will send me an email at dana@equityutah.com, or comment here and let me know that you are coming to the airport and HOW YOU ARE RELATED TO MAX AND SERGEI (friend, aunt, cousin, etc.) that would be great.

It looks like they will be arriving some time on Saturday - when we have more details I will let you know. Can't wait!

UPDATE: It is looking like it may be Monday before Kevin and the boys make it home. The homecoming date is a moving target but we will keep you posted. If you think you may make send me an email or comment here. . .

Kevin...don't scream

Dramamine: check.
Medical Exams: check.
US Embassy Appointment: tomorrow.
Rearrange flights: Booked, as in SOOOO booked but we don't have seats.  Might have to wait to leave Ukraine until Monday JUNE 4th.
Arrival day: Good question!

Puke is lame...

The boys are OUT of the orphanage....FOREVER!!!! That is the good news...the bad news: Sergei puke the two hour drive to the airport, puke for the entire 90 min flight to Kiev and puke on the drive from the airport to the apartment in Kiev. They haven't even left Ukraine yet....poor Sergei...poor Kevin. Maksym is doing good but it sounds like they not be here on June 1st, maybe the 2nd. I will let you know as soon as I know more!

Official Day: 34 , Kevin gone 37 days

Memorial Day...yes, of course I cried...did you even need to ask? As we sat around the graves of those we loved and miss and gave thanks for all the US soldiers and their families, I was overwhelmed with emotion. We live in a country where we have freedoms and rights, were you really can make it. Men and women serve and sacrifice so our families and children are safe, so we remain free. I looked at my cute brother RJ and his beautiful wife (my super-sis Lisa) and family and am so grateful for all they have given. Grateful to my sister in law Alane, who has served our country with her whole heart since she was just 18. Gregory, who serves with so much honor, I am honored just to know him. A good boy who has grown to be a great man. To my Grandpas and Grandma Merry who served our country and who are in heaven now, still watching over and protecting my family. To all the soldiers who served, left their families, have broken hearts and whose families have suffered because of your service, thank you. It is your sacrifices that make this country great. It is your service that gives me the freedom and power to adopt these sons of mine. Sergei and Maksym become official citizens of the United States of America as soon as their feet touch US soil this Friday. I could not be more excited or more proud for them to be citizen of this great nation. My grandpa Bud Sobieski was on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He saw the thousands of dead “boys”, our US soldiers, on the sand and in the water, who gave everything they had for this country. My grandpa told my mom he was an “undecorated, unrecognized solider, just a regular solider.” To all the “boys”, men and women who serve our our great Nation....you are not just a soldier, you are our heroes.

Kevin and the boys leave the orphanage today, finally. Get birthcertificates and passport and stay overnight in Doneske. Tomorrow they complete medical exams and go to the US Embassy to complete more paperwork. Sleep in Kiev that night and wake at 4AM on the 31st to take the four airplane rides and one overnight stop in MN before they make it home to Utah, USA on June 1st , home of the brave and land of the free!

One last night...

I have some shopping to complete today.  The last of the gifts and their gift bags must be ready for tomorrow morning when we say dahs-day-vhan-YA to well – everyone.  I find everything on the list but when I get back home to set the clock on the desk pen set I discover that the battery is dead.  I go back to the store but they don’t sell batteries just pen sets with clocks in them that need batteries.  I try four other stores (two in the big four story mall) but no luck.  Giving a gift that isn’t working seems lame so I call up Alice for some advice on where the battery might be found.  Turns out I’ve been walking past a watch shop for four weeks that is right next to Natalka (okay pizza GREAT WiFi) and that watch shop has the battery – thank you Alice.

Gifts are go

So it seems that everyone is getting a gift of thanks from us as we all finally leave Ukraine except nothing for Alice.  So I gave her the bike.  I am a little sad about losing the bike but not knowing that I even had a bike Alice had mentioned that she really wanted to get one someday.  I can’t pack the thing and it is too big for most of the kids at the orphanage so it seemed fitting.  Please be safe!

I brought everything to the orphanage for the last visit just in case there was anything that Sergei or Maksym really wanted to do.  I was hoping that we could just kick the ball around and do some flips with as many kids as possible.  Last day that they will be about to do any of that with these kids.  Thankfully that is exactly what Sergei (and Maksym after his nap) had in mind.  Great day.

It is hard these last days to see Big Volva – there are not words.


I drop off a gift for the couple that I've been buying ice cream from in the park - they've been very nice.  On the way back Daniel from the AK-47 pellet shooting tent stops me on his BMX bike to say good bye.  That was nice of him - I ask him why he isn't manning the tent today and he says there is a holiday.  Now if I knew any Russian I could say what the holiday is.

Our remaining schedule now that the waiting period and holiday are both over looks like this:  Birth certificates then to Donest’k for the one day RED passports for Sergei and Maksym.  Then Wednesday to Kyiv with the possibility of an embassy appointment same day (maybe) – work that magic Sasha.  We also have a doctor’s visit but we could be done and ready for a plane home by Friday or Thursday if all of the above goes really fast like it did for the Gardiners.  Saturday day is our boys and girls Mama’s birthday so let’s shoot for that!

If I don’t post for a bit know that it is because we are getting it DONE.

Triple post! (три в одном)

May 25^th – Mud soccer

A front has moved through Mariupol and so the heat and sun has been replaced with cool (almost cold) and clouds.  I get a late start to the orphanage – I seem to procrastinate the start of the days few events.  Waiting too long to go to bed then waking up later then I could and then rolling down the hill late.  This also means that I’m leaving the orphanage later than five.  Once I get there and we start playing it makes it easy to want to stay.

Just before landing

We start today in the bird room to give the other family some time together in the book room.  Even with the cold and the staff warning Maksym of the cold he convinces Sergei to get him some pants and a long sleeve shirt so that we can go outside and try out some more time with the soccer ball.  Denis and Luca join us as does Big Volva.  We kick the ball around and Luca plays keep away from all of us – he is very good a juggling the ball and moving one way while getting the ball past you in another direction.  Volva (not big but Miller) gives Maksym a ride on the back of the bike using the bike rack for a seat.

Soccer field and basketball court
(I made Denis get in a photo)

All too soon it is time to go plus it has started to rain again.  Back at home I go for a walk in the rain to try out the pizza place’s WiFi next to the town McDonalds.  Verdict – it is slow.  I do find the local UPS partner in town.

A shot from overnight

May 26^th суббота

I had big plans the other day about going on the Bike Day ride this morning in Mariupol.  I guess I should start by going to bed early.  It was that or the cold or the low online turnout (three people) but I missed the ride.  Next year for sure.  I do make it to the orphanage so bonus points for managing that.

Today is the day of the computer – online games and saying hi to friends who come in to visit.

Kindle has worked with with Maksym and friends (Luca here)

On the ride home I take Lenin all the way down the hill and riding back up on a parallel street I find the city museum.  It is right around the corner from the hotel (the new hotel across from the apartment, the hotel whose name I don’t remember and I refuse to walk to the window right know to find the name out).  Just know at this point that there is a museum and that it closes at four.

May 27^th Destroy after reading

Pentecost Sunday – up early for the bike ride to Mass at Mary Mother of God across town.  Midpoint of the ride I get a flat tire.  Go home or go forward?  Go forward!  I start by walking because I have a lot of time still before nine o’clock.  So east I walk and walk and walk and then walk some more.  Blisters on my heels so no more walking.  I am now riding my bike around Eastern Europe with a flat rear tire and making an incredible racket because of the back rack is jumping all over the place.  I get lost, almost leave Mariupol, and get chased by at least three packs of wild dogs.  I feel like I am finally Ukrainian.  I’m late for church but in time to stay.  The babushkas can sing.  I know Alleluia and Peace by with you and it is enough.

The road to Ahrobaza from the other day

Now back outside on the east side of town I should just call a cab or better yet Sasha – the man needs a day off for once and besides I’m soooo Ukrainian right now (or so I think).  Ride the bike home.  So I’m riding home (and remember I’m a bit east of my home street) when somebody yells my name twice.  Well once is just your imagination but twice well I had to look.  It is Luca one of the older boys from the orphanage!  He’s the one with the sweet soccer moves.  Anyway I say hi and show him my awesome rear tire and then back down the street rattling along the way.  That is one tough tire – 30km on just the rim and the tire and the sidewall still looks brand new.  Can I just say that I was happy to be home in the apartment – thank you Lord!

Off to the motorcycle shop where I bought the bike last week to have the flat fixed.  I should have the tools to do this myself but I don’t have the patch kit and there are no quick releases on the Azimut.  Constantine is there again (he put my pedals on the bike last time and knows a little English).  So this place doesn't have spare tubes, just bikes (and motorcycles and tillers).  No problem as my new friend Motorcycle Sasha (also from the shop and not to be confused with Driver Sasha or Kiev\Facilitator Sasha) knows where another bike shop is in Mariupol that carries tubes.  Why do I call this Sasha Motorcycle Sasha?  That’s right because he has a motorcycle.  And because he and Constantine aren’t sure that I’ll find the place on mine own.  The right solution – get on the back and let Motorcycle Sasha take you there.  Heez YEAH!

Mariupol at 65kph is so choice.  The kph makes it sound even faster.

All of this cost me two Cokes and a beer.  I’ll pay that every time.

I guess I should say something about the day’s orphanage visit since that is the whole reason I am here.  No fear I did make it down the hill.  Things were quiet today for the most part – most of the time it was just the three of us out back kicking the ball around.  Sergei and I got in a good game of one on one on the ‘basketball court’ with a little help for Sergei from Maksym.  Sergei won both games – the first 8 to 11 and the second something like 20 to null (see above dude I am starting to get a little tired).

I didn’t take any pictures today.  I just wanted a day where we could hang out and kick that ball around like it was just any other normal day so it was nice to take a little break from the moment capturing.

Alright I hear the Hare Krishna band coming up Lenin – time to head to the park for a tiramisu ice-cream bar from the Ukrainian\Polish couple in the blue tent on the left.

Sweetest couple in town are at the blue tent

(Happy late Mothers Day MOM)

Day 30 of adoption, Day 34 of Kevin being gone...

Don't let me buy a vinyl machine...

This is a post I should have commissioned Katherine Ward to write for me. She is a true poet and could bring my emotions to paper, evoke tears and she is an editor so my Mom would not shake her head at my grammar and spelling. Katherine has a real job, so hold on, because I am just going to go for it on my own...

I landed in Salt Lake Monday, exhausted but so happy to have my feet on US soil and to be in the same country as my girls. My stomach was in knots making the drive home to where Suzy, Pearl and Charlotte were waiting for me. A huge banner hung across my front door to welcome me home, which my mom painstakingly had the world, my plane and my travel route marked out. (Mom, you rule and OCD is a gift.) I walked in and held my beautiful daughters, smelled their hair and touched my face to their soft skin...it had been so long. They held me tight and held no grudges for me leaving...their sweet hearts just wanted to know where their Daddy and brothers were.

(Birthday envelope invite...yep, I cried. My sweet neighbors love us)

My house was clean... NO...sparkling! I had no idea my floors and windows could ever look like that! My lawn mowed and edged, my fridge and pantry stocked. My sisters, Mom and Grammy Pammy had organized every cupboard, installed every target closet shelving system you could buy and loved my baby girls each and everyday with their whole hearts and then a little more. I was speechless, touched, overwhelmed. Every piece of laundry was clean and put away...not even one dirty sock...if that doesn't make a girl cry with joy, nothing will. We skyped with Kevin and I know his heart was heavy not being there with his girls. He swallowed his tears and gave the girl “googley eyes” on the TV to make them laugh.

I am so grateful, so grateful for all that we have, so grateful we have you in our lives. Our parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. Friends...dear friends, old and new, neighbors and all the strangers we have not met, who are not considered strangers in our hearts. If I could wrap my arms around you all, I would. I cried as I hugged Suzy's Pre-K teachers, Mrs. Knudsen and Mrs. Tatum on the last day of school, they have touched our lives just as each and everyone of you has. You love us, all seven of us, unconditionally, with your whole selves, with your open checkbooks, with your open arms with your prayerful hearts, with your words, spoken and written, of encouragement and love. You love us and I cannot write the the words; love, gratitude, thanks, touched, moved, overwhelmed, enough to convey the feelings in my heart. My heart is so full, my chest literally aches. (No Dana...it is not a medical thing...)

(Charlotte getting ready for her two brothers...Bring it!)

I cannot read a quote or a sappy saying without thinking of all you who have literally changed seven lives. CHANGED, you have changed our lives. You have brought children into our arms that have always belonged... from an ocean away. Our daughters have been protected both physically and spiritually, by host of angels in heaven and on earth during all of this. Thank you, with no other words and tears running down my cheeks, thank you.

As I read quotes pasted on Facebook pages and slapped on every little decorative board from Harmons to Target, I stand there, read it, cry a bit (no matter where I am) and think.... “Wow, that is a good one, I should have that laminated for the house.”

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”

“In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

and the list goes on and on....don't let me buy a vinyl machine.

I read these and I think of all of you. I wish I could list you each by name but the list is too long. From Grandpa John who maintained the yard and picked up the groceries, Aunt Robynne who empied Costco and hand delivered it to my door, to all my neighbors who brought flower, desserts (Emily...never make me those cupcakes again, I ate all 6) clothes and toys. To all of you and all thoses in-between, thank you.  Thank you for changing our lives, loving us and praying for our family, thank you for making this dream come true. Six more days until we are all together. Please pray and then pray some more for completed paperwork, safe and calm travels. (Max is 6 and has never been in a car before...four plane rides might be a little rough) Love you all!

Lost Churches of Mariupol or Stalin’s dynamite

From a book I was reading back home on martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic church there were approximately 80,000 churches in Ukraine before the October Revolution.  Today there are fewer than 8,000.  I don’t know of that surviving ten percent what number are government buildings or museums.  From reading through Old Mariupol and walking around town I’ve discovered three of those churches destroyed during the Soviet times.

Church of Mary Magdalene

Church of Mary Magdalene is now Theater Square and the public gardens.  This is the high point along Lenin Avenue where the road splits with the public garden in the middle.  Now there is a nice fountain, a classic theater building built in 1960 and then an open square.  Becky and I often finished our nights here either shooting an AK-47 pellet gun or getting an ice cream from the Polish\Ukrainian couple in the blue tent.  The park has a little carnival atmosphere every night as long as there is no rain.  There are karaoke machines, punching\kicking bags, and even a hammer thermometer.

From Old Mariupol: “Years have gone out to build a new church. Three chapels crowned this magnificent temple. The main limit was in honor of Mary Magdalene, right in the memory of the Protection of the Blessed. Mary, left - in honor of St. John the Baptist. According to the recollections of old residents, were kept in the church altarpieces icon of the Savior's time, and an old, beautifully embroidered shroud. The yard was in 1897. In the same memorable year in October, arrived in Mariupol Bishop Simeon, bishop of Ekaterinoslav Taganrog "in order to survey the church and the school district of Mariupol." October 16, 1897 Simon consecrated the new temple of the Holy Equal of the Apostles of Mary - Mary Magdalene and the Divine Liturgy celebrated. It also held all-night vigil, and the church took its full life. The next day, October 17, his Eminence was consecrated by Chief Simeon limit of Mary of Magdala, the church and the Divine Liturgy.” [sic. Google Translation]

The above picture shows the Church of Mary Magdalene looking west and up Lenin Avenue from where the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Harlampy would have looked over the Kalmius river port area.  It would have been sometime around the end of the nineteenth century.  Our adoption apartment building is a third or less way up the hill on the left side of the street with the black roof (maybe I think).  These two churches would have made for nice anchors between the harbor area where the city was founded and the high point of the growing city.

Sometime in the year 1934 the church was dynamited by the state.

The square today

Cathedral of St. Harlampy (СОБОР СВЯТОГО ХАРЛАМПИЯ)

From the Hotel Continental

From Old Mariupol:  “The main altar was consecrated in the name of the martyr Harlampy, right aisle - in honor of the miraculous icon in the name of the Great and George the Victorious, and the left - in the name of Saint. Nicholas, taking into account that "the saint is venerated Russian parishioners." This temple was the largest in the city, accommodating more than five thousand people. [sic. Google Translate]

From St. Catherine's Church

The cathedral was destroyed in 1930.  In its place is now an eight story government building in the Soviet style “DOSAAF - Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy, the aim of which was in Soviet times, promote the country's defense and the training of workers to defend the Fatherland. Among the inhabitants of Mariupol building now bears the same name, although at present there are offices of various organizations.”

Older file photo of the present building

“In the original draft it was supposed to be a four and is said to builders, extended in a straight line: thus, they say, would be cheaper for its construction. When the project has shown the first secretary of Party Committee V.M.Tsybulko, he said, after some hesitation, he asked: "What used to be on the site, where you're going to put the house of the military-technical school?" They showed him the pre-revolutionary postcard with a picture of the Cathedral of St.. Harlampy. "You see, the architects of the past knew how to decorate the city, and your work only brings boredom. Make the main avenue of the city began with a perceptible building high-rise. " If after this conversation, and there was eight-vertical box with two wings of four stories each.”

Looking down Lenin Avenue

Church of St. Catherine

The Church of St. Catherine (originally St. Harlampy) was the original Greek church that later became the Catholic church in Mariupol..  Buried there was Metropolitan Ignatius the man who led the Greeks in the Sea of ​​Azov, on the eastern custom, in a sitting position.  Before destroying the church the tomb was opened and the chair removed display in a museum.  Another interesting note at the start of the report from Old Mariupol is the mention of the church cornerstone:  “On the hottest day in 1780 a tireless Metropolitan Ignatius laid on the site of a former Cossack Palanca Center (Catholic) church for novoustroennogo Greek society.” [sic. Google Translate].  Maybe I can find out more about the Cossack and the Catholic references.  St. Catherine can been seen in the below to the left by a block or two of the larger St. Harlampy.

From the Cathedral bell tower

In reading about the construction of the larger and newer Greek Cathedral to St. Harlampy I have figured out the above Catholic reference.  This church was first built Greek Orthodox but was transferred to the Catholic community of Mariupol once the new Cathedral (just a block away) was constructed.  Until 2004 when Mary Mother of God church was established there was no Catholic church in Mariupol.  In Soviet Union the few churches that weren’t destroyed or turned into state run museums were limited to private worship.  No ministry work like hospitals or orphanages as that was all moved to the state.  Does any of this sound familiar at all back the US today?

Both chruches are visibile here
Photo taken from the general direction of our apartment but south off Lenin

Kaplichka

From the gardens (park) near the fountains

There isn’t much on Old Mariupol about this church but from the photo I can tell that it was just across the street from yesterday’s Church of Mary Magdalene and today’s garden fountains.  In background of the photo you can see Mariupol’s Winter Palace the Hotel Continental (left) with the pointed corner roof and the cathedral at the bottom of the street.  That hotel is kiddy corner from the building where our apartment it looks empty today.  In 1932 kaplichku (chapel) was destroyed, because "it hampered the movement of the toiling masses."

West from the fountains today

May 24th - I got a Basketball Jones

I have an early start to the morning today (at least by my endless summer standards here in Mariupol).  Our most awesome facilitator already has my main apartment all ready to go back up on Lenin Avenue so Sasha the driver takes me back and I get started on a nap.  The apartment has been cleaned up as well – these people are pros.

So spin down the hill to the orphanage and straight out the back we go for some outside play.  Today I get to hang with the big kids (and Maksym) and we alternate between soccer, tire flips, and bike touring.  The older kids are more reserved at first then the younger boys but we warm up soon enough to each other.  They are all really good and patient with Maksym who like Charlotte thinks he is big Max.  Maksym really likes to do the same flips off the meter high tire stack into the sand that the big boys are doing but he needs a spotter or two to make it happen (as in hold him the whole way).  The boys are always there to help and I give them a break after a bit and Maksym and I work on our tumbling technique.

Internet speeds have been sub modem at best while in Mariupol but I'm going to try another video upload here.  An earlier video of a dance failed after the first thirty seconds but I never checked on my end because of the half hour requirement to get the first thirty seconds down.

Now if you are keeping score back home you know that today is also basketball game day – again!  That’s right another evening out with the oldest son (sorry Max maybe we’ll swing a Utes game back home).  I talk with Natalia (charades really) and Sasha again works his wonderful magic so that I can go with Sergei and this time little Volva to the game.

The boys get ready early changing into some out on the town clothes that leave me looking a little under dressed in my shorts and flip-flops.  While waiting for the taxi we bring up the laptop and are able to connect to the basement TV back in Draper with Skype.  We even see Becky and sweet Pearl.  It is morning back in Utah and Becky is reminding Peal that when the show is over that is it for TV.  It is just like being there but they can’t hear us.

Stylin
Photo by Big Volva

Small hiccup with the taxi to the game as the taxi is waiting for us at the apartment but we are all waiting for the taxi at the orphanage – no worries Sasha works some magic behind the scenes and next thing we know we are at the game.  We get to sit with the other kids, say hello to Alice, and then watch another game get away from Azovmash in the last minute.  That was the season – no more basketball.  There was an awards ceremony afterwards and with all of the next cutting going on by the Donets’k players I finally figured out that this was the championship round.

Orphans get front row tonight

With the Donets'k Tigers star point guard
Photo by Oksana

Outside we find our taxi and head back to the orphanage.  I quick note here about me and trust.  I am not very trusting of other people and add to that I am also overly possessive of material things.  But today I left the bike and all the gear I brought down at the orphanage while at the game.  The day one me wouldn’t have done that but today it wasn’t a problem.  For me it was a little firsthand lesson from these boys of that bond of one another and not things.  It reminded me of that one part in the Acts of the Apostles – you now that one part where everyone was of one body a single community.  These kids to me seem very close like that at times.

Wednesday May 23rd

Slept in.  I am using the pillow over the head technique but for those families traveling here I would recommend an eye mask.  This temp apartment is a two bedroom so there is plenty of room.

I started the afternoon with a quick walk across the street to the supermarket and then to the orphanage with the daily bag of goodies.  I left the computer at home today to give Sergei a well-deserved break from having to play video games for the whole visit.  Maksym came right in and we started our time outside at the newly painted soccer court but we soon moved to the back of the outside court where the tire and sand jumping area is next to the basketball court.  I spent some extra time on the passing game with Maksym today since I didn’t see much of him yesterday.  This gave Sergei a chance to have to watch Max a little less and talk and play with his older friends.

A group of boys just older then Maksym came out and joined us in a game of kick the ball around.  They also showed off their English skills and asked me some questions – some of which I was even able to answer.  There was a point where they parroted some learned English slang.  I don’t know if they knew what it was they were saying but they are getting exposed to the swearing side of the English language.  Even if these little kids heard it from older kids the ultimate source is American pop culture.  I think I got across that the phrase was not good and should not be said.  Boys - I'll take two.

Some older boys came over the fence and did some flips with the oldest orphans but that did not last long as the guard from the front parking lot came around back and asked them to leave.  Again I am unsure of the full context but I am guessing they the boys meet others at school and that with a neighborhood full of twelve story apartment buildings there are some school friends nearby.

I tried to get away with staying a little longer – being in the back with the boys but it looks like 5:30PM is the longest I can go as the guard came  back again to remind me of the time using the universal language of pantomime.  Maksym cried but I think it was more related to his having to go as well no so much missing the heck out of me.

Two steps back to the temporary apartment and then back out again for dinner at Pasta Project.  I was going to test out Sergei’s assessment of the dessert as tooth breaking (Ukraine for one star).  I was also wishing to spend some time with some WiFi of greater then maybe tomorrow speed as I had some huge work videos that I wanted to download.  So I walk over and get the corner no smoking both, unload my electronic pile and order up dinner.  Becky has heard what comes next before – I then realized that my wallet was the one thing that I didn’t bring with me from the apartment.  Duu.  Waitress seems cool with the idea that I may or may not come back and I head out the door for some hryvnia.  It takes some time but I get half of the needed videos.   There is also some time to Skype with the girls back home.  If you haven’t met my daughters just know that they are super cute.  Oh my goodness they are super cute!

Back at the apartment I am locked out of the main door not having found out the entrance code from Natalia the other day.  Sasha is working the phone for the code when along comes a family of four to open the door.  The papa is not interested in having me join them but I manage to keep the door open and give a quick spaseeba as they pack into the elevator (max capacity 1.33 Americans) and I run up the stairs.  So it turns out we share the same outer door on the sixth floor.  They are kind and welcoming now that we’ve had to meet twice and I have a key to our door.  It was fun to have meat my neighbors in such a manner.

Picture context will be a little off again as I let Sergei keep the camera overnight.

Rulsan made the game the other night

Me trying to look cool

Max with Oksana who testified at our court hearing
(she was also at the game and is a friend of Alice)

After court

Mariupol history - Nazi occupation

Thank you Old Mariupol for all of this great history information from the founding of the modern day Mariupol by Orthodox Greeks (resettlement refugees from the Khanate on the Crimea) up to the founding of the present country of Ukraine (post-Soviet to oligarchy).  For the most part that is time before our boy’s lives but well I’m interested and it is the backdrop to present day Mariupol.

Mariupol by European city standards is just a baby as the Greeks only showed up here in 1778.  Before that it had also been a Cossack stronghold and before that there are several burial mounds from prehistory.  But modern Mariupol for being so young (just a bit older then Salt Lake City) has a long history, most of it I have found to be tragic.

There a many monuments in this city to the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People.  There are as many monuments to “Great Soviets” as was well like Lenin.  The Soviets are the flip side of the same coin as the then invading National Socialist but the winner gets to keep the statues.  For as terrible as WWII was for the US we never experienced the horror of occupation by Nazi forces.  Nazi’s ran Mariupol for two years from October 8, 1941 when their Panzer tanks rolled up The Avenue of The Republic  (now Lenin Avenue) until they retreated in 1943 burning the town behind them.  And yes there really is an eyewitness description of a Bureau City Party Committee meeting somewhere near where Mama Mia’s (house with a spire) now is and how someone looked out the window to see a SS officer walking up the avenue next to a tank with the painted iron cross.

One of the pictures in the below link shows the corner market where Becky and I have been buying our daily treats for the boys each morning.

http://old-mariupol.com.ua/okkupaciya-mariupolya-v-fotografiyax/

The first thing on the Nazi’s do to list (and you’d think that that list would be pretty long trying to win a war on two fronts plus Africa) was the extermination of the Jews of Mariupol.  I say it was the first thing because if you look at the timeline from Old Mariupol the extermination happens within days after capturing the city.

Near the village of Ahrobaza (Агробаза) about seven miles from Mariupol center on Lenin Avenue there was an anti-tank ditch.  Somewhere between six to eighteen thousand Jews – families were rounded up and walked west six to seven miles to that tank ditch and shot.  All of them.

To Ahrobaza

There was a memorial placed in remembrance by the Jewish community of Mariupol in October of 2004.  I rode out to Ahrobaza the other day and tried to find the memorial but I was unable to locate it along the main road north through the village.  I figured out today why I couldn’t find the memorial – it is in Mariupol at the Priazovsky Technical University where the Jews were first gathered by the Nazi’s prior to the march.  I am going to try to find the memorial tomorrow.

O’what a night

So the day started out easy – sleep in and then a little work.  I got a call from Sasha about the apartment move which will be 24 to 48 hours depending on how long it takes to fix the gas.  I didn’t bother to ask what was being fixed or upgraded.  For some less is more.  I was thinking I would end up at the apartment that the Gardiners used on the west end of Lenin but to my happy surprise it turned out that this temporary apartment is so close to the orphanage that you could throw a soccer ball at it from the gate.  It is the building in the background of some of the past soccer photos so it couldn’t be any closer.

Natalia showed me the room and her English is good enough that I was able to also ask about the Azovmash basketball game.  Dream a little dream folks because Sergei and I went to the game!  Now for a little flashback as to how we got there.  So back from the apartment I meet up with Sergei and we comes in and says no basketball for him today.  I couldn’t tell (or perhaps believe) that he wasn’t going so I tried to determine if he was just saying he did not want to go or that he could not go.  Right in the middle of this father son non-communication moment Lyudmila comes into the room and gives Sergei what sounds like a little bit of a what for and I assume at this point that the director has nixed the idea.  Sergei leaves and Ludmilla asks me to sit.  I do and I wait.  And wait.  In post-Soviet Ukraine you wait.  Sergei finally comes back in and asks me into Nitialia’s office where to my surprise I am told that Sergei will be able to stay with me tonight in the temporary apartment.

I know huh.

Lyudmila even comes in to confirm the plan (by the way we are now back on for the game and Sergei gets to bring a friend).  Best day ever right Suzy?  With Sasha’s kind help we even have Olga as our driver to the game.

After all of this great news we go back to the library room and in comes Maksym.  It is always great to see him – hugs for everybody then right to the exploring.

I have to force them to play computer games

Another family (from Seattle) is here today and they both speak Russian and Ukrainian.  The mom was nice enough to translate some of the transportation planning between the orphanage and the gym.  It turns out another group of kids form the orphanage will be going to this game so the three of us (Sergei, me, and Big Volva) will get to sit with them.

After a tough loss still time for fan photos

Not a good series so far for the Lions of Azovmash as our game ended in another loss.  I was close with Walsh looking to win it at the buzzer but pass and catch didn’t happen so we had to listen to the soccer fans from Donets’k chant to the winning team.

So with Sergei staying with me overnight I go for the home run and ask Alice if she will join us for dinner and some translating.  Alice is the team facilitator for the Azovmash basketball club and a native of Mariupol.  We let the boys pick the location and they pass on Pasta Project saying that they broke their teeth over the desert there last time.  Instead we go to the same restaurant that Sasha is always nice enough to take us to – I don’t remember the name but it has good food and a Ukrainian theme.  I do get a chance to talk with Sasha (our awesome facilitator) during dinner and we agree to nix the stay over with Sergei tonight given the gray legal status of our adoption process.  In other words we’ll wait for home shores.  We catch a taxi home to make sure that Big Volva and Sergei get home in time.

Our good friend Alice with Sergei and Volva

The temporary apartment is very nice and I have been enjoying a little change in scenery.  Without the bike with me it will also be nice to be able to walk five meters (yards for you imperialists) to the orphanage tomorrow.  With all that I do look forward to returning to home base up the hill on Lenin.

Day 26 & 27 - Becky arrives back home

(Quick note:  I’m dropping pictures and video that doesn’t relate directly with what I typed up but that I thought we be fun to see none the less.  It might be a little confusing but just know that the context isn’t direct to the post but to the time here in general, thanks.)

Maksym (photo by big brother)

Yesterday I missed posting about the day so I’ll try to catch up a bit on events.  I say events but really the big events are next week.  This week is just endless summer with the boys (on the grounds of the orphanage).  Cloudy all day yesterday which was nice as the heat was down as well.  Sergei did have school today so it was good that I showed up in the afternoon as Sasha suggested.  I think that Volva had the day off and I think it was because of an injured foot or toe – there was some bandage covering up the details.  Back in the USA he would have had to tuff it out at school but it was nice having him around with Sergei and Maksym.

Masha (Maria)

The mystery visitor keeps getting bigger and bigger in my imagination as today all of the boys had new haircuts which I’m convinced is part of the visit preparations.  We even had to play over in the back corner of the orphanage grounds I think because the soccer field (of sand and broken asphalt) was being kept in its pristine condition.

 Big Sergei (He's not really it just that our Sergei is little)

More flips from the other day- no tires yet

If one of the big boys does it so must Maksym – back flip off a tire stack into a pile of sand no problem for Max after all Volva and Sergei just did it.  Sergei would yell and yell and try every word in the Russian dictionary to get Max to stop with the flips but Max got in at least two dozen flips.  We played a little pass around with the soccer ball and everyone had a turn on the bike as well – yes Maksym as well.  He fits onto the back of the bike on the little tire rack quite well.  I might have to take him home that way one of these days.

The last part of the visit was another competition English where contestants matched their English wits against a growing variety of flash cards (thanks to the Gardiners for leaving them behind they’ve been very useful).  Fruit, vegetables, and home were the main subjects and again having them compete for points is a sure way to keep them focused.  Time, calendar, and numbers are where I would like to go next with them.  We let Maksym get away with the Russian words for now so that he is having fun with the game as well.

I don’t have any pictures of the afternoon right now as I let Sergei keep the camera again.  If I do get a chance to post there should be about an hour of video of them flipping from tires to sand.  Sergei would use the playback to perfect his form.

So I’ve been working on trying to understand as much as possible about the place from which my boys where born.  There is a fair amount of information on Ukraine and even more on Russia but I’ve not found much on Mariupol in particular.  My searching has been limited to Amazon for reads and Google for information.  I couple of days ago I ran across two things – first a website called Old Mariupol and a bubble problem with Google.

You can almost see Mama Mia's

I’ll start with Google.  If you search Ukraine or Mariupol from Google (or Bing for that matter) from the US using the .com extension you are going to get a Wikipedia link with a picture of the Mariupol city flag and a bunch of offers for a bride of your very own but not much more.  Now come to Mariupol and let Google now automatically assume you are Ukrainian and want to search using Google’s .ua address and you end up with a totally different list of links because Google has placed your search into a different bubble (more on filter bubbles here http://dontbubble.us/ and why DuckDuckGo should be added to your search engine list).  Well Google .ua is where I found Old Mariupol (http://old-mariupol.com.ua/) which has an in depth listing of history on the town – all in Russian.  So I don’t speak Russian but one nice thing that Google will do for you (right in the browser with Chrome) is translate the page to English.  I would say the translation makes sense about 80% of the time allowing me to read up on the city’s history now and work on my Russian reading later.

I would like to add some of the city’s history to the posts using Old Mariupol as my guide – I will post more on that later along with more pictures once I get the camera back from Sergei.  Next up is an apartment move, the afternoon visit and then Azovmash game three (thanks Alice)!

день 25

For today I went back using Sasha as a driver – I’m not quite into a bike ride to church with it being hot already in the morning.  First communion for a young girl today – I would have really liked to have Sergei there to hear the prayers in Russian.  Maybe we can try it in Kiev in a couple of weeks.  Good grief a couple of weeks hurts my fingers just typing it.   Whose garbage idea was this anyway to stay in Mariupol during the wait period?  I know that some of you might think and even dare to say that it was mine but whoever thought of it was an idiot.  Kidding, kidding – I just had to get that out.  That’s what happens after typing the phrase ‘a couple of weeks’.  Don’t get me wrong the time with the boys is invaluable and will make the move home easier for them but I am looking forward for the day when it is a whole day not just a visit.

So some big whig boss man is coming to visit the orphanage.  Everything is getting a fresh coat of paint – even the curbing and the tree trunks of all of the Horse Chestnuts.  Who that person is I don’t know as my attempt to Russian it out of Sergei resulted only in the affirmative hmm-hmm which is code for I don’t know what you just said to me.  I need to know больше Russian I guess.  I know that’s what I will work on for the next couple of weeks!

Sergei and Volva showed me a huge sandcastle that they had carved the day before out of a pile of sand brought in for the orphanage gentrification.  There was even a tunnel – all carved without any water just sand which was just wet enough to hold a shape.

Tsar of the castle

Just dry curb paint

I’m going to say we were all too tired to play soccer today.  Max and I had a little back and forth after he asked Olga to get me to play with him but for the most part we all sat in the shade and played around on the Kindle (thanks Conways).  We ended the visit back inside after Max had to go (to eat or sleep – either way not happy about it) where we got a couple of more photographs of some potential adoption kids.  They were kind enough to let us capture a couple of shots.  We also played some learn fruits in English game with Volva.  The competition worked well having the boys race get the right name in English first.  Sergei had the best score in the end but in Volva’s defense we’ve had Sergei in some serious Rocky II sort of training.  We also tried to Skype with Becky in Paris but she was offline so I packed it up and headed back out to the taxi for the apartment.

Saturday – first day on the bike and day 24

I almost got ran over this morning.  And no I wasn’t on my bike.  I was standing on the sidewalk waiting for the light to switch to green.  From the side street some dude decides the he needs to drive on the sidewalk instead of the road problem is that I’m in the way.  I got out of it will all my toes.

Loaded myself and the bike up with goodies and gear and rolled down the hill to the orphanage following behind a student driver the whole way.  Student driver – weird.  Anyway the orphanage guard seemed a little worried that I might go off and ride around the premises so he made extra sure that I parked the bike and sat on the couch to wait.  I waited but I did stand up to look at the hallway photographs which prompted one of the kitchen staff to remind me that I could wait seated.  Man do I need to work on my Russian.

The meeting and bird rooms where locked today so Sergei, Max, and I went outside straight away.  The bike was a big hit and also too big for everyone who tried riding it.  Maksym and I had some good soccer time together while everyone else tried to ride that bike.  Masha (Maria) fell hard and landed completely twisted into the bike but just like all of Max’s falls she said she was fine and all smiles.  I was glad for that because it looked painful.  All of the other rides went without incident which was good with all of the kids and staff outside today.

It fits!

I played goalie for a while with the older boys and they pretty much schooled me on the art of soccer.  I still can’t watch the game but it is great fun to play every day.  Sergei was on the bike or giving rides on the bike for most of my stay so I didn’t spend too much time just with him after the first hour but he was having a good time on the bike so I just played pass with Max.

мальчики

I brought a bunch of bananas (Becky style) but I couldn’t get anyone to take one – until the very end one of the boys accepted.  Right now I am wishing had brought one or two home as I have just finished cooking up the cherry perogies from the supermarket and they are an epic fail.

друзья

(No English lessons today – it’s Saturday people!  I did try to put some together at the end but it was more difficult not having a room to sit down in like we’ve had in days past.  I’m hoping we get ‘our’ room back for the remainder of our stay.)