Friday November 2, 2007

On Friday, Natalie (our translator) got a call from Vladimir (our facilitator). Apparently a boy named Pasha, who graduated from Roman’s orphanage/boarding school was working as a night guard at the boarding school. He as injured quite badly – trauma to his head and chest. He was either robbed and beat up or hit by a car – nobody really knows, but they believe he was hit by a car. Anyway, he was in the hospital and need treatment. We provided $200 to help purchase supplies for him so he could be treated. Apparently, the hospitals over here are meagerly equipped to treat those in need. If you want excellent treatment, you need to purchase the supplies to help treat you. This amount will apparently go towards our “thank you gift” we purchase for the orphanage before we leave. (Customarily, each family goes out with the director and purchases with him, a large item or some supplies for the orphanage to help them out. This is done as a customary “thank-you gift” at approximately $500 per family.)

In the late afternoon, we watched Ukrainian TV for a while and then played a “getting to know you game”. Cheryl asked about 10 questions such as:
•“What’s your favorite season (Roman and Nadia both Summer)
•“What’s your favorite color (Roman black and white, Nadia light green and blue)
•“If you have $50 and a day with nothing to do, what would you do?” (Roman, go to the movies, Nadia sleep)
•“What three words would your friends use to describe you?” (Nadia, crazy and sleepy, Roman, athletic, smart and funny)
•“What is your favorite characteristic about yourself?” (Roman – his intellect, Nadia her conscience – that she would have to tell the truth eventually)
•“If you could be good at three things, what would they be? “ (Roman - ???? –probably sports-, Nadia chemistry and interior design)
•“What is your favorite animal?” (Roman – lion, Nadia – dog)
•“What is your favorite food? (Roman – fried potatoes, Nadia – lasagna )

After our game, we ate our dinner which Cheryl put in the oven in the late afternoon - a roasted chicken and roasted potatoes and broccoli. The children really enjoyed this dish (except the broccoli). We had to feed Roman in a hurry as we had to get him back to the orphanage by about 8:00 pm. It is about a 30 minute taxi-bus ride back to his orphanage. (The taxi-buses are converted vans which seat about 10 people, and hold about 15. They charge 1 Ugr -$.20 for a ride. These are privately owned vans which follow the bus routes. They are very efficient and come every few minutes.)