Today I went alone (let Cheryl, Nadia and Natalie sleep in) to the Orphanage to play with Roman. On my way to the taxi/bus stop, I stopped in the bank and tried to exchange a 500 Ugr bill ($100) into smaller denominations (1-200 and 3-100s). I was surprised when the bank teller would not accommodate my request. Later on I asked Natalie why I wasn’t able to make this exchange. She indicated sometimes banks will not accommodate this type of request – but that you need to purchase something at the store to get smaller denominations. Different – hmmmm (still scratching my head on this one).
I arrived at the orphanage at about 10:30 am. I took the number 3 taxi bus to the orphanage and forgot to get off at the turn to the orphanage. The next stop – 1/3 mile was the end of the line so I had to back track to the street where the orphanage is located. When I got off the bus, I noticed a grave yard kitty-corner to the bust stop. It was cool! I’ll have to get some pictures. Similar in many respects to our cemeteries in the US, but unique in their own way (large metal crosses on top of the head stones, etc.) I enjoyed the walk to the orphanage amongst the beautiful country foliage. I was finally able to take a picture of the ‘missing man-hole cover’. The theory/story behind this is that sometimes people will take the manhole covers (or other heavy metal objects) and sell them for scrap. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for this situation to resolve itself in Ukraine. Note that a vigilant citizen has performed their civic duty by placing a warning flag so cars will not drop in the uncovered hole.
Road to Orphanage
Missing Man-Hole Cover
Entering Orphanage Grounds
Common Room 3rd Floor Dormitory
At the orphanage I played basket ball with Roman. We played a game called “33” in which you earn 3 points for each basket you make. If the other person misses, you must shoot the ball where you retrieve it on the court. If you make a basket and earn 3 points, the next shot(s) you take is from the foul line. You keep shooting until you miss. One you hit “30” points, you must make three shots from the vicinity of the foul line. Two other boys came out (Kola and Vlad) and we divided into teams and played two on two basketball. It was a lot of fun. Even though I stink at basketball – too embarrassed to even play with the elders once a week at the church - I felt pretty good about my game with these Ukrainian orphans. I teamed up with Kola and tried to give him opportunities to shoot. If we ever needed points, I would just go in for a lay-up and score to help even out the score. Of course, Roman, in his athletic style centered on football (soccer) would try ‘tricky’ ball handling techniques such as dribbling the ball through my legs (which was successful on the first attempt). I was able to handle the ball reasonably well as long as I stayed away from the outer left side of the court where the frost heave and grass growing on the court made it more difficult to dribble the ball.
After basketball, we went on the football (soccer) pitch and played two-on-two football. It was Roman and Dad against Vlad and another boy, Serge. I feel I held my own on the soccer field. Roman and I were able to win 8 to 4 when we stopped. Roman is very good at football and was able (with my weak attempts) to produce a winning team.
After a Game of Football
Maria (Roman’s ‘mother teacher’) came out and stopped the game and asked me if I would like to go to the hospital and visit Posha – the boy who was beat up – whom we provided $200 for his medical treatment (see Friday November 2nd entry). I was very happy to go so Roman, me and another boy went with Edward, a single man who has been very supportive – both emotionally and financially - of the orphanage and its mission. He has even adopted a child from there as his own. Edward drove us to the hospital in his car.
The hospitals in Ukraine are not what one would expect to find in the US. I thought I might see Florence Nightingale emerge from one of the rooms dressed in her period clothing. Although the Ukraine nurses dress more modern, the physical surroundings, rooms, beds, etc. are from a former era than what I’m used to seeing in the US. Even though the hospitals are not as modern in the US – after one receives initial medical treatment – a bed, room, and kind and attentive nurses are really no different in the US than in Ukraine.
What struck me as unusual was that we had to check our coats at the entry of the hospital. I’m not sure if it was for security purposes, hygiene, or a combination of both. All visitors then had to drape a white cotton ‘shawl’ around their shoulders (I’m sure for hygiene) prior to entering any of the patient rooms. These shawls were shared between leaving and coming visitors – in fact Edward would ask leaving visitors for their shawl so we all eventually had shawls on prior to going in to going in to see Posha. Roman received a white coat versus a shawl. I teased him and took a picture of Dr. Kuzmin.
Dr. Roman Kuzmin Kildair
I was able to visit with Posha. He will be in the hospital for another two weeks and probably not be able to return to his work for another month. His eye was black and blue and he had heavy bruising on his back where he had apparently been kicked. He doesn’t remember anything that happened to him. He told me (through Roman translating) that he was found in the street early the next morning (luckily) by medics in ambulance that spotted him on the side of the road.
After we went to the hospital, Edward drove us around to see some of Sumy. We stopped at a Greek Orthodox Church and went inside. Edward lit a candle for Poasha and I look around in awe at the beautifully appointed church. I noticed some older women wearing scarves over their head. I asked Roman and Edward where the people sat for mass. They said the congregation stands while the services are being held. I then had a better understanding of Nadia’s questions to the missionaries the day before.
Calvin and Roman in Front of Greek Orthodox Church
Edward took us back to the orphanage where I enjoyed a lunch with Roman in the cafeteria. I thought this was good for me to experience what Roman had lived with for the majority of his life. We ate some potato and rice soup with another dish with cabbage, pasta and a small portion (two normal bites) of meat. The drink was a boiled fruit of some type. I didn’t care for the drink on my first taste and thought I’d try it again, hoping I would some how learn to appreciate it in my one-minute interval between sips. After my second taste I was able to put my finger on exactly what I was drinking: the flavor of old burnt tobacco and smelly cigarette butts obtained by licking the bottom of an ash tray from a cheap, dimly lit saloon. I ate the entire dinner, giving Roman ½ my meat and politely declining the balance of my drink.
Dad and Roman at the Orphanage Cafeteria
While I was at the orphanage and hospital with Roman, Cheryl stayed in Sumy and went to an art gallery with Natalie, our translator. Nadia went to visit some friends from her school. We all met up at our apartment about 4:00 and ate some supper. After supper, I took out the trash and noted it was completely dark. Lights were burning from the various apartment buildings and it was cold! I pulled out my cell phone and was surprised to see that it was only 4:50 pm. It gets dark very early here and apparently at the peak of the Winter solstice (12/21) it gets dark at about 4:00 pm.
This evening we went shopping at the Billa supermarket and loaded up on groceries. We spent $65 and came home with 8 bags loaded with groceries. All of the prices at the store are probably 60% - 80% of what we pay in the US, and that is inclusive of a 20% sales tax! At the bottom of your grocery receipts, the total is broken out to show the 20% sales tax.
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