It's Groundhog Day

Rocky...


Day number 4 in Chernigivka 


Okay, so here’s the Groundhog Day story… It feels like Don and I are in a holding pattern here…just waiting for all the mounds of paperwork to get done and waiting around a lot. Our translator (Alla) is working hard and our file is 3 inches thick with 28 official documents.  The weather is gloomy and dreary here every day. We are staying in a little tiny apartment with no stove, no microwave, no dishwasher, only army cots to sleep in, and no pots or pans, etc. It is impossible to cook, so we eat out every day (every woman’s dream). Alla keeps taking us to her favorite restaurant. She says the other restaurant in town is not up to her standards. I can’t even believe what I am about to tell you, but it is true. 

We have eaten at this same restaurant for four days, and every day, the menu is the same thing….breaded chicken, french fries and cabbage salad…that’s it..nothing else is on the menu. Every day is the same. When we walk in the restaurant the owner says, "What would you like to eat?". It’s hilarious and today we could hardly contain ourselves when we she asked what we wanted…we knew the answer in advance… When we heard that it was breaded chicken, french fries and cabbage salad again, we couldn’t stop laughing about it for the rest of the day. We are still laughing now as I write this blog. Alla asked her if she could make something different, so, to mix it up they cooked…mashed potatoes instead of french fries for us.  Now, on top of having the same thing on the menu, the restaurant is never open. They are always closed whenever we go there. We have to go back at a different time, no matter what time it is. When we asked Alla why, she said, "Nobody in Ukraine eats out"....go figure… I don’t know how they stay in business! Nobody is ever in there except us.  

Now in the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray learns a valuable lesson. So I guess this is a lot like the movie. We are learning how precious our life is in the U.S. and how much others yearn to be there. It is heart wrenching to hear these orphan children say, “please, I want to come to America”. There is a boy (and his sister) who visited with us in our apartment tonight who is 17 years old. He will never get that opportunity. He will be aging out of the orphanage this year. 
On the brighter side..today was Roman’s 14^th birthday. We had a little party with his friends (upstairs in his classroom). We played some games. Please see video of one of those games. 

The boy in the movie with the white tennis shoes needs a home. He is such a great kid..patient and kind with the younger children. He is so polite and well-mannered. He would be any mother's dream. His sister, Halla, really needs a mommy. She is sweet. shy, and so loving. She would make be a really great big-sister.
We also had a birthday cake and candles in our apartment. Roman was on cloud nine all day. Want to hear what he got for his birthday?..a soccer ball, socks, deodorant, a couple shirts, laundry soap, and a nerf football. As I handed him the deodorant and socks, I thought about what my kids would have said at that age about those types of gifts. Roman was thrilled to get them.….during his 14 year life, Roman has never had a birthday party or a birthday cake ….now that made the whole day worthwhile!!