I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.  So I watched the sunrise and listened to the rooster outside of the kitchen window.  Yes.. that's right... I have chickens running around outside.  Simferopol is a small town surrounded by farms.  People tie goats and cows out here like you'd see a dog tied out in the USA.

Loonya and I loaded up the car this morning.  I had bought a couple orphanage donations yesterday during the shopping trip.  The director requested a TV and VCR player.  So I picked up a 21" TV fairly cheap along with the player.  Both of them cost me about $190 usd.  There is only one place in Simferopol to use a credit card, so thats where we went shopping.  They only sell appliances there too, so I lucked out.  I'm trying to conserve cash for the embassy and those damn expediting fees.  I really prefer to call expediting fees - extortion money or blackmail.  Yeah.. those definitly fit better.   But ya know.. I'm just glad that this director asked for something that the kids would use and not cash.  Cause when they ask for cash, they skim the top.

So we went to the orphanage.  The director recorded what I had donated.  We got to take Roman to Simferopol for his passport photos.  Loonya had to write an "application" saying he was taking the boy and would be responsible.  It was funny... we had the photos taken and Roman wouldn't crack a smile.  I think he is selfconscious about his teeth.  They do not have toothbrushes at the orphanage, so he needs a dental appointment to clean and check for cavities.  After that we ran to the open market to find him some new shoes that fit.  The ones I bought the other day were a little too small.  He wears a European size 38 which I think is about 6 1/2 or 7 US.  We managed to find some nice looking shoes that cost 98 rph ($18-19 USD).  I will just donated the smaller ones to the orphanage because you can't return things to the open market.  Those kids really need clothing donations.

Next we stopped at the pizzaria for lunch about 1:00 p.m.  Roman had missed his meal at the orphanage and I wanted to make sure he ate.  He had 3/4 of one piece - probably the size of 2 pieces from a standard large pizza at Pizza Hut.  I need to fatten this boy up.  After lunch we went back to the orphanage.  I spent a few hours there teaching Roman some English.  The other kids kept hanging around us.  Roman was getting shy.  Its like he's either too shy to answer a question in front of them or just wanted me to himself.  So we went to the playground area and had some time there together.  Then the kids swarmed again, so Roman asked to sit in the car to learn.  So that's what we did and it worked out well.  I let him listen to the English CDs and he would write down the pronounciation in Russian and then the Russian translation.  He's a bright boy and is actually further along in school than I expected.  He writes very neat.  We had a good visit together.

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So far I like Donetsk best with regard to being a very pretty city.  Kiev has a lot more to do though.  Simferopol is too small for me, but you'll see a lot more houses here.  I wasn't in Yalta enough to make up my mind.  Yalta is pretty though with mountains to the north and the Blacksea to the south.

BTW for adoptive parents, I will put my daily costs on file here once I'm back in the states.  I'll break it out per adoption and per the time between them.  I'll include categories for lodging, food, taxi, etc.. etc..  You should have a good idea of what you're in for.