Forming a family through international adoption.
I couldn't see Roman today. His class was going to Yalta for a mini-vacation. I'm glad they are taking the kids out of the orphanage to do something - anything. So I got up and hit the internet cafe to check in with the folks. Loonya and I went grocery shopping afterward. There is a big indoor market about 15 minutes from the apartment. Its an experience. You walk into this huge warehouse size room with a very high ceiling. Inside it looks like a fleamarket. There are many tables setup in rows and on each table are goods forsale. Meats are just laying there in a pile - not very sanitary and no telling how long they have been laying out. There isn't any refrigeration for meats in these type of markets. We picked up some cured salami (something safe) along with cheese, and some fruit. They have some strange fruits here. This one looks like a small seed pod from a tree. They come in purple or green color and taste very good, like a sweet-tart. We also picked up a large jug of bottled water (non-gas type). On the way back to the apartment we stopped at a children's park. Loonya wanted a beer and to "chill out". So we sat and watched the kids for a bit.
After returning to the apartment we fixed lunch. Their idea of a sandwhich here isn't like ours. They just use one piece of bread and then put something on top. There isn't a top slice of bread. So I've gotten use to eating cheese sandwiches with butter and salami. They also drink fruit juices here like crazy. They drink juice like I drink ice-tea and diet coke.
After lunch I went and sat on the bench outside of the apartment. The apartment building is off a side road in the city. Like most areas it looks like a dive. Behind the building is the entrance to my apartment. Outside some of the residents have taken up farming. There are a few small gardens, flower bed, chicken coop, and sheds. I spent the afternoon talking with an older man who doesn't speak much English. He's a retired Russian Boats-man and has a small dog which he named "Boatsman". The dog isn't very friendly but makes a good guard dog. At night he sleeps outside of our door. The old guy has two daughters. One just had a baby 1 month ago and still lives at home with her husband. The other lives there too but has a visiting boy-friend. Their apartment is the size of mine which has a living room, 1 bedroom, small kitchen and bath. I've no idea how they manage with that many people in that size of a home. He's a nice old guy and loves to talk with me even though he knows I have no clue what he's saying.
Oh yeah.. I finally got my cat withdraws satisfied. There is a part grey tabby - persian cat that is extremely friendly. I was sitting on this bench talking to the old man when this cat hopped up and crawled in my lap. After a short period of petting, she perched on my shoulder and purred up a storm. I miss my cat. 
About 5:00 Loonya and I were bored so went for a walk in town. We sat and watched some folks going by and all the sudden he would stop some people and ask them if they knew English and to speak with me. I'm not sure what he was telling them! So we had several conversations with total strangers for the next few hours. I guess I was the entertainment for the night. We made it back to the apartment about 8:00p.m. I sat outside with the old guy and Boatsman for a bit then went to bed. I'm going to have to learn what that man's name is.
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RAMBLING...
New folks - bring a clothes line with you. I also found Frabreeze to be handy.
The weather here is not predictable. We went from hot to cold to mild to cold to hot. We had a mixture of rain and sunny days. So bring a jacket with a liner you can zip out if you need. Also bring an umbrella or buy one here for about $4.
I haven't used too many zip-lock bags except to store open food in. The translators seems to like them and asked if I could leave the leftover ones with them when I leave. I'll probably save 4-5 to store dirty diapers in after I pick up Chris.
I brought a nice outfit for court and the NAC. I don't think it made much difference. I wore it at the NAC but when adopting Chris.. things moved so fast I didn't have time to change before court. I went in black jeans and a red shirt. What I was wearing was fine. Court was not very formal. It was just an office room with a young girl who was the judge and a girl taking notes. I probably could have been the judge's mother. She had to lean over and correct the spelling of the girl who was taking notes. I felt like I was sitting in a room with two highschool students.
When I see police here there are usually 2-3 just standing around talking. They pull people over every now and then to check their car documents. And of course if they want money, they pull you over. Loonya was pulled over 3 times in Yalta & Simferopol when he didn't do anything wrong. The police just wanted money so pulled him over and said they'd let him go if he paid X-amount. They were picking on him because his license plate showed that he was from another region. The police are very corrupt here.
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