31 people crammed into a van on our way to eat pizza… FREE (courtesy of the orphanage)
Enough pizza, salad, chicken nuggets, french fries, jello, Coke, Fanta, Sprite and ICE CREAM to stuff all the kids… 1,000 greevna ($125)
The smile on Zhenya’s face the entire time as she hung out with her friends for an unforgettable lunch… PRICELESS!
Maybe it’s because we know we’re headed to court in the morning and then we’ll be on our way home… whatever the reason, it seems like today has been the best day of our trip so far! We had such a great time with all the kids from Zhenya’s class. It is class 9-A. There are 3 ninth grade classes with a total of 65 kids who will “graduate” from the orphanage this year. As you look through the pictures, remember the faces of these young people – they really need a support system!
Katya & Kristina went with us today and had a good time as well. Seeing Zhenya just let loose for the first time this trip and really enjoy herself was wonderful. She sat with us at lunch, smiling the entire time, and taking tons of pictures. She even got other kids to take a bunch of pictures of her and her friends (something we’ve wanted to capture this entire trip!). I don’t think her smile ever left her face and by the time all 31 of us got back to the orphanage and unloaded from the van, I held out my arms and she wrapped hers around me a squeezed me tight. It made her day & in turn made ours! I don’t think we could have done anything better as a “farewell party” for her. Most of the kids in her class have most likely never been to a restaurant. Just getting to order whatever they wanted was so fascinating to watch! They couldn’t believe they could order more than one thing. And when it came time for ice cream, no one turned it down. We’ve never had so much fun watching teenagers eat ice cream! They had all dressed up for the occasion and given their lunches away at the orphanage to save room for their restaurant food. I don’t think there was any food left on the tables – they ate every bite!
We were taken up to Zhenya’s floor and shown around after lunch. By this time, we had quite a group of boys and girls following us around wanting to know all about “Vamerika”. They called them for snack time and they begged us to stay – they skipped snack to just sit and talk. We helped them with English and they helped us with Russian – they frequently laughed as I tried to repeat words. One of Zhenya’s friends asked me if I have 6 children, I said yes. She said “could you take 25 more?” (the number of kids in that class). She asked if she and her sisters could go back in our suitcases. I explained that I would if I could. There are so many kids that will “age-out” of the system here without any family supporting them… it’s something we really cannot imagine!
So many thoughts running through our minds, but for now we are packing! Can’t wait to be home! Court is at 9am tomorrow and then we will head to the airport in Donetsk. Will take about 35+ hours of travel and then we’ll be home! Keep praying for us and the girls… so much more we want to say, but it will have to wait until we are home.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have been following your blog. We were both in Ukraine at the same time. You went home for your 10 day wait, but have not come back to post anything else. I am praying all is fine with y’all. I am still here and have been for 5 weeks and about 3-4 to go.