Our 1st visit to the Orphanage....

Today was a good day.  Firstly, because I slept for about 6 hours last night.  I guess my body finally decided it needed some rest.  S (the director) came to pick us up around 11:30am and we spent the day at the orphanage.  It was great to finally meet all the children & their caretakers.  Even a couple that were not working today made an effort to come by to meet us.  I guess you could say that we were the "main event".  The only time we were alone was in the restroom & for a few minutes to talk to our friends in Humble on Skype.  (G-d, I LOVE technology!!!)  All the children were so happy to see us.  Of course, we brought some presents for everyone, but the biggest hit was the Halloween Hair Spray dye.  I think the boys liked it as much as the girls.

We thought we would be bored to tears, but we were taken care of very well & entertained beyond our expectations.  We got to tour the orphanage, look at everyone's photo albums, along with other personal prized items.  Around lunch time, the kitchen was the center of all the action.  All the children & caretakers gathered around & started preparing our meal.  Some were peeling potatoes, others were chopping onions, some were making these really good little snack-like sandwiches (the bread here is the best).  After an hour or so, we finally got to try our first bowl of Ukrainian Borsht, along with some sort of chicken/corn/pineapple/mayo concoction....the pineapple part was pretty good, but of course, I didn't eat the other part.  We also sampled some sweets...I have no idea what they were, but were pretty good.

We ended our day at the local grocery store, where we bought some much needed items...soft toilet paper, some washcloths (for some reason, they don't use them here), towels, paper towels, coke, chips, bread, and most importantly, bottled water & Ukrainian beer, which is way too awesome!!!

Now, we're getting ready for bed, as it is almost 10:00pm.  Until tomorrow....