Shop Until We Drop

Saturday was a departure from our normal routine. We arrived at the orphanage as usual at 9:00, but the caretakers told us not to take our shoes off and wanted to talk with Yuri. She was very animated and talking quite loudly with him. Uh-oh ... what had we done wrong? Turns out everything was OK. We still have to learn that people may sound like they're angry here when they're not ... it's just the way the language sounds to our English-accustomed ears. A delegation from Germany was visiting the orphange and the director wanted them to tour the house where Brooke lives. Everything had to be perfect ... no toys laying out and, apparently, no Americans hanging around either. :-) We could see Brooke for an hour, but then we'd have to leave.

Last week we asked the caretakers what they needed for the children and they said they wanted shades for the three windows. We all decided that this would be a good day to go get them since we couldn't stay at the orphanage very long. Yuri went to get Irina and they let us take Brooke outside for the hour. Although it was cold, it was also bright and sunny outside. We walked around the campus and a puppy follwed us for a bit. Brooke loves dogs and says "owf owf" every time she sees one. We then went to the playground, climbed the playset, and Brooke played peek-a-boo with Kristi. She even stuck her face through the playset and pursed her lips to give mommy a kiss! We walked by the baby house and talked with some of Brooke's previous caretakers. They had three babies all under a year old out getting fresh air. They were so cute all bundled up!

The hour went by so fast. Yuri and Irina returned and we had to give Brooke back to the caretaker. We both missed her so terribly later that day. As Kristi said, "An hour just isn't enough with that little wub!" Then we were off to Kharkiv and a home improvement store called Epicenter. It was EXACTLY like Home Depot or Lowes even down to the guy selling sausages outside the exit door. With the help of Irina, we bought the shades for the house so they could make the rooms darker during nap time. We loved this store and, other than the fact that everything was written in Russian, it made us think of home.

Yurin and Irina then took us back to Svobody Square near our apartment and helped us with some shopping. As a thank you for all they'd done, we invited them to lunch at Shato, the local brew pub all of us like. Yuri is a very quiet guy, but when Irina is around, he really lights up and talks a lot more. You can tell they love each other so much. After lunch, we said our goodbyes and Kristi and I went to a local "apteka" (pharmacy) to buy some baby Ibuprofin. The most frustrating part of being here is the language barrier. Try asking a pharmacist for baby ibuprofin when no product is visible to point to and neither of you speak the other's language. Somehow we're still getting by though!

After the pharmacy, we went to the children's store and bought some clothing for Brooke including the outfit she'll wear the day we take her home: a denim dress with a pink shirt, tights, and tennis shoes with butterflies and sparkles on them. Very cute! Again the language barrier made things a bit difficult, but the stores also have almost no winter clothing left. They're all selling spring and summer clothes now even though it's still only 30 degrees outside. Luckily we found a few winter remnant items on clearance so that will have to do for now.

Walking back to our apartment, we thought again how much we missed Brooke. We'd only seen her one hour today and that just wasn't enough for us! It's amazing, she was probably in her crib taking a nap totally oblivious that we were only thinking about her all day long and doing all of these tasks for her benefit. She'll never know it, but everything we've been doing was for her. I guess it's kind of like God's relationship with us. We go around in our little world thinking that it's just us. We may not see or feel God, but He's always there, thinking about us and orchestrating events to bless us. And we never even know it...