Still alive and cooking in the Ukraine

Sounds like they are all doing well. I'm going today to register them for school today, hopefully they can start the first of May and finish the school year. Does anyone know of any summer English programs or tudors?

emails from Troy:

As between going out to eat and making their own meal in the kitchen, there is no doubt which they get more excited about. We went to McDonalds today for lunch and even with happy meal toys and balloons, they were far from impressed. But for dinner, they made a kind of ramen noodles and ate vegetables with salt and were the happiest things you've ever seen. They love to go into the kitchen and forage. It's funny, Victor tends to be the cook, and of course Tatiana cleans everything up. Oh, I was pleased though to see her get after Nastia earlier today to pick up her jammies. She really had to lay down the law to get her to do it. So I'm glad she doesn't always just do for others. They have gone through $50 of groceries in two days ($50 buys a lot here). What else. They like cold cereal but not with milk. They like tomoatoes! They like cold hot dogs--or at least didn't have the patience to let me heat them. They detested my green olives. I'm sure there's a kid out there somewhere who likes them.
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They liked the easter egg coloring though it went quicker than I'd hoped. They also can write their names better than I thought they'd be able.

Today's been light years better than the last couple. Nastia is much more settled down, normal even, and relatively obedient. I think she's trusting me more as an authority figure even if she's not in love with me. It was a little funny though, she was really getting on Victor's nerves. He was pretty ticked at her to the point he kept coming to me and saying "Papa--Nastia!" I wasn't sure what she was doing because she'd wait till I was out of sight.

But at least no sign of her hyperactivity of the other day. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the excitement and a day cooped up in a van.

I tried to take them to a movie earlier today to get them out of the house a while. The only cartoon they were playing was sold out but the kids didn't seem to care that much. We looped in Natasja on her cell a little later and she talked to the kids and told me they said they had seen it already. I couldn't figure out how because it seemed like a nice, first run theater. No way the orphanage takes them down to Odessa to watch movies??

The mystery was explained later today when the landlady came by with a dvd player we had asked about. The kids popped in one of the dvds we had purchased at a booth on the street yesterday--one that purports to have about 10 different cartoon movies on it. I hadn't looked at it all that closely but the kids are now watching Tales of Desperoux and Monsters v. Aliens is up next. Apparently bootleg dvds are the rage down here, and I suppose they must get them at the orphanage. They are quite cheap to buy.