Phone calls...

As we continue “The Waiting Game”, Christmas and New Year’s Day have come and gone and the Christmas décor has been unceremoniously pulled down, boxed, and put away. The pounds we lost in the first three weeks walking around in Ukraine have been found and put back where they were. And the worst part of it all is that we have done this without our new daughter.

In the meantime, we have returned to our jobs and some sense of normalcy until the government offices return to action in a couple weeks.

With nothing better to do on a quiet afternoon, I pulled out the cell phone we were using in Ukraine and looked up Vera’s phone number. Skype is a wonderful thing… and inexpensive to call Ukraine… So we have managed to use it on a couple of occasions…

(Ring)
“Da”
“Vera… It’s Papa.
(Several excited gasps) “Pap.. Papa.. .PAPA! HI! How are you?? (More excited gasps and an obvious loss of words)
“Fine thank you. Happy New Year! How are you?”
(Still breathless from excitement) “Good… Happy New Year!!! Mam.. Mama.. How is Mama, and Andrew and Kelsey?
“They are very well.”
(Deer in headlights) “What is ‘well’?”

I explained as best I could that everyone was fine, we missed her and will be back in a couple weeks. I could sense the deer in the headlights at times, but breaking sentences down to two or three words at a time helped. Kelsey also had a chance to talk with her… Several “Happy New Years” and “I don’t understands” later, I get the head set back…

On the second call, Vera was not as excited as the first call, but still very happy to hear from us. Mari had a chance to ask some questions and see how she was doing… Mari got a few answers from her, then, “I don’t understand” and the phone gets handed off to Lena. Apparently we talk too fast for her… Okay then… I get the headset back again…

“You I understand… Kelsey, I no understand… Mama, sometimes I understand”

That is a step in the right direction… Now she is supposed to be getting with a tutor while we are away so she can pick up some more English. We explain to her that school here will not be easy until her vocabulary and comprehension improve. She understands.

So for the next couple weeks, we have the Skype phone (used sparingly) and Michelle with her hit and miss internet connection and just regular Skype to tell her we miss her, we love her and will be back soon.