Oct 2nd and too much Cognac

Hi Folks, 

I wish I was a good writer...man, could I write a book about this place. Sure makes me proud to be an American!

We are still awaiting the SDA's decision on a 3rd referral but were encouraged to stay here and spend time at the orphanage, rather than return to Kiev.  We went out to the orphanage today and brought a ping pong table, some paddles, and balls.  This particular orphanage appears to be pretty poor and there doesn't seem to be a lot for the children to do, so we thought this would be a fun and easy way for us to interact with the kids without having to worry too much about the language.    The kids were really excited and kept thanking us for the gift.  We also ended up in the Director's office, drinking some of his special cognac.  He is quite a jovial guy. We aren't big drinkers, but it was his way of showing his gratitude for our gift and we couldn't figure out a way to turn him down without being offensive.  He'd also had his assistant go out and get all sorts of pretty pastries for us, which we don't eat either.  And there was of course instant coffee and candy.  A 15 year old girl from Israel who speaks 4 languages, including English, served as our translator for the afternoon.  It was quite and adventure.

Our cab driver, Sasha, has made maybe twenty dollars a day driving us back and forth to the orphanage in his 21 year old car.  Today, he showed up to take us to the orphanage and told us that he was finally able to install seat belts....$10 for 2 seat belts.