Local Romny meeting

Today at 9:00 am, we met with a local official.  I believe she is responsible for all the orphans in this region.  She has to approve the adoption locally, just as SDA does for the country.  I told our facilitator (Svetlana), that Ukrainians are always so serious when they talk, I don't know if things are going poorly, or everything is fine.  Svetlana kept looking at me and reassuring me that everything was fine - just paperwork.  We found out later that this official came in from her vacation to take care of us today.  That was very kind of her.  She seemed to care personally for Sveta.  Then we were off for a couple of hours, while S took care of other matters.  We walked up to the local grocery and bought a few items. It is more challenging this time, since we don't have a stove, microwave, or electric kettle.  So everything we do in our room must be cold.  Fortunately, the cafe associated with the hotel is relatively inexpensive.  We just can't read the menu! We have spent the last two days during free moments, working on translating the entire menu, so we can take our notes with us and point and grunt.  That worked for breakfast today.  Then, we were able to drive over to the regional capital city, Sumy, and surprise visit Sveta at the summer camp she is attending.  It was very funny and heartwarming to see her run toward us and nearly tackle us.  We had lots of hugs and kisses in front of the whole world.  Here is a picture of all of us.