Adrienne's blog on Bring a hat - or else! was a flash back for me. It made me think about my experience with hats, oranges and frozen ovaries.


As I mentioned in my post Ukrainian History: Suggested Reading Ukraine wasn't a country until 1991. And many areas of the country more closely identify with Russia then Ukraine. So there are many cultural similarities between Russian and Ukraine. (Adrienne adopted from Russia. I adopted from Ukraine.)


Hats


I have a hat story too. It was winter (December) when I adopted my darling daughter Natasha. Most days it was 1 Celsius (33 Fahrenheit).


I remember standing in front of McDonalds. My 3.5 year old daughter was dressed in a purple jacket from French Disney World with Minnie Mouse on it. There was an attached hood. I was so tickled to find this jacket along with snow pants at the Kharkiv central department store.


Before going outside from McDonalds, I put a stocking cap on Natasha's head. Then I pulled the jacket's hood over the stocking. I had it under control. She had 2 hats on.


We stepped outside and the wind blew. The jacket's hood fell off her head. I forgot to tie it on. Ugh!


Out of the corner of my eye I saw this well dressed woman stop in her tracks. She quickly walked up and fixed the hood. She tightly tied it to my daughter's head. Then she made eye contact and nodded at me. It was a nod that communicated, "well that is taken care of".


I was carrying my daughter on my hip and was carrying a bag. My take was...... the woman saw I didn't have a free hand and wanted to help me out. It wasn't done in a scolding manner. But the hat being on was clearly very important to her.


Oranges


When I met my daughter she was in a hospital with a cold. (Later I found out it was bronchitis). I was allowed to visit my daughter-to-be outside of visiting hours. And I was allowed to bring snacks for my daughter-to-be. However I couldn't bring anything for my daughter to drink. And she could only drink a limited amount of water. I never got a medical explanation for this control over her fluid intake.


Natasha shared a room with 5 other children who were 16 years to 8 years old. But some extra children and adults always showed up in Natasha's room after I arrived for a visit. Everyone who wanted a snack could have one.


One day I brought apples which were a hit. Another day I brought some cookies. The nurses were OK with this too.


But then I brought oranges. I thought everyone could use some Vitamin C. Everyone was pealing an orange when the nurse arrived. The nurse started yelling at me. My translator translated for me:

Oranges are bad for colds. Natasha should not have one.

I was left standing there with an open mouth and no idea how to respond. Oranges are bad for colds? I just agreed and promised never to bring oranges again. My translator seemed to as off guard as I was. She didn't warn me not to purchase oranges.


Frozen Ovaries


I was standing outside waiting for something to happen. I don't remember what the event was. And I was getting tired of standing. So I looked for something to sit on and decided to set down on some steps. My translator was standing nearby talking someone who needed to approve paperwork. Maybe it was the orphanage director. My memory is blurry.


My translator saw me sitting down and her eyes got big. She quickly came over and told me that I needed to stand up. Sitting on concrete would freeze my ovaries. This really seemed to bother her so I stood up.