They've Been Sprung!

Thanking God for every precious minute of today.  Talk about living life to the fullest.

Today has been exhausting but SO much fun and memorable.  We checked the boys out of Uglegorsk around 11:00 this morning.  It's been a busy day, with a trip to McDonald's, shopping, and moving from one apartment to another, all with two new sons who don't know much about the outside world along for the ride.  The Warners told me to not assume ANYTHING.  These boys' world has been so small that everything is new.  Oh boy were they ever right!  I've had a constant smile on my face, watching them see everything for the first time.  Soon after we all got in the car, Illya/Elijah started sniffling.  Prepared, a pulled a Kleenex out of my purse and handed it to him.  He didn't know what do to with it. He folded it up, looked at me cautiously, and rubbed it against his cheek.  I demonstrated what it was for and he caught on.  (By the way, later on at McDonald's, he had a wet wipe.  He proudly opened it up and wiped his nose with it.  See what I've learned, Mamma?).  They'd never heard of McDonald's, let alone hamburgers and french fries.  Seriously, everything is new.  In fact, just now, I can hear Svyatik/Isaac munching on some almonds, just after I'd helped them brush their teeth (which they didn't know how to do properly).  Having said all that, these are some bright kids.  They will catch up.

Eli has been plastered to my side.  Early in the day he said that he was ready to help with anything, and he has followed through.  He wants to do everything for/with me.  He is also soaking up every smile, every hug, every pat on the shoulder I can give him.  He's so calm and gentle and cooperative.  And eager to learn English--we've already done a couple of learning activities together today.  Isaac is a bit more difficult to wrangle lol.  He is three years younger, granted.  I think he's going to be my daredevil.  He is stronger willed and has a little different agenda, but is still loving on me, calling me Mamma, and seems to be loving every minute.  There is so much that is new and he wants to see/explore it all.

Everyone was right: their appetites are endless.  And they've loved everything I've put in front of them, including the pasta with lots of fresh vegetables and salami that Eli helped me make.  They've had four meals since we picked them up at 11:00.

Okay, the apartment switch.  The old one just wasn't going to work.  We looked at a few today and I fell in love with this one.  It was way more expensive than the old one, but we managed to talk them down quite a bit since we'll be staying here awhile.  It's now only $6/night more than the last one, and it's much bigger, much nicer, and the location is even better (just about 6-7 blocks away, so I still mostly know the area).  And there's heat, dishes, and a pot.

We got the boys some much-needed new shoes.  Wow, the ones they had on did not fit and were falling apart.  Isaac said he was so glad he had the new shoes, because now walking wasn't so uncomfortable.

Victor is going to be busy at court with the Pilets tomorrow (yay for them!) so I'm going to see if Anya wants to hang out with us for a bit.  I have a growing shopping list and I'd feel better with a second set of eyes on the boys for safety's sake.  They don't know to look for cars, or rules of crosswalks, or not to shoplift :) etc.

I wish Curt, and Cassie and Clay for that matter, could have been a part of this special day.  That's okay, we have lots of special days to look forward to.

Oh dear, it's bedtime, I just tucked them in, and I suspect it was the first time they've experienced that ritual.  How heartbreaking and joyous at the same time.  I am a lucky woman.

Disappointing Day

Victor arrived from the overnight train just as he said he would.  We set out towards the orphanage with one quick errand to run on the way.  That errand revealed a hiccup.  That hiccup resulted in about nine hours of driving from town to town, waiting in offices and Sasha's car.  I spent much of the day as I did on the drive to/from Zaporozhye in May: curled up in the back seat of the car so I couldn't witness the scary scene out on the road.  And hungry, as I didn't bring snacks.  I figured I'd be feasting with mychickie.  I had Victor call the orphanage to make sure the boys understood that we were still coming--just not today like we'd told them.  I hate to think what is going through their heads right now.

Anyway, it seems this wrinkle is now ironed out.  We again have one errand to run tomorrow morning, then plan to head to the orphanage to retrieve the boys.

We will also look at other apartments this week--maybe tomorrow.  There are a lot of things I like about this one but it doesn't have heat.  It's not that big of an issue now, but it will be a problem as it gets colder.

At least the weather was really nice today?

Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here's a photo from last week to tide us all over.

One More Day!

Tomorrow morning, Victor arrives and we go to Uglegorsk to pick up the boys.  :)  Today I've been organizing all of their clothes and games here in the apartment.  I'll make one more shopping trip today. I'd love it if I ran across a place to buy a pot.  I have all this pasta and rice and varenike and no way to cook it.  Well, I do have a small kettle that I'd brought along, but that wouldn't be nearly big enough.  I also need to look up the Russian word for butter, as I keep bringing home cheese by mistake.

Tomorrow, when we get the boys, I think the first stop needs to be McDonald's.  :)  Then a shoe store.  Then the bathtub.  I can't wait to see those little guys.

Last night, Anya and Den picked me up and took me to their church.  It was much different from my church at home, obviously.  It will be great to take the boys there.

These last few days alone have been tremendously therapeutic.  I feel rested and ready for the next phase!  I really think these next few weeks in Donetsk will be a great transition time for the boys.  I hope to make the most of it.

As far as I know, Curt landed back in Tulsa late last night.  And as far as I know, Nana drove out from NM and met him at the airport.  Cassie and Clay will be glad to see them today, I'm sure!

Photos of neighborhood

After an 11 hour sleep, I'm feeling refreshed and rested.  I ventured out to buy a few necessities (and the transaction went so smoothly!  Yay me!) and took a few pictures of the neighborhood.  I know iPhones are not available here so I was very quick with the camera.

Tonight I'm going to church with Anya.  Service will be in Russian, of course.  This will be a first.  :) 

Photos 10/27/12

My current apartment

Bedroom.  The fold out couch doesn't seem to be any less comfortable than a "real Ukrainian bed.

Have you ever ordered your restaurant meal by touch screen?  Now I have.

Part of the kiddie wonderland at Donetsk City mall.

:)

On My Own

I know some of you are concerned about me being on my own in Donetsk for a few days so let me reassure you.

I am all set up in an apartment in a very nice, safe neighborhood.  The apartment is not perfect so we may be moving again in a few days, but it will work for now.  If only they had serving ware in the kitchen??  I scouted around and couldn't find a store that sold any type of plate or pot or cups/glasses but that will be my project tomorrow, for sure.  For the rest of the day I'm hoping to hole up and unwind.  Before he left, Curt helped me find a small grocery store so I have food to get me through several days.

John Warner, who we met in Kiev with his two new sons Dima and Vladik, has provided me with phone numbers of several contacts he made while he was in Donetsk, including an Australian missionary couple who works with kids at Uglegorsk.  Jackpot.  I have those numbers written down in several places, so I should always have a local lifeline.  Plus I have my Victorphone: a local phone Victor gave us with his number programmed in.  He is always anticipating my call.

Given all this, I'm actually looking forward to a couple of days alone.  This first week has been so hectic, I'm ready for a "time out."  Cassie and Clay are swimming at a meet in OKC today and tomorrow, so I can follow their progress online and with Cassie via text.  I don't miss many of their meets--it's hard to not be there.

I will post photos of the apartment shortly.  When I'm ready to go out again, I'll post photos of the neighborhood.  It's beautiful, especially with the fall color.  Lots of trees around here, and some roses are still in bloom.

Ready to settle in Donetsk!

It's been an emotionally exhausting, stressful day full of surprises.  You know what, though?  I am having a blast.  For so many different reasons, too.  Where to start?

Let's start at the orphanage.  We went to visit our boys with a list of important things to discuss with them.  We started by telling them (with Victor's help) that we came here specifically to adopt them.  We want them to be our sons, nothing is going to change our minds, and we will always be their Mamma and Papa.  I noticed a visible change in them after we said that.  They seemed to relax and talk more freely.  Their personalities, especially Illya's, really came to life.  We also had to discuss matters regarding their biological family, as several family members are still around and have visited them recently.  We wanted to be sure that they understood what was really going to happen and that they would probably never have contact again with any of their biological family.  Their response was stunning.  There is NO questioning how they feel about this.  It was so sad to see a child, any child, want so much distance from their family.  The good side to this is that there doesn't seem to be any guilt or hesitation; they are both wholly ready for their new lives, and DO NOT want to look back.  Illya spoke with such determination.  He is a brave young man who has experienced too much life at age 12.

Curt and I feel absolutely blessed that God is directing US to give these boys a real chance at life.  It will be so much fun to be with them as they discover the world.  Illya says they have ridden in a car one time.  Their diets are extremely limited--you KNOW I will have fun helping them discover new and different foods.  They seem absolutely giddy when we talk about things and experiences back at home. Victor tells us "I cannot express how absolutely excited and committed they are."  Of course they don't really know what lies ahead--to them it's like a fantasy world--but we will do everything we can to guide them through it, always keeping eyes and ears open to what God wants for these amazing young men.

As many internationally adopted children change their names when they come to America, we provided them with that option.  Nothing is official yet, but they like the adaptations we suggested.  So, may we prematurely present:

Elijah Ryan Powell
and
Isaac Curtis Powell

Elijah is the English version of Illya.  There is no English version of Svyatoslav, but Isaac sounds a lot like Svyatik.  In Ukrainian culture, the middle name is an adaptation of the father's name, so we gave each boy one of Curt's names.  The new names will take all of us some getting used to, but in the long run I think it will be a good thing, especially since they are so eager to distance themselves from this world.

Curt is flying out of Donetsk tomorrow afternoon, and Victor is on the train to Kiev.  (More on our current situation later.)  Victor returns Tuesday morning, so he'll pick me up and take me to the orphanage to bring the boys to Donetsk to stay with me.  Victor will be here in the apartment with us during the week, and go home to Kiev on the weekends.  Curt will come back for a two week stint in November that should cover our court date.  We're gunning for Nov 15 or 22, which means I should fly  home with the boys by mid December.  That's later than we'd hoped for, but remember, I'm having a blast.  :)

Back to our day...
After our time at Uglegorsk, we checked out of our Enakievo hotel and drove to Donetsk.  Donetsk was the industrial capital of the Soviet Union.  It's all about coal and steel.  From what I understand, years ago when they built the city, aesthetics and pollution control were low on the priority list.  Now that all of the money from the industry is not being funneled directly to the government and some is staying here in Donetsk, a big effort is being made to clean up the city.  I tell you, downtown Donetsk is *beautiful.*  And right across the street from our current apartment, the Donetsk City shopping center is one of the largest collections of swanky, upscale shops and restaurants I've ever seen, complete with, for lack of a better term, an amusement park for kids.  I am flabbergasted.  Donetsk was one of the cities hosting the Euro 2012 soccer tournament this summer, and I understand that was a major catalyst in upgrading parts of the city.  It will be interesting to follow Donetsk's progress.  From what I have seen so far, Donetsk and the surrounding area has lots of extreme poverty, lots of extreme wealth, but very little in between.  I know there is still a LOT of corruption (that may be the year's biggest understatement), but all of those well-dressed young people at the mall can't be politician's kids.  I have hope that there are some things going right in Ukraine.  Of course, I'm going to be staying here in Donetsk for several weeks so I may have a completely different viewpoint by the end of my stay.

If you've been to Ukraine, you know that planning ahead is just not done.  We showed up in town hoping to find a suitable apartment.  The ONE that Victor found wouldn't be available until 8pm, we were told when we arrived at noon.  Ugh.  Victor had his train to catch in the afternoon.  What to do?  Ohhhh Saaaaashaaaaa..... Sasha was our driver for the day, so he took care of us.  I sure wish he spoke English.  We really like him.  He babysat our luggage in his car while we killed time at the MegaMall.

Have I said this already?  I am SO glad that Curt and I have had the opportunities to travel that we've had.  Ukraine is so utterly foreign, I'm sure I would be completely overwhelmed otherwise.  Truth be told, this is fun.  It's also Week 1 of probably 7-8 weeks.  Check back with me later.

I'm sure there's a lot more I could add but it's time to sleep.  There is no washing machine at this apartment (which is otherwise very nice) so tomorrow we will try to find another one, with Victor's help via phone.  We are ON OUR OWN with no translator.  Tomorrow I will be ON MY OWN with no translator.  There does seem to be a lot of English spoken here in central Donetsk so I'm sure I'll be fine.  I don't plan to wander far.  Catching up on sleep is number one priority this weekend.

Jocelyn

Roadblock

Sasha, Sasha, Wherefore Art Thou Sasha,

Well, it would figure that the day Sasha has to perform his Firemen duties would be the most  challenging from a transportation standpoint so far.  We had the backup guy today (Viktor does not remember his name).  He is very nice and we used him on our earlier trip when we required two cars to negotiat the pot hole minefield that is the road to Zap.  At any rate, we were happy to have 'Bob' there promptly at 0730 in his not-so-late-model Daewoo Lanos to start our day's journey.  Off to Donetsk from Eniakevo.  Our task today was to get some extra documents required to file our final petition for our court date.  So, we were off to the boys' birth city of Matkivka to meet with the Inspector there in Juvenile Services to start this process.  There are certain details I cannot divulge, but Viktor was hopeful that we would be able to request that the Inspector and her Supervisor prepare a statement to speed up our process.  The Inspector was nice, but did not grant the request.  She is insisting on having a formal hearing on the matter.  This certainly is disappointing, but I can respect that she is following the letter of the law exactly.

So, after several conversations between Viktor and the Inspector we then had to take a trip from Matkivka to Amvrosiivka (sounds like a place to get ambrosia) to visit another orphanage.  This journey took us within 20 km of the eastern border with Russia.  The roads were a true E-ticket ride.  I was having flashbacks of the trip to Zap and wondering why Sasha had to be a Thursday Fireman.  Jocelyn and I were riding in the back seat pulling hair out of each others' arms during the most 'thrilling' stretches of the drive.  Once we made it to Ambrosiaville, the GPS unit took us to the wrong destination.  However, this was not the wrong destination as in dropping us off at the wrong Starbucks, we were literally on a dirt road in the middle of a field.  At this point 'Bob' began relying on his natural instincts to point us in the general direction where Viktor felt the orphanage was located.  We drove along a rutted dirt road for a bit as you could feel the undergrowth scraping along the bottom of the car, and then 'Bob' determined that we needed to paviernite naprava (turn right).  We hung a right onto a path....that's right a path going through the forest.  Here is a picture taken from my huddled position in the back seat:

As you can see, it is a leaf-covered path.  Luckily the Daewoo proved small and nimble enough to bounce our way in the general direction of yonder.  Eventually, we came to a real road with people burning piles of leaves on the sidewalk and then found our way onto a larger street.  At this point, Viktor exclaimed 'now I recognize where we are', and he guided us to the front gate of the orphanage.
This place was downright nice compared to Uglegorsk, in fact probably nicer than even Zap.  The Director was a very impressive appearing gentleman who was very kind and helpful, and the Deputy Director was wonderful woman who helped us get the documents we needed.  More importantly, Viktor was able to make a connection with them and they agreed to try and work together to get some of the kids connected for family hostings back in the States in the near future.  It just goes to show how God can work good out of bad situations.  Here we were bummin' that we now have a delay in our proceedings, but it led us to a remote orphanage where the connections will probably help Viktor to get more children hosted and hopefully adopted.  God is Good!

Finally, after we had what we needed, it was back to Donetsk along the asphalt-challenged road to get some Notary work done.  Then we had to backtrack again to Matkivka to get these documents to the Inspector for our upcoming hearing.  Finally, we had the hour drive back to Eniakevo where Viktor had 'Bob' drop us off at a pizza joint for some much needed nourishment.

It was a tiring day, and we are both tired of sitting/bouncing but grateful to be in one piece.  I can tell you that if anyone is going through this process with a Facilitator that is not well-versed in all of these potential pitfalls or is unscrupulous, they are in trouble.  Viktor handled everything in his usually wonderful way.  No way we could do it without him.  The big bummer, and thus the road block is we now have a delay.  It just so happens that Ukraine has it's national elections on Sunday.  The hearing that we need to have only occurs on Mondays.  You can imagine how much work will get done a federal agency on the day after the election....none.  Thus, our hearing will not happen until November 5th.  Viktor is confident that things will go well, but it will take a few days after that to get the final document to allow us to file for a court date, and then the wait for the assignment of a Judge and the actual court date itself.  Therefore, I have to go back home and leave Jocelyn here.  I am trying to get a flight out this weekend so I can get back to work for a couple of weeks.  I will plan to come back for a couple of weeks, the week before and including Thanksgiving, as we are hopeful our court date will be either November 15th or the 22nd.  I wonder if they have turkey and stuffing in Donetsk?  Oh well, God sure is teaching us patience through this whole process.  If we were back home, we would be calling Supervisors to try and see if we could get the process expedited, but that is not going to work here in Ukraine.  We just smile give them lots of "spyseeba's" (thank yous).  The delays are a bummer, as we are anxious to get the boys home.  I am bummed for Jocelyn who will be in country longer than we had hoped.  However, it is just going to make the victory of getting them out of the orphanage that much sweeter.

By the way, make sure you say a prayer of thanks for all of the people working on our roads back in Tulsa.  I have got to give them more grace for slowing down our traffic.

Curt

10/24/12 Part 2

A few notes from Jocelyn to supplement Curt's post from today.

Back to Enakievo.  *Big sigh*  A world away from Kiev, for sure.  This is a heavy industry area, with mines and steel production and I'm sure other assorted factories.  There is a constant, awful-smelling thick haze that burns my eyes and sinuses.  I'm starting my inhaler again, as I'm sure I'll be feeling the effects soon.  Just imagine the long-term health effects for the unfortunate people who live here.  Yet, just when I was thinking "there couldn't possibly be a worse place on earth to live," Nicole Pilet, who was a missionary in Mongolia for several years, said that Enakievo is a lot like where they were in Mongolia, but Enakievo is so much nicer!  I know you've heard me say this before, but we in America have NO IDEA how good we have it.  I'm trying really hard to not complain about the little things.

We had such a wonderful conversation with the Pilets, the family adopting Olya.  We are hoping we can meet up with them again soon.  All of the adoptive families we've meet this past 10 months or so have been awesome.  It's like a special club, where there is instant connection and trust.  

Victor was in the zone today.  Even though we don't speak Russian, it's fascinating to watch him work.  It seems many people who work in the government offices are more concerned about their job security than they are the orphan's welfare (understandable, given the horrific state of the economy in Ukraine), so Victor will sometimes use his masterful persuasion skills to "help them make the right decision."  It's obvious that Victor really cares about these kids and will do whatever he can to get them adopted into loving families.  We are fortunate to have him on our side.

I had mixed feelings, being back at Uglegorsk.  Of course it was wonderful to see Illya and Svyatik and get official confirmation that they want to be part of our family.  It was also heartbreaking to see their classmates again--these sweet, loving boys who want a family just as much as Illya and Svyatik.  Their classmates all recognized us and greeted us warmly.  We even got some hugs.  When we were out in the halls some of the older kids would come say hello and just stand there and smile at us.  For a LONG time.  Many of the boys seem to have hardened by 14-15, but there are a handful that really seem to want to reach out and connect with us.  And how can they all be such beautiful children?  It's tough.  Even though we are not telling them "no" directly, it's evident that we'd made our decision and it wasn't them.

When we were with Illya and Svyatik in the play area, the rest of their class came in to change into their outside clothes.  Having NO modesty (John Warner, you were right!), a dozen or so 10 year old boys stripped to their skivvies to change.  Oh my, they are so very thin.  It was hard not to stare, and hard to hold back the tears.

On that note, it's past my bedtime.  I haven't slept well since we arrived in Ukraine, and we have an early start to a long day tomorrow.  Be sure to give your kids an extra big hug tonight.

Hello Enakievo

Curt here:

What a whirlwind 24 hours it has been.  After getting our referral letter from the SDA yesterday afternoon, we grabbed dinner with Viktor and then boarded the overnight train for the 12 hour trip from Kiev to Donetsk.  Interesting trip.  The compartments are set up as 2 bunk beds on each side.  We purchased all 4 spots so that we would have room for both of us and Viktor and would not have a surprise guest in our compartment.  After a couple of games of Skip Bo (Clay would be so proud of me, as I won them both), We 'retired' for the evening.  We have periodically told you how great Viktor is, and we discovered another reason: he does not snore.......loudly.  Actually, it was kind of hard for Jocelyn and I to get to sleep due to the rough ride and noise, but it was great to be able to lie down for the trip.  A little Dramamine and several thousand counted sheep later we finally got about 3-4 hours of shut-eye.

We arrived in Donetsk at 0800 where Sasha met us at the train station.  Sasha is the awesome driver we had on our last trip.  We were surprisingly able to fit all of our luggage and ourselves into his Skoda Octavia, and then it was off to a coffee shop for a caffeine bolus and some breakfast.  We then went next door to a notary to have referrals to Juvenile Services in Donetsk and Enakievo notarized.  Then, it was off to Juvenile services for a meeting with the Inspector that took about a half hour.  The Inspector and Viktor had a nice conversation, and then it was finally off to Uglegorsk to see the Boys!

The orphanage was just as we had remembered it from earlier this year.  We checked in with Larissa, the Social Worker, and then went to a meeting with the Director.  She spoke with us about our family and why we wanted to adopt the boys.  After a few minutes the little Dudes came in dressed in their very best.  I had almost forgotten what beautiful children they are.  They were all sparkly eyes and smiles, but you could tell they were a little nervous, like they knew this was finally the day, and they did not want to 'blow it'.  The Director asked them several questions such as: "do they know who we are, do they realize that we are here to adopt them into our family, do they realize that if they are adopted they will be living in America and be American citizens, do they want to be adopted by us", etc.  After a series of emphatic 'Dah's, the boys whisked us away to their 'common room' to play some games while Viktor, the Director and Larissa completed some necessary paperwork.  Larissa chuckled and said that they have been asking her on a daily basis when we were coming for them.  After about 30 minutes, Viktor came and took the Boys back downstairs to finish some paperwork.  The boys came back after about 30 minutes and we put together a puzzle and then played a little catch with some balls they still had from our last visit.  After awhile, Viktor came back and said we had to go.  The Boys quickly ran up to Viktor and made sure that we would be coming back, and he assured them that we would.

Next, Sasha drove us to the Crystal Hotel.  Viktor said we could shower and freshen up for about an hour, as he needed to go and talk to the Inspector at Juvenile Services some more.  Having not been able to shower for 2 days, we were eagerly anticipating showers.  However, when we got into our room, we discovered a water main had burst and there was no water in the hotel.  We hung out in the room until Viktor called, and then we headed back to the orphanage for a meeting with the Doctor that is on staff there.  He had supposedly reviewed both Boys' medical records, and said they were both healthy with no major medical problems. He said they each had a cold this last year.  They are examined twice a year, and all of their lab work is normal.  They will be examined by American doctors at the U.S. Consulate when they are flying home, and by our kids' physicians when they get back to Tulsa, but at least the report sounded good.  After that meeting we headed back to Juvenile Services for a third meeting with the Inspector.  We then headed over to meet up with the Pillet's, the family that is adopting Olya.  They are wonderful people, and it was great to see Olya again.  What a lovely young lady inside and out.  They started this process a week before us and were waiting for their court date.   Viktor found out today it had been set for November 15th, but he was able to get it switched to November 1st (Praise God and Viktor rocks).  After our quick visit, it was  back to the Hotel.  Still no water.  Viktor got the manager to give us rooms at a different hotel by the same owner (The Salut Hotel), so Sasha came back for the switch.  Next it was off for a much needed dinner and then back to the Hotel for nice hot showers and some much needed chillin'.

Now it is time for some rest.  We are heading out at 0730 tomorrow AM for the Boys birth city, which is a suburb of Donetsk (about an hour's drive).  We will be meeting with the Inspector there at Juvenile Services.  Once everything is cleared through that office, we will be able to file the full dossier back in Enakievo in order to get our much anticipated court date.  Prayers are much appreciated that everything goes smoothly tomorrow, and that we are able to file the papers in a timely manner and get a favorable court date.

Photos 10/24/12

Overnight train.  Ironic how they call it a sleeper compartment

Svyatik and Illya

Enakievo chat piles from the mines

Illya and Svyatik starting a puzzle

Heading to Donetsk

We have packed up our stuff and are waiting for Victor to take us back to the SDA so we can pick up our referral, then head out to Donetsk on the overnight train. Here we go.  We have loved our time in Kiev but its time to get down to business!  We are eager to see the boys tomorrow.

We met up with the Warners again today. They are flying to the States tomorrow. It's been very helpful to hear about their experiences and ask John questions. It's also been fun to hang out with Vladik and Dima. I'm going to miss those guys!  Oh how fun and challenging and exhausting it will be when we have our own two new sons with us!  We hope to cherish every minute.

I'm surprised at how loose and comfortable Curt and I have been since we got here. I thought I'd be a nervous wreck!  Thank you for all of your prayers--we are feeling God's peace, for sure. I think it also helps that we have been to Ukraine before; we sort of know what we're in for and we have a good relationship with Victor already.  We are joyous and optimistic as we head towards the orphanage, Illya and Svyatik, and mountains of paperwork. 

I'm not sure when I'll be able to log on again.  We should have Internet while in Enakievo and Donetsk, but Victor assures us we will be VERY busy for the next several days. 

Photos 10/22/12

How cool is THAT?

St. Sophia Cathedral

Easter egg mosaic

St. Michael's Cathedral

First appointment: SDA

Today has been a fantastic day!  Victor picked us up and drove us to our SDA appointment, where he worked his magic.  Victor is very well liked and respected in adoption circles, and it pays off.  All potential obstacles for this stage seem to have been avoided, Praise God.  We got to see Illya and Svyatik's official files.  We learned about their family and medical history.

Illya and Svyatik have photos in their file, taken when they were brought to the orphanage.  Illya's photo is so incredibly sad.  Ohhhh, so sad.  It will be hard to forget that photo.

So, tomorrow we will go back to the SDA to pick up the referral, then head to Donetsk on the overnight train.  We'll be very busy in the Donetsk area the rest of the week.  We are very excited to see the boys on Wednesday!  This week will be a whirlwind as we proceed with the next few steps.

I know we've said before that Victor rocks.  On top of everything else, he rocks as a tour guide.  He spent a few hours showing us some of the sights in Kiev.  I really love this city.  Of course it has its problems, but it's so stunningly beautiful I keep forgetting about the flaws.  Victor took us to several cathedrals.  You know, the colorful, gold onion domes?  Amazing!  The highlight was St. Sophia, which knocked my socks off.  It's in amazingly good condition for being a thousand years old. There's an exhibit in St. Sophia that may be the most incredible piece of art I've ever seen.  It's a massive mosaic, made out of 15,000 hand-painted Easter eggs.  These are not solid colored eggs, but each one is an intricate piece of art in itself.  I snuck a photo, and I'll post it, but it doesn't show the detail in each of those wonderful eggs.  Ukraine takes its art seriously, and it shows, not just at St. Sophia, but throughout the city.

I will post some photos shortly.

Photos 10/21/12

Underground shops

Lots of English!

Kiev at night

Dima, John, and Vladik

Dinner with the Warners

Tonight we met up with another American family who is adopting two boys from Uglegorsk.  John, Vladik, and Dima are on their way out, though, with a flight booked home Thursday morning.  It was so great to chat with them.  I sat across from Vladik and *fell in love* with him.  What a great kid.  His English is terrific already, he's extremely engaging, and is an eager learner.   He is friends with Illya and Svyatik and told us he's very glad that they'll get to go home with such a nice family.  I didn't get to talk as much with Dima, who was at the other end of the table and worn out from the day's activities.  Watching how easily John interacted with his new boys gave me hope that we'll be able to make the same connection with ours.

I'll add a couple of photos--Dima is on the left, Vladik on the right.

And wouldn't you know it, Kiev is still beautiful at night.

More on Kiev

We did some more walking around today. We scouted out where the TGI Friday's is, as we are meeting the Warners there tonight for dinner.  There is some serious shopping here in downtown Kiev!  Wow!  We are obviously in a very upscale area; I'm guessing that neighborhoods like this are few and far between in Ukraine. This is a photo of "our" varenike restaurant. I hope to visit it again while we're here in Kiev.  From what we've seen, Kiev is a beautiful city. 

  

Some photos from our first day

Ukraine, Phase 2

Jocelyn here.

Curt just posted about our arrival here in Kiev but I thought I'd supplement a bit.

Kiev is a world away from eastern Ukraine, where we spent our week in May.  Kiev feels much more modern--a true European capital.  Granted we haven't seen that much, but Victor took us walking around our neighborhood (somewhere downtown, near the soccer stadium), and I really liked the vibe and the architecture.  Victor said that after our SDA appointment on Monday, he'll take us around to see some of the sights.  Curt and I were on our own for dinner and grocery shopping today and we managed just fine--most people we encountered spoke at least a little English.  Curt even managed to navigate us back to our apartment.  It would be very easy to get lost here, not being able to read the street signs.

Dinner, by the way, was FANTASTIC, and $19 for the both of us.

Our apartment is great--much nicer than the one we had in Zaporizhya.  The elevator is a bit scary, so we might be walking up and down the seven flights of stairs quite often, but the apartment is clean and pretty modern.

We are looking forward to our down day tomorrow, and then the fun begins!

Back in Ukraine

Curt here.

Well we left our house at 10:00 on Friday and 19 hours later we are in Kiev.  We learned some German today.  Apparently, Lufthansa is German for sardines.  I have never been packed so tightly into a commercial plane in my life.  Worst of all, we were in the middle of the middle section (pretty claustrophobic).  They actually had one guy that said he was too tall and had to sit sideways since there was no knee/leg room.  Since his legs were out in the aisle, they could not take off.  They finally got some poor guy to give up his exit row seat and switch with the tall guy so we could leave.  I can't remember ever being so glad to end a flight before.  To be fair, the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Kiev was not bad, and we actually got a couple of hours of sleep on that leg.

It was great to see Viktor again.  He got us into our apartment in downtown Kiev, with a view of the new soccer stadium.  We exchanged some dollars for grivnas and then Viktor headed back home.  We had a great dinner of various types of vareniki.  It was awesome and really hit the spot after our travels. Now back at the apartment, getting cleaned up and will crash.  We have tonight and tomorrow to sleep, eat a little, sleep some more and shake the jet lag.  Monday, we will meet up with Viktor and get this show on the road.  Appointment at the SDA that morning, get our referral letter on Tuesday and then take the overnight train to Donnetsk on Tuesday night.  We will finally get to see the Boys again on Wednesday....can't wait.  Viktor said he was at the orphanage a day or two ago and the Boys asked him "when should we have our stuff packed up and ready to go?"  How cute is that?  My first thought is 'what stuff?'  Viktor says they are very excited.  

Well, I am fading fast.  Off to sleep for now.

The Big Day: October 22

We got our SDA appointment date!  Two weeks from today.  Yay!  All of the unknowns swirling around have been torturous—finally this, the date that everything else revolves around, has been set.  Now we can book our flights and make more concrete plans.   We also have official confirmation that both Illya and Svyatik are eligible for adoption.  It looks like this really is going to happen.

The next ten days are going to be a whirlwind, preparing to be in Ukraine for 6+ weeks.  Who am I kidding…this whirlwind will be going on for a long, long time.