Another GREAT day in Amvrosiivka. Who knew this town of 25,000 people near the Russian border could be a source of such great news?
All of our paperwork on the Amvrosiivka side came together beautifully. We were assigned a judge, and he provided our court date: December 9. This is unless the paperwork cannot be processed through Kiev that quickly. In that case it would be postponed. Victor is hopeful. In our petition, we have requested a waiver of the ten day waiting period, as we are reuniting the family and we have a well-established relationship with Sasha. We really want Sasha home for Christmas!
Yesterday we'd told Sasha that we'd come see him today, and again when we got to the orphanage around 4:00 he was waiting for us by the door. We had a great talk with him and he helped us make arrangements to see Slavek, the oldest brother, tomorrow in Donetsk before we fly out. Sasha will get to go to Donetsk with us. I treasure every second with him. Victor really likes Sasha, too. What a special kid.
As much as I like our hotel, the little cafe off the lobby is, um, not our favorite. As much as I've enjoyed our time here in Amvrosiivka, it isn't exactly busting with restaurant options. After three consecutive meh meals at our hotel's cafe, tonight we asked the cab driver to take us to the nicest restaurant in town. He took us to a dark back alleyway with no signs and knocked on a steel door. (!) A woman unlocked it and let us in. It was a restaurant! We were the only people there, but a nice lady came out and told us what she could offer us: borscht, salad, chicken with potatoes. I just went with the borscht; the guys went for the whole shebang. And what do you know, it was GOOD. The borscht had no beets but lots of cabbage. Still amazingly good. How do these Ukrainians make vegetable soup taste so good? It was served with a plate of raw garlic cloves and hot chilis. Delicious! I need to get on the borscht wagon at home.
So tomorrow is shaping up to be another great day. I get lots of time with Sasha, I finally get to meet the fourth brother in person, I get to see Anya and Den, and I get to fly away to Munich for the night with my Hus.
Our next flight is already booked! Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes.
Sweet! I'm going to make borsh tomorrow, it sounds sooooo good! I make mine with beets but you can't see or taste them. I also premake just about everything that goes into it and freeze it in portions. Then it's easy to make it even on weekdays after work. Yum!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time meeting the older bro tomorrow! And Sasha sounds like one great boy!