Day 9

Yulia called us to let us know that the SDA is prepared to meet with us again tomorrow, at 2pm local (7am ET). They have been able to update their orphanage information and in fact, she spoke with a Kiev region orphanage director who says that they have the girls (health and age) that we are looking for!!! And on top of that, we wouldn't have to travel very far. I found a list of orphanages by oblast (state) in Ukraine.

This is so encouraging! But please continue to pray for us! I also went to the local market today (not the mall). I had thought about trying the sausage but they wanted 50-100 hryvnias, but $13 for a sausage is kinds of steep; though I bet it is similar to salami or pepperoni. I'm also getting better at picking out water without "gas". Carbonated water is more popular here. You should have seen the boys face when they tried carbonated water! We also learned why the flat is so nice. It belongs to the owner of the entire building. I dare say that she owns other buildings too. She stays here when she is in Kiev. So, that definitely explains the large screen TV, the new washer, and the nice furniture.

Day 8

Today, we haven't done all that much except to take advantage of the washing machine and large bath tub. We don't have a dryer but plenty of ways to hang dry the clothes. Our hearts are prepared and have been aching some time to meet our new children. Yulia has approached us about the possibility of adopting a third and while Bank of America would reimburse us; it means another $4,000. If that is God's plan, then we all know that he will provide. We are anxious to meet with the SDA again. Hopefully we will do that tomorrow but if not, it should be Wednesday; when the SDA has received update orphanage information. Please continue to keep us in your daily prayers.

Day 7

Today is Nick's birthday. We walked down to the mall – but it's not quite what you are thinking of. It's more like a Super WalMart; just not as big and some of the clothing is real Italian. Also, WalMart doesn't sell the same kind or quality of alcohol (Does WalMart sell beer?). But I did find chorizo!!! There must have been 50 different kinds of sausage there but very, very little hotdogs. We got Nick a cake and ice cream. The cake was covered with a dark chocolate and resembled a chocolate pound cake but with layers of chocolate mousse. The ice cream was vanilla with caramel swirls and it’s much richer than we are use to. It wasn’t as sugary and it’s mostly sweetened naturally by the heavy cream. How many other American boys celebrate their birthday in Ukraine? And I have some bad news: I lost the key to our flat. I'm sure I lost it because I had other things in my pocket that stayed in my pocket but at least the address wasn't on the key. We have a dead bolt that only works from the inside and Tuesday, we'll get the tumblers changed. I really think that Satan is attacking us at almost every possible avenue. But we are not losing heart or faith, despite the overwhelming spiritual darkness. We also learned that what seemed like a delay isn't as bad as we first thought. Even if we had left for the orphanage city on Thursday, we wouldn't have gotten there until Friday and with the weekend and the holiday, we would have waited the extended weekend anyways. So, as it stands now, we are planning on meeting with the SDA again on Tuesday or Wednesday (if they don't have the updated list of children). Please give continue to pray for us!

Day 6

Yesterday, I took the family to the local "mall" during one of the heaviest traffic times of the day. We walked and got to see more and more Ukrainians but some of them would easily fit in State side – I guess that is the western influence for you. It's obvious that we are spoiled when it comes to pollution control. It was actually difficult to breathe and your eyes burned after a while. The trolleys (electric) are jam packed with people and folks park just about anywhere they want. Today, we are going to Independence Square; where Ukraine's revolution began in 1989 when university students held a hunger strike. There are also some cathedrals to visit; though many of them were destroyed by Hitler (200 of 600 are left). We've been cooped up in our flat waiting for the next referral and it's time to check out Kiev. On the weekend, they close off traffic so we should have a good time. Yulia will call a cab for us and when we are ready to return to the flat, she'll call another cab for us. Jennifer is dying for an American coffee so I imagine we will have to visit the local McDonalds.

And visit the McDonalds we did; except, it wasn't like our McDonald's: no Thousand Island dressing, cucumbers in place of pickles, and a lot less grease. The Independence Square is surrounded by some amazing art work and buildings. The main strip is closed to traffic on the weekends. We enjoyed some ice cream and watching Ukrainian children sing in unison. Under the Square is an underground mall. Odd, the symbol of their revolution and independence is supported by capitalism. You could say that American capitalism is their foundation. We also visited a local park and one of the cathedrals. Unfortunately, it was about this time that I realized my wallet was missing. I only had about 800 grivnia's ($100) though but still, that's not junk change either. It wasn't that crowded so I think I really did lose it. I'm hoping that a nice person turns it into the Embassy. Who am I kidding? I was “pick-pocketed”.

Day 5

It's Friday morning and I hear that Michael Jackson died. I doubt it. I think he is faking his death and we will start seeing Michael Jackson sitings like we do for Elvis. Maybe MIB is right and he just went back to his home planet? I think we are over the jet lag - or at least most of it. It rained last night and that helped drown out the sounds of the city. I'd like to see the country side but I guess that will have to wait until next week. In Kiev, many of the women wear revealing clothing. At first we thought they were "street walkers" but then we realized that there were too many of them to be that. To some of these ladies, Jennifer dresses like a Mennonite. It's ironic to see them wear such low cut blouses and yet they where a cross necklace. Of course, we stick out. Also, it seems that you can drink in public here. There is a lot of drinking of alcohol. In the market (imagine it like a large Harris Teeter or Save Mart) there were four full isles of alcohol. No wonder that so many children suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.

Day 4

We are finally over the jet lag - or at least most of it. We just got the internet up and running this morning (Friday). My power adapter about melted but I found another computer cord that is working with mine! The previous folks left a lot of stuff here. The flat seems luxurious for Kiev. There is a large screen TV and cable, air conditioning in the main room, a kitchen with a stove, microwave, and a large bath tub. We also found that the dollar does quite well in Ukraine and there are plenty of places to exchange currency; but it's hard to figure out what is what. Yurie has been very helpful and I don't want to go shopping without him but I think we could manage if need be. The boys are doing well. We have had a lot more family time in the past few days and they are really into reading. It helps that the TV is limited to British news and Ukrainian/Russian programming, though it's funny to see the American shows dubbed with a Ukrainian or Russian voice.

Day 3

Riding in a taxi in Kiev is like riding a roller coaster. Quick starts, hard stops, and you never know which way you are going to turn. It’s like extreme LA driving. Noah pointed out that there are no pick-up trucks. Oh, there are trucks, but not pick-ups. We went to the SDA office, which is near the St. Andrews church and along with Yulia, we met with the official there. They showed us several bios and pictures of some beautiful girls – two of which were sisters – but unfortunately they have too many medical issues for us to handle. We left the building feeling discouraged and learned that we cannot adopt two girls that are unrelated. So, we are resolved to hold on to God’s promises: that he has two girls (and sisters) for us; that he has called us to adopt; that he asked us to step out in faith and paint the girls room pink; has given the names to give them; has given us visions and dreams of them; and has even given us the ages.

Next Tuesday (Monday being a holiday and there are no meetings on Friday) we will review more bios and pictures. Yulia suggested this as more girls will become available. Apparently, our request is a bit unusual. I guess most folks adopt 1 child at a time. To adopt two unrelated girls would require another application being submitted to the SDA - we can't afford that and the time it would take. So, in short, we are completely out of our means of doing anything ourselves and are completely in God's hands. Since we are having to wait until Tuesday for the next referral, this puts us back a week. But I'm resolved to believe that this is God's timing and he is orchestrating all this for what his promises hold.

Day 2

As you can imagine, our flight to JFK was okay but the flight to Kiev was very, very, very long. At least we landed early. Stepping out of the plane was interesting. We climbed down the stairs and walked through several covered corridors. We followed the crowd to the customs desk, filled out a form, and showed our passports. Ukraine likes to keep track of where visitors travel and we were given a document that was stamped and will be stamped again when we leave. We were surprised on how easy getting through customs, grabbing our luggage, and walking through the security area. Within a few minutes, we met Uri, Yulia Shust’s husband, and were in his car riding to the main part of Kiev. We soon learned that Ukrainians drive on the right side of the street; which made our path through Kiev almost seem like we were in a different city within the States – except for the Russian signs everywhere. Oddly enough, there is a North Carolina BBQ restaurant, a TGIF’s, and StarBucks. I’m waiting to see a WalMart pop-up.

Uri tells us that Kiev is 1,500 years old but Ukraine has only been independent for 17 years. He explains that some of the populous want to rejoin Russian, some want to “join” the USA, others say Europe. Driving through Kiev is almost no different than driving through Los Angeles or San Francisco. You have a lot of traffic and people cutting in from every which way. More and more places of business are catering to English speaking customers; which makes our lives easier. In fact, most stores have currency exchange services. The dollar ratio to hrivnia (pronounced as “griv-nee-ah”) is about 1:8. The Euro does even better against the hrivnia.

Uri checked us into our very spacious flat. We even have a large bath tub! But atlas, no dryer. So when we figure out how to use the washer, we will be hanging our clothes to dry. We also have a large flat screen TV, cable, and internet. As you would expect, the shows are in Ukrainian or Russian and our DVD’s region code won’t work in the DVD player. Shucks. But from 8 stories up (about halfway up the building), we have a good view of the neighborhood. Uri also took us to a local market and helped us pick up some local currency, bread, meat, cheese… real basic stuff. It cracked me up to see Twix bars and Coke bottles. I’m told that in some places, cashiers use the abacus.

Yulia is our facilitator and is responsible for us while in Ukraine. We even had to sign a power-of-attorney stating that. She arranges where we will be staying in Kiev, working with the SDA (State Department of Adoptions), getting to the orphanage city, and finalizing our travel back to the USA. Our first task is meeting with the SDA on the 24th. For now, we are concentrating on being prepared to meet with the SDA at noon (5am ET) and being rested as the jet lag is hard on us. After meeting with the SDA, will should know where we are traveling to or if we are staying right where we are. Hopefully, we will be riding on a train overnight – another new experience.

Day 1

By way of Delta, flights 6524 and 0088, we flew out of Charlotte, stopped in JFK, and headed out to Kiev. The airplane had television screens for the in-flight movies and a map that gave the current location of the plane. It also gave us a countdown of miles, kilometers, and time. We should land around 8:30am local; which is 7 hours ahead of the East Coast. The only sleep we got was when we took Benadryl and even then, it wasn’t much. The food was descent as were most of the passengers. The only irritation I had was that the gentlemen behind me liked to pull on my seat to adjust himself. Why do they make airplane bathrooms only large enough for children? Is it really too much to ask for another 6 inches of room? But make sure you are standing when you flush. The force of it would make the door open if it wasn’t locked. The books will help make the time go by and I hope it goes by fast!