cjukraine

2010-09-06T09:29:00.011-04:00

Double Wow! It's now been a year and a half since bringing Maxim home from the orphanage in Kyiv. What excitement, change, and yes, a bit of fatigue he's brought to us! But it's overall still a wonderful experience and one I would strongly recommend. Wish we were young enough and endowed enough to do it all again.

As you can tell from the picture, whatever babyfat that was left on Maxim is now completely gone. He's grown much, much taller and much thinner. We figure he thrives on the freedom to run about freely and it turns out he's a very active youngster, very interested in sports too.

On the school front, Maxim is proving to extremely bright, especially in math. English for Maxim has come easily, though of course, he still has a way to go to be totally fluent. But there are no conversations any more where anyone doesn't know what he's saying or that he doesn't understand what's being said to him. Some awkward phrasing to our American ear still occurs and he still maintains a bit of his foreign accent. The accent is rather cute so I kind of hate to see it totally disappear someday.

Max is still a very sweet natured youngster, but occasionally, he shows his "all boy" side and tries to let us know that he is the boss (NOT!!). He's still a bit lonesome for all the children he was surrounded with in the children's home; here our other children are in college or grown, though he does now have a new niece who he hopes will grown faster so she can play with him.

I always hope that I will update this every six months, but time gets away from us, and we get absorbed into life with Maxim. I suppose, too, that one day he will ask me to stop writing about him. So life will tell when we will have another post.

Good luck to all those reading this who are on their adoption pursuits.

Charlene

Life Is Finally Back to Normal. . .

2009-03-27T22:15:00.023-04:00

Here we are at home in Kentucky on a Friday night March 27th, a mere two weeks after our chaotic exit from Kyiv, and it seems like it was so much longer ago than that since we were living in Ukraine and wondering if we were ever to be back in America again. Believe me, though, it is still fresh enough on our minds that we thank God daily that we are now safely home, back to our loved ones, and with a special young fellow now as an integral part of our family.

Things have gone amazingly well for Maxim since his introduction to life in America. He still thinks that food is extremely important and he gets very concerned if he sees others have food and not eat it. It's cute but saddening at the same time to observe this. Those of you who have seen Maxim in person know he has been well fed, but still, food must not have ever been readily available before. John and I took Maxim to Kroger for the first time last weekend. My, was he awestruck by all the foods available, but he was even more impressed by the fact that our shopping cart just kept getting fuller and fuller until it was almost full. He looks very healthy and acts very healthy too. Hopefully, the pictures are currently uploading so that finally there will be new photos this time along with this update.

Photo is of Maxim's McDonald's meal in Kyiv. The Coca-Cola light was not my idea!!

Everyone who has met Maxim here has commented on his outgoing, almost gregarious nature. And the family all seem to love him. From Aunt Bonnie (whose name he can now say correctly) to Mamaw and oldest brother Jonathan to the youngest of the older brothers, Kevin, who just spent his spring break from college home with us, to Kelly, who gives up part of each of her week to help out with him, every one of them seem comfortable with Maxim. Now, if we could only get our long distance children, Eric, and Andrea, to get a break from their jobs and come get to know him as well. . .perhaps this summer will offer some kind of opportunity.

Maxim has acclimated himself very well to school. The fact that he can read so well in Ukranian and sound out our English words in Ukranian phonics is of great value. The Ukranian/English picture dictionaries we brought home with us from Kyiv have turned out to be very helpful for Maxim's first grade teacher as well. For me as well, school is almost back to normal. There are of course the usual extra work to deal with when one has been gone from her job for so long, but overall, it feels like I wasn't gone quite so long. Still though, it's probably a good thing that next week is spring break so that both Maxim and I can have a little breather.

The weather here is chilly and to be downright cold this weekend unfortunately. I had hoped to take Maxim to some of the bigger parks around here and just do some simple fun things with him. Maybe we'll try a new kids movie that's coming out. We're also trying to work out a play date with a friend or two who have kids about Maxim's age. Maxim loves all the attention he gets from the adults around us. He has really taken to one or two folks from our Sunday School class as well as from our circle of friends. This class is also hosting a potluck/shower for us this weekend which is very kind of them.

We have blogged before about our new friends from Minnesota that we met in Kyiv, Gail and Craig and their new two year old daughter, Briley. We have now heard from them that they are happily ensconced back at their home with their two boys too. All of us hope that our friendship will continue over the years.

Meantime, we are working on scheduling a time for the adopt agency to do their home visit now that we're home so we will only have one more visit to deal with this summer before we should be able to do the Kentucky adoption.

We also have gotten Maxim's teeth removal I talked about last week scheduled for the end of the week after this one.

The only other thing that I simply must journal about here is about how much Maxim loves soccer or "football" as he still mostly calls it. His team practices once a week, but he asks every single day if he can go to "football." Since this sport is so popular in Ukraine, Maxim is quite familiar with it. He is very interested in scoring a goal, not so interested in passing the ball. Here's a picture of him in Shevchenko soccer outfit I found for him at a street vendor's in Kyiv. For you non soccer fans, he's a famous soccer player from that area.

We hope to continue these sporadic updates for a several more weeks because it will be such a nice history for Maxim some day as well as a facile way to keep everyone updated on our progress here at home with our new son.

Charlene

The Rest of the Story

2009-03-21T18:59:00.003-04:00

Sorry not to have finished this segment sooner, but no wonder I was fatigued. I ended up with what seemed like every virus and illness around, but thankfully, I am feeling better today, though still very tired. Good thing since I am slated to return to teaching on Monday. Maybe my students will take pity on me and be extra sweet the first few days I'm back. (Hope you all are reading this!!) Now, back to the story: After the disappointment of not being able to fly on Thursday as attempted, we were put in a hotel for the night and shuttled back to the airport the next morning. After a few hours we were finally on the plane and in the air headed to America! I must mention again how very good Maxim was at the airport for those several hours we just had to stand around waiting to find out what was happening. He was very good at the hotel as well, even sleeping in his own little cot which the hotel staff set up right next to my bed. We are still working on the sleep issue here at home. Maxim is doing better, but we still have a ways to go for him to stay a whole night in his own room. Meantime, I have a pallet on the floor of our room, right next to our bed. It is a method of gradually getting him to spend the whole night in his room. It's making him and me both too tired as it is. But I realize from all the other blogs I've read that this is very normal and very short-lived.

Since landing in JFK and making it onto Louisville where we were met by John's son and sister, we have pretty much kept it low key, not only for Maxim's sake but also for ours. Well, that's not exactly accurate. John did make the long drive to Georgia for his niece's wedding. Maxim and I stayed home to get him acclimated to Kentucky as well as to get his physical and him enrolled in school. We also went to the dentist. Oh, my! That's where a major expense will come into play. His teeth have not been well taken care of at all and we've already had to schedule dental surgery early next week. Poor little guy. He probably does not even know what a pain-free mouth feels like. Again, Maxim was very good at the dentist though. He had to go ahead and get one filling with more still to do. He wasn't happy about the numbing shot, but he handled it like a trooper. Can't say the same for how he reacted for me when I only had to remove a small splinter from his finger! Goodness, is this young fellow strong! He weighs 75 pounds and judging from how hard it was to get him to hold still for the splinter removal, most of that weight is pure muscle. I guess that means he'll do well at "football" or soccer as we call it here in the U.S.

We have Maxim on a little U-8 soccer team called the Kickers. He is so excited by this. He has only made it to one practice so far, but he asks each day to go to "football." He took to it very well; ran after the ball, kicked it far, did great throw-ins. He wasn't so great at passing--he wanted to shoot the ball toward the goal rather. : ) Kelly has been home this weekend and so she's been out practicing with him. Maxim is in heaven with all the attention showered on him by her.

This week my school friends and co-workers showered Maxim with some toys and clothes and some gift cards to help us get him better outfitted and to let him have some of his own things to play with here at home. We are very thankful for their generosity.

Sorry to still not have pictures to post, but hopefully in a few days. There just has been no energy for more than the bare necessities, and the pictures take a long time to download and then upload.

But Maxim is doing very well--he's getting too used to us, meaning that he the honeymoon period has ended. Oh, he's still very good, but he is showing a stubborn streak and tells me no sometimes. He gets mad at me when I tell him no and when I tell him it's time to take a rest or to go to bed. Typical little boy stuff, but I need to figure out some more Ukranian words so I can make it plainer to him that there are consequences for disobeying. . . I might need a little luck to make that clear.

Maxim went to school a few hours two days last week and will try his first full day on Monday. So far, so good. He was curious and did some "exploring" of the classroom when he shouldn't have, but the teacher is very kind and understanding. We are very fortunate to have found such a warm, caring environment for Maxim's introduction to American school.

Wish us luck with all this,

Charlene

The Flying Saga continued

2009-03-17T21:11:00.002-04:00

After being told we could not fly out on Thursday as we'd so hoped and prayed, we were told that if we were going to need a hotel for the night, then we were to stand there and someone would come talk to us about it. Five hours and fifty-six minutes after that final comment, a Delta rep. came out to tell a huge group that they had found hotel rooms and would start shuttling people to the various hotels shortly. They took one group, then I gather someone complained because the next trip they decided to take people with children and the elderly first. Once we got to the hotel, they decided they would also feed us supper but to spend no more than one hundred hryvna, but it turned out that the restaurant wasn't prepared for so many people, so they ended up just feeding us one of two dishes and so the cost wasn't a problem. As usual, the food didn't agree with me, but John and Maxim enjoyed it.

The next day we were shuttled to the airport in plenty of time to get in the lines for baggage and customs checks. I tried to get in the line for a voucher they were giving for a discount on future flights for our inconvenience, but just as I was about to the front of the line, the other line moved too much, so I had to give up on the vouchers in order to be sure we could get through all those checkpoints in time for the plane. It's a good thing we allowed a tad extra time because John's passport not having a stamp again became an issue, much longer delay caused by it this time to the point John was saying Maxim and I should go ahead and get on the plane and he'd find another flight, but it eventually all worked out and we made it onto the plane that had been repaired from the day before. We had been concerned that Maxim's adoption papers, visa, or some such thing would cause a holdup on our exit from Ukraine; who would have guessed it would be John?

No one could ever been happier to land in the U.S.A. than John and I were. JFK aiport may be a pain to maneuver, but it was a welcome hassle for sure. The guy who checked us in at customs was the nicest fellow. It was such a relief to be able to understand every word he said! Soon thereafter we were able to text or call family members and say we were back in America!

I tell you that until you live in a foreign country, especially one lacking in some of our conveniences, you probably just cannot have the appreciation for our country that we now have, and we've always been very patriotic. Having said that, I will also say that we will sorely miss some of the folks we met in Kiev. Sadly, probably the only one we'll keep in contact with is Alla, our bossy translator. Bossy is a good thing most of the time when you have no idea what you're really doing. She has been very kind to check on us both airport days as well as to e-mail us to make sure we made it all the way home safely. I will try to send her some pictures of Maxim in his new home before too long.

Speaking of pictures, when we get some more uploaded from our camera, then we will put a few more on here as well as on kodak gallery.

Today, Maxim and I met went to his new school and met with the principal and his teacher. They gave him a short tour of school and introduced him to his classmates. Maxim was all smiles as all this occurred. I had been concerned that it would be too much for him since he had been in a cocoon like environment since his schooling has been in the orphanage, but no, he seems very happy still. We are so pleased with how well Maxim has accepted us and adapted to the U.S. and the new environment. He also started soccer practice this evening; the new coach was very kind to Maxim. Maxim was very tired afterward but again mostly smiles. He loves "football" so maybe he'll be a natural--that would make Kelly very happy.

For those of you still coming over: it is all worthwhile, but you have to be prepared for the unexpected every step of the way and for delay after delay. You have to learn to go with the flow and not expect what you thought you could expect.

Charlene

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!

2009-03-15T18:23:00.004-04:00

Yes, we truly are home! Finally! And the lines from the poem by Henry Van Dyke describes how we've felt the past several days: "So it's home again, and home again, America for me! My heart is turning home again, and that's where I long to be." As expected, we literally did not know until almost the last minute when we'd be flying out and even then, the flight got cancelled. We raced and rushed the entire week just trying to get Maxim's new passport from the Ukranian government. In addition to those lovely "expediting" fees, there was a bottle of brandy exchanged. Why, we don't know. Just while on an extremely tight time crunch and on our way supposedly to meet up with the man who was hand carrying Maxim's passport, suddenly the taxi pulled over. Out hopped Alla saying something about she didn't know why but the guy had told her to bring a bottle of brandy. So she returns with the brandy and we race on to the metro stop where she's been told to meet the man who was meeting the man with the passport. We get there and surprisingly easily find the man. Alla and he disappear for a few minutes and she returns to the car. Then we head exactly back to where we had been before the "brandy" call came in. The man we met there had to himself carry back the passport to his office and put an official stamp on it. Finally, it was done. I signed a piece of paper on the trunk of the taxi and we raced off again. We were trying to get to the Embassy where John was waiting before they closed. We barely got there before the Embassy closed, too late to get Maxim's visa printed that day (a bottle of brandy cost us dearly!), but they did agree to go ahead and do our interview. They also promised to have the visa printed first thing the next day (Thursday) by around 9 a.m. The plane was to take off at 11:10 so it was cutting it very close for us, but we decided surely luck must somehow be with us since it hadn't been for so very long so we packed all our belongings Thursday night. We put everything into a minivan taxi Friday morning and rushed to the Embassy. After sweating it out for thirty minutes I was finally handed Maxim's visa!!! Yes!! That meant we could now leave the country. IF IF IF we could just get to the airport and all checked in before the flight departed at 11:10 a.m. It was a race to the finish line, literally, a race. We were all three huffing and puffing by the time we finished getting our luggage checked, paying for the change of the flight, going through security checkpoint after checkpoint, getting the adoption documents scrutinized very carefully, and the best part of all, having John almost not be allowed to cross out of their border. Yes, remember the lost passport incident a couple days after we arrived in Kiev? Well, it came back to haunt John. Turns out if you don't have the official stamp in your passport showing you entered the country, they are not going to let you leave the country! Luckily, John had found the lost passport and was able to prove that he had entered legally into Ukraine. So, finally, we were on board the plane. We heard the safety spiel they always give. We taxied down the runway, well, for a little while, and then the plane stopped. We passengers all assumed we were just waiting for final clearance for take off, but after about fifteen minutes, the pilot came on and told us we were having trouble getting the right engine to start and that maintenance was coming out to check on it. After a long wait with no definite decision made and all of us hoping that the plane could be easily fixed and would still fly, we were disappointed to learn that the plane would not fly that day.

There are many other details of the past week, but the fatigue has taken over again. Our bodies went through so much our entire trip, especially that last week. On top of that both John and I were sick the past two weeks. I came home with an ear infection so the ascent and descent of the plane was painful. The six hour time difference is not an easy thing to adjust to now that we're back home. What I am trying to say is that hopefully there will be time and energy to blog more in a day or two, but this entry must be short. I did want to let everyone know, though, that we're home so wrote even though the story must end abruptly for now.

Oh, don't mean to stop without saying that Maxim is doing great!

Charlene

Guess Who's Here!!!

2009-03-07T14:05:00.007-05:00

We are very happy to announce that Maxim is now legally our son. It wasn't until another very grueling day was almost over on Thursday that we were able to take custody of Maxim. You cannot imagine how we were sweating it, since we'd been told that we might get to bring him home on Tuesday and there was even a slight possibility on Wednesday and no go. But that stress is now over because Maxim is now living with us here in this apartment in Kiev. We hope to be able to bring him home soon; the actual timing, as I've posted before, depends on how long it takes the U.S. Embassy to process the required paperwork there and issue the visa. That usually is a quick turn around, but we still are missing a vital piece of paper before we can go there as well as Maxim's completed passport, plus, remember we told you that Sunday is a big holiday here called International Women's Day. Some say it is similar to our Mother's Day, but it is far bigger. They get Monday off because it is a national holiday. There are always kiosks and stands and stands of fresh flowers for sale here in the big city, but that number has greatly increased because of this huge holiday. Needless to say, the Embassy won't be open on Monday since they get to close for both Ukranian and U.S. holidays. What a great job! That makes the schedule much tighter. We, and most others who go through this adoption process here, honestly won't know for sure which day we will be able to fly out of here until the very afternoon before. We all want and need to get back home for sure though! Maxim needs to get into first grade there and I need to get back to my students. John has a family wedding to attend and his job to return to as well. So it's not for lack of want or travail that is keeping us here.

Thursday we got Maxim and got to see his groupa--they live in family style units sort of in groups of eight children when they are around his age. There is a teacher during the da, and an aide part of the time; at night someone is there who sleeps in the room with them. There were eight tiny beds that they made up and put cushions on so similar to what we'd call a daybed maybe. The set up was like a small apartment except no doors into the two rooms. You enter into a living room kind of area which didn't look like they much used it. It did have an aquarium (kind of dirty) that Maxim seemed to really like. Then there was the sleeping room that I described. Other than those two, there was a room with desks adjoining each other with storage under the top of the desk as well as a storage cubby for each child around the room. There were a couple others in Maxim's group who looked to us as if anyone would want to adopt them, not that we know if they were adoptable. One girl told us she was also being adopted to the United States, but we have no idea if that is true or not. And of course, we think we got the cream of the crop. : )

How proud Maxim was and is of his new clothes. He is bigger than he looks because the size 8's we got him barely, barely fit him. He is very solid. We are very lucky that he is so physically healthy as well. Most people say there child/ren are underweight and under height when they get them from an orphanage. We found him a denim jacket and denim jeans set that he thinks he looks just, oh, so sharp in! Today Maxim got to wear the jeans and sweater he helped pick out last week and he again was very, very happy. John was asleep when Maxim got dressed; as soon as Papa got up, Maxim ran to him pointing out his new clothes and grinning and grinning. Maxim has been great since he came with us. The only kink that is not worked out is sleep. We have to remember that he's used to sleeping with several other people in the same room with him, so to expect him to be able to sleep in a strange apartment on a sleeper sofa in a room all by himslef was, well, just not a good idea. I stayed up until he went to sleep, but he didn't stay that way. The first night we were all up and down so many times, I don't think any of us got much sleep. So last night we started out the same way, but before long, there was Maxim standing by the bed telling me something so earnestly with such a sad look on his face. Of course, I don't know exactly what he said, but when I motioned to climb in beside of me, he about barreled me over, he was in such a hurry. I did get him to move to the middle of the bed; he went almost immediately to sleep. I figure for the few days we're here, what will it hurt? Poor kid, his whole life has been turned topsy turvy, and I can pretty much guarantee that he'll like his own bed in his own room not very long after we get back home. Yesterday, we took Maxim back to that indoor playland I wrote about last week. He had asked us to go there every day since. He had a great time. We figure he earned it because so much of yesterday and part of the day before were spent in a car and some in a diner just waiting and waiting while Alla ran in and out of several places; sometimes with me, sometimes not. The first night after we finished what paperwork we could, we stopped at an outdoor park to let him run and play. So what if it was flurrying and had mud puddles galore? The kid was in Heaven being let loose like that. Then we celebrated by going to TGIF. One thing we can say for certain about Maxim. The boy LOVES to eat. I had heard from others that they eat like they'll never see another bite for about six months after they leave the orphanage, but since Maxim is such a good size, I was surprised that he, too, is so happy to have plentiful food. It makes us feel good to see him eat like that as well as sad to think what young children must have to worry about when they are orphans.

On a more upbeat note, we finally got tickets to the circus which is just a short bus ride from here. Today we stopped by there to get the tickets because last time we tried (with Gail and Craig sans Maxim) they were all sold out. Try explaining to a young child who does not speak English that we aren't going in to see the fun circus today but will come back tomorrow! Then we tried to take him across the street to a movie in Ukranian, but they do not show children's movies on Saturday! So we went to a toy store instead that had a small play area. Maxim is so very sweet that he just nods his head when we say "tomorrow." But when tomorrow actually comes, we think he will be thrilled to see an actual circus; we certainly will be as it's been years.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank so many people that we'd leave some out accidentally if we tried to mention each one by name, but in general, we want send out a thank you to all of you who read this blog so faithfully, to all of you who picked up the slack at work (including my principal Kathy, my co-worker Heather and John's supervisor Damon), Karen JS who wins the prize for e-mailing me every SINGLE day of my journey, to Becca and Jeanette for helping with the cats and various other items, to all of you who've sent a prayer up for us, to our Family Life class, to our family and friends, and to our children (Jonathan, Eric, Andrea, Kelly, Kevin) for allowing and encouraging us to make such a drastic change to all our lives, especially to Kelly, without whose help back at home with cats and bills and doctors and extra documents we couldn't have done this--we certainly couldn't have stayed the extra time this adoption has ended up requiring.

We know you all will join us in welcoming Maxim Christopher to our family.

Charlene

Stumbling Blocks

2009-03-04T01:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday involved chasing paperwork ad nauseum! And the end result was that we still did not end up with the new birth certificate. All day long there were stumbling blocks all along the way: a two and a half hour wait for the court decree, one error on that decree that caused the first birth certificate to send us back to the judge for a correction, another long wait, visit to the other Kiev district for the other part of the birth certificate to be approved, a trip to something like their regional office for approval of what the district had placed their seal on, and on and on. With much "encouragement" from Alla at least the required forms and seals were getting done by the various offices, until, you guessed it, the last stop. We were back at the original birth certificate office and the lady was just plain mean; I could tell she was yelling at Alla and I cannot even understand the language. Believe me, few people ever yell at Alla, but because she wanted something from that yelling person, Alla kept her cool pretty well. Still, in the end, we did not get the new birth certificate which means we did not yet get to pick up Maxim which also means we couldn't apply for his passport which means we couldn't apply for his new i.d. number. Without all these things, we cannot apply for his visa to come to the U.S. We are hoping it doesn't delay our return home by too much. You may be wondering when will we get this birth certificate? Well, one would think that could happen today, but no, the lady said she had meetings and would be out of the office today and so we can go back and try on Thursday. No way to know if we'll be successful. No one can ever predict when anything will happen over here. John and I (as well as Alla) are both utterly exhausted from all this frantic pace to try to get things accomplished as well as mentally fatigued from trying to figure it all out. So keep those prayers coming our way, please.

A Day Out And About

2009-03-01T06:31:00.012-05:00

It's been a while since we've posted. The internet was down for a while, there's been a lot of paperwork stress (be glad, be very glad I didn't moan about that on here!), a touch of illness, plus, there's just not a lot of new things to report most days; just the usual routine of going back and forth to the orphanage to visit with Maxim. The bus ride is tedious and very, very bumpy to say the least. You never know which kind of driver you'll get---the one who stops for anyone who stands by the street and holds out his arm and so drives rather slowly, or the one who thinks he's running a race! The latter kind surely does make for a carsick tummy as well as bounces us out of our seats, if we're lucky enough to even be seated, that is! One day, I lucked out and was able to sit in the very front seat of the bus, the one directly across from the driver. Buses here are not doored like the school buses at home, meaning the door is located two seats back from the windshield. Anyway, the seat gave me a fantastic view of what we see on our ride to and from the orphanage. I will try to post a couple here and more on Kodak Gallery. The first street picture is where we change buses and go up that hill; the orphanage is not very far up on the right.

A fun thing did happen this past week. We were able to check out Maxim from the orphanage for five hours one day. Alla and our driver accompanied us to an outdoor market where Maxim was allowed to try on and choose which boots he wanted and which jeans. We figure it's probably the only time in his life he's been given a choice about his clothing. He liked a sweater I chose for him, and he also selected warm gloves and a cheap police car. Maxim still says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up. : ) It was a very nice change of pace to have Maxim outside of the orphanage. Alla also showed us an indoor playland kind of place, sort of like Kids Place or Chuck E Cheeze back home. Maxim didn't want to get inside the climbing apparatus, though, so he played a few games where you have to insert a token or scan a card. He had no idea what to do with the ticktets the games gave him, so it is safe to assume, he'd never gotten to play these types of games before. Of course, he loved them. He asked several times if we would take him back there tomorrow, but alas, we could not say when we could do that as we are not allowed to check him out again until we take him out for good, which should still happen by Wednesday of this week (we're hoping for Tuesday afternoon, but that's a longshot). We also stopped in at a large grocery store while we had Maxim since we had a taxi and would have an easier way to haul back large jugs of water and some other items. Maxim chose a pear he really wanted as well as a small bag of colorful marshmallow candy; he also enjoyed pushing the cart for us--that is, until we put four huge jugs of water in there, then he motioned for me to take over. After that, it was to McDonald's for a Happy Meal, which I also got the idea he'd never had before. Alla kept telling me that wouldn't be enough food for him, but I insisted that he get his Happy Meal, and of course added some of my nuggets to his small box while John kept refilling his French fry container. Poor kid, then Alla insisted he eat that all! We had just a short time to spare after that before our 3 p.m. deadline to have Maxim back at the orphanage so we brought him by our apartment and showed him where he would live with us for a couple of weeks after we get him from the orphanage. He was pleased to see his puzzles he'd already done, toys he'd played with, and the big red bag here. I sense it made him feel more comfortable. It was hard to leave him at the orphanage after our big day out, but Maxim was very happy. Oh, while we were out we did manage to get pictures made of Maxim for his visa and medical exam; the ones for the Ukranian passport Alla says we cannot do ahead of time--that the passport office must do them when we take Maxim there to apply for it. Sigh. And time goes on and on and on and on and on. . .

It was a very nice and sunny day here yesterday, or at least John says it was. I was so sick that I barely moved from the bedroom to the bathroom to the couch and back and forth. Self-diagnosing a sinus and ear infection, I started Friday on the last vial of antibiotics my doctor had so graciously prescribed for me to bring along. Today, I feel just a tad better but am still very weak so I am writing a paragraph for the blog, then resting a bit, then writing another paragraph,etc., so if the blog is a bit disjointed, now you know why. With John doing all the peeling and chopping, we managed to make some potato/onion soup which those of you who know me know is my cure for any illness. :) It surely did taste good. I figure if I had to get that sick (yes, I'd had a few under the weather days before while here but none this bad), then it was better to be sick now before we have Maxim here with us and definitely before we are on an airplane. Can you imagine the pain with infected ears and flying!!

Today we are both kind of relaxing and we have the landlord over with a repairman again to make the antiquated washer work once more. I tell you it is just one step above washing them all by hand, but if they can just patch it up for a few more weeks, it will no longer be our problem. Sure hope we don't have to do the wash by hand though; that would take forever to dry. Remember there are no dryers, other than the lines we toss the wet clothes on in the kitchen.

John is tired of being cooped up, though he did run out to a small grocery yesterday, so I have promised him that in a little while I will, at the least, walk to the nearest shopping center with him. I figure the fresh air might do me good anyway. The weather today is very different from yesterday's. It came quite a good snow last night--looks like three or four inches. It's beautiful, for a while anyway.

So I'll close for now. Hopefully, in a very few days we will have Maxim here with us, and you can be sure we will be shouting that fantastic news from the proverbial rooftop!

May God bless each of you,

Charlene

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

2009-02-24T15:26:00.009-05:00

A lot has happened since I got a chance to write. Charlene has covered things real well. The main thing is that we are so excited to be nearing the end of this adoption process; we hope we are anyway. There have been so many hurdles that have come up. I am happy to give my wife a compliment – she has risen and met the challenges. Some things almost blindside you. Like today, we mostly by accident found out that the U.S. Embassy will need a copy of some more of our records before we can file for a passport for Maxim. Duh! As Homer Simpson says, no one thought to tell us, so we find out by sheer accident. (And yes, Charlene thinks it silly of me to like to watch The Simpsons. But I do anyway.)

I really enjoy the time and activities with Maxim. It’s fun to share games, learning, and just plain fun stuff with Maxim. I love his smile and he has a good sense of humor. I have taught a long time, and the only thing I see that Maxim will have a little trouble with is having to learn English. To tell the truth, my old English teachers probably doubted I would ever learn English. ☺

Some other things to mention include a store like Sam’s Club, continuing to learn how to get around town, trying to buy a few clothes for Maxim, cooking and trying to cross-reference measurements, watching for money exchange rates to be in your favor, and last but not least, using Skype to talk to those at home.

Alla went with us to a shopping area we had gone to with another American couple – Craig and Gail. (Hi Craig and Gail if you are reading this. And Gail, you would have loved the store.) With a little direction from Alla, Charlene and I discovered two new shopping areas. And one of them was bigger than the Sam’s Club back home, really, it was bigger than three Sam’s Clubs combined! The only problem I had was that it was huge and the fish area in the food section smelled very bad. All the fish and fish parts were just laid out and it smelled a lot. When I get back home I don’t think I will rush to Red Lobster. But Charlene and I splurged after buying some good bargains on groceries, by getting a taxi. Neither of us wanted to try to carry all our stuff, including huge and heavy jugs of water, on the subway or bus.

Charlene is definitely a Mom. She is an expert at choosing fun activities to do with him daily and in buying the right size clothes, shoes, and stuff for Maxim. I admit she traced his foot. But the rest of the stuff she almost did by instinct. I admit I have trouble with the size system here. But then I have never been good at buying clothes for others.

Cooking is a challenge when you don’t have a measuring cup, proper bowls, or even utensils. So we cheated and bought only what we really needed. I mean after all, we don’t want to take anything that will be extra weight back with us. So anything we don’t take we intend to give either to the orphanage or our translator. But it was not a sure thing when the directions are in Ukrainian. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides if we can’t eat it, there are always hungry animals, birds, or trash cans. We even found $1.00 a piece plates so we got three of them. Yep, this ill equipped kitchen has only flat like soup bowls and large saucers for plates! It made us feel better just to have a real plate to eat from, even though the color is a sickly green.

Since we have been here the exchange rates for the American dollar went down a little and since then has steadily gone up. Great for me, I can buy a cup of American coffee and not feel I’m being wasteful. Of course, I have to be honest and tell you that I had been trying to give up coffee. And since there are few liquids I can drink here, coffee is back on the list. I would love a regular coke but my conscience (Charlene) reminds me that I am diabetic.

And Skype.com. What can I say but WOW! What a cool, cheap way to talk and see those at home. I have been slowly losing my computer skills since I retired from teaching, but Charlene has been helping me relearn. To any of you not using Skype, please try it. It is a free program and free to use – really, no strings like so many things in life have (unless, like us, you have to pay for every megabyte!)

There have been some things happen we have dealt with. I got news that my Mom had had a mild heart attack. I was going to return home but my Mom and family back home asked me to wait and see how she did. I am happy to say she is doing very well. Not quite back to her old self but still ok. And, of course, other worries which I know are like everyone has.

So for now, if you are here – don’t give up. If you are coming – sit back and enjoy the ride.

LOL

and God keep all safe,

John

It's a Red Letter Day

2009-02-21T03:53:00.010-05:00

A major hurdle is now behind us. The judge here yesterday proclaimed that Maxim Christopher Spencer will be legally (legal from the Ukranian government’s point of view) our child once the mandatory waiting period ends. (The waiting period is time for anyone to object to this ruling—though this rarely happens, we need to keep in mind that it could.) Following the minimum ten day waiting period on Day 11, we can go look over the ruling to make sure there are no mistakes and that all names are spelled correctly (it becomes a huge deal later on if the names are not spelled correctly). Then, then next day we can go back and pick up these official documents. The day after that, I believe, we are able to pick up Maxim and he will then live with us while we finish up the U.S. documents. After we have him in hand, then we can take him for passport pictures and to apply for the passport. We are unsure how many days it takes to get his passport back, but once we do get it, we can apply for Maxim’s visa. The visa doesn’t take as long to issue, as we understand it, but there is one other Ukranian holiday in this time span somewhere that may cause a day or two delay. We also have a mandatory medical exam to get Maxim here in order to be able to take him to the United States as well as an interview at the U.S. Embassy. Once all these minor hurdles are passed, the U.S. government will also consider Maxim as our child and once his foot hits American territory, he is a legal American Citizen!! We can choose to or choose not to readopt when we get back in Kentucky so he will have a Kentucky sort of birth certificate. We’ll make that decision later; we have way too many pressing ones to make right now to give that more than a passing thought. I realize everyone wants to know when we’ll actually be back home; believe you me, we want to know that very same answer! The best guesstimate is by St. Patrick’s Day, but the way things work here, we may not know our actual return date until the day before we are to fly home.

Maxim was quite nervous at the meeting with the judge, though she was kind to him. She used legalistic terms to ask him questions; some of them confused me when translated, so no wonder the little guy was a bit shaken. However, we were very proud of how Maxim responded to all the questions. The gist of their conversation was that, no matter how she worded and reworded the questions, Maxim kept responding he wanted to live “with them,” meaning John and myself. He walked closer to her to try to hear what she was saying; the judge had bronchitis and so was talking quietly. Other than that move, he stood by my side holding my hand. I started to turn loose of his hand once, thinking he might be tired of standing there like that and was going to just put my hand on his shoulder, but he held on more tightly and so I of course never did let go—I let him take the lead there. : )

Another cute story: The judge and the others in the room—her secretary, the prosecutor, the Social Worker (called Inspector here)—all greatly enjoyed looking at our family album. They took interest in our children and the room for Maxim of course, but they were most impressed by our yard. We had pictures in the album from late last summer when all the flowers and bushes were in full bloom, and from the angle of the camera , it make our yard look enormous—it isn’t , and we hadn’t even tried to make it look so, but I digress. John spoke up and said he did all the flowers and took care of them all. Poor John. He (other than little Maxim) was the only male in the room. The women all kind of smiled and nodded. Alla later told us that none of them believed him anyway. Then John said that I did just a little bit of work on the flowers too, jokingly. They all laughed and it made for a good feeling in the room.

The judge asked Maxim how he would tell us on the plane if he was hungry or thirsty or needed to go to the bathroom. He responded that he would tell us in Ukranian, very matter of factly. She also queried if he knew he now had brothers and sisters. He said yes. She asked how he would talk to them; again, he responded in that matter of fact tone, “In Ukranian.” Of course, he was speaking Ukranian so I am quoting what our translator told us he said. The judge thought that was pretty cute. Guess we’d better work a little harder on teaching the lad English. : )
The judge soon thereafter ruled in our favor, telling Maxim to be a good boy, to be happy, and to do well in school.

Never will I be convinced that just because a child passes his seventh birthday he should be put through this very stressful court date where he or she has the huge responsibility of deciding their future, of deciding where and with whom he or she should live. Can you imagine your seven or eight year olds being given such a daunting responsibility? But this part is past, for us anyway.

Last night, we met up with Chan, another person here adopting, and her two year old new son, Alex. We all had a good time comparing war stories and holding and playing with little Alex. He is small for his age, but, my, did he enjoy eating! Makes a person feel good to see someone appreciate food like that. We greatly enjoyed getting to know Chan in person after following her odyssey online, and we wish her safety on her flight home today and a happy future with her husband and her son.

This weekend we have no real plans, though we might finally get to go see the Chernobyl Museum as well as a larger groc

ery store so we can buy some cheaper food items. After the larger than expected expediting fee for the judge, we have to watch every penny, plus, I like finding bargains anyway. And I need to find so

me food I can cook and eat because I am still losing weight. My belt just doesn’t have room for any more holes to be put in it. The weather is still cold for today, though it is no snowing as it has been the last two days. It’s the largest snow we’ve seen since being here; John says it’s been more like the Ukraine he expected.

Thanks to all of you who are commenting or e-mailing or somehow responding to our blog and our journey.

Charlene

Activities with Maxim

2009-02-18T13:09:00.021-05:00

Trains are a favorite of Maxim's as are puzzles. Here's a picture he took of his work today and a cat (another of his favorites) puzzle from a few days ago. Our visits with him include at least one puzzle each time. He's very good at figuring out how to put all the pieces back together. Oh, sure, occasionally we give him a hand, but most of the time, he sees how they pieces fit back together before we do. This past week we taught him to play Trouble, the game where you have to count to get around the board and by landing on an opponents token can send that person back to start. Maxim caught on very quickly to this game. Though he loves landing on us and getting sent back, it makes him just a little sad if we end up landing on him. Maxim has also taken very readily to playing games and music on John's iphone. He's going to be another boy who loves gadgets, much like our older sons. We also played the little wind-up fishing game (thanks, Kelly) this week; Maxim enjoyed the use of the magnet on the end of the pole. John also found this very small remote control car that Maxim remembers to ask us for each day. His word for car is something like "machina."

We're also working on the English alphabet with Maxim. Though many of the letters look the same, their sounds are far different, so it's quite a challenge to learn that the same letter sounds totally different in another language. Still, Maxim is giving it a good effort, but he is far from being able to speak English yet. He is learning how to say a few of the numbers, though. Games like Trouble and Uno are helping as are the math worksheets we ask him to do daily. He gets to choose a pretty sticker for each page he completes; he really likes stickers so this is a good tactic to get him to do this activity. For language we just talk to him a lot and get him to repeat some words. That Memory game I've mentioned before is still a favorite. We are using the one with animals so it should help him know the words for many animals before too long. Maxim was asking us to play Memory with him every single day, but I think we've skipped a day of it here and there the last week or so. Not so, Trouble. I guess it's replaced Memory as his current favorite.

It is cold and snowing here and blustery. A couple of inches of snow are predicted overnight with maybe another inch tomorrow; I think it's predicted again on the next day, too, but I'll try not to think about that right now. I hate the cutting cold winds and very wet blowing snow; they chill you to your very bones! But overall, I still think we've had fairly good weather considering where we are and the time of year it is. Of course, spring couldn't get here too soon for me.

Finally, last night I got the peanut butter cookies made. This apartment came with very sparsely supplied kitchen utensils, etc. With no cookie sheet, no mixing bowl, no mixer, no sturdy stirring spoon, no measuring cup, no measuring spoon, and all the ingredients having the writing on them in English, maybe I should just be glad that the cookies are at all edible. Margarine here is not sold like at home. That means we buy it in a block and there were no numbers on it to indicate how much weight was in it so I tried to guess. I guessed that since it was only a little bigger than our 4 sticks of margarine that I should cut off 3/4 of the package and use it for the one pound of butter. Then I took a small glass and estimated how much would equal a cup. Alla helped me find vanilla the other day and baking powder. Both are sold in little tiny packets. The vanilla was not liquid but powder too. The flour I couldn't figure out if it was self-rising, but I assumed it wouldn't be. So I added in the amounts of flour, sugar, brown sugar (much bigger grains here and much more expensive), eggs, etc. and mixed all together. It was way too liquidy. So I added in one more cup of flour and the sugars. Then I figured I'd better put in another egg. Even after all that, the dough just wasn't like dough but more like a thick paste. But I decided to try baking one pan full. So I put them into a roasting pan (we had to buy one of those in order to be able to cook anything in the oven) and put them into the gas oven. Then the real fun began--trying to figure out how far to turn up the gas in the oven in order to be at 325 degrees. Even though I checked on them every two or three minutes, somehow the bottoms got just a little too dark and the butter just oozed from the tops. So into the rest of the batter I added in another round of all the dry ingredients and another egg. Of course by then, I'd run out of vanilla and especially baking powder. After using up most of the bag of flour and bags of sugars, I decided it would just have to do and, thus, gave the oven another shot. John and I thought they weren't too bad, though quite rich from all that butter and sugar. But the real test came today when I nervously handed one to Maxim. He took a bite and I asked him if it was good. He nodded his head, smiled and circled his palm over his tummy. What better compliment could any Momma want? : )

For some reason today the bus driver on our ride back from the orphanage pulled over to the side of the street and started handing back the bus fee money to each rider. So John and I just went with the flow and took our $2 Hrvna and exited the bus. Luckily, it was next to a McDonald's and indoor shopping area. So we split some fries for a snack and then found a toy store where we were able to locate a gadget that says the English alphabet and sounds aloud. We hope that will help Maxim learn how to say the letters a little better than we alone can do.

We had planned to visit the Lavre Cathredral today; it's the one Craig and Gail blogged about going to that has tunnels underneath it where you can see the people buried there from years ago. I'm not sure I really want to look at dead people; even John doesn't seem too interested in that part, but then again, we can't imagine being here and not at least going to look at the cathedral. Since our day today was taken up otherwise as mentioned above, the cathedral visit will have to wait for another day--would be nice if the sun smiled on us for that anyway.

The other picture is of that red bag I mentioned last blog that John totes for us back and forth to visit Maxim every weekday. It is jam packed with all kinds of different activities, plus snacks and a camera or two, so it gets kind of heavy. But boy, do Maxim's eyes light up when he sees it; he always wants to look in it and see what new or different activity we might have for that day. Fun.

Lastly, the shoes. Don't think we need to say what caused John's shoes to get so worn out that we bought him a new pair yesterday.

Well, that's about it from Kiev.

Keep those comments and e-mails coming, please.
Charlene

Dreary Days

2009-02-15T13:47:00.008-05:00

A bakery with real bakery items--they actually have a normal, sweet taste.
(Thanks Craig & Gail, and Alla.)

This is the outside view of the circus. Sorry, we have no

inside views, but still hope to get to go one day.

Another dreary Sunday afternoon in Kiev. Wonder if the lack of sunshine is why everyone walks around with a gloomy look on their face and why the locals don’t bother with common courtesies? Recently, I read an article in an English language Kiev newspaper by a native to here who strongly suggested that Russians (she included all of those who used to be part of the Soviet Union in that label) all learn to behave more nicely, more like their neighbors in the European Union. Her point was that when they then become tourists in the E.U. or elsewhere, for that matter, then their boorish ways wouldn’t make all Russians unwelcome guests. She specifically pointed out things that we Americans take for granted. “Excuse me,” when someone knocks into you on the street or a simple “I’m sorry” are phrases rarely heard here in Ukraine. The locals here love to cut right in front of you in line, by simply shoving your or nudging you out of their way. The author also chided Russians for how they let alcohol control them—how rowdy they think they are allowed to become just because they have a bottle of vodka for example. The list goes on and on. . . Again, we are thankful to be Americans!!

Speaking of liquor reminds me of riding the bus last week. One day, this sweet faced girl of about thirteen or fourteen heard us speaking English and after a few half turns to check us out, she turned around and started up a conversation with us. Her English was very good. She told us that she and her seatmate were headed to school—an English school. She responded that she thought it would be good to know English for her future when I asked her about why she chose the English school. The conversation was brief but had a lasting effect on me, not because of the words spoken, but because as she exited the bus I noticed what she was drinking. I thought it was a cola of some sort, but no, it was a beer she was swigging! And at 10:00 in the morning!!

Something I admire about guys here in Kiev: they are not hesitant to carry their wife or girlfriend’s purse. It always amazes me when I see that here as it is so uncommon in the U.S. It doesn’t make them seem less macho for doing it either. To be fair to John here, I must mention that the red bag (thanks, Alesia) we used for a carry on on the plane and now as storage for all the workbooks, puzzles, games, cars, snacks is toted daily by him back and forth to the orphanage. It is just too heavy for this gal. But I’m talking about men carrying the lady’s shiny, black purses for them when they need them to, and they seem to do so readily. Just an observation.

We went to the Museum of Russian Art today. We would post some pictures here for your enjoyment, but seeing as there were large signs indicating no cameras, John decided he didn’t want to get kicked out of another place (referencing St. Vladymir’s Cathedral incident) and so didn’t try to take any pictures. The museum was okay but not all what most of you would expect an art museum to contain. Most of the paintings dated back to only a hundred or so years ago. Still, there were a few amazing works.

Other than that and shopping (just looking) at a couple of stores, there’s really not much going on here. On weekends, you all will recall, that we don’t get to go visit Maxim. John and I both enjoy our time spent with him, plus, it gives us something worthwhile to do with our days, so we are both looking forward to seeing the little guy tomorrow morning. He continues to impress us with his sweet disposition, his sheer pleasure in just seeing us, and his fortitude for doing puzzles. : ) We hope to have more pictures of him posted soon as well as the missing post from last time re-established.

Alla did show me how to buy vanilla flavoring and baking powder because I have been wanting to bake some homemade cookies to take to Maxim one day. Can you imagine living in a large city like this and there not being any cake mixes, cookie mixes, refrigerated cookie dough, self-rising flour, etc.? Even peanut butter is hard to come by and expensive. And chocolate chips you just cannot find at all—not even cocoa! So I will try my hand at either sugar or peanut butter cookies. Wish me luck because the very ancient gas stove has no way to know what temperature you turn the gas up to, and there is no baking racks inside it—just the bottom pan which we have started using as a rack. Ah, the joys of pioneer life.

You’d think with some extra time on our hands, we could write novels or come up with great philosophies, etc., but I tell you, my mind is so frayed just trying to decipher the adoption process and finagle everyday life that a bit of crocheting and listening to a book on tape are about all I can handle. And an occasional blog of course. : )

We didn’t realize how much we craved hearing their native tongue spoken until last night while standing in line at TGIF’s for a real treat of dinner out with an American menu we overheard American English being spoken. So we started a chat with the guys and gals and learned that they were from all over the United States here working for Peace Corps. On our long walk back to the apartment, all John and I could talk about was how good it was to hear English; we even knew exactly how many different speakers of English we’d conversed with—8. We also overheard two other couples there speaking English. Like I said, you have no idea how much better just hearing our home language spoken made us feel.

John's RamblingS

2009-02-14T16:12:00.001-05:00

Well, Charlene is trusting me to write again. I have a lot to say before I start writing, but when I start my minds gets fuzzy. :) I hope it is just being here and not that last birthday catching up with me.

First, let me say that Maxim is really COOL!! We are getting really attached to him. And it definitely seems that he is getting attached to us. When we visited him today Charlene was sitting in a chair and could not see him as he came into the room. He saw that I could see him, and he gave me a sign to be quiet. He sneaked up and surprised Charlene. He got a big kick out of doing that. The little rascal has a good sense of humor. And he gives great hugs to us. Of course we give them back to him.

We played some games today, plus Maxim did some fun work sheets that actually give us a better idea of his working level. So far he seems to like all the things we get him to do. But his favorite things to do are to play Memory, Connect Four, do dot to dots, color and take pictures. Seriously, he seems to have real talent. :) Charlene is too polite to point out that it may be that I have little talent with the camera. :( Whatever we do, our time with Maxim goes by too fast. I will be glad when this is all over and we ALL get to go H-O-M-E!! Home really is where the heart is.

Oh my! Saw something today that is very unusual for here. We saw Sunshine. By my count today has been only the fourth day of sunshine shince we got here. But the weather is changing. Went for some water bottles earlier and it was either raining or sleeting a little. See, playing the song "Sunshine on my Shoulder" did some good today.

Got to tell you about the ducks. We went with another American couple to a nice shopping mall (or building), Ukrainia. When we went in there was red carpet on the floor coming down the stairs to a large fountain in the center of the entrance. There were even ropes set up to keep back the crowd. And there was a lot of people gathered. So of course the four of us waited to see what was going to go on. SURPRISE - young men in Tuxes led out a group of ducks. Just plain grey-like typical ducks. They herded the ducks into a large fountain and being ducks, they swam around in the fountain for a few minutes. The crowd and kids clapped and cheered, then the ducks were herded away. (I got some pictures.) And that was it. We think it was to celebrate a weather or calendar date for after their Christmas. Never seen so much pomp and cere

mony given to ducks. They weren't even white, pretty ducks but just ordinary old gray ducks. Whatever it was for, the kids and everyone in the crowd loved the ducks.

What else should I include? That I got us lost? No! About getting caught taking pictures in a church? No. How to lose a passport? No. I know! How much fun it is to have a young one to shop for again. No, really. It is so nice to have the chance to shop in toys again. And see his eyes light up. He really has nothing to call his own. When we get him from the orphanage, he even has to leave the clothes he has worn. Amazing the things we take for granted.

You know something I am looking forward to??? Getting a drink of water out of the tap. Simple I know. But what a pain to have to buy bottled water. Not to mention not having a car. See, said I wouldn't mention that. Something else I look forward to is using the phone without worrying about how many minutes are on it. Newspapers! Other people using English! I can go on but you get the idea. I miss home and the people there.

I guess, though, that with fewer distractions around it is easier for Charlene to keep me out of trouble. But when you get the chance, ask her about what happened at church. Enough said.

This apartment promised internet and we thought it would be unlimited like the others. Guess what. It isn't. So we are trying to use our on-line time wisely. I guess we either need to use an Internet cafe or see about getting more time on our account here.

I think I am restless. Charlene is too. And we are tired of all the walking or waiting for a bus. For some reason the first Bus # 18 passed us right by today and then we had to wait about 45 minutes to catch one later. Thank goodness it was on our return and not going to the orphanage.

I do have one worry. I think I am becoming addicted to espresso. I had actually almost given up coffee, but since it is a choice here between bottled wated, soft drinks, coffee or juice - I am on a caffiene high. I do not really care much for the juices. And I am lactose intolerant- at my age.
The program Skype.com is very nice. It is great to talk and see those back home. But the video part is very slow and unreliable if you have the old fashioned dial-up. It has been nice to see those at home, and them to see us.

We still want to go to the circus. But we are putting that off until we have Maxim. I am sure he would enjoy it. But Charlene and I are going to try to go to a couple of museums later this week.

A suggestion to anyone who plans to come here, buy a cheap MP3 and fill it with lots of music. Also bring yourself movies. If I had thought to do it, I would have recorded the morning news shows so that in the morning I would think I was home. And be sure to have pictures of home and people. Nice to look at them. And if you like Kool-aid, be sure to bring it. I have not found any for sale here. Glad we brought some.

I guess I have typed out enough. See, being a Special Education teacher means I can spin it out. But Charlene says it is just natural talent. LOL

To everyone, take care of each other, keep on reading and responding to our blog, and those of you still to come, be sure the money you bring is clean and new. It is hard to exchange any old money.

Well, my brain is getting tired of coming up with cute things to say about Ukraine. Time to recharge. More ramblings another day.

Apartment, etc.

2009-02-08T12:15:00.013-05:00

Our new apartment is spacious (separate rooms for living, bed, and kitchen) with tall ceilings that have intricate, beautiful scroll work on each corner of them. The hardwood floor boards are diagonally placed and attractive. We also have an elevator this time. Now, now, before you all think we are living the life of Riley, here's the real scoop. There are no rugs anywhere, not a one. The elevator is so old that it rattles and shakes and makes such noises that we wonder each time we use it if we will have a sudden drop of three floors! The facilites are a bit lacking too. The shower can only be turned to a certain point or something happens--we couldn't understand the man's Ukranian enough to figure out what that might be and decided we'd better just stop at the halfway point on the shower. The commode here, if you need to flush it, you have to turn on the valve and flush and then don't forget to turn the valve right back off because it leaks.

Apartments here also come with washers; a very antiquated one is with this particular one. That same man drew little marks on it to show us where to start a cycle and where to twist it to to make it spin. We never have figured out rinse though. But the washer leaks too. Want to know how we found out? There was such constant ringing of our doorbell yesterday morning. . . The people in the apartment on the floor below came up to tell us in very broken English and lots of hand motions that the water from the washer was leaking down the wall into their apartment! Alla to the rescue. She called the owner of the apartment for us and someone came and told us to unplug the washer and today at 11 someone is to come repair the washer. I think this washer is probably the first ever made once wringer washers went out of fashion--it is that old--so I don't know how long a repair will last, but at least maybe we won't have to keep sopping up the floor with the few towels that are in this apartment.

This apartment was to have come with a couple English t.v. channels and to include internet, but you guessed it, when we got moved in we realized there was neither. Alla to the rescue. She called the owner and demanded that these two items be realized. So two days later the owner came and had the cable guys come and fix it so we had both. Yes, I meant to say "had" not have. Because guess what? Today, (Sunday morning) John got up to check e-mails only to get a warning message stating that if he wanted to continue using internet, he had to pay the bill. Alla to the rescue. She called the owner who said she would pay the bill later today. Depending on if/when that happens, you will be reading this. I am typing it and saving it to uplaod to the blog once we have internet restored.

We got lost the other day. Bus # 18 brings us back and forth from our neck of the woods to the are of the orphange. Trolley Bus # 18 does not. We obviously didn't pay close enough attention and got on the trolley instead. They look exactly alike except that the top of one of the cars of the trolley bus has the wire mechanism that hooks it to the trolley line. Anyway, after standing out in the shivering cold for about twenty minutes, we were so excited to see the # 18 that we just hopped aboard. Imagine our surprise when ten minutes later it stopped and a bunch of people exited. We didn't realize that not just a bunch but every single other person had gotten off! The bus started moving again and the lady who takes tickets came and talked to us in Ukranian. I guess she was telling us that was the end of the line. Anyway, yes, again, Alla to the rescue. We finally got off when the trolley stopped again, and Alla got a taxi and came to rescue us. Man, we are going to have to give her a very nice gift when this is over to thank her for all the rescues as well as to thank her for helping us find Maxim.

When we heard the word translator used before we came, we assumed it meant just that she or he would translate Ukranian into English for us; however, the translator serves as much more. So those of you still to come--be sure you make friends with your translator. She is of course a translator, but Alla has also served as a negotiater, an advisor, a tour guide, a secretary, a lawyer, a food buyer, a moderator, and a ton of other things as well. In addtion to all that, Alla realizes we are on an extremely tight budget (getting tighter with every delay) so on the rare occasions when she agrees a taxi is necessary, she will negotiate with the driver and get the cost down to what she considers reasonable. She can argue up a blue storm with the best of them. Taking a bus is far cheaper than a taxi; walking is even cheaper, and Alla's attitude is why ride when you can walk? We have walked our legs and knees off this past month though and are quicker to say isn't there a bus somewhere near or maybe even a taxi to her. A couple blocks to her is about a mile to us! Anyway, Alla's been great to us. I asked her once if she'd ever been to visit the U.S., but she said it's about impossible to get permission from Ukraine to go visit the United States because the government thinks people will leave and not return back here. She has indicated she would love to come and visit and get to see some of the many families she has helped adopt, but that without an official invitation from a senator or someone like that, she would never be given permission and that she'd just waste her money paying the fee to go to her government and asking.

We do not get to go visit Maxim on the weekends; we don't really understand why, but do not want to shake the boat by arguing about it since we still need papers from that director in order for this adoption to progress. Pictures of Maxim that she hopefully has taken over the last few years we are also hoping to talk her into letting us make copies of, so we are trying to stay on her good side. Tomorrow is Monday, though, so we should be able to see the little guy around 11 a.m. We are both looking forward to that. He continues to impress us with his eagerness to learn and his open affection. It is very humbling to realize that he is willing to leave the place he knows as home as well as his country and come with us, people who were total strangers to him just one week ago, Would any of us have that courage?

John and I both detest the games the government plays here; we equally detest waiting. When there is no visits to Maxim nor any adoption work to be done, then it is quite boring so we have to work hard not to get depressed about it all. Having had only three days of sunshine in the month we've been in Ukraine has not helped our spirits either. I even have a few of those "sunshine" light bulbs at home so I really need to have some more sun. This week the forecast is for cloudy days and then later in the week for snow, so I guess we'll have to wait a while longer to feel the smile of the sunshine.

Not this week but maybe next, we are hoping that the court date might occur. That's a huge step forward, whenever it happens. That's when the court system in Ukraine starts declaring Maxim as our adopted son. Then there is a ten day mandatory waiting period before we can start the U.S. part of the paperwork which also takes several days. Nothing yet has moved quickly for us so we aren't expecting any of this to either. We thought our documents about the adoption would be processed and ready to submit to the SDA by last Friday, but the birth mother had gotten married sometime so the papers that had her name on them all have to be redone reflecting her current legal name. Alla says it's better we found that out now before it all started moving forward and then it would have taken even longer to backtrack and get things fixed, but it surely felt like a big setback to us. The court date cannot be set nor occur until the SDA gets our documents and processes them. We are hoping this starts happening this week.

It's been kind of a rough weekend for me; a queasy or nauseous stomach that just won't go away. All I want to do is lie around on the couch, but I am going to try to make myself get out of the apartment today so John doesn't go too stir crazy. I traced Maxim's feet the other day so maybe we'll go buy him some shoes. I think I've journaled before that when the child leaves the orphanage for the final time, they get to take nothing with them, not even the clothes on their back. So we will also do a bit of clothes shopping sometime this week. I am going to take my measuring tape tomorrow and hope to be able to get a better idea of his sizes. Of course, the sizes here aren't the same as those in America, though he had on a sweater from the U.S. the other day because I peeked and it said 7/8. It was a snug fit, but it was also over a couple of layers, so I thought it might work better if I get at least a chest and leg measurement. I can't wait to get this child out into the sunshine. He is blonde so pale by nature, I suppose, but a little sunshine would get a little color into those cute cheeks. I can't figure out eye color. It seems to change. One thing for certain is that he is not brown-eyed like the rest of our kids. His eyes are more similar to John's which change color depending on what color he wears.
We have some pictures of other churches, etc., that I will try to put a few of on this entry if the internet starts working well enough for me to do that. So for your enjoyment:

This is a picture of a Catholic church near our second apartment. We weren't brave enough to go in, after our experience at that other cathedral, since it appeared to be a very active church.

Here's Andrea, another of the kids we left behind in the U.S. Just need to find a picture of one more. . . : ) We miss them all so very much.

We do not know the name of this church/cathedral, but can tell you that it is in the same area where the Chernobyl Museum is that we could not find last weekend for the longest time; then, we finally found it after paying a taxi to drive us two blocks only to discover it is closed on Sunday's.

From John's Point of View

2009-02-06T12:45:00.009-05:00

Yes, I finally get to put in a word or two. It has been very hectic since I last wrote anything. It is amazing how much red tape the country has. I think they have even improved on the concept of red tape and on 'hurry up and wait'.

We are now in another apartment. The last one was about three or four miles away. Of course that is a rough guess. It is two stops by Metro (subway). And it is a long ride on the subway between those two stops. It was frustrating being in a new area. You have to learn the shops and ins and outs there. And it takes a while to get back to the central area where SDA is. Plus that area was not as nice as here. A lot of it was sort of run down. I guess every place has in between areas, not ritzy nor ready to be torn down - just regular and sort of tired and old.

But enough of that. We are back in framilar territory. Up the hill is SDA, down the hill is the large street with lots of shops and underground shopping areas.

Oh, for any of you who have ever worked as a cashier, especially in a grocery - the grocery cashiers here sit down and ring the purchases up. Cool! Wait till I tell the cashiers back home at Kroger.

Had a big surprise yesterday. Charlene insisted I get my hair cut. So we went to an indoor four floor shopping center accross from Independence Square (which is down the hill from our apartment). Wow! I have never had my hair given such luxury treatment. It was cut, washed, massaged (I don't mean scrubbed but a real head massage), dried, cut some more, then styled. I took a picture of my hair stylist. Not to make Charlene annoyed at me, but my "barber" lady is beautiful and could not have been older than maybe 22 or 23. And yes, I tipped her--tipping is not common practice here.

We have also been looking for some clothes for our new boy. We figure that he has very few since he usually has the same clothes on. And he desperately needs shoes that fit. And maybe a toothbrush and tooth paste. At least it gives us something to do on off days from adoption work. We'll have to have things for him anyway when we finally get to take him with us from the orphanage since they don't get to take anything at all from the orphanage when they bid it farewell.

Another American couple we have got to know remain hopeful about getting a little girl. But I do not know any more at this time. I hope the best for them. They are from Minnesota. We enjoyed hanging out this couple a lot--now that they're gone to a distant region to visit that little lady, we are really missing them.

We got Maxim some games that work with memory skills, logic skills, and some other areas we were curious about. One of the games we got him is 'Memory'. The one where you turn pictures up and try to find the matching picture. He is really good and has beat us each time so far--without us trying to let him win even. His favorite colors seem to be orange and yellow--we can tell because those are the two crayons that already need sharpening!

Another game he likes is 'Connect Four'. He gets so excited when he wins. Though I guess the game was new to him, he picked up the idea and rules very, very fast. Maxim also likes puzzles. We have had to get some tougher ones for him. Charlene got a 3-D Cat. It comes apart into 24 pieces. It was for ages 8 and up, but Maxim worked it well. We were not sure that we could get it back together, since the few little clues to working it are in Ukrainian, but were successful after a bit.

I guess we are spoiling him. We found out that he likes bananas and potato chips, plus juice. So we try to take him something like that each day.

Which reminds me, you know the saying that 'boys are boys' or 'boys will be boys'? Well Charlene found out that boys everywhere like pirates. I got Maxim a small set of pirate figures and a small ship and cannon. He was the most excited we've seen him yet and proceeded to get really involved playing with them. Then he gave me some figures and we had a mock battle. Of course he beat me.

Well we finally have internet and a couple of English TV channels. It is nice not to have to go to the internet shop. And it is nice to watch the news and know what is being said.

Got some unhappy news yesterday about illness in my family back home. I am waiting for more information.

Back home has been having severe winter weather. Ironically, here in the Kiev are we have been having above normal temperatures. But a few nights have dipped from 8 to 10 C below. And it seems rare here to see sunlight. Almost every dday has been overcast and downright dreary. Heaven help you if you suffer from that illness some people get when they do not get enough sunlight. And that also explains why so many people here look pale.

A small comment for anyone who has ever had to use a tow truck. Most of the tow trucks here have a big long arm (kind of like the one on the space shuttle) that reaches above the car and lifts the car up onto the tow truck. Have seen it done a couple of times. It takes a team of three men to pick up a car.

One last thought at the moment from me. I am so looking foward to getting water from the tap and being able to drink it. To not having to go out, buy 2 gallon jugs of water, and lug them upstairs to the apartment.

That's all for now. LOL John

Molasses is quicker

2009-02-06T03:12:00.002-05:00

We now have internet again in our apartment so expect more posts, starting hopefully even as early as later on today. Meantime, things are progressing fairly smoothly with the adoption process for Maxim, but it's two baby steps forward and ten giant leaps backwards. Hurry up, hurry up, then wait, wait, wait, so our return date has been delayed by a few more weeks than we'd thought even a week ago. Molasses is much quicker than this process. After this morning's visit, we will have gotten to visit with Maxim four out of the last five days. We are not sure that we get to go over there on the weekends though. Would love to hear from more of you.

Charlene

So Far, So Good

2009-02-04T03:03:00.004-05:00

There is no internet at the different apartment we had to move into yesterday is partly why we're not posting much. We've also been advised to be very sparse in what we say about the adoption of Maxim until it's more a sure thing and probably not to post pictures yet. We don't really understand it, but we don't want to jeopardize the adoption either.

But so far, so good as far as the process goes. It's hurry up and wait and hurry up and wait repeated over and over daily--it kind of drives one crazy! But Maxim is worth it. He seems to be a typical 7 year old. He likes cats better than dogs; he likes coloring which he does very well. : ) He also prints very neatly, can read in Ukranian and some in Russian. He's very happy to see us each time we go visit him, which we get to do for an hour or so each day, usually around 11:30. He like bananas, ambulances, trucks and cars and the colors yellow and orange. He really enjoyed John's iphone yesterday--how you can just slide your finger across and see picture after picture.

Hope we get more of the required paperwork today (but we were promised it yesterday as well so don't hold your breath) and then we can breathe part of a sigh of relief. There are more hoops to jump through, but only more major hurdle, or at least that's all we know. Tons of paperwork and time in between, then the last part consists of us and the U.S. and the Embassy here. So, though, it seems like it will never end, surely it will in a few weeks.

Keeping our fingers and toes crossed and knees bent,

Charlene & John

A Definite Maybe

2009-01-30T16:49:00.008-05:00

We'll know more on Monday, but for now, it looks like adopting Maxim is a definite, well a definite maybe. It's complicated to explain in a few lines, so we'll leave it at that for now. Also, we have to move apartments early tomorrow and won't have internet in that apartment. So other than going to internet cafe to pay to check our e-mail (yes, please still e-mail us), we won't be much online until probably Tuesday when we'll move to a longer stay apartment which will have internet, assuming the adoption is a go. We were given the most stressful interview of our lives today, let me tell you! To be fair to the orphanage director, it was obvious that she cares a lot about the kids there. Maxim is a very sweet boy with an engaging smile, a little behind in some areas, but that is to be expected for the most part. Sorry, we weren't allowed to take pictures yet; it has to be more certain first. Again, we hope to have some by Monday or Tuesday as well. Then the paperwork begins in earnest. It takes weeks in this region (yes, even in Kiev) to get this all accomplished, though our translator says she'll try to "hurry up" anything that is possible for us. Let's hope so--we're both ready to come home!!

Friday and our Future

2009-01-28T11:34:00.009-05:00

After picking up our referral from SDA tomorrow evening around 5p.m., sometime Friday we will go visit a young boy whom we'll call Boy M for now. Possibly, a second meeting on either Saturday (if orphanage allows weekend visits) or Monday will ensue. That's really all we know for now. Prayers that all goes well are of course always appreciated.

Keep those comments and e-mails coming our way as well; they truly lift our spirits.

Limbo Land

2009-01-28T06:41:00.017-05:00

Limbo land is not a place we enjoy being; that is probably a strong understatement for the emotions we are truly experiencing at the moment.

Since we are still awaiting information (hoping for a few more details) on these boys and to see if any of the three boys are truly adoptable or want to be adopted (the SDA files aren't always up to date), we thought we'd go ahead and post some pictures of St. Vladymir Cathedral, the Golden Gate and the Opera House, taken yesterday. It helps to pass the time as well as it gets pictures on here that might otherwise not get posted because we will a. either be too busy because of pursuing adoption, or b. we will be too dejected to do so, plus, we will be busy packing and trying to get flights changed, etc. if "a" doesn't happen. Just trying to face facts.

So here goes:

St. Volodymyr's (their spelling) Cathedral is a couple hundred years old, we think, not nearly as old as St. Sophia's Cathedral which dates back to 1017. It is also a gorgoues building. You might want to ask John how he learned that it is still an "active" church.

Not being Catholic we did not know what to expect. What we witnessed were all of the candles being lit by most all who entered, the glass coverings of statues to Mary and others being kissed, etc. The paintings in this cathedral, just as in the others, are truly magnificent. We regret that we cannot post any interior pictures here.

The brochure claims that the "Opera House" is one of the most beautiful buildings in Kyiv. In the French Renaissance style, it was constructed in 1901. Here are

a wide view of it as well as a close up with John standing in front of it.

These two pictures with grids on them are of "The Golden Gate." We were told that it was created in ancient times, then almost destroyed when it was covered by earth and abandoned. Then in 1834 when they removed so whatever was built on top of it to build new streets, they discovered what remained of "The Golden Gate." So they restrengthened the old stone work and surrounded it with an elegant fence.

And the beat goes on, and on, and on

2009-01-27T13:27:00.002-05:00

A quick update for all you blog followers:

From the files shown us today at our final SDA appointment, we have narrowed it down to three boys who we are to think about over night. (The girls that were available in our age range had too many medical issues.) As well, Alla will try to make phone calls to obtain more information about each of them before we have to make the decision as to which one to try to visit.

As you might expect, there is a problem with each potential adoption:

Boy 1 visits an Italian family so we don't know if that is truly just a visit or if he would want to be adopted by others. Alla has no contacts at his orphanage so she doesn't know how the director feels about adoption.

Boy 2 is visited in the orphanage by an aunt who also occasionally takes him to her home for school holidays, so would the child want to leave that behind? But she has never tried to adopt him. The office of his orphanage was closed also by the time we finished our appointment.

Boy 3 wants to be adopted but is an orphanage where the director is kind of like Hitler. She could stand in the way of a child being adopted from this orphanage. She also could be accepting of it. No one knows for sure, though the SDA said she's hard to work with. She also could not be contacted this evening.

Are you beginning to think orphanage directors have all the power? I think you might be right!!!

We are discussing all this and praying about it all as well as waiting until in the morning when hopefully Alla will have more details for us before we have to make the decision on which one to pursue. The problem is we have to make our decision and inform the SDA rather early so that gives Alla little time to obtain info from offices that sometimes don't even open until 9.

I feel like we're on "Let's Make a Deal" and we have to choose between Curtain number 1, Curtain number 2 and Curtain number 3. That or that we should roll the dice!

But, no, we will come to a decision somehow by tomorrow morning at 9:30; we pray for divine guidance as we make this enormous choice. Please pray with us.

Feeling like we're mired down in the trenches,

Charlene & John

Sights on a Sunday afternoon

2009-01-25T11:42:00.011-05:00

There isn't much to write since I just finished the last post in the wee hours of this morning, but we did take several pictures today as well as have a few others we'll try to upload here. We label the photos but the labels don't stick when we put them onto this or even onto the slideshow at our kodakgallery. So if anyone knows the trick, please do tell. The wall fronted by John is all made of bronze.

Today we ventured on the metro once again. Surprisingly, we were helped by a young lady maybe 20 years or so of age who was out with her sister and cousin, she later told us. We can buy tickets to get on the metro with no probs; however, when it comes to figuring out which subway line to actually get on, well, we seem to always get confused. We were trying to ask the ticket taker who was being no help at all when a voice from behind us asked if she could help. Thankfully, she spoke English fairly well and seemed please to assist us. She directed us down the escalator and to the left to get on that line. We made it down two extremly long and steep escalators (John took a video of the escalator ride to put on here but we left our connector cord for it at home, sorry) only to have the girl rush up to us and say oh, no, this is not the correct line. She has made a mistake. She started to just direct us another line a lot farther down, but we must have looked very confused because she changed her mind and decided to escort us all the way to the next line, motioning her two companions to follow along. John took a picture of her and me right before we hopped on the metro and I told him to give her a five U.S. dollars. She saved us a lot of turmoil. She seemed very surprised and very pleased by the five dollar bill. Most everyone here likes American money so I knew she'd like it. It's worth a bit more than gryvnas also. So whoever she is and wherever she is, she will have our gratitude and she has given us a better view of Ukranians as well.

The reason we hopped the metro in the first place was so we could go see the WWII museum here, to see their perspective on it, etc. Needless to say, it was all written in Ukranian so the pictures you see here and some others are all we know about the museum as well. Again, we had to walk and walk and walk to even get to the museum. It sits about 3/4 mile off a side road. The fog was so dense today that there was noway to tell if we were even headed in the right direction; that's why some of the outside pictures seem so cloudy. But we did end up in the right place after all. John's more a history buff than am I, but it was interesting at least to see the war from their perspective. We rode the bus from the museum back to the metro where we'd gotten off to get to the museum and yes, with just a little bit of help, even managed to find our way back to the stop nearest our apartment. I just know you all are very proud of us being such adventurers!

The photo of me and the bunny is one John wanted to take--until afterward when he realized he had to pay the bunny. Why he was surprised I don't know since you have to pay for everything over here; granted, most of the time it's not very much compared to American prices, but it gets annoying at times too. Yesterday, Ukraine celebrated Chinese New Year; they are also still celebrating Christmas we assume since Christmas trees and decorations are still up all over the place. They also celebrate regular New Year and Old New Year--we are beginning to think that they just like to celebrate!

Tomorrow we will call the Embassy to see if John's new passport is ready; if it is, Alla said she will go with us to get it. We offered for us just to give us bus directions and we'd go to it ourselves, but she said the passport is important and she'd go with us. And so we are very thankful for Alla as well. She is a real treasure. For those of you still to come, make friends with your translator. She or he is your lifeline while here, no doubt about it.

The weather here is remarkably warm for here, not that it feels all that warm when you're out walking in it so frequently as I still need my jacket, long wool coat, hat, hood, gloves, and scarf as well as layers; John gets hot, though, so barely throws on a coat, usually unzipped, over a short sleeved shirt. It's around 35 to 40 today. Last year at this time, according to Alla, it was well below zero, so I guess we can also be thankful that the weather this year is much warmer.

I doubt we'll have any more posts until we figure out what's going on with the third appointment, but you never know.

Weekend Woes

2009-01-24T15:36:00.023-05:00

Well, here it is another weekend with no news to report, not much going on, and not much to do. On top of all that, I am feeling rather poorly, very fatigued. I guess it's to be expected with all the bad news that's been going on about ever since we arrived in Kiev. Let's hope that's all it is so I don't have a bug to fight off while trying to figure everything else out at the same time. John is making me put more pictures of me on this posting and so the one on the bench is right in front of the SDA, trying to look happy even though they wouldn't let us see other files that day when we had to return the too old one. We wait for Tuesday to see what time is our appointment. There is no real waiting room for appointments there. There is one small couch in a wide hall; other than that you stand and stand and stand either inside where it's really crowded or outside where it's really freezing. I don't wear all those scarves and hats for nothing!

By Tuesday we should know when our next appointment is. That will be our last shot at adopting a child. Prayers are definitely requested that all goes well at that appointment and that a successful appointment follows. We'll try to update and let you know if we get a referral or not. That is truly about all that is on our minds right now, but to write on and on about it ad nauseum well would make you nauseous and so I will try not to mention it again until the end.

Meantime, back here at home, or at the apartment that's becoming familiar to us, we've fallen kind of into a routine. We're lucky enough to have been able to remain in the same apartment while here so far; other than the two nights we slept on those narrow benches on the train, we have been here the entire time. We like this apartment because it has two rooms and they are separated by a hallway so there is a door to the bedroom/tv room that can be shut if one of us wants to rest while the other can blog on the laptop at the kitchen table or on the little couch in there or if one of us (John namely) wants to watch a dvd on the laptop.

There's also a small, very small capacity, washer provided in the kitchen. You don't want to put much detergent in it for sure! First day we put maybe a third of the lid full of Tide in it and it sudsed up so much we had to run the rinse cycle an extra three times! They must have really soft water here because even a tablespoon of detergent is too much. There is no dryer in most apartments here so we are getting used to scattering our we clothes on chair backs and throughout the apartment.

I am going to put a picture on here of a "squatty potty" that I've referenced many times before. Usually, they are cleaner than this one looks, but I had my camera with me that day and paid my two grivna just so I could take a picture of it for those of you who've asked. I should also say that not all potties are ones in the floor. In our apartment we have normal facilities. The commode is in a separate tiny room; the tub and sink in another. Also, in some restaurants and in some of the shopping centers, there are normal commodes as well. McDonald's has normal ones and does not charge a fee to enter the bathroom. Toilet paper is included usually in the fee you pay to use the bathrooms; that means there's a roll on the wall by the lady who sells you the ticket to go into the bathroom so you obviously couldn't take a whole bunch of it. John told me that even in the guys bathroom, a lady sits at the table to take their money as well and then the urinals are in an open area from her. Still, I think it's unfair that they get normal height urinals when we are stuck with the squat pots. They have those inside a stall in their bathrooms as well. By the way, don't ask where a bathroom is when you're in Ukraine. Rather, you must ask for the "toilet." They understand that word.

While I'm on the topic of differences between here and home, be careful how you order water. I know I've referenced before that you should either buy your water or boil your water. You wouldn't believe how much you can spend on water here. But my point was going to be that most people here drink water with gas or with bubbles in it. So we have to always say, "No bubbles." If you are buying water at the grocery store, be sure you purchase the light blue colored lidded ones because those are the ones that have no bubbles. Being able to go to a restaurant and order a glass of ice water for free is something I'm really looking forward to back in America. Ice is not doled out here at all. Speaking of drinks, Coca-Cola is sold here. They do not know what you mean if you say Coke though. And you don't ask for Diet Coke; instead, you ask for Coca-Cola Light.

Our apartment building has a code you have to punch in before you can enter the building and then our apartment itself has double locks, so we have never felt unsafe here. We don't even feel unsafe carrying cash with us wherever we go. Of course we, or especially I, are so bundled up in the winter weather no one could get to my belt bag or hidden money belt anyway. My long coat provides a good cover up for it. Many places don't take credit cards so we had to bring some money in cash. We are careful not to exchange much for grivnas though because Ukranian money is worth nothing in the United States.

Don't believe the guidebooks or internet sites that say movies are offered in English here at some cinemas. We've gone to two different ones which supposedly either played a movie in English or subtitled it only to have wasted our time.

There are a lot of stores here in Kiev. They line all the streets and underneath as well as I've written about before. We thought we'd explored them all, but today we found one rather nearby that we hadn't explored yet. Though not very many speak English here or are willing to let us know that, you can bet your bottom dollar if you want to buy something, they manage to magically speak English enough to tell us the prices. Though much of the Ukranian alphabet is different here than ours, the numerals themselves are the same. We just have to remember that around eight grivna equals $1.00 when it come to figuring out how much things are really costing us.

People here are always in a hurry. You don't make eye contact with them, and unless you know them, you don't say good morning or anything. They bump you just to get on with their day, not really to be annoying, or at least that's the way I'm choosing to look at it. There is never an "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" uttered--not that we could understand the words anyway but no word is spoken when they run into us.

John loves the coffee here. It is very strong. The waitress always asks when he orders coffee if he wants it "American." No, he does not; they make it about the way he does.

Just about everyone smokes here. Thank God our translator doesn't; our facilitator does but we're not around her very much at all.

We have yet to really figure out the metro and bus system. We know that if we get on Bus 16 or 18 that we will eventually get back to where we got on, which is the stop near the McDonald's, about a long, long block from us. Kind of convenient sometimes it is. The Metro we braved last weekend but don't know if we'll be up to that tomorrow or not. We need to figure out something to do though because moping around in this apartment isn't healthy for any of us.

Our new friends over here, Gail and Craig, are fighting to make their second referral work for them. It was as sibling set, with the younger sister living in a different orphanage from the older one. The younger one turns out to be mentally retarded and will be institutionalized the rest of her life. The older one is okay, with just a little delay caused from living in an institution which is called "institutional delay." The problem is the orphanage director of the younger girl will change paperwork so that the two can be separated for adoption purposes, but the other girl's director won't. The director has such power it amazes me. Anyway, Gail and Craig are trying to fight this and figure out a way to make it work so that the older girl is not penalized by having to stay in an institution because the half sibling is too ill to ever be adopted. It's not like the girls ever see each other anyway. So I'm wishing them all the luck in the world that this can all be resolved so they have their little girl to take home.

If any of you do or can use skype.com, you can communicate with us. Since this is a public blog, I'll not put our skype name on here, but e-mail me if you're interested and perhaps we could have a live chat. It's totally free too as long as it's online chat and video and not a phone call through it. : ) Remember we're seven hours ahead of most of you.

The other pictures on this posting are of St. Sophia's Cathedral. Some shots are taken from a few flights up in the Bell Tower. After paying to be able to climb it, John and I as well as Craig fatigued out after a few flights, but Gail made it all the way to the top. At least we got to see a panoramic view of that part of this large city. These ancient cathedrals with extremely tall ceilings and enormous rooms do make me feel like I'm in a church; well, of course I am, but the feeling is hard to describe. Awe-struck might sort of get at it. The paintings inside, even on the tallest of ceilings, are also phenomenal. We just stare and stare with wide-eyed wonder at them. How in the world were they able to paint up that high. What kind of scaffolding must they have used back then? We were not allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, though I think John took some with his iphone with of course no flash so they didn't turn our very clearly, but you can get the idea of how every wall and ceiling is painted so I'm posting a couple here anyway. But you will at least see the outside of St. Sophia from many angles.

A good friend of mine lost her husband yesterday after almost a year long struggle with cancer. Please keep the Sallees in your prayers.

Today (1/24) would have been my mother's birthday, may God rest her soul. This child we hope(d) to have from this adoption was or is to be named after her. I had hoped we'd have had it all figured out by today, but maybe next week will allow us to still do so. Please pray so.

That's about it for now. We'd really appreciate some more comments from you folks out there reading this and/or some e-mails just about humdrum topics as well. As you can tell, we've had a rather trying week and it helps to know there of those of you out there following us on our journey and cheering us on every step of the way. Thanks. : )

Friday Frustrations 1/22-23

2009-01-22T13:16:00.005-05:00

Frustrated doesn't begin to describe how we are feeling tonight. Friday we had planned on going to visit another young lady named Nadia who was smart and happy and kind, but her age was just a tad outside of our pre-approved age range. No problem to get that age limit upped we were told, but it did turn out to be a major one. It's more complicated than this sounds, but that's it in a nutshell. We won't be going for our second referral tomorrow and so will turn in paperwork tomorrow to request our third and last appointment at the SDA. We certainly hope we don't have to wait over a week to get it; time is flying by.

We hope we have the stamina to last through another appointment. Those of you who've never done this have no idea of all each appointment takes out of you, as you sort through and choose and reject files. They aren't files you're rejecting, though, but real children with hopes and dreams of better tomorrows. Sigh.

Before we found all this out we are in a fairly upbeat mood (though a bit nervous of course) so we met up with Gail and Craig again and tried to go explore another cathedral. There was some celebration or something going on in front of it, however, so we couldn't enter. Here are some pictures to show what we're talking about. We asked a vendor later on to explain what all that was about and we got quite an education about how regular people feel about their president, government and their so-called "freedom." His emphasis, not mine. It is so intersting to hear real people talk about the state of affairs in this country. This vendor told us what we had already heard, that in Kiev there are a rich people, some very rich, but that if you go outside of Kiev even twenty or thirty minutes, you find extreme poverty. He talked about his aged mother who lived on a "pensionary" but who lived dirt poor with so little help.

John also tried on one of those traditional Russian hats as seen in this picture. Wonder how many of those he'll decide he must bring home with him?

Sure hoping that the third time is the charm for us and that there will be a healthy and happy sevenish age child just waiting for us.

And so it goes here in Kiev.

Thoughts for Today & Tomorrow (1/21 & 1/22)

2009-01-21T14:07:00.016-05:00

From John....

Today has been ok but stressful too. We met with our translator and went to SD. We had a new psychologist, I liked the other one - she smiled more and seemed much more relaxed. But the new one did her best.

There weren't a lot of new choices, so we saw some files of a tad older. Our limit is now that we won't go past 11 or 12 and the younger the better, but the younger ones in the files seem to have the most problems. We will see what information the translator can find out in the morning when she tries to call some contacts at the orphanages themselves. Right now nothing has been decided. Because our appointment was late in the day, and we asked for time to think about all this, we were given tonight to decide between a handful of children and to let SD know in the morning. Cool, right. But for us we are agonizing over which child, and hoping that the phone calls that Alla makes in the morning are productive. If all sounds good still, then we will most likely go visit a child on Friday. Alla, our translator, will accompany us as will Dr. Yuri; as a matter of fact, he may do the driving since he owns a car; of course all things are for a fee.

On a lighter note, we offered to buy our translator dinner, and asked for a regular local dining place. She said she had the perfect place and it was only a couple of blocks away. We have decided that she must have meant kilometers, not blocks. We walked and walked and walked, and then walked some more. The dinner was good and the place was a combination of bar and cafeteria. But Charlene was definitely tired, so we took the bus back to the apartment. Ok, so I was tired too. It costs about a quarter (2 grivna) each to ride.

When we know more we will share. To all going through the process, all I can offer is prayer, patience, and wishes of good luck.

From Charlene: not much more to add until after tomorrow so throughout this post are some more pictures of Kiev for your enjoyment. There are some more of St. Michael's from different viewpoints as well as a few others. And the one of the kids at top are of three of the ones we left in the States to come here because we're missing them. Will try to find a picture of the others if they're on this computer and will put them on another post. Sorry if we already posted some of them; we can't figure out how to delete from this site.

Wednesday Wishes

2009-01-20T16:37:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow, Wednesday, our second appointment will be at 4p.m. at SDA. For those of you back home in the middle of Kentucky, that's seven hours ahead of you, so we'd appreciate extra prayers sent for us around 9 to 10 a.m. that among the files to be shown us tomorrow there will be one meant for us and that we will know that that is the one we are meant to visit. We appreciate prayers from all of you as well, regardless of your time zone. We are very nervous, to say the least, about this upcoming appointment. The appointment is later in the day than we'd like; we are afraid all the "good" ones will be gone by then, but we are also very thankful to have the appointment. Though we do make ourselves get out of the apartment daily, it is very tedious just waiting and waiting and waiting.

We connected with a very nice prospective adoptive couple here from Minnesota today. We all took in St. Michael's Cathedral of the Golden Domes--you'll see several views of it here as well as a few from inside. Alla says that all those gold domes are made out of real gold! After we took a few inside a woman told us no pictures, but she didn't ask us to erase what we'd already taken. Then we haggled with a vendor named Danny at an outdoor booth--would you believe they have these booths set up even in this weather? Fruit is also sold outside at similar tables. After that, we all explored one end of Khreschatyk Street (their main street), going out from Independence Square to the right. We found a humongous underground mall at the far end of this street, and after finally finding someone who spoke a bit of English, made our way to TGI Friday's where the waitress actually spoke good English. We enjoyed our time with Craig and Gail; it was not only nice to speak American with folks from back in the States (Minnesota), it was nice to commiserate with them about how neither of our first referrals had panned out the way we had envisioned.

It's so interesting to experience first hand other people's culture. I will say that these Ukranians or maybe it's Ukes are hardy people. I mean they go about their business regardless of the weather and don't even seem phased by it. Interestingly, the women mostly wear fur coats and hats and of course boots. The boots sported by some of the younger women, however, are sometimes tall spiked heels. How they stay in an upright position in those even on the iciest of sidewalks is very interesting to watch. A few stumble but most manage okay. Most women, however, wear more sensible boots, though they're still pretty cute; they have a smaller more substantial heel. Most women here wear black pants or a mini skirt with black tights on under and boots up to their knees. Kiev itself is a fairly prosperous city but still there are women who obviously can't afford a fur coat and wear leather or thick cloth coats. We are told that no where else in Ukraine is at all prosperous though, and that is why there are so many children in orphanages; the parents can't afford to take care of them. Of course, there are those children also who are abandoned for whatever reason as well as those who suffer because the mothers drank during pregnancy. We are still astounded by how much alcoholic beverages are available and how they're available everywhere. I don't think we've been in a store yet where liquor wasn't sold. Even in Jacob's, their huge department store, right on the fancy floor, there is a huge wall of various liquors. Even at McDonald's a beer can be ordered with your Big Mac.

Most people here have been very nice. A guy from Columbia assisted us on our first metro ride here the other day; most people we stop on the street and ask directions will help as well. Of course, there was the one lady who I asked if she spoke English who responded in perfect English, "No, I don't." Hmm, she can make contractions with the English language and still can't speak it?? But she was the exception rather than the norm. Danny, the vendor John and Craig enjoyed haggling with, also was helpful in directing us as to how to find more churches/cathedrals to visit. Perhaps if we are in Kiev longer, we will give some of them a look-see. There's one with underground tunnels we're hoping to explore.

The one thing I wish we'd brought was a compass; John even got one for Christmas but neither of us thought to pack it. That way we'd get lost less often. : )

Please remember us and our quest in your prayers.

Charlene & John

Days 5 and 6; No News

2009-01-17T16:25:00.005-05:00

After waiting all day Friday until 7 p.m. we finally found out that we do not have our next SDA appointment scheduled as of yet. We are to go back Monday afternoon and maybe then it will be posted, so the waiting game continues. There is still hope that our appointment will be this week, even early this week, but who knows how this government thinks?

Meantime, we have taken the advice of many and tried to do some sightseeing yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If we can figure out the subway system, including how to get to it, then we may brave the elements and give that a try as well.

So today our blog will simply be about our experiences here in Kiev and a little about frustration, but we'll try to stay positive throughout this posting. We are both very enthralled by the underground crosswalks that we've mentioned before that you have to use to get from one side of the very busy street to the other. Many of these underground crossings come complete with shopping areas, sort of like small mini-malls and food court; others only have a few "street" vendors set up along the path. What a unique idea since they have a sort of captive audience since so many people live in this city and the majority appear to walk everywhere they want to go. If we continue this pace, John and I may come back two sizes smaller; at least, we should come back physically healthier!

Things we are thankful for back home: We are thankful for water that we can just drink without worrying about boiling it first. We are tired of buying water, water, water and toting it back to the second floor apartment (no elevator). We won't even brush our teeth with the water here. We are thankful for soft toilet paper and toilets you can actually sit upon and that toilet paper is provided in public bathrooms. and that you don't have to pay to use even the grossest of toilets. Even in Paris we had to pay to use the restaurant's facilities. We are thankful that the signs are in English. We are thankful we don't have to walk everywhere we want to go. We are thankful for cars. We are thankful for clothes dryers. We are thankful for grocery stores that make sense. The ones here are divided into sections like those at home, but you have to pay for different categories separately in many of them such as you pay for your produce in the produce section, the bread in the bread section, etc. Department stores are the same; you pay for the items per department. We are thankful for snow plowed streets and cleaned off sidewalks. We are thankful for ice makers. We are thankful for real milk--all we've found here are boxes of milk that isn't refrigerated which means it has to be powdered milk we assume. We are thankful for television stations that speak English. We are thankful we have a mailbox. And the list goes on and on and on. But mostly we are thankful for our friends and family back home and that we are Americans with such freedoms we take for granted!

Other random thoughts:

Security guards are everywhere--in even the smallest of stores there is always at least one posted right beside those detector doors. These guys look like mean and like they mean business too.

The dollar is worth more than the Hryvna, pronounced Grivna, about .85 equals a dollar's worth of their money. Alla told us that their money bills don't equal ours at all. She said $100.00 Grivna equals about $11.00 of U.S. dollars. There are sales everywhere too. It's fun to look around but aside from not having the cash to waste on splurge, we don't have the space in our suitcases for much anyway, though I'm sure we'll end up with a souvenir or two, or well, a few. : )

When we headed out today and got to Independence Square we heard Star Wars music playing and wondered what in the world was happening. We followed the music and the crowd and discovered ice figure skating going on in a section of the square that dipped down. I would call it theater in the round except there were no seats--everyone stood to watch. The crowd was thick, but we tried to elbow our way in enough to take a distant shot of the ballerinas. It was a beautiful sight to behold for sure. Here are a couple of pictures from that. I just kept thinking how very cold they must be out there is those beautiful but flimsy costumes.

Remember they are just finishing their celebrating of Christmas and their Old New Year, so even the Christmas trees are still all lit and we assume that's why the ballet was performed also.

Cars park right in the middle of sidewalks and drive on them too, if, that is, we understand what here is a sidewalk!

Other items to bring with you: Pepto Bismol caplets--actually, my doctor recommended taking one of those a day a few days before you hit foreign land and foreign foods as well as daily once you get here until you see how your stomach handles strange flavors. The foods haven't bothered John a bit, but can't say the same for me. Also, go to your doctor and ask for a general antibiotic and perhaps something for stomach upset problems, just in case.

And so the journey continues. . .

Also, a heartfelt thank you to each of you who is e-mailing us or posting comments on the blog; we so appreciate the kind gesture, the touch of the English word. : )

Days 3, 4, and 5 and Disappointment

2009-01-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

From the title, you all have figured out that Karina is not to be our child. We won't go into details here, will just say it didn't work out and request that you all keep the little girl in your prayers. We also request you double your prayers on our behalf in hopes that our next referral proves fruitful. Since the law here states you only get three referrals, then we have only two chances left. Currently, we await the SDA (State Department of Adoptions) decision as to when our next appointment will be. We hope to find the answer out tomorrow and hope the next appointment will be early next week, though it could be late next week or even the following week or any time thereafter that the SDA decides. I'm beginning to think this country has not totally forgone some of the old Communist ways. You cannot call to see when your next appointment is; you must go in person and read the appointment list that is posted on a wall as you go up an old set of stairs. We are trying not sound too disappointed or dejected.

Luckily for us, our apartment is located within walking distance of the SDA, but it's a long walking distance. I'm sure at home for something that far away, we'd all hop in our cars and drive, especially in this weather. The weather isn't as horrible as it is sometimes in the Ukranian winter, but it's still plenty cold for me! John is always hot so he is happy in this climate. Icy spots abound as there is little cleaning/de-icing of any but the main sidewalks. You all will be proud of us in that neither of us has fallen even once! Of course, many of the tasks we must complete are farther away and require a bus (John will relate the bus story later on in the blog), a taxi, or even a train, so though we try to keep expenses down, they add up quickly. The a light snow on the ground most of the time; then when it warms up enough to melt it just a tadbiggest expense once we're here though has to be for the apartment. We may have to find a cheaper one next week, but this one is clean and nice with a separate kitchen/table/couch area as well as heat and free internet. We live for the internet because to us, it seems like our only contact with the outside world, though some of the family and friends have now figured out how to call us using pingo.com which is a cheaper route than from a home or cell phone. It is much, much cheaper to call here from the U.S. than vice versa.

Though we try to make the posts on this blog sound interesting and like we are having a good time, for those of you yet to come, we feel we must point out that it is mostly just plain old hard work to get everything done. Of course, we do eke out moments of pleasure and with our waiting time this weekend do plan to walk in the other direction to Independence Square where we will try not to get too awfully lost and do a little exploring of the city and shops.

Other items to bring when you come: clothes you can layer so you don't have to wash clothes often--they have washers here but dryers are extremely rare. At this moment we have done our first "washing" and have clothing items strewn around the apartment for them to dry. It is raining today here so we can't hang them on the line strung on the small balcony out back. Daily, I am very thankful that I purchased at Penney's some of those pants liners, similar to old fashioned long underwear but smoother. I can't emphasize enough that you need to bring those purse packs of tissues because public toilets offer no toilet paper, not that you want to use those except in dire need anyway. Sometimes I think we are living in pioneer days! Perhaps bring a deck of cards or Go Fish cards or something to help pass the time if you do end up on a train or just for a rainy evening in an apartment far from home. We taught Alla, our translator, to play Rummy last night on the train. She was a quick learner and proceeded to immediately beat us!

On Day three we had to be on the train for it to leave at 7 p.m. so we had to hire a taxi who would take Alla, us, and all our luggage to there. We had to take all our luggage because if the meeting with the child had been successful, we would have remained in the region until all of her paperwork there was completed. Needless to say, we don't just have one suitcase so each leg of our journey has required a lot of hauling suitcases here or there. Thank goodness for wheeled suitcases. Most of ours are the kind that have 360 degree wheels which means you can push them in any direction; this alone has been a lifesaver or I should say backsaver. (The picture of the two of us is of us on the train on the way to see the child--we were hopeful and happy.)

Those of you who said the train ride would be fun to start with and then not so fun were absolutely correct. It was a new experience for us both and John especially enjoyed the Harry Potterish feel of the platform, the dark train station, the tiny cabins that hold four people, etc. The 14 hour train ride was very long indeed. We had those benches that you put a thick pad on and clean sheets so we all tried to sleep, but that night just happened to be the end of the old Ukranian New Year so people were in a partying mood, and the loudest ones just had to be located right next to our cabin! John slept fairly well once the train cooled down a little; Alla and I might have gotten one hour of sleep that first night. (Picture of inside of train.)

Then, after we arrived in Luganska Region, we got a driver to take us to the Director of Children's Services who filled out the necessary paperwork and accompanied us to the orphanage. When we first went into the office of the orphanage director, he started almost shouting at Alla. She remained quite calm, and of course we didn't know what was being said. Later Alla explained that the director was upset that SDA had sent four different families recently to look at the little girl and he didn't want her disturbed by this. I gather she was told we had come because of the celebration of the Old New Year so she wouldn't think anything about our visit. Ten minutes or so into our visit, they did bring in the little girl whom we of course took candy and a small gift to. A few minutes after they took the girl back to her class and after the translator already told him we were not interested, the director, who was much more cordial, started questioning us about the size of our house, asking if we had a yard, how many cars we owned, etc.

Then when he asked about occupations and found out we were both teachers, he became extremely interested in us. He was insistent on showing us both the school and the place where the children slept. I would call it a dorm, but they used the phrasing I just used. Having never seen a Ukranian orphanage, I have nothing to compare this one to, but from all I've read from others would say this is probably one of the better ones. The director was very, very proud of his school. Alla tried to discourage him from taking us all over the place there, but there was not polite way to refuse. Actually, I found the tour very interesting. When the director walked into a classroom, the students immediately arose. The director spoke "Good Morning" to them and they responded in kind. He then told them to sit down. The children did not seem afraid of him, but they were all very quiet and respectful. Their class sizes were small. I think we were in a second, sixth, seventh, gym, physics, and English class. The director boasted in their school the children start English in second grade although the country does not require it until middle school. He was also very proud to show us their computer lab. Though it did not have a classroom full of computers like our school does, it did have modern ones with flat screen monitors. The school also had had some remodeling of late, paid for by a state grant he said; the biggest change he told us was a new roof and all new windows. Those windows were enormous by size compared to most school windows. It was a very old building and the windows were probably at least 10 feet by 12 feet wide in most rooms! At least the children were exposed to sunlight that way. The curtains were pretty but not thick meaning they didn't keep the sun from entering. It was kind of amusing in that every different classroom or hallway we entered, the director again pointed out the windows and how nice they were. The class sizes were small there; we think 15 is the most we saw in any classroom. The sad part is was there were some very obviously lively, healthy children there and you'd want to just take some home with you, but that is far from how the process here works. I left out that there was an actual good sized gym as well as a small auditorium with a stage. The one part that dismayed me was that though the clothes the kids had on looked okay, it seemed most had on shoes that were two sizes too small. : (

The director also insisted we tour the sleeping quarters and cafeteria. The dorm like rooms had about seven or eight twin beds each; the rooms were extremely large. The cafeteria was not huge. It looked like they would have porridge and bread for lunch; I couldn't see any farther back than the big pots cooking on the stove. We were invited to stay for lunch which of course we declined, although the smell was appetizing in the room.

From John:

Charlene is right about the red tape and officialness that is in everything here. Though people are civil and polite to one another, there is almost a caste system in effect. There is a deference given to people with better jobs and/or more education. You have heard of the expression of dotting your i's and crossing your t's, it's true here.

Regarding the bus ride, we had to ride a bus to meet up with our translator because I misplaced my passport. That means weWe connected and went to the American Embassy. We went through more security and scutiny there than any other place. We just got there before closing and the staff were very helpful and tried to fix me an emergency passport. We waited an hour before they told us anything, getting very nervous that we wouldn't have time to get our things and get to the train on time, plus, they hadn't let Alla come in with us at our Embassy and we feared she'd had to stand outside the whole time freezing (she had). But all the computers at the U.S. Embassy and across the world just happened to be down they finally came out and told us. So I'll have to pick it up in two weeks since it no longer was an emergency. But they gave me documentation to use for now. Guess this was my way of livening things up for Charlene. But it is a strange feeling to be here without a passport or any documentation. You have to present ID everywhere. Later on, guess what I found underneath some papers in my suitcase? Yep. But it's invalid now, though it will do to get me into buildings, etc., plus I still have the official letter the Embassy gave me.

Coming back from the orphanage was sad and also very tiring. We were already tired from a 14 hour train ride there. And tired from the stress of preparing and meeting the people at the orphanage. The three of us passed some time by playing cards. Our translator caught on fast and had beginner's luck.

We arrived back in Kiev at about 5:40 AM in a cold rain. Let me point out that there is no real station area. Only concrete walkways between the tracks and you had to cross active tracks to get to the actual station. We were lucky that the translator's co-worker met us with another person to help us with the luggage, for a fee of course. There were a lot of tracks and stairs up and down to get out to the parking lot.

I was so glad to get back to the apartment, a shower, and to not be swaying and even an hour or two of sleep.

As Charlene said, today was mostly spent in getting paperwork notarized and submitted to SD. By the way, a notary here is sort of like a cross between our notary and a bureaucratic government office, and they have to have a college degree unlike ours.

Later today we went food shopping, to the post office, and to eat. None of these places are exactly like ours, but they were fun to visit. The post office was so different from ours. One part was very governmental and you had to go through a security point to enter. The rest was full of little shops which sold a variety of items.

One interesting thing I noticed was that when you used an underground walkway to cross under a big street, there were shops under there, almost like a mall of three floors and a food court. (Picture is of John beside money exchange window where we got some Grivna for U.S $. Right now the exhange rate is in our favor and Alla works hard to make sure we get the best rate as every bank seems to have a different one posted.)

Oh, as a last note the orphanage director offered me a job. I don't think he was kidding, because he didn't strike me as the sort to have a sense of humor. I thanked him and declined.

Some random thoughts: The orphanage director was very pleased with us and told us he would help us adopt a child from his orphanage if we could find a healthy one at the SDA. We pray that be the end result of course--a fairly healthy child eager to be adopted by us. Why the SDA showed us files of those who don't want to be adopted or whose director would stand in the way is curious, except it makes it look like they have shown us a lot more files I guess.

And so life goes here in Kiev, Ukraine. Comments and e-mails welcome.

Charlene & John

Kiev Day 2

2009-01-12T12:38:00.003-05:00

Today was SDA day. That's when we went to our appointment, accompanied by our translator Alla, who is being very kind and helpful. We also earlier met Valentina who is the "overseer" of a group of translators, for lack of better terminology. Both have been very kind. The SDA has a locked gate and you have to stand in the cold for it to be open exactly at appointment time. But we weren't searched before entering which surprised me; they did check our passports and invitation letter (which the translator gave us upon arrival). I guess the gate thing was unexpected but the rest was more lax than expected.

The psychologist, Maria, at the SDA was very kind as well. She showed us 17 or more files of children from age 6 to 9, mostly girls though a few boys as well. You would think from so many choices there would be too many for us to make a decision but for various reasons, mostly health issues, it really came down to three for us at this time. One of the three did not want to be adopted, one is in a small home-like orphanage and the director does not want her to be adopted, and the last one we will go meet on Wednesday. Just because we are meeting her does not necessarily mean it's a go because we want to check to make sure her file is accurate and that we all "mesh" to some degree anyway.

Karina is in the Luganska region. We did not choose based on region because this is about as far as you can get from Kiev and still be in Ukraine; it's not too far from the Russian border, and we would have loved to stay here in this nice apartment with internet access. They speak Russian there, though the child may go to a Ukranian school so we don't know which she will speak, not that it matters since we know no words in either language anyway. I know, I know, you all want more details but we have few at this point. Karina is seven years old and small for her age and healthy and of normal intelligence. Of course, we will double check all of these things for ourselves which is one reason for the trip; the other is that you're required to meet the child in person before you are allowed to adopt. If all goes well at this meeting, we will stay in the Luganska region while we get to know each other better and if she and we agree on the adoption, the paperwork process begins which can take weeks. If all is not well, then we will have another appointment in a week or so in hopes there are new files to show us at that time.

Luganska is so far away that our translator and we will go by train about 15 hours or more, leaving tomorrow night at 7 and sleeping on the train on the way. I've never ridden a passenger train like that but John did in teenage years in Europe so we're both in for a sort of new experience, a treat John says. I hope.

So please keep us in your prayers and Karina too that all goes well, or if not, that the next step will.

Advice to those who are coming here for the same process: don't forget a universal adapter, toilet paper (theirs is hard), a Ukranian cell phone or you can buy one here from your translator, a laptop, little bags of tissues for your purse, food if you have room, coffee (theirs is very strong which John loves but most don't), dvd's, tape book or something to do on the plane, seasonings for food, towels (theirs are much stiffer), wash cloths (they don't use), and don't forget a memo pad or small notebook and pen for your purse or pocket for notes as they quickly show you the childen's files. That's all the things we can think of right now that we are so glad we did bring; thanks to many for us reminding us of many of these.

Here's John (much of the above was a joint effort):

Well most everything has been covered. So I'll go over some things that stuck out to me. First, the city seemed very large when we landed at night. And the airport was very far out of town. We were helped through customs and in getting out of the airport. We almost didn't get all of our luggage into the car. Guess we packed a lot of things. But to be fair to us, we were toting some gifts for the orphanage as well as a couple larger sized items for someone here. It is hard to know exactly what you will need.

We stopped at a food store and then went to our apartment. We were happy that it is pretty modern. But the heat is slow to warm up the rooms and Charlene gets chilled quickly. No surprise that I am comfortable at the cooler temperatures.

Our apartment is close to the center of town and the offices we need to go to. During the day we walked everywhere, and the drivers are not patient with pedestrians, which our translator had warned us about.

One item that reflects the differences in businesses here and at home is the storefronts are often hard to recognize because the buildings are often basic in design. And only the signs by the doorway cue you as to what is inside.

And they don't have the snow removal on their roads like we do. Plus many of the roads are cobbled roughly - they are not smooth.

There are many beautiful buildings and churches. The church in the picture is the Church of Saint Michael. And we were told that when it was restored the gold spire tops are covered in real gold. We figure it must have some good guards. ; )

The town seems divided into areas that more or less specialize in an area. For example, down one street you will find many banks. Down another street you might find inexpensive stores while another street has expensive stores.

I have noticed that people are polite but reserved. As people go about their business and on the streets they seem to avoid direct contact. But they are also very friendly when they meet someone they know. And we have been treated very well.

Today has been a long day but we hope it brings good results. For dinner we ate in a Ukrainian pizza place. It was very good.

So now we rest and prepare for what tomorrow brings. Things are truly in the Lord's hands.

Charlene & John

Kiev Day 1

2009-01-12T12:29:00.004-05:00

We arrived in Kiev around 5 p.m. local time yesterday and were surprised at how dark it already was. We had hoped to get a glimpse of the city while descending but other than the lights, there wasn't much else we could see. Before getting here we walked our legs off (almost literally) at Paris' Charles de Gaul Airport since the taxi let us off at the totally wrong end of the building where we needed to be. This airport, as you might imagine, is not on the small side either. It's a good thing John and I had been walking all over the Latin Quarter in Paris so our legs were used to walking! In the Latin Quarter we were able to walk from our hotel to Notre Dame Cathedral which is gorgeous beyond belief. John just kept taking pictures; it was so phenomenal. Even the ceilings were so pretty that we just had to take pictures of them as well. We also did the touristy visits to the Eiffel Tower and L'arc de Triomphe. Those of you who know me well know that I just had to try out my French, and though I hadn't really spoken it in years, I am happy to relate that I was able to communicate after all, though reading French is much easier for me than speaking. It was fun times. Everyone there was very cordial as well, except for one waitress who John ended up leaving a smaller tip because of it.

Heading Out

2009-01-08T10:35:00.002-05:00

This evening we fly out from Cincinnati headed to Paris and then for regions unknown in Ukraine next week. We land in Kiev on Sunday afternoon, will meet with our translator and with Dr. Yuri. Then our first appointment is 2 p.m. in Kiev on Monday. We might try to post again before then, depending on internet access and time constraints in Paris. Please keep those good comments and prayers coming our way. We are so nervous today and of course excited; kind of makes for an emotional roller coaster.

Getting Nervous

2009-01-02T23:05:00.003-05:00

Five days and counting until our departure for Kiev, with a 48 hour stayover in Paris. Wondering if we're more nervous, excited, scared, prepared, unprepared?!

The posted picture is us at my daughter's wedding last summer so we are an "older" couple adoption. Please pray all goes well with this.

Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming please.

Getting Ready

2008-12-30T22:28:00.001-05:00

Travel Time

Well, it's only a few days, 8 days to be exact, until time for us to fly out of Cincinnati and get started on probably the greatest adventure of our lifetime. Please pray that all goes well on this adoption trip.