Yalta Part 2

I'm back,

The day we went to the castle was also the day we took a swim in the Black Sea. It was very nice, clear and warm. The people in Ukraine aren't very shy. An old lady somewhere between 70-150 years old had no problem dropping her top for a little bird bath shoreside. She also did some laundry. I forgot to thank her cause she saved us both the need and expense for lunch, and I can never look at fried eggs the same way again. Have I mentioned that there are no shortage of wild dogs and cats running around any city we've been in? Fortunately they aren't vicious or Corrine would have lost an arm trying to pat every single one she see's. There's also no shortage of men passed out on the streets, against walls, or in parks. Sometimes these worlds collide. I was walking back to the apt. one afternoon when I came across a guy who had stopped at the store for some beer and weiners. I think he must have had a few beers in him already cause he was passed out on the sidewalk with the beer pouring out, and a cat enjoying the weiners! I wish I had a camera with me.

We are fighting with both our useless travel agent and Air Canada right now trying to book our flights out of hell, but the agent seems to think phones grow on trees here, or maybe I can just stroll into the office in Frankfurt to make the changes in person. We have limited internet access, and no phone while Vitaly's away. I have asked her 3 time to do it but she is afraid to spend an extra $100.00. (Total loser) even after I have sent 3 emails and had Corrine's Dad call her. There won't be an easy step through this process.

The kids were very happy to see us when we got back. I think they thought we left without them. (Poor buggers) They seem to have grown a little so we've decided not to by any clothes until they stop. lol I'll try to post some pictures when Vitaly gets back. Until then,

Quick edit: I finally feel comfortable posting pictures of the kids. I posted our first family photo! To settle the bet Nicholas is 8 and Tanya is 5.

TTFN
R&C

We're Home well back to the Ghetto!

Hi All,

We're back fromYalta in our crappy apartment that actually feels like home. In case you want to look it up we are in khmelnitskiy closer to the west of Ukraine. Just a fews hours by train from Poland. Ah.... the train, such memories. twenty two hours riding with the devil himself. We went 1st class because it was rumored to have air conditioning, and because the AC might work the windows didn't. Try living in a sauna for 22 hours, and only being allowed to use the can when the train was moving and outside the city. (Never walk along train tracks in Ukraine) From there we jumed on a no AC bus for an hour, then to our no AC apt. All this in 35+ above temps. (my mood was foul) After a shower (Vitaly says take a hot shower to cool off "it's Ukraine") that changed from hot to cold on a whim we went to explore Yalta.

We visited a number of sites from a castle built in 1828-1848 with art dating back to the 1600's. We visited the aquarium & saw seals & a walrus dance to "EVERYBODY DANCE NOW" as well as Beluga whales and a dolphin. We took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain were Corrine became a camel jockey, and played with young bears, then hiked to the very top. (I crapped myself) It was beautiful We have now decided to charge for the slide show when we get home lol we also visited the zoo. They had lions and tigers and bears oh my! We took plenty of food for the animals the monkeys loved cucumbers, the camels, and ostriches loved bread. The bears did tricks for their treats, and we got to hold baby lions! We took a ferry along the sea and saw some awesome sites. The city was in full tourist mode so we had to listen to the party fire up as we were going to bed everynight. We were a few hundred meters from the sea, and main boardwalk, and main stage.

Were at an internet cafe and about to get thrown out because they are closing. Vitaly is in Simferopol dealing with a sick family member until Wednesday So I will post when I can. I have more to say but no time to type it.

Judgement Day

Hey Everybody!

The day started around 8:30 AM I noticed Vitaly was still in the apartment. He had planned on going to the hospital for an ultrasound. It seems he’s developed kidney stones. He’s had to call the doctor (and a nurse) to our apartment twice for the pain that he has been experiencing. The doctors here make house calls. If they think you sick enough they take you to the hospital. On top of this there is no charge, unless you stay at the hospital. I’m sure glad we pay serious taxes for the crap we get. Anyway he said he was feeling better and didn’t need to go.

We had an interesting experience at the orphanage yesterday. Bart likes to hide small treats under his Bison hat. On this occasion he had sunflower seeds. (Roasted no salt or flavor) He was showing them off to some other kids when one of them grabbed a few and ran off. Bart took off after him as fast as he could applying a solid kick to the kids butt when in range. As he turned around the rest of the kids caught up, the hat went flying seeds were everywhere. Bart then gave another kid a swift dose of “don’t mess with me”. Just as Corrine & I and the orphanage nurse arrived, the nurse got there first (Ukraine doesn’t have any lame laws about spanking), and Bart learned not to kick other kids. The orphanage seems to have a pecking order among the kids similar to “The lord of the Flies”

I guess your wondering about court. Well we arrived in the court house a dingy building with paint peeling everywhere, loose wiring hanging from the ceiling and the linoleum lifting and torn around 10:30. All 3 required people even showed up on time! We went into the judges office, and she asked us a number of questions each in turn. Are you married? What year were you married? (I got that wrong again, remember the roses.) Can you afford to raise children? What do you do for a living? Do you have any family members in Canada? What’s your address? Do you have any bio children? Why don’t you have any of your own? They asked Corrine if she was prepared to raise kids. Who she had for emotional support? What kind of activities would be available? Then the orphanage director answered a few questions. She said Bart wanted us for his parents and couldn’t wait to go to Canada. They didn’t talk about Lisa (I think because of her age) It was over in 25 minutes. I guess I can tell you the kids real names now.

Fortunately this judge has been involved this since the district problems began so she allowed the weekends to count in the 10 day waiting period. She had originally said she wouldn’t so the wait is over Aug 3,07 instead of Aug 6,07. After that we get the birth certificates and passports and come home! The only snag left is that on July 1,07 Ukraine changed the way it does passports. I have read on different forums to expect a wait of anywhere from 10 days to 6 weeks. Vitaly is already on the case, and is confident we won’t wait even the 10 days. (I hope not)

We leave for Yalta tomorrow by train at 11:00AM, and will arrive in Simferopol at 9:00AM the next morning then only an hour by bus to Yalta. Originally We thought it was 12 hours I guess with all the other confusion we miss understood. This will be 22 hours of hell with no on board meals unless we bring them. (Some holiday) We make the same ride back Sat. Yeehaw! If we had heard this correctly we probably wouldn’t be going, but the break will be nice and I have a few Nytol’s to finish up.

Oh Yeah…… Bart is Mykola (Nicholas in English) Lisa is Tetyana (Tanya in English) We have to wait the 10 days to legally post pictures.

TTFN
R&C

The Saga Continues

When we last heard from our hero’s they had received an all’s well from Vitaly. Let’s pick up the story from there!

Vitaly arrived back at the apartment just after 1:00 AM exhausted. So I left him to get some sleep know the details would come in the morning. The next morning came with an above normal amount of dripping from the sink. In an effort to get it to stop it’s version of the Chinese water torture I managed to strip the stupid thing. After coffee (Instant…. yuk!) We asked about the trip to Kiev. Vitaly told us that he had needed 2 documents (not just the one he had told us about), and that the inspector of that region was refusing to provide it even after a call from the judge, the city inspector from our region, and a call from the SDA. She also said that any further pressure would result in her going up the ladder with a complaint because she felt she was following the law. The problem is there are 2 laws that contradict each other she chose the bad one. Vitaly left to meet the judge to discuss options we went to visit the kids. After lunch Vitaly came back to let us know he had gotten the document after providing some “paperwork”. (He’s awesome) We took off to the hardware market (It’s a whole separate market from the usual one) picked up a tap to fix the sink, and he left for Kiev to drop off the documents. The SDA assured him if he got them there today (Thursday) he could pick-up the approved dossier Friday, and the court case can go ahead as scheduled for Monday. Whew what a nightmare.

I fixed the tap while Corrine went to visit the kids in the afternoon and the torture was over. Thursday morning Corrine made coffee again (see above) I turned on the tap to rinse a glass and the stupid thing came off in my hand. Water’s spraying everywhere with me loudly explaining (I never yell) to Corrine where the shut off valve is… she finds it and now we’re again without water. We missed the morning visit because of another trip to the hardware market with Corrine. (She had to come it’s a market after all. Does anyone know of a 12 step program for shopping?) I picked up a new tap (Better one) teflon tape, as well as hinges for the toilet seat to make a different job more comfortable. I fixed the tap properly this time. (I didn’t have Vitaly racing through a market that’s 95% closed on Wednesday’s with a cab waiting. Today we had the luxury of looking around to find exactly what we needed.)

It’s still 35 above with no wind so the kids are a little cranky but not too bad. Bart has told us he wants to be a world champion, but is not sure of what yet. He’s trying to learn badminton, buy won’t accept any help so he misses the birdy most of the time, and gets mad. It’s really kinda funny. Lisa wants to play to but all she does is hold the racket while I toss the birdy from 3 feet away. Normally it just bounces off the racket and she laugh’s, but sometimes she takes a swing, and it’s all I can do to get out of harms path.

Kim your right at the moment we do think your crazy, but good for you and your family! I know looking back we’ll view this differently than when in the centre of the hurricane.

Everyone else thanks for the comments, and emails you don’t realize how nice these links to home are.

Anyway that’s it for today.

TTFN,

R&C

Hot Tuesday

Hi all,

Just a quick post to keep you up to date. Vitaly was unable to submit our documents Friday because the SDA wanted more information. He was supposed to get that info Monday, but is still waiting for it today. The SDA has since taken the documents but is waiting for the last bit. Our cell phone ran out of minutes so we can’t call out to find out what’s happening we have to wait for Vitaly’s calls. (He doesn’t like to call because of the cost.)We are told if the document comes in we will still have everything on Friday, but by now you know how things work in Ukraine.

We have the added joy that the temperature has risen over 30 and is happy to stay there. Riding the bus has taken on a whole new meaning. Imagine a whole bunch of play-doh pieces crammed together. Now put them in a steel drum in this temperature with only a small vent at either end. Fortunately there is a nice potpourri of sweat, stale tobacco, and cheap perfume to make it bearable. Oh yeah, and the occasional guy passed out in the seat beside you. Did I tell you that some of the beers here are 11%-14%? Not to mention Vodka isn’t controlled by the MLCC so the proofs run pretty high.

I noticed last night the water had stopped working. We hoped for the best and went to sleep. This morning there was still no water. Corrine met a neighbor who told us that it would be out for 3 days (I hope he didn’t mean 3 weeks) He then took us to a well at the local church so we could fill up a 6 litre jug. When I went back this afternoon it wasn’t working either. We are now officially on the “If it’s yellow let it mellow….if it’s brown flush it down” program. The water is working at the orphanage so we are trying to make bathroom stops there when possible. Did I mention it’s hot and the bath tub won’t fill? We’re getting pretty ripe fast!

The kids are doing fine. Lisa has made a game of taking the garbage to the can with me. She has me pick her up and away we go. We then sing the ABC’s together. She can get to “G” by herself, and do the rest with me. After the drop she has me put her down while she goes and picks me a handful of wild flowers. Then back we go singing ABC’s. Usually while we do this Corrine is working with Bart trying to teach him to read the ABC’s he’s getting better at it all the time. We started bringing cat food to the group cat. It took a few days before Corrine could get Lisa to stop eating it, and she’s fast! (Her coat is nice and shiny, and her teeth seem to be cleaner, but her breath is worse.) Corrine asked if we could take a watermelon for the whole groupa (12 kids). We think the caregiver said it was OK. If not tough for her she’s getting a melon. It’s 3:00 in the afternoon now. I’ll wait until 8:00 this evening to post in case there is some good news, and internet rates drop considerably.

Well the call came at 6:00 the documents have been picked up. Full Steam Ahead until the next problem arises.
The really good news is the water is back on!

A quick note for the Hydro/Electricians in the group. The city is putting in high voltage buried cable for several miles mainly uphill. The entire cable run is being dug by hand in this heat. This includes paved driveway crossings.

Insanely yours,
R&C

Another Saturday in Ukraine

Hi all,

Just a quick update. Vitaly dropped our documents off at the SDA (State Department for Adoption) Friday AM. Now we wait 5 working days for them to approve it. From there we go to court, wait 10 days, then get the new passports and birth certificates and if we want we can come home.

We had a nice visit with Bart today. His english is coming on quickly enough that the initial frustrations are becoming a thing of the past. He knows most of the alphabet, and already counts to 10 with no problem. He suddenly blurted it out I was suprised. Corrine missed it so she didn't believe it until he did it again. He's also mastered "come here Papa/Mama" when he wants to show us something. Lisa was sick today so we barely saw her. She was puking through the night and had a small fever. (I knew something was up when she only ate 1/2 her banana yesterday afternoon.) Bart took her peach and yogurt to her along with Mama. Then all hell broke loose cause she wanted to come out and play with us. We saw her at the window waving and smiling as we were leaving. I'm sure she'll be back to her normal self tomorrow.

We got "new" furniture today some of it is better, some the exact same crap we had. She also complained that the apartment wasn't clean enough. She knows we will be staying longer than the original month, and I'm sure she's made this up as an excuse to get more money out of us when the time comes. A hotel is looking pretty good right now. We're looking forward to our trip to Simferopol (Yalta to be exact) Simferopol is the capital in that region. The break will be nice when all the paperwork is completed.

I would be putting Bison tags on the fire extinguishers if there were any. I have only seen three at the orphanage (It houses 80 kids) and forget suppression systems. I'm now looking for volunteers for the Bison Ukraine branch!

If you don't get the teeth and tongue thing I won't ask you what Rice Krispies are made from.

TTFN
R&C

Just Another Day in Paradise

Hi Everyone,

The morning went as expected...... the mayor was unavailable, so the documents were held up. We continued the day as usual a morning visit with the kids with nothing special to report. Then a wet ride back to the apartment for lunch. If it’s not 30+ above, it’s 18 and raining. Back at the apartment we got a call from the landlord letting us know a new kitchen table was coming this afternoon. (The old one looked like it would fall apart if a fly landed on it.) When she arrived with the “new” table we immediately wanted the old one back. She also told us new beds/couch are coming Saturday. Now we’re nervous. I’ve kinda gotten used to sitting on a couch with no cushions, or under support just a cabinet door placed on 2 cross members with a couple of blankets for comfort.

Vitaly went downtown to try to get things moving, and we went back to the orphanage, again another uneventful visit. Just before we were going to leave Vitaly showed up to join us for the ride back home. He was sitting with Bart who seemed very concerned with the language Mama was using. Apparently the cutsie Ukrainian words Corrine had been using would have made a sailor blush. She had picked up what she thought was baby talk etc. and Bart was afraid new Mama was gonna be worse than old Mama. I just about fell over when I heard this, and I’m sure the caregivers are impressed, because Vitaly told us women don’t use these words ever.

We found out that Vitaly had gotten the documents, and is ready for his trip to Kiev. The train leaves just after midnight and arrives around 6:00AM. He’ll be staying with Nick and Linda a couple from Lindenwoods that arrived the day after we did. We're doing a DVD swap with them. Our “Sanford & Sons” for their “Everyone Loves Raymond”. The good news is that the week we are scheduled to go to court the orphanage director, the city inspector, and the judge will all be away on holidays for a month. We need all 3 in attendance to make it legal. (“It’s Ukraine”) Fortunately the inspector will have a replacement, the director has agreed to make an appearance, and the judge has as well. (Remember my post a few days back, I won’t believe until it happens)

A quick stop at the supermarket on the way home turned out to be interesting. While standing in the check-out line I noticed the odds and ends they always have stacked for the impulse buyer. Well on the shelf was Vodka, the row above had ribbed/glow in the dark family planning kits (I’m keeping this G rated), and pregnancy test kits. Now that’s planning! (“It’s Ukraine”) With that kind of for-sight how come there are so many orphans?

TTFN
R&C

All's Quiet on the Eastern Front

Hi All,

I know the suspense must be killing you so I’ll pull the band-aid off fast. We received the letters from both the mayor and the director from the problem district today, and it was accomplished with out additional paperwork! We are feeling much better today. After not getting the documents yesterday as promised I blew a small fuse. We went for Pizza in a downtown cafe (the pizza here is fantastic!), and a beer, then another, and another. Have I mentioned that I have yet to meet a Ukrainian beer I didn't like? Another good thing about Ukraine is that it's metric so the beer is either 1/2 litre , or a whole litre. Anyway I felt better after that. (It's amazing what pizza will do for your attitude!) Vitaly has since dropped all the documents off with the city inspector. She called back at 6:00 PM saying she was on her way to see the mayor of our city to get his signature so the completed documents could be taken to the SDA. The SDA only accepts new documents Mon. Wed. & Fridays so he'll be on a train for Kiev Thursday night to be there for the grand opening Friday. After they sit on it for 5 days Vitaly will pick it up, and we go to court as quickly as possible so we can start the 10 day wait. (This place is slower than Kentucky cousins) The good news is we are slowly moving forward again having gotten over the hurdle that threatened to stop us completely.

We have decided to take a break during the 10 day wait and go to Simferopol. It’s a city between the Black Sea and the Crimean Mountains in southern Ukraine. (Vitalys home town) he has arranged an apartment for us, and will be our tour guide through the day and go home at night. The city is near a castle that was Gorbachev’s summer home during the USSR days. We’re looking forward to the break, and a vacation in a part of the world I least expected to ever go.

The kids are good. They’re getting to know us better everyday. This morning when we arrived Lisa let out a squeal of joy at seeing us and ran straight into Corrine’s arms for a hug and a kiss. (So much for daddy’s girl) It melted Corrine’s heart again, and was the medicine she needed. We keep telling ourselves it’s 2 steps forward and 1 step back in the relationship, but as long as it’s moving forward were happy. Bart surprised me yesterday when he suddenly counted to 10 without prompting or having done it before. He’s starting to learn his ABC’s as well, and has become quite the conman when it comes to treats from Mama. He’ll snuggle in to her begging “Mama Pleeeeease Num Nums” as he’s doing this he’s trying to sneak into her purse. This afternoon Lisa was blowing bubbles when she managed to spill some soapy water in her eye. She came straight to me, and I took her over to the sink to wash it out. A week ago she would have gone to a caregiver. Bart fell this morning scraping his arm when Corrine got to him she walked him to a bench and wiped him down with a wet wipe, and a kiss on the boo boo. Then they sat together for some quiet time. We have had our challenging days with them but those days are becoming fewer, and fewer. Another help are the caregivers who know the adoption is moving ahead so they’re pushing the kids our way.

To answer a question; Kim is the same age as her tongue and older than her teeth (Happy Birthday!). I know a restaurant on King St. that will pay $20.00 each for the kittens. I want half, Corrine wants the other half!

Thanks for the comments and support. It's great to hear any news from home.

TTFN
R&C

Another Day at the Office

Hi Canada,

I guess there’s not that much to report today so I’ll keep it brief. The weekend was nice we seem to have had a bonding breakthrough with Lisa who seems to have become daddy’s girl. I have never worked so hard in my life giving her plane rides, lifting her over my head as high as possible so she can pick cherries off the trees (they’re ripe), playing some sort of game where I chase her with my hands up like a bear, and she runs to Corrine for protection (If I don’t do it enough she comes after me with her hands up to catch me. (It’s too cute to describe!) She also loves to climb the play structures they have and jump off the top into my arms. I finish it jump off by turning her upside down and tickling her. While all this is going on Corrine seems to be getting some quiet time with Bart (damn momma’s boy) she talks to him, tries to teach him the alphabet, or some other kids songs, or whatever they get up to. Both kids seem to be understanding us a little better, and us them. So the frustration caused by communication is starting to lighten up a little. (We have a long way to go.)

We had a nice afternoon today. We had to take them downtown to get photos taken for the passports so there will be less scrambling when we need to get them made. A short bus ride got us there. The pictures taken without incident, and then we were off for some desserts a well deserved treat! After that Vitaly had to run to the inspector’s office leaving us to survive on our own. It wasn’t a big deal there were electric kiddy cars that the kids drove around on the street for 5 greevna. (The street is permanently closed to traffic and is very busy with café/bars, restaurants, shops, and other things.) After the expected whining when the ride was over we bought them a couple of small toys from a street vendor and waited for Vitaly to return. When he got back it was a bit of a scramble to get them back home before curfew (6:00 PM, we were lucky to get them out at all.) One of the things we discovered today was how little the kids have seen, or remember outside the orphanage. Bart was asking Vitaly all kinds of questions about things he was seeing. (He had never seen a satellite dish. We’ll be busy when he learns English) Anyway it was a good day!

As I expected the letter didn’t arrive from the district, but is "promised" (again) for tomorrow. It is holding things up but Vitaly made a tentative court date for July 19th. I remind you that it means nothing in this country. Anytime we experience something unusual Vitaly says "It’s Ukraine" so we are still in limbo. Fortunately there has been no request for paperwork. Vitaly doesn’t think there will be any required which is a suprise. When I joked about liking it here so much we might stay, well that seems to be becoming a reality. I’ll be right back............

I’m back I just got called away for supper. Vitaly whipped up a fresh garden salad along with a smoked meat sandwich on fresh baked bread, and Swiss cheeze. For all you garden fresh vegetable lovers out there Ukraine has a longer growing season than we have so we are forced to eat garden fresh tomatoes, cukes, dill, peppers, potatoes, garlic, onions, when should I stop? LOL The bread here is made with no perservatives, and no bleached grains (no white bread) so you have to eat it fast, but you can buy a half loaf so it doesn’t go bad. Many vegetables and baking are bought from Bubbas selling from the side of the road. Vitaly tells us that in most cases the produce is from their own gardens and is their only sourse of income. (Kinda sad, but tasty.) With all the fresh food and walking I’ve had a hard time maintaining my usual 180 lbs. STOP LAUGHING! We are also discovering many discrepancies from what we think is Ukrainian and what it really is. Such as Bubbas they are actually called Bubushka’s, and the thing on their heads are just light scarves. Perogies are dumplings, but an actual Ukrainian perogy is the size of a pie made with a dough (sorta like a pita, but different taste and heavy bread texture) on both sides with a filling, the dough is kinda dry. The perogies we have at home are Polish. Gold is very popular for crowns on teeth. It is not unusual to see a golden smile!

I promised to keep this short so I will.

I think I fixed the problem with the comments, it somehow got changed to registered users only. Either google is up to no good, or having more than half the language on the lap top in Ukrainian has caused the trouble. Anyway it should work now.

TTFN
R&C

Big Trouble in Little Ukraine

Hi everyone,

The one thing that I learned early on in our trip was that in Ukraine what is said on Monday means nothing on Tuesday. At least as far as government officials are concerned. We were still glowing from a successful trip to Kiev until Wednesday afternoon when Vitaly received a call from the orphanage director saying we had a big problem. The city inspector had called her to tell her that relatives in the district that the kids came from may not sign consent forms to allow the adoption. To add to the misery the one relative we needed a signature from was out of the country until July 13th. Well anybody that knows me can imagine my reaction after many promises at every gov’t level of no problems from the day we left Kiev 2 weeks earlier. Vitaly made an appointment to see the inspector in our city, and told me I couldn’t go. (I’m sure that decision has kept me out of the salt mine) All this after we had been told there would be no problems if the “paperwork” was sufficient, and we had supplied the paperwork. (This type of paperwork is common in Ukraine) Vitaly met her after regular business hours away from the office. You can only imagine how Corrine and I felt. If this fell through we were looking at a minimum 2 weeks before another appointment with the SDA in Kiev before we could travel to meet news kids if any were available. Not to mention the heartbreak of leaving these 2 behind because of a relative who hadn’t even seen/contacted these kids since they came into care. This was the worst day we’ve had in Ukraine and second only to running out of beer on a hot day! Vitaly returned from his meeting to tell us that although the paperwork had been sufficient the inspector in the other district wanted to meet us.

5:45AM Vitaly woke us with his usual wakey wakey. We had coffee and cleaned up to go meet the inspector for 8:00 without an appointment. Vitaly said if we just show up they will have to deal with us. It was the right move. We went into the inspector’s office only to find out that he would have to get permission from his boss so we waited for her to arrive. When she did she listened to our story and then left to consult a lawyer. Upon her return she told us that we could get permission to continue the adoption with out the consent if approved by the town counsel, with the mayor’s final approval and signature. We were the first family to have this type of problem, and nobody wanted to take responsibility alone. She then set up a meeting for the next morning at 9:00 AM with the counsel walked us out mentioning that she was involved with some Ukrainian/Canadian women’s group and would do everything she could to help. We left feeling a little more optimistic but knew we still had a big obstacle to overcome.

6:15AM Vitaly woke us with his usual wakey wakey. We went through the same ritual as the day before make in the 25 km journey in record time. (I keep telling Corrine to look out the side windows only. It cuts down on the screaming) we met with counsel (9 people only because of holidays) at 9:00 as set (I’m still amazed) They asked us a number of questions about ourselves, our jobs, our home, etc. I told them that Corrine had a bad wine habit but was slowly getting better, they replied that it was ok most Ukrainians drink too much also. They seemed satisfied with our answers then the Mayor said “I wish you well” in English and left the room. From there the rest of counsel started to smile and wish us well, thanking us for giving the children a good home, and a couple more questions then it was over. An hour later we walked out of the town hall with the required documents signed and ready to go. The inspectors boss (the lady) even gave us a book about the history of the district in Ukrainian to help the kids remember where they came from. I asked her to write a small note, and to date and sign it. She very happily did.

The rest of the day and weekend will consist of visiting the kids and cleaning underwear. This has pushed us back a few days but could have been much worse. When we dropped off the documents with our inspector she told Vitaly this was the most difficult adoption she’s seen this year.

I’m sure by now you have moved from the edge of your seat to a comfy position further back. Just to keep you on the edge (Why should we be the only ones stressed out?) We still have to receive one more document from the trouble district, but have been assured by the mayor it will be available Monday. (Remember the first sentence of this post), and we still haven’t received the doctors report that was supposed to arrive Wednesday.

Have a nice day!

TTFN
R&C

A Day at the Doctor's Office

Hello Everyone in Cyberspace!

The trip to Kiev (they pronounce it Keev) was looooooooong. The day started at about 5:30 AM. We picked up 2 tired kids at 7:00 AM who were up an hour before their usual time and missed breakfast. Corrine had juice boxes in their hands before we left the parking lot. Then followed that up with banana’s, and as soon as they disappeared (banana’s are a favorite) out came the apples. I can’t begin to describe the luxurious van we hired for the ride. This machine was built for cross country racing. The back windows didn’t open in fact Corrine had to slide down in the seat to see out you can imagine what it was like for Vitaly and I. The seats had almost no padding, and certainly no seat belts. The radio had only one station Ukrainian pop/dance music. Vitaly finally told the guy to shut it off. The temp was in the high 20’s to low 30’s and humid. The nice thing about Ukrainian vehicles is the length they go to for fuel economy, with that in mind nobody has air conditioning, air vents, or suspensions. With mighty 1.3l motors they are built for speed not comfort. Fortunately the driver matched his vehicle. His uncanny ability to hit every pot hole for 5 straight hours could only be matched by his 2 foot approach to braking. Playing chicken is not a game in Ukraine it’s the preferred driving style. He had a unique approach to the holes to large to be considered pot holes. He would wait until the wheel was about to drop in then crank the steering wheel towards either on coming traffic or some obstacle on the side of the road, and all this at over 100 km/h. With all this in mind this was the longest car ride either kid had been on in their lives. About an hour into it Corrine’s buffet started to jump in Lisa’s stomach. All I can say is THANK-YOU to the people who suggested taking zip-lock bags with us because after 5-6 barf breaks (At least it smelled fruity) and one pee stop we arrived in Kiev with a very upset little girl, and a tired boy.

The doctor told us we would have to wait a few hours after our appointment time to see us so we went for a fast lunch. Vitaly came to the rescue again by going to see the doctor and getting the appt. pushed up. The good news is she gave a good report told us the kids were healthy, and good to go. She will forward her report to the CDN gov’t. for final approval, but that should be a rubber stamp.

The kids were much better on the way home. They played with Corrine in the back seat singing songs, playing games and sleeping when she would leave them alone. (They didn’t get much sleep) The drive was similar, but the bellies were ok. The country side was nice rolling hills/ prairie mainly farm land outside the cities (Very similar to Manitoba). Farmers still stacking hay by hand with horse drawn hay wagons. Chickens, ducks, and geese along the side of the highway people walking their cows similar to the way we walk our dogs. We arrived back at the orphanage (With only one pee break. We have started calling Bart the fountain of youth. Hugh will know what that means) at 9:00 PM dropped the kids off and with a crazed laugh pulled out of the parking lot.

The director of the orphanage signed the papers we needed and Vitaly took them to the city inspector for processing. With luck he will be able to make an appt. with the judge on Thursday for a court date. He still has to go back to Kiev with more paperwork for the Federal Gov’t that will take 5 days to process. When we get that back we will be able to go to court. After that a 10 day wait (it’s the law) a few days for passports and new birth certificates then home. At least at this point we have another couple legs off the centipede!

TTFN
R&C