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