April 22, 2009
A lot has happened in the last 2 days…we’ve been very busy and still have lacked internet access. Tuesday, April 21 we had our SDA appointment at 11:00 in the morning…the lady meeting with us and our translator Irina were very nice, however we did find out some sad news that the little girl we’d hoped to adopt along with Slava was not available for adoption yet and probably would not be for about a year (though we’d been told before she was able to be adopted). We were very sad—devastated in some ways after opening our hearts to her (especially our children who thought of her as a sister already), but we were happy to know Slava was able to be adopted. We took comfort in knowing God is Sovereign and that we’d been praying for His will concerning her, which is clear is not for us to adopt her right now. We also prayed that perhaps it would work out for her to stay with her own mother. We had to wait until 5 pm that night to pick up our referral so we spent the day with our driver Taras, who graciously took us to get lunch and see some places in Kiev. We went to a cafeteria style restaurant and got to try some Ukrainian dishes like Borsht soup (beets, cabbage and other), a breaded chicken with cheese inside, some little crepes with cheese and fruit inside and others…it was very good and we got quite a bit to feed our crew of 5 for about $20 US. We were thankful that Taras could speak English and interpret for us. We also went inside a beautiful Russian Orthodox church, went to buy our son a jacket (forgot at home), went to a a park, got a coffee and a few souvineers for the kids. We had a bit of stress because we thought we were expected to pay 600 dollars for being driven around for the day-- when he meant 600 grivnas (Ukrainian money) which is much much less! We all had a good laugh and were glad we realized the misunderstanding. It was a beautiful day…chilly, needing a winter coat, but sunny and clear. At 5 we got our referral and found out from our facilitator that we had to be at the orphanage by 9 am in the morning if we had any hope of getting things done for an early court date before the Ukrainian holiday next Friday…..
So, after that it was a whirlwind, as we had to go back to the house we were staying at, pack our things in 40 minutes and start on an 8-9 hour drive in a bus to Izmail. Thankfully Yuri our driver was fine with driving during the night. We made due with snacks and tried to sleep on the long ride with blankets and pillows…the kids were troopers. We arrived around 6 am and after waiting a bit, we were able to head to our apartment, and our hosts graciously met us early there and the couple who had been staying there graciously let us bring our stuff in as they were packing to leave. They are from America, here for some missionary work and were so kind in showing us around, leaving some food for us, and even offering to watch our children while we went to appointments (of course, we declined as our children were so anxious to see Slava!) The couple we’re renting from is also a Christian family who run a life center, or crisis pregnancy center, here and have been very kind, bringing over extra mattresses and offering to help us anytime. We have been so encouraged and amazed by how God has provided for us and put Christians in our path to look after us, which is a great comfort when you are in a foreign country and can not understand the language.
Today we spent the day being driven around in a taxi to get permission to visit the orphanage, , to the courthouse, to breakfast and to the orphanage. We met with the assistant director (director was not there) who informed of Slava’s information and then they brought him in! WOW! He is precious and quite the little character. He actually is a good size for his age (3) and was decked out in a snow hat (which he enjoyed putting on), overalls and pink shoes! We weren’t expecting his hair to be buzzed off or him to have green dots all over his face, which they said was an antiseptic for bug bites.
There were about 6 or 7 workers there talking to him at once, along with our family, so I think he was a bit overwhelmed and it wasn’t as intimate as we’d have liked but we know we will have time to get to know him. He did not sit still very long and really enjoyed some cookies one of the workers gave him. He reminded me of our 2 year-old how he liked putting on his hat and opening and closing the door. After visiting a while they took him back out and we had to meet with the legal representative there who copied our passports and told us about his history there. We were pretty impressed with the cleanliness and friendliness of the workers we met there. They seemed genuinely happy to see pictures of Alina and Mattea with their families and hear of how they were doing. And yes, it did smell like home cooking…and I found out they eat 5 meals a day!
Then we waited an hour for our translator to finish some details and went to get some lunch. We would not get to go again until tomorrow because we needed to get several things accomplished before our translator would leave—possible the next day. We did enjoy lunch (at the Potato House we’d heard about from the Dickinsons) and found some wheat-free food for our daughter Haylee. Then it was off on more errands…court house again, computer store to try to get the modem we’re borrowing to work, notary, and I can’t remember what else. We were pretty tired…2 of the kids and my husband and I fell asleep in the taxi at different times…I don’t know how Irina our translator does this kind of pace for a living. Our children wanted so much to see Slava again but we’d have to wait—its wonderful to see their love for him.
Tomorrow we go back to the computer store to get our modem set up so hopefully we can start putting our entries on the blog—we’re sorry it has taken so long! We hope to visit Slava twice tomorrow. Tonight we look forward to sleep!
A lot has happened in the last 2 days…we’ve been very busy and still have lacked internet access. Tuesday, April 21 we had our SDA appointment at 11:00 in the morning…the lady meeting with us and our translator Irina were very nice, however we did find out some sad news that the little girl we’d hoped to adopt along with Slava was not available for adoption yet and probably would not be for about a year (though we’d been told before she was able to be adopted). We were very sad—devastated in some ways after opening our hearts to her (especially our children who thought of her as a sister already), but we were happy to know Slava was able to be adopted. We took comfort in knowing God is Sovereign and that we’d been praying for His will concerning her, which is clear is not for us to adopt her right now. We also prayed that perhaps it would work out for her to stay with her own mother. We had to wait until 5 pm that night to pick up our referral so we spent the day with our driver Taras, who graciously took us to get lunch and see some places in Kiev. We went to a cafeteria style restaurant and got to try some Ukrainian dishes like Borsht soup (beets, cabbage and other), a breaded chicken with cheese inside, some little crepes with cheese and fruit inside and others…it was very good and we got quite a bit to feed our crew of 5 for about $20 US. We were thankful that Taras could speak English and interpret for us. We also went inside a beautiful Russian Orthodox church, went to buy our son a jacket (forgot at home), went to a a park, got a coffee and a few souvineers for the kids. We had a bit of stress because we thought we were expected to pay 600 dollars for being driven around for the day-- when he meant 600 grivnas (Ukrainian money) which is much much less! We all had a good laugh and were glad we realized the misunderstanding. It was a beautiful day…chilly, needing a winter coat, but sunny and clear. At 5 we got our referral and found out from our facilitator that we had to be at the orphanage by 9 am in the morning if we had any hope of getting things done for an early court date before the Ukrainian holiday next Friday…..
So, after that it was a whirlwind, as we had to go back to the house we were staying at, pack our things in 40 minutes and start on an 8-9 hour drive in a bus to Izmail. Thankfully Yuri our driver was fine with driving during the night. We made due with snacks and tried to sleep on the long ride with blankets and pillows…the kids were troopers. We arrived around 6 am and after waiting a bit, we were able to head to our apartment, and our hosts graciously met us early there and the couple who had been staying there graciously let us bring our stuff in as they were packing to leave. They are from America, here for some missionary work and were so kind in showing us around, leaving some food for us, and even offering to watch our children while we went to appointments (of course, we declined as our children were so anxious to see Slava!) The couple we’re renting from is also a Christian family who run a life center, or crisis pregnancy center, here and have been very kind, bringing over extra mattresses and offering to help us anytime. We have been so encouraged and amazed by how God has provided for us and put Christians in our path to look after us, which is a great comfort when you are in a foreign country and can not understand the language.
Today we spent the day being driven around in a taxi to get permission to visit the orphanage, , to the courthouse, to breakfast and to the orphanage. We met with the assistant director (director was not there) who informed of Slava’s information and then they brought him in! WOW! He is precious and quite the little character. He actually is a good size for his age (3) and was decked out in a snow hat (which he enjoyed putting on), overalls and pink shoes! We weren’t expecting his hair to be buzzed off or him to have green dots all over his face, which they said was an antiseptic for bug bites.
There were about 6 or 7 workers there talking to him at once, along with our family, so I think he was a bit overwhelmed and it wasn’t as intimate as we’d have liked but we know we will have time to get to know him. He did not sit still very long and really enjoyed some cookies one of the workers gave him. He reminded me of our 2 year-old how he liked putting on his hat and opening and closing the door. After visiting a while they took him back out and we had to meet with the legal representative there who copied our passports and told us about his history there. We were pretty impressed with the cleanliness and friendliness of the workers we met there. They seemed genuinely happy to see pictures of Alina and Mattea with their families and hear of how they were doing. And yes, it did smell like home cooking…and I found out they eat 5 meals a day!
Then we waited an hour for our translator to finish some details and went to get some lunch. We would not get to go again until tomorrow because we needed to get several things accomplished before our translator would leave—possible the next day. We did enjoy lunch (at the Potato House we’d heard about from the Dickinsons) and found some wheat-free food for our daughter Haylee. Then it was off on more errands…court house again, computer store to try to get the modem we’re borrowing to work, notary, and I can’t remember what else. We were pretty tired…2 of the kids and my husband and I fell asleep in the taxi at different times…I don’t know how Irina our translator does this kind of pace for a living. Our children wanted so much to see Slava again but we’d have to wait—its wonderful to see their love for him.
Tomorrow we go back to the computer store to get our modem set up so hopefully we can start putting our entries on the blog—we’re sorry it has taken so long! We hope to visit Slava twice tomorrow. Tonight we look forward to sleep!
1 comment:
He's precious, blue dots and all!!! I am SO GLAD you made it to him. Thanks for delivering our photos of Mattea. Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly so you can bring that sweet baby HOME soon!
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