Venturing out on our Own

With an entire Saturday ahead of us, John and I decided to explore downtown Odessa on our own. We took the bus downtown and enjoyed several hours of walking around. In the garden area, close to the Opera House of Odessa, there is a little art-market where local artisans display their handwork (embroidery) and artistic skills (painting). While clearly for “tourists”, we enjoyed the opportunity to venture out on our own and look at the beautiful items. We have been interested in purchasing some artwork from this area, thinking that would be a special memory to bring home with us. However, with unknown costs ahead of us, including possibly bringing home more children than what we had planned (budgeted) for, we decided to wait. We did manage to purchase some ice cream and drinks, and I even understood when the lady said how much our purchase added up to! When it came time to come home, we found the bus stop, waited for the correct bus, bought our tickets and even managed to get out at the right stop! Not bad for two small-towners who can’t read Russian or Ukrainian!
John and I spent most of the time sitting in the shaded park talking. This has been the first real opportunity for us to spend time together – just the two of us. We enjoyed talking through the upcoming details and decisions that await us when we can finally visit these children. Although we can hardly remember their pictures from the referral sheets (I only recall the youngest child’s picture – John can’t remember any of them), and we only have their names and birthdates, we seem to becoming attached to them. Our talks centered around “when” they come home, not “if”. We have tried to be careful not to become too attached, as we haven’t even yet met them, and might still not accept this referral. It is indeed difficult to remain unattached, however. We trust God, and that He will direct our hearts and minds to the correct thoughts and feelings. If these are not our children, but rather for someone else, than we trust God will show us, and prepare us for that.

Paperwork Hurdles

Some good news today on the topic of our struggles with paperwork. As I wrote before, we need an addendum written to our homestudy, upping the number of children we are approved for. However, our social worker is out of town until August 5th. This morning when we awoke, we had an email from the agency director, Kimberly, indicating she would, in this circumstance, write the addendum herself.
The change will cost us quite dearly price-wise, but at this point, we don’t really have much of a choice. We are thankful that it appears we will be able to overcome this first (and rather major) hurdle.
So, thank you for praying. Please continue to pray that Kimberly will be able to quickly complete the various steps necessary to prepare this addendum (notary, apostille, BCIS approval, fedex mailing….). We are sincerely hoping the Embassy in Kiev will receive our new BCIS approval Tuesday morning (Kiev time), and the NAC will accept it as enough for us to visit the children. Kostya is concerned they may want the notarized, apostilled, translated copy of the addendum in-hand, but will try his best to have them accept just the new BCIS form. It appears at this point, the Embassy will also try to help us with the NAC as well!

Birthdays, Picnics and Cold War Bombers

Friday, July 23 was Kostya’s son’s 4th birthday. Kostya’s wife Olga and son Nikita came to Kiev so they could celebrate the special birthday together as a family. We had the privilege of joining them in the celebration.
Early Friday morning, Nikita waited patiently for us to wake up, for you see, his birthday presents were hidden somewhere in our room! He found them quickly, and was transformed into Spiderman, complete with mask, gloves, sword and cape. He also enjoyed new Nemo, Tarzan and Buzz Lightyear books. We knew it was going to be Nikita’s birthday, and so brought small gifts for him as well. He seemed excited about the children’s Christian story and song CD, and the Legos (big kid kind) we brought!
After Nikita had spent some time enjoying his new treasures, we all left for a pond/lake on the outskirts of Kiev. A driver picked us up, stopped by a grocery store on the way to pick up picnic goodies, and then brought us to the pond. It was a natural pond, complete with the finest, softest sand beach and bottom you have ever seen. The pond was quite warm – warm enough that even John went in! We spread out our blankets, enjoyed a nice picnic, went swimming, played a game of Scrabble and just enjoyed ourselves. We were there for about 4 hours. The weather was gorgeous – warm and sunny! It was indeed a special day for making new friends and forming special memories.
It was while we were at the pond that Kostya received the “problem” phone call from the NAC. Being surrounded by wonderfully supportive friends made the hurdle seem doable, and since it was the middle of the night at home, we couldn’t do anything but enjoy ourselves anyway!
This trip has been a real opportunity to just “let go, and let God!” We’ve heard that so many times in the past, but this is the first opportunity when we have had no choice but to do that 100%! Take riding in a car – no seatbelts, and the lane lines, traffic signs and rules are “mere suggestions” taken into consideration at times! Imagine if everyone in a large city drove like New York taxi drivers. Add to that swarms of pedestrian traffic, non-stop public transportation and beat-up, pothole-ridden streets, and you might have a general idea of what it is like! An interesting experience to say the least!
When we arrived back at the apartment we had a nice rest, dinner, and began working on solving our paperwork problems, without much luck, I might add. A driver picked us up at the apartment and brought us out to the airport.
The children we chose to visit are in the Odessa region (not in Odessa city). When Kostya tried to get train tickets for us to Odessa, all the trains were full. Apparently, many Ukrainians try to get to Odessa region during the summer for holidays, in order to enjoy the Black Sea. Kostya asked us if we would be willing to fly to Odessa; he was concerned we might not, as he indicated many Americans don’t like to fly within Ukraine. We said “sure!”.
After a trip to a travel agency, we had tickets in hand to fly from Kiev to Odessa – a short 50-minute flight (about $50 each, one-way – but Kostya paid for this, as part of our all-inclusive package). We could hardly complain about a 50-minute flight, compared with a long, stuffy 10-hour train ride!
And so, Friday evening we were off to the airport to check in for our flight. We checked 3 bags, and carried on 2. Security at the airport was minimal at best – the bags went through x-ray machines, but the operator was over away from the monitoring screen talking to someone else! We received our boarding passes, and proceeded into a waiting room for our flight.
About 25 minutes before our flight was to leave, they announced general boarding for the flight (in English, Russian and Ukrainian) – no one moved. Five minutes later, they announced they were closing boarding for our flight. We moved, simply because we didn’t want to miss the flight, but we were the only ones. We proceeded to the exit door, but it was locked. We tried to sneak peeks at others’ boarding passes to see if this entire room of people was maybe waiting for another flight (they weren’t – they were all headed to Odessa like us). We figured the plane wouldn’t take off without all of us, so just decided to wait. Finally, about 15 minutes before our departure time (5 minutes after they indicated they were closing boarding time!), 3 employees came over to the door. One unlocked the door, while the others watched. We all loaded onto a large bus that brought us across the airstrip to our parked airplane.
And then came the largest surprise of the Flying-in-Ukraine experience. The plane we were to fly on was a converted Cold War bomber – complete with a glass-nosed front (for guiding the bombs, John informed me!). We were happy to find the interior of the plane had been pleasantly converted to a “traditional” passenger plane! I do have to say, although I was a little nervous about flying on a Ukrainian plane, hearing it was a converted military plane, I actually felt better. I rationalized that surely the construction details would have been closely guarded and perfected for a military plane, so we must be in good hands.
The Aerosvit Airlines flight into Odessa was a wonderful flight. It was smooth and actually quite enjoyable. I count that all because of your prayers – a few weeks ago I would have never imagined agreeing to, nonetheless enjoying, a Ukrainian flight! We were served cute little lunch boxes – complete with candies, cake, trail mix, juice box and a cup for coffee or tea that they served straight from the teakettle! (Coffee here is only instant – we have never seen brewed coffee.)
After landing in Odessa, we descended the steps and boarded another bus that took us to the entrance gates of the airport. We exited the gates and began looking for Vladimir, all the while wondering where and when we’d pick up our luggage. As we looked around, we noticed a large majority of people waiting inside the gated area, and assumed (correctly!) they were waiting for luggage. So, we simply walked back into the gated area, and waited along with them. After a short time, a small luggage truck pulled up to the gate, and we unloaded our bags directly from the truck. The entire process was very laid back and comfortable.
Considering Odessa is the second largest city in Ukraine, the airport was closer in size to Lewiston, Idaho. In fact, after everyone left the terminal area of the airport, they locked the gates and turned off the lights. Apparently, we were the last flight in or out that night! For those of you traveling to Ukraine to adopt in the near future, we would highly recommend flying if you wish for quick, reasonable and quite delightful travel.

A day at the NAC

Yesterday was the big day - our first real day of adoption business in Ukraine. Our train from Odessa arrived in Kiev at 8:32 AM and we met Kostya for the first time. He took us to the apartment, where we had the opportunity to shower and get ready for our appointment, which was scheduled for 11:30.

The NAC was a short walk from our appointment (short by Ukrainian standards, anyways - we walk everywhere, and a 20 minute walk is nothing!). We arrived about 10:45, just to be early, in case anyone didn't show, or they were running ahead of time.

We waited outside the actual office, on the wide stair landing. There were several chairs, and when we first arrived, there were two other couples also waiting. The one couple, Eric and Shannon, a lovely pair from Florida we met on the our Amsterdam-Kiev flight, was back to finalize their referral. Their appointment had been the morning before. However, the NAC workers couldn't get ahold of the orphanage director for the children they had chosen, so they had returned to get final information to make a decision about going to visit these children (which they did decide to do). The other couple was not from the US - if I had to guess I would say France, but I'm not sure. While we were waiting, another US couple and a couple from Spain arrived as well.

During the waiting time, Kostya kept going in and out of the office several times to check on the progress of appointments. At right about 11:25 we were invited inside, walked down the hallway to the meeting room of the NAC. We waited only long enough to look at the various pictures of children families had adopted in previous years and months.

We then were invited into the room. It was a large size room, with three desks. There was a NAC counselor sitting at each desk. We sat at the desk closest to the window, and as we sat down, the counselor asked if we minded having the AC turned on! Apparently, she told us, some Ukrainians don't care for AC, so she always asks! We were quite happy to have the AC on throughout the entire appointment.

Our counselor was a very nice young woman. I would guess that she was probably 25 years old and was extremely personable. She started out by mentioning that we were so young (looking!), and then asked if we were brother and sister. We made our introductions - we showed her our photo album (some of the key pages), listed some of the things we enjoy doing as a family, and then said we hoped to adopt a sibling group of 2-3 children. She asked about the ages of the children, and we explained that we were hoping to find a sibling group that would keep the age gap small between Lillia and Anabella.

After a few moments of thought, she told us we could start by looking at the sibling books (brought 2 over), the young child book (to see if any of them had siblings, but hadn't been switched to the sibling book). She also asked if we had two dossiers, and when she found out we did, she said we could start with siblings, but then also possibly look at two unrelated if we didn't find what we were looking for. She seemed to go out of her way to be helpful and kind and really assisted us in looking for children. She kept going between her desk and the cabinet of binders to pull out other pages. She also asked the other counselors if they had any thoughts on what group might fit our choices.

We were at the NAC looking at binders for two hours, and had to leave because it was past her lunch break. When at one point, we were feeling stressed about making a decision, she said "take your time, look". Only at the very end, when it was past her lunch break time, did we feel some sense of urgency. She did tell us however, that we could come back after she was back from lunch.

Looking through the binders of children was very difficult. We had a very broad range of children that we had in mind, so it was difficult to narrow down the sibling groups. There are many children that are within the 8-10 age range. Two groups of children we were initially interested in, were both vacationing in Spain for the summer, and wouldn't be back until September.

It was amazing to us how much our counselor knew about so many of the children. She would just see the picture, and know information about them right away. She also kept thinking of specific children that might fit our specifications, and would work to find them in the various binders.

We went to lunch with our pile narrowed down, but not a real sense of who to go visit. Lunch was a long affair, as our minds were burdened with a real decision. We really thought the children that God intends for our family would "jump out" at us, and the two groups that seemed to do that were in Spain! We were in a real quandry as to what to do, and I'm sure we were very bad company as we muddled through everything we had just experienced. We weren't very prepared (although I'm not sure how you could be) for the difficulty in choosing children from the binders. There are pages after pages, and the pictures begin blurring together. While you don't want to rashly make a decision, a decision must indeed be made.

As we left the NAC for lunch, we had two different sibling groups we had somewhat narrowed it down to. The counselors were going to call the orphanage directors to get more current information for us, when the returned from lunch. As we talked, however, another group that we had actually been told about first from Eric and Shannon, then from Eric and Shannon's faciltator, then from our counselor, then from another counselor, kept coming back to mind. This group was also from Odessa region, which we had discussed several months ago might be nice, as many of our Ukrainian friends are from Odessa. So, we made a decision as we returned to the NAC. Kostya went inside to tell the counselor, and the weight lifted immediately off our shoulders. It was all I could do not to cry, and once again, the smiles and joy returned when we felt our decision was right.

Today, however, Kostya got a phone call. There was a problem at the NAC with our paperwork. Our homestudy only approves us for a certain number of children, our the sibling group is one more than that. They will not give us permission to even visit the children until they have an amended homestudy and corrected BCIS (immigration) form. We waited until late this afternoon to call our social worker. She has been amenable and wonderful through the entire process, we thought surely it would be no problem...

Her answering machine said she was out of town until August 5th.

We called the director's office of the agency who wrote our homestudy. No answer.

So, now we are at a crossroads. We cannot visit the children until we have the update. Do we request another appointment and look through the binders, thinking that these children weren't intended for our family - after all, aren't all these problems a sign? Or, are these roadblocks simply a test for us, and we are stay strong and persevere? We have already, in some regards, become attached to these children. We have their names and birthdates in our book, and have talked about them so much already. Letting go of them even now seems difficult...

And, so, we close this journal entry requesting your prayers. Please pray that we overcome this paperwork hurdle quickly. Of, if these children are not the ones God intends for us to bring home, pray that God removes the love and attachment that are already forming for them.

Thank you! God bless!

With love, Kristen and John

Experiencing Odessa

What a fun day!  We spent the day at the local market, the Privoz, - you name it, we saw it!  We went to the fish market, meat market, cheese and milk market, vegetable and fruit market, and then of course the everything-else-market!  This large-scale farmer's market is open 7 days a week from early in the morning until late at night.

I had the opportunity to purchase a dress, watch, skirt and 2 shirts at the market.  Most of the time Vladimir was with me, helping with numbers and negotiating.  Buying the dress was quite the experience - there were all these little stalls, each manned by a different person.  When you find something you are interested in, you simply go to the back of the stall, they hang or hold a piece of clothing over the front of the stall, and you try on clothes.  They then hold the mirror for you to see yourself!  It was so much fun to see the spirit and "real life" of Odessa. 

Our friends had "warned" us about the market experience, saying it was loud, busy and just not a great place - John and I smiled throughout the whole experience, and couldn't get enough (except maybe seeing them skin a cow head on the table at the meat market!).

In just a few minutes we are off to the train station to board our overnight train to Kiev.  This will be our first time since landing in Kiev that we will be on our own in Ukraine.  Of course, it will only be for a short time, as our translator/facilitator Kostya will meet us at 8:30 AM when we arrive in Kiev.  Tomorrow morning after we arrive, we head to our appointment at the NAC.  Please pray that we will be shown our children that God has chosen for our family.  Pray also that we will clearly know which children He intends for us.  I am not sure when again we will be able to access the internet, but will as soon as possible!

Talk to you soon,  and perhaps, we will have news about our new, larger family!

John kicked out of church!

Enjoying a cruise on the Black Sea.

A Ukrainian flag flying off our ship.

And so we begin a new chapter in our short lives – that’s right, John getting kicked out of church!  Last night our friends took us to a local Russian Orthodox monastery.  We had to prepare ahead of time – no shorts, skirts below the knee, heads covered with scarves for the women…As we were looking around, the outskirts of the church were surrounded by monks dressed in long black robes, many with equally long beards.  The reverence and opulence of the area was something to see, although the worship itself seemed to be more of icons, monks and legalistic rules rather than Jesus, Himself.
 
As we were looking around, a monk came up quite hastily to John and yanked John’s hands out of his pockets.  He also quickly indicated John needed to turn around, as he disrespectfully had his backside to an icon.  Of course, as our friends pointed out, it was impossible to stand anywhere in that church, without having one’s back to some icon, as they were all over!  John turning around didn’t seem to satisfy this monk, so we were thrown out of the church and yelled at by him.  Vladimir informed the monk he shouldn’t be so rude and a few other choice remarks, including he would never be back to the church again.
 
A couple interesting points from this experience:

First of all, he thought John and I were Russian, and therefore became even more inflamed when John didn’t respond and speak to him.  He wouldn’t believe that we weren’t Russian – so I guess we don’t stand out too badly as Americans!
When our friends visited our local Christian Life Center church in Moscow (Assembly of God denomination), they were shocked at the joy, laughter, smiles, fellowshipping and relaxed attitudes of all the worshippers and pastors.  They told us that something like that would never happen in their churches at home.  Now we see the difference!  Instead of enjoying the freedom found in Christ, they are sadly stuck in rules, formality and somberness.  While the Orthodox sense of awe and fear of God might indeed part of healthy worship, they seem to miss the joy and happiness as well.
This experience was the first time I have ever really felt afraid in a church – my heart was pounding and I was quite nervous over the entire situation.  It is too bad that so many people equate this type of strict rules and authoritative power with church and God.  While local missionaries may struggle initially by not having the gold-laden opulence found in orthodoxy, the simple joy found in Christ must indeed have its own power.  Our hosts, having experienced true worship longed to be a part of that, and kept asking and wondering “why” the rules, formality and somberness were required.
Coincidence or not, I’m not sure; but this event happened just when I was praying for the monks, the church, the worshippers and the Orthodox denomination that the true Spirit of God would fill the place.  So, pray along with us for the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches that the Truth will be known, celebrated and worshipped. 
 
After our church experience, we enjoyed ice cream in an outdoor café – complete with live music and dancing.  Our hosts hardly seemed impressed by the local folk music, although we enjoyed the experience!
 
We spent today touring around the historical downtown Odessa.  We were able to visit the insides of two palaces.  The first, now basically abandoned but for children’s activities and occasional performances, belonged to the Governor of Odessa.  One room was of most interest – the oval room.  This was the office of the Governor, and where citizens wanting to travel to other countries must come visit and gain permission.  Apparently, and now we want to check our history books at home, the White House oval office was modeled after the Odessa oval office.  Having seen the Odessa one, and numerous pictures of the US one – they are indeed identical.  And, with the Odessa oval office built in the 1700s, the timing certainly seems to be correct!
 
We have felt so fortunate that be able to see so many beautiful places.  Both palaces that we were toured through were done so by women that appeared to be “door guards”.  When we first entered, we were quite closely scrutinized and observed.  For whatever reason, the four of us gained their favor and were given the full tour throughout the place, including being allowed to sit on various pieces of furniture and to take pictures.  At the governor’s palace, the woman actually locked the front door, disallowing any other visitors to come in, while she showed us around.  Relationships are indeed quite important here.
 
While we were out, we stopped by one of numerous McDonalds around Odessa and had a Coke.  One of Vladimir’s university students was working there, and thus prompted an interesting discussion.  Apparently, university students receive a stipend every month of 45 Grivnyas – approximately $8 (the current exchange rate we saw today was 5.2 Grivnyas equals $1).  Because this isn’t enough to live, most students are required to get a job, and working at McDonalds is one of the best you can get.  Apparently, it is quite competitive to be hired at McDonalds, and the pay is excellent, by Ukrainian standards.  Employees must work 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, and earn upwards of 500 Grivnyas a month.  Vladimir shared with us that this salary is even higher than associate professors earn at a university!
 
It has been so interesting to hear our Ukrainian friends explain things, as their history affects so much.  So many things are described as “before revolution” or “after revolution”, or “in Soviet times”.  In Kiev, for example, the Metro was built 100m underground (that is quite the escalator down!).  It was built by Soviets to be safe from nuclear war.  Street names have been changed, monuments taken down, put back up, destroyed.  Churches have been destroyed and are now under reconstruction.  History is alive and meaningful in Ukraine – without understanding it, you lose perspective and meaning of so much you see here. 
  
 Back again for a quick update....we just came back from touring the beautiful seaport of Odessa.  We took a boat cruise around the port for about an hour.  It was indeed beautiful, and if we can upload a picture, you might also be able to see!  We sadly didn't see any dolphins, but are told that they are quite a common sight at times.

Greetings from Odessa

I am writing today from Odessa. We are out our friend's apartment in Odessa and already I am worrying about forgetting some details of our time here. I'll try to get the highlights and my thoughts noted here before I forget anymore.
Sunday morning we said a tearful goodbye to my wonderful host family in Amsterdam. Although the time with them was short, it was still a special time to renew friendships and build memories. We strongly encouraged them it was their turn to come visit, so perhaps in the next years we will soon be able to welcome them to our home.
Checking in for our flight to Kiev we were told they didn't have any more seats for us, but that was their problem, not ours. Turns out, we got placed into business class, and what an experience that was! There were 2 1/2 rows of business class seats in the plane, and thank goodness we were sitting in the last row! It gave us the chance to watch and figure out exactly what and how we were supposed to do things. Having never flown in first/business class, it was a definite eye-opening experience! I remember when we were younger, my sister and I would often joke about the airline staff closing the curtain between economy and first class - that somehow the first class passengers didn't want to be seen. Well, we found out the real reason for the curtain on our flight! We figured if the economy class saw what all we got as far as service and food, there would be a serious mutiny on the plane. While the people at the back of the plane (where we should have been) got pretzels and drinks, we were served a meal that you would expect to receive at the nicest 4-star restaurant - complete with china, real silverware, and even warm washcloths before the meal.
Arriving in Kiev was an emotional experience. As the plane came under the cloud cover, and we could see the landscape, I was overcome with emotion and joy. Here was the land that our future children will come from. What a beautiful, green area it seemed to be. I fought back tears as we landed, for the first time, in the country we will forever be linked to.
Immigration control and customs went so smoothly. Before we landed, the airline staff passed out immigration control cards - they have almost identical blue and yellow sections to be filled out with name, birthdate, citizenship, passport number, visa number and type, flight number and our signature. The top blue section was for arrival information, and the bottom yellow half was departure information. We simply filled out both sections and had those in hand as we departed the plane. Proceeding to passport control, we had to walk up some stairs. There was no other way to go, so getting lost was basically impossible (since we got off as one of the first, we didn't even have a large crowd to follow, but it was still very easy). We then stood in line for passport control, proceeding one at a time to a little booth. You give your passport and the completed immigration control card to the worker. It appeared they were entering the information into computers from each card. The lady who processed my card asked me a question (in English) that I couldn't hear - something about Kiev. I sort of nodded, and she was satisfied, returned my passport and immigration control card (with top blue section torn off, leaving the yellow-departure section), and waved me through. It took perhaps 2 minutes, and the majority of the time was spent with her entering my information. John proceeded just as quickly through as well.
After walking through passport control, you enter the baggage claim area. There are computer monitors in the passport control area that list each flight that has recently arrived, and which carousel your bags arrive on. The monitors switch between English and Ukrainian, and therefore it is quite simple to find which carousel your bags are on. Also in the baggage claim area are little kiosks with customs declaration forms. These are 8 1/2 by 11 pieces of paper - with one side to be filled out, and the second side with simple instructions. There were forms in English, German, Ukrainian and French. While the first kiosk didn't have any more English forms, walking further down the baggage claim area, I found additional English ones without a problem.
We filled out the customs forms - they were very simple. By the mere fact that we had over $1000 cash with us, we were directed towards the red lanes. On the forms, you designate how much exactly you have in each currency with you. Since our cash was divided between John and myself in our money belts, and I didn't know how much each of us had individually, John took off his money belt and gave it to me. That way, I completed my customs form listing all of our money, and John actually had nothing to declare and could have gone through the green lane. We picked up our luggage and went towards the exit. There is a small baggage x-ray machine you put everything on, pick it up on the other end, and then wait for a customs officer that is open. While John should have gone through the green lane, he had suitcases that they directed him to put on the x-ray machine, so ended up in the red lanes. I went up to the desk, gave the man my passport, immigration control card and customs declaration. He looked it over and asked me if I had any gifts with me. I answered yes, and told him I had some gifts that were worth maybe $50. He smiled, wrote something down, gave me back everything and I was free to go. John was right behind me, and he must have known that we were together because he simply waved John through - didn't even look at his form! It was so simple! And, this was with bringing in two huge suitcases of donations that we had picked up from garage sales, clearance sales and donations from our local hospital.
Interestingly enough, as we came up the stairs from the plane, before entering the immigration/passport control area, there were several people standing with signs of people's names. We assumed they were the ones who had elected to use the VIP service. As we were leaving the customs area, the people who had chosen the VIP service were still waiting. The total area of customs and baggage claim was very small - even smaller than the Spokane, Washington airport - hardly the size you would expect from a main airport of a country.
Leaving the customs area, there was hardly a walking path to get through, as there were throngs of people waiting! We quickly spotted our friend Vladimir, and next to him, our driver, Alexander (Sasha) with a "Marble" sign in hand. Kostya had set up a driver to transfer us from the airport to the train station, even though we wouldn't meet up with him until before our NAC appointment on the 22nd. Once we were past the waiting crowds we quickly and easy walked out of the airport and to our waiting van. We knew it had to be a good sign when the van that had been arranged for us, was the type we were looking at and admiring in Amsterdam - we thought it will be a perfect new vehicle for our growing family!
The only problem we "realized" as we were leaving the airport was when John gave me his passport back (I have been the keeper of the documents). He had thrown away his immigration control card (with the yellow part that must be surrendered when we depart) - he had thought it was garbage. But, he had thrown it away in the customs area, and we couldn't get back in, so have to simply hope we won't need it too much to leave! John just figures he might have to stay here for longer.
The drive into Kiev took about 30-40 minutes. We passed some beautiful buildings, over a nice bridge and saw some of the sights. Our driver had a friend with him and she explained various places to us in excellent English. As we arrived at the train station, we arranged with Sasha to have him keep our two large donation suitcases, as we wouldn't need them in Odessa. Vladimir did all the talking and arranging with him in Russian, so we are hoping there is no problem and we see our suitcases again Thursday morning! Vladimir, John and I went into the train station, and dropped of our extra luggage at a baggage holding area. Vladimir suggested that we not leave our valuables at the baggage area, but rather take them with us.
With only a camera and backpack with us, we then took off to see the sights. We took the metro to downtown and walked along Kreshzatik Street - a very wide main street that was completely closed to traffic, as it is every Sunday. The mass of people everywhere was incredible. There was live music, people with animals, people selling wares along the sidewalk, people walking, running, playing, strolling, laughing, sitting, watching...After looking at Independence Square, we walked up the hill on the right bank of the Dnieper River to a beautiful park. A wedding party was there taking pictures. The view of the city was breathtaking. While there was much more to see, we had an invitation for dinner at 6 PM, and so we were once again off to the metro station.
Our dinner invitation was from Chad and Mandy Smith - missionaries in Ukraine from the US. They lived on the left bank of the river, and the metro took us within a 15-minute walk of their apartment. The Smith family is cousins of our friends Sam and Jen Hoogsteen, and we were graciously welcomed into their home. They had 25 month old twins, and seeing them made me miss our little ones at home a little, but thinking about the strenous trip thus far, didn't at all question our decision to leave them home with the grandparents! We had a pleasant time and delicious dinner with them and finally left at 9:30. It was interesting to hear of their work in Ukraine, including working at the first orphanage managed by a church. Many of the children at that orphange are not available for adoption, as they are street-kids, run-aways; what an outreach and mission it is though! At 42 beds, they are completely full, and praying for possible expansion. Even though they cannot house any more students, they still actively go into the streets to spend time with, and feed, these children. Chad shared with us how much of a problem there is with street children in Ukraine, or at least, in Kiev.
As we returned from the Smith's, the metro was packed. There was hardly an extra inch of standing room! Arriving back at the railway station, we picked up our bags, and boarded the overnight train to Odessa. In a 4-person sleeping compartment, we took up 3 of those beds. The 4th bed was taken by a woman in her 50's. She was quite gracious, and kept trying to communicate with me in Russian. Sadly, I never did really understand her, even with her repeating the same words over again! She "actively" shared her bag of cherries with me (they were quite tart - perhaps pie cherries). As I finished (or not even quite) chewing one cherry, she pointed at the bag and told me to take another. If I wasn't eating them fast enough, she took to giving them directly to me!
The train was somewhat noisy, rocked and rolled, but we did fall asleep and slept quite well. In fact, I didn't wake up until 9 AM, just about 50 minutes short of arriving in Odessa. Each sleeping bed was provided with a blanket, pillow and mattress pad. As the train employee came around after departing, he collected the tickets and money for sheets. Shortly thereafter, he delivered our sheet set to us - complete in sealed plastic bag. In the bag was a pillow case, two flat sheets (one to cover the mattress pad, one for putting over us), and a washcloth. The toilet was right next to our compartment, and while it wouldn't rate at the Sheraton, it wasn't too far different from many bathrooms we use when we are camping in the US. If perhaps there are those that have never stayed in anything but 4-star hotels, then perhaps it would be a shock to your system. We would suggest a quick camping trip to a state or federal campground to prepare yourself. Certainly the pit toilets of those campgrounds are far worse than this toilet!
And so now, we are in Odessa. After arriving at the train station, we took a small bus to the stop nearest our friends apartment. We have had a quiet day, resting, getting settled, showering, and now it is about dinner time. Our friends are preparing a delicious dinner for us, and we just met Vladimir's mother-in-law, who lives in the same building, just one floor below us. After dinner, we will be heading to the Black Sea - a short 15 minute walk from Vladimir's apartment.
Landing at Kiev has not been the only emotional time throughout our first days in Ukraine. Various sights will bring on the tears and emotion of what we are here for. For as many people as we have seen, there have not been a lot of children. But, there certainly have been some. They are always well-dressed, often with bows in their hair and dressed in fancy dresses, or sporty and cute boy's clothes.
If you are still with us through this very long post, we ask for your prayers for us over the next several days. Our appointment at the NAC is coming up, and also think of Eric and Shannon, a wonderful couple from Florida we met on the flight from Amsterdam. Their appointment is Wednesday the 21st. They too, are hoping for siblings. They don't have any children themselves, so pray for them as they head to the NAC. Our time difference between here and Moscow (Pacific time) is only 10 hours. It used to be 11, and so it seems that when we "sprung forward" for daylight savings, they didn't. So, we will be at the NAC on Thursday around 9 AM. Please pray for us from around 7 PM until 11 PM Pacific time Wednesday night!
Signing off for now from Odessa! Dinner is over, and we off to the Black Sea!