Today was a lazy day. We would not have our appointment until the afternoon, so we did not have much on the agenda. We wanted to try to find a grocery store and get some food and water. We knew there was also another American couple around and hoped to try to meet them for lunch. So we took our time getting ready for the day. Glad for a real stand up shower with a shower curtain. We tried to connect with the other couple, but did not have any luck. They were to call us when they finished their appointment around 10:30am. We decided we would walk down by the SDA to see if anyone was around. No luck. We did not want to eat if we were to have lunch with them, so we just wasted time walking around. We finally called Nastia and she said that she had given them our number, but she would be back at the SDA for another appointment at noon. So we decided to go back again to meet her. When we got there we met another American couple who was just going in for their appointment. Nastia tried to call the other couple, but they did not answer. We waited until the other couple was finished and made plans with them instead. Craig and Jolie were from Louisiana and had the accent to prove it. They were a delightful couple who were adding a boy from Lutigino and would be meeting up with the Yoders on Wednesday. We were glad for both the Yoders and the new family. The Yoders had arrived to find their boys gone, so they had to just sit around and wait a week for their boys to come back and give an answer. We have been praying for them and hope that all goes well in the next couple days.
We drove back to the new couple's apartment for them to change and in the meantime, Nastia showed Darren and I a cafeteria style restaurant near Independence Square where we could all have lunch. We went back outside to meet the other couple and Nastia was off to get paperwork for us at the US Embassy. We had a nice lunch with Craig and Jolie. We strolled through Independence Square and took some photos. Then they walked back with us toward our apartment because we are staying close to the Saint Sofia cathedral and they wanted to check it out. They continued on and we went back to our room to get a shopping bag for some groceries. Nastia had pointed out a small store just down the street from our apartment.
We got some bread and yogurt and water, Darren also decided to give the Crab flavored Lays chips a try. After we put the stuff in the apartment we meandered back towards the SDA for our 4pm appointment.
Nastia met us there and we waited and waited. Finally around 4:40pm they called us in. At first I got the impression that they could not find Yarik's paperwork, but after she was in and out of the room a few times, she finally brought a small file. There was not much information about Yarik. Good health, average student, etc. Did we want to look at another child? Duh, NO!
So that was it, now we signed the log book again and they would get our paperwork together to be picked up the next day.
By this time, I was getting a pretty bad headache and just wanted to go back to the apartment and lay down. We walked back and took a brief detour at the Saint Micheal's Cathedral. I had been in to see it during the interview trip, but Darren had not gone with me last time. When we went in, they were in the middle of some type of service. We could hear the monks chanting and smell the incense. We went back outside to take a few pictures and then back to the apartment. I was glad for a short rest to try to get rid of my headache. Darren caught up on paperwork and computer stuff.
After my rest, I did some computer stuff and we snacked a little. Then we watched the beginning of Casablanca and fell asleep.
Tuesday- all we had to do today was check out of our apartment and pick up our referral paperwork. We finally touched base with the Sems and tried to make a lunch date with them. We got our things organized and walked our suitcases over to the Saint Sofia cathedral where we hoped to meet up with them. As we were waiting, we called to check on their progress. They had a setback and could not get away yet. We found out that they were closer to the SDA, so we walked our suitcases to the pizza place by the SDA, hoping they might be able to meet us there. We took our time having lunch, but they never were able to meet us. It did happen that we ended up having a group of Americans come in just before we finished eating. We exchanged stories of why we were in Kiev. They had some work at the Embassy and were only there a few days. They wished us luck and we went out to wait for Alexey who was to meet us to get the paperwork and get us to the train. We walked out the door, and there was Alexey, parked and waiting. He had come early for something else and had to wait anyway. It was nice to be able to stow our bags in his car and then do a little browsing at the street vendors' booths. It was not long until it was time to go back to the SDA and met Alexey to pick up the paperwork. Once again we signed the log book and made our way to the train station to take the train back to Sumy. This time we did not have to drive so crazy to make the train.
The ride on the train, however, was much more interesting than last time. The first time we had paid for 4 places, so we could have a whole cabin to ourselves. Since we did not have so much luggage, we only got 2 seats this time. So we ended up have another lady in our cabin. She was part of a group of train association professionals who had just been in a conference in Kiev. For the next hour or so, different people joined us and we tried to make conversation about why were were here, the boys we were adopting, our family and their families. They gave us a Ukrainian calendar and helped us to pronounce the months. It was a fun interaction. They bought me some tea. Darren declined, but then later they convinced him to go to another cabin to have some appetizers and a shot of Vodka. I declined the invitation and stayed with our stuff. Two of the ladies stayed with me and I showed them the small photo album I had made with photos from our Christmas hosting.
In the other car, the people were trying to understand why we would adopt older kids, and Darren got the impression that one lady was very sad that we were taking away two Ukrainian children from their homeland. It is a difficult thing, knowing that the people have great pride in their country and the children, but also knowing the future for the orphans is so grim. We wish we could make them understand our reasons better. Darren did try to affirm that he would teach them Ukrainian history and help them to be proud to be Ukrainian.
It really helped the time pass and after they got off the train it was not much longer for our stop in Sumy. Once again, Ksenia met us with a taxi to take us back to the hotel. We got some food and soon got to sleep.
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