Tuesday October 30, 2007

Outside the State Adoption Agency (SDA), Kiev


At the food court, downtown Kiev mall


CALVIN'S POST
On Tuesday, (Tuesday October 30, 2007) we met with the SDA (State Adoption Agency) at about 12:00 noon. Two very nice ladies spoke with us about Roman and Nadia. They indicated the children had been in the orphanage since 1997 (Roman was 3 yrs. old and Nadia 6 yrs. old). They also indicated that their father was blind. This made me very sad inside to hear about their father. They also indicated that Roman’s older brother, Serge (pronounced Ser'-gay), had been sentenced to two years in prison and had been serving since 2005. (Apparently, he is serving an additional 18 months for a crime he was associated with.) The ladies pretty much wanted to confirm we wanted to adopt them both. I guess this meeting was just to confirm this fact so we could proceed with the adoption process. The whole meeting lasted perhaps 10 minutes.

After our meeting with the SDA, we walked around Kiev for a little bit. We stopped at a lovely orthodox church – older than dirt – which had an interesting chapel inside. There was an ornately decorated facade behind which only the priest was allowed to venture as it was considered a holy place behind the facade. After visiting the church, we stopped at a couple street vendors and purchased a couple items. We then enjoyed looking at some art for sale by some local artists. By the time we had spent a good hour to hour and one-half with the street vendors, we were freezing. We went inside a mall in downtown Kiev to find some lunch. The mall was like something out of the US – very modern, except the people seemed to be more orderly and quieter – unlike the loud malls and teenagers in the US. Even the youth seemed quite well behaved. Most of the styles are dark and black – not the trashy gothic you see in the US worn by the punks – but a much classier European look. We ended up eating at a little food court where we ordered soup and deli salads.

After lunch, we walked through the underground subway tunnels to catch a train home. Public transportation is extremely cheap, costing only 50 kopecket ($.10) (100 kopecket = 1 Ugr) for a ride any distance. We traveled home about 3:30 – 4:00 pm when it wasn’t too busy. However, if that was not busy, I’d hate to see the place when it was busy. I’ve never seen such a press of people in a subway! Not even New York or Washington DC. There public infrastructure is used to capacity! With gas at 4.75 Ukr ($.95) per liter (abt $4.20/gallon), it seems amazing people drive cars at all.

CHERYL'S POST
Well, we made it! It’s about 6:00am on Tuesday Oct 30th. Tomorrow is Halloween in America. I hope Camille remembers to help Christian with his Halloween costume. It’s still quite dark here. I am sitting in the dark kitchen trying not to disturb anybody, eating cheese and bread. The cheese is really quite good. I slept about 7 hours last night, which I think is quite good. Hopefully my system adjusts quickly to the 8-9 hour difference.

I couldn’t believe how swollen my feet were from sitting on the plane for all of those hours. I spent quite a bit of time with my legs propped up against the wall trying to get everything back where it should be. I slept very little on the plane trip.

We got to Ukraine yesterday afternoon and met Nataly and Vladmir our facilitators, at the airport. They were waiting for us right at the entrance looking quite a little bit anxious. We spent quite a while in a long line, while they checked our passport, and then another 30-40 minutes getting our luggage. Everything arrived in good condition, for which I am grateful.

So far I have been pleasantly surprised with most everything. The weather is still quite mild and coolish, the apartment is small but clean and decorated nicely. There are lots of trees, and a pretty river which runs through the city. The road leading from the airport was quite nice. (I hear that isn’t the case everywhere).
When we arrived at the apartment, we took a rather frightening elevator up, in a rather frightening looking entry way. There was the landlady’s young son watching television and waiting for us, so we could pay him for the apartment.

Last night we sat up for a few hours talking with Nataly about many things. She is very darling and her English is excellent. She is staying with us right now. I am grateful, because she managed to talk my husband out of venturing out by himself after dark. We discussed the adoption with her and perestroika and culture etc. with her.

Before Vladimir left last night, I gave him some arthritis medication. He has rheumatoid arthritis, it sounds like. I gave him some ranitidine for his stomach which bothers him, and some Tylenol arthritis, and some Ibuprofen and some Glucosamine Chondroiten. I hope it helps him some.

Today I will shower in a few minutes and head out with the two of them to go to the Ukrainian Adoption Center, to be interviewed by the judge, I think. I still am not sure about the schedule of things.

We were able to learn a little more about Nadia yesterday. She is living at the school learning, I believe to be a chef or cook, along with other subjects. I hope she is able to adjust all right to living with a Mom and Dad and rules after being out on her own for almost a year. Vladimir says that Roman and she are anxious to meet us, as we are to meet them. It should be quite exciting! We will have to wait another day or so before we make it over to Sumy.

I guess it’s about 10:30 Monday night the 29th back home. I hope my boys are in bed soundly sleeping. Christian manages to get sick about every Halloween, so if he can get his sleep I think he’ll be all right.