When we arrived at the embassy/consulate, we repeated the same process as we had the day before. Having gone through security, being in the same room with our US flag seemed to lose some of the glamour it had the day before. We were here on serious business, with a pit in my stomach, offering the 10 zillionth silent prayer on our behalf. The lady at the window asked us what time our appointment was scheduled. I told her we had no appointment, but that yesterday the officer told us to just come back tomorrow. She told us that it is customary for appointments to be scheduled and that they are usually scheduled by the officers after 2:00 p.m. She took our passports and told us to have a seat. As I sat down, the pit in my stomach grew a bit larger. I thought of the expense we may have to incur at changing our plane reservations one more time, guestimating the dollar amount of spending an additional five days in Kiev, and offered my 10 zillionth and one silent prayer. After about 45 minutes, Cheryl went back up to the counter and range the little buzzer. The lady came back to the window and Cheryl asked politely what the status of our situation was. She told us to continue waiting. About five minutes later, the nice American we spoke with yesterday came to the counter and told us to go to the back, of the room, where about four private petitioned interview cubicles were situated. He began reviewing our file, signing off papers, stamping forms as he had obviously done hundreds of times previously. After his interview and another brief wait, he told us the only thing we needed was Nadia’s criminal clearance from Ukraine. I told him it was on the way and we should have it back to him by 3:00 p.m. He just said, “no problem.” As I walked out of the embassy, I knew we would have our visas by the end of the day.
Cheryl, myself and our new children walked up the hill from the embassy where Vladimir and Natalie were waiting for us. We were all very excited and happy. Not only were we most likely going home early, but I’m sure both Natalie and Vladimir (who work on a fixed-fee amount per family, and not a per-diem income amount, were happy their work would soon be completed for another family going through the adoption process. To celebrate, we went to a place called The Potato House, where Cheryl and I had fajitas, Ukrainian style. The table tents in the restaurant give an 8 step fully illustrated instructions on how one prepares a fajita: (1) spread your ‘spicy’ (flavorful, but NOT spicy) sour cream on your tortilla, (2) sprinkle your chopped parsley (instead of lettuce) over your tortilla, (3) spread your ‘spicy’ grated carrots over the chopped parsley, (3) and (4), spread your tomatoes and bell peppers on the tortilla. The right side of the table tent included a 4-step illustration of how to fold and roll the tortilla prior to eating. All and all it was quite tasty and frankly one of the more enjoyable meals I had in Ukraine.
Lunch At The Potato House, Kiev, Ukraine
Calvin At The Potato House, Kiev, Ukraine
Lunch At The Potato House
After lunch, Vladimir dropped Roman and Natalie off down town to do some shopping while Nadia, Vladimir and I went to an exit somewhere between the center of Kiev and its outskirts to meet Valentine to pick up our certificate. After paying for our currier service, we rushed back across to the other side of Kiev to have Tatiana, Vladimir’s certified English translator, attach a certified translation of the certificate we just picked up. We then rushed back to the center of town to the embassy to drop off the certificate and certified translation.
Crossing One Of The Three Bridges Over The Dnepro River, Kiev, Ukraine
A Sample Of The Huge Amount Of Building in Kiev, Ukraine
We arrived at the embassy between 3:00 – 3:15 pm. After going through security and back to the adoptions/visa area, I rang the buzzer at the window and gave the worker the background check on Nadia. While waiting, I was able to chat with a couple other families adopting children, until they were called up to the counter where they received their visas. Finally, I was called up and given the visas for both Roman and Nadia. I was also given a large 9” X 13” sealed envelope for each of the children. I was given specific instructions not to open the envelope. I noticed the envelope was stamped and taped over the seal, so that any tampering with the envelope would be obvious to the custom officials in the U.S. We were instructed to present these envelopes to the INS/Custom officials at the airport where we would be entering the United States. After I received the childrens’ passports with visas, and the stamped envelopes, I walked down the hall and noticed that it was about 10 minutes to four. I thought of all the times I would show up between 11:30 p.m. - 11:45 p.m. on the evening of April 15th to drop my tax return, or extension to file a tax return, to the US post office. I thought of the times when I’d have to file financial reports for work with just days to hours to spare before the filing deadline. I thought it was very characteristic that I had an hour and 10 minutes to spare, prior to the embassy closing for the Thanksgiving holiday. I was finally walking out, under the deadline, with what I needed to get my family back into the United States of America.
Billboards - Capitalism Alive And Well in Kiev, Ukraine
Billboards - Capitalism Alive And Well in Kiev, Ukraine
The balance of the evening was spent doing some last minute shopping, eating, and packing. We were able to get to bed by about midnight. We set our alarm for 4:15 a.m. to get ready. Vladimir was going to be at our apartment at 5:15 a.m. to take us to the airport.
Roman and Nadia, Displaying Some Ukrainian Clothing
Calvin And Cheryl - Tired And Ready To Go Home
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