I realized today that we haven't said anything about the gifts we brought for the children and how they went over. Let's just say that all the gifts we packed were not intended to be for twelve-year old girls.
So, for our very first visit we took puppy coloring books and crayons for the boys. Dima colored like a champ - very carefully coloring the entire picture and staying inside the lines. He has definitely had coloring experience. Vitali, in three year old fashion, colored some scribbles on every page. We gave Oksana a bath set that Rachel had picked up as a gift at some PSS function and one of the puppy coloring books. All seemed to go over well.
For the next several visits we took balloons. We had bought probably a hundred balloons at Party City and on the advice of Phil and Robin Hammond this little gadget to blow up the balloons. Boy, I cannot tell you what a hit both of those have been. We have already gone through one entire pack of balloons. The thing is once a balloon is blown up they just want to blow up another. There is not that much playing with the balloons as there is blowing up one balloon after another. The balloon blower upper is maybe the biggest hit (thanks Phil and Robin for that great tip), the boys love to just blow up the balloons. Dima has gotten pretty creative with his balloons - tying them together and wrapping them around each other to make these great ballooon globs. Vitali just wants whatever Dima has.
The bubbles have also been great fun. Dima catches on pretty quickly and will copy anything you do. Vitali mostly just spills bubble juice everywhere and wants whatever Dima has. You are probably noticing that I have not mentioned Oksana very much. She has pretty much abstained from the balloon and bubble blowing. While the boys play we try to ask her some questions and see what kind of information we can get out of her.
On the second visit we also took the stuffed animal puppies (su-ba-ka) that Aunt Puddin had given us (thankfully we have three of everything - just in case) and they were a great hit. The next day when we visited Oksana had hers sitting on her bed.
We have also given Oksana to - keep with her - the photo book I made with the family pictures. We have shown it to everyone, even the orphange Director and everyone is appropriately impressed with the family. Most are overwhelmed by the sheer size of us because most families here have only one or two children. All my translations were correct except apparently the word I have for Murphy means potato. Who knew - I just used what the computer gave me. (As an aside - for a country that eats more potatoes than anything else they do not eat sweet potatoes. Ramon (our facilitator) has said you could start a business here selling them. So for any budding entrepreneurs out there the Ukraine is ripe for a new type of potato!)
We did not include any pictures of the inside of our house in the album and Ramon has asked us to try and get some. So Rachel and Tadd have gone by the house to take some inside photos. Rach is sending them to us even as I type and Tadd played with the puppies even in the pouring rain (earning some brother-in-law points). Joe's work e-mail filtered them out as spam so she is having to use a different account and send them one at a time. This is making up for some of that time I had to go and register with her at Babies R Us and there were 450 different kinds of bottles and nipples. It took us an hour just to get over to the bath product row. Anyhow, the book doesn't have these pictures because I thought my audience would be younger. Ramon thinks they will help Oksana identify more with that being her new house. We hope so.
Back to the presents. The absolute best presents so far have been the blankets that mom made - 3 boy and 3 girl. We had Ramon explain that mom makes a blanket for all the grandchildren and they get to choose the one they want. Oksana chose the one with the bears on it, Dima the one with the cowboys and Vitali the one with the alphabet letters. The others we will donate to the orphanage before we leave.
What we wish we had brought with us is a picture book of North Carolina. Even if our intended audience is too young it would have been nice to show the adults and leave as a gift for someone.
All in all the gifts have been pretty good. This weekend in Kiev we got a journal book for Oksana and some earrings because we felt she had not had too many age appropriate gifts. We also got the boys a toy car and Joe impulse bought more bubble blowers - this one blows about a hundred bubbles at a time instead of 5-10.
We leave at 7:45 in the morning to head back to town and hopefully get the paperwork going. Ramon told us this afternoon that he has appointments with the Inspector and the Director and that all of us are going to meet with the Judge. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Just a reminder that we are back in the internet free zone so we will try to give Rachel as many details as we can.
Random Observations:
- you have to pay for grocery bags - we like this idea
- they have grocery carts that drive sideways - really fun to play with
- a lot of potatoes are consumed here
- when there are no lines on the road you get to drive anywhere you like - this is actually more fun in the country where there are not a million other cars doing the same thing - although this does increase the level of difficulty - if you are getting points like in gymnastics or diving!
- taxis basically get to make up their own prices as none of them have meters in their cars
- where there are no parking lots you get to park and drive on the sidewalk - the guidebook said keep your eyes open and they were not wrong!
- we have about seen a million accidents but surprisingly only one actual accident
- stillettos are everyday wear
- PDA is rampant
Thanks for all of the support - it really makes a difference!
Tonya & Joe
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Dinner with Steve and Shirley
We met Steve and Shirley last night at TGIFriday for dinner. We felt like we already knew them from the many e-mails we had sent each other and through information from Wendy (their new BFF). The food was American and so was the conversation and three hours flew by. It was so nice to talk to someone who has/is had/having our same experiences. At one point we tried to talk about something other that what is going on but very quickly the conversation turned back to our Ukraine experiences. There is a little community of folks here who have connected on the steps of the SDA or while waiting in line. Steve and Shriley have the bonus of having internet access at their apartment and have been keeping up with several of these other folks. Here is the link to Steve and Shirley's blog http://zimnesfamily.blogspot.com/ so those interested can keep up with them as well. It is always good to meet nice folks, it is just a shame they live in Ohio! We posted a picture of the four of us below (notice the TGIFriday sign in cyrillic behind us).
We were "celebrating", not sure that is the word I want to use, day 21 here and Steve and Shirley day 28. We have two more days in Kiev before heading back to no-name city and Rachel will take over our posting duties again. Our main goal is to eat as much as we can. We are going to make a grocery store run either today or tomorrow to stock up on some goodies before heading out.
We are hopeful that some paperwork will begin in earnest on Tuesday. The orphanage has ten days to do their part, then all that comes back to Kiev to the SDA for five more days, then back to no-name for a court hearing and then another ten-day waiting period for the adoption to become "official." Then the fun is just beginning as we have to bring the children to Kiev and they all have to have medical checkups, then a trip to the SDA and then a trip home. Still feels like forever away and I have been ready for my bed for two weeks already. Not to mention food that we recognize. As Shirley said last night sometimes it sems like our time here has flown by and sometimes it feels like it creeps. When I type in what still has to be done it feels like creeping.
Just an FYI to everyone - Daylight Saving's Time kicked in here in the Ukraine last night so we are back to seven hours ahead of you guys.
So excited to hear about our Tar Heels and very bummed that we are missing the tournament and NASCAR races.
Love to all -
Tonya & Joe
We were "celebrating", not sure that is the word I want to use, day 21 here and Steve and Shirley day 28. We have two more days in Kiev before heading back to no-name city and Rachel will take over our posting duties again. Our main goal is to eat as much as we can. We are going to make a grocery store run either today or tomorrow to stock up on some goodies before heading out.
We are hopeful that some paperwork will begin in earnest on Tuesday. The orphanage has ten days to do their part, then all that comes back to Kiev to the SDA for five more days, then back to no-name for a court hearing and then another ten-day waiting period for the adoption to become "official." Then the fun is just beginning as we have to bring the children to Kiev and they all have to have medical checkups, then a trip to the SDA and then a trip home. Still feels like forever away and I have been ready for my bed for two weeks already. Not to mention food that we recognize. As Shirley said last night sometimes it sems like our time here has flown by and sometimes it feels like it creeps. When I type in what still has to be done it feels like creeping.
Just an FYI to everyone - Daylight Saving's Time kicked in here in the Ukraine last night so we are back to seven hours ahead of you guys.
So excited to hear about our Tar Heels and very bummed that we are missing the tournament and NASCAR races.
Love to all -
Tonya & Joe
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Back In Kiev !
Our trip back to Kiev was pretty quick. "Silent Ray-Ban Guy" drives a lot faster than Nikolai. We were dropped off about 1:15, and were ordering Big Macs by 1:30. We had pizza for dinner. After our first two American meals in a week we were feeling pretty good.
The hotel where we are staying in our no name town actually has a pretty good restaurant, with an American menu. The trouble is that even written in English most of the food is not what we want to eat. We have found a few dishes that we seem to eat over and over. I like this slaw they have which is basically shredded cabbage tossed with lemon and orange juice. They also make something they call a slapjack (which I anticipated being a pancake), but is actually fried mashed potatoes served with sour cream - yummy. They make fried patatoes with onions just like dad - also yummy. Have you noted the potato theme? It continues... Joe found a stew with meat and potatoes he likes and he has eaten fish several times. They also make good mashed potatoes. Our menu would be ever so much larger if we were fans of raw fish (in various forms), liver (also in many forms) and smoked sausages.
We think the name of the town is something close to Radimashel (definitely not an exact spelling). Joe has included a couple of pictures. The one of the big white building with the statue out front is there government building. The statue is V.I.Lenin. When we first came to town and were looking for the government building Nikolai just stoped in front of it and said here we are. Ramon wanted to know how he know and Nikolai responded that the Lenin statue was a giveaway for the government!
We also have a picture of an intersection and the plethora of potholes that abound, not just in this intersection but all up and down the roads. We had read that the roads were pretty rough but had not really seen anything but the main roads up to this point. The roads in Kiev are great as are the main roads through the towns - but turn down a side road and the picture is what you get. Try riding down one in a taxi and you can imagine that the entire ride is spent swerving from one side of the road to the other.
Outside Kiev it is not uncommon to see many horse drawn carts. We have said several times that they look like something you would see in a picture from the 1920's. Lot's of stereotypes abound here. This one looks like one of the Ledbetters is driving! (My family will understand this.)
The large red brick building is the orphanage, at least it is one of the orphanage buildings. Ramon has said several times what a large facility it is. The right side of the picture is the dorm and to the far left is the administration (main office) and classrooms. On our second meeting with the children we met in their science classroom. Looked very much like one of ours with some fish tanks, a periodic table, a couple of rabbits, preserved things in jars, etc.
The school is close enough to town that we have been walking back and forth - which is the best thing to do considering the condition of the streets. Also, I have not been able to figure out how taxi's determine their fares because none of them have a fare box. You just get where you are going and they say an amount and you pay it?!
Both Joe and I get to meet with the children 1-2x daily. The boys are always playful and curious, and Oksana is getting more and more used to us on a daily basis. Oksana is a very mature 12 year old, and has obviously had a lot of experience caring for her brothers - they listen very closely to everything she says. It is pretty amazing to see how quickly she can corral her brothers when they get out of line - we wish she did not have such responsibilities placed on her so early in her life.
Joe and I will head back to the orphanage on Tuesday (its Saturday today) and will work on getting documents together so we can set a court date - our next big hurdle. Thanks to Rachel for updating the blog while we have been away! We will likely be back out of internet contact for the next several days/weeks.
By the way, we have been in contact with a few folks that are pursueing adoptions here in Kiev - thay all have similar stories of delays and frustrations with the "process." Please keep Steve and Shirley, David and May and all of the other families fighting through this process in your thoughts and prayers!
Tonya & Joe
The hotel where we are staying in our no name town actually has a pretty good restaurant, with an American menu. The trouble is that even written in English most of the food is not what we want to eat. We have found a few dishes that we seem to eat over and over. I like this slaw they have which is basically shredded cabbage tossed with lemon and orange juice. They also make something they call a slapjack (which I anticipated being a pancake), but is actually fried mashed potatoes served with sour cream - yummy. They make fried patatoes with onions just like dad - also yummy. Have you noted the potato theme? It continues... Joe found a stew with meat and potatoes he likes and he has eaten fish several times. They also make good mashed potatoes. Our menu would be ever so much larger if we were fans of raw fish (in various forms), liver (also in many forms) and smoked sausages.
We think the name of the town is something close to Radimashel (definitely not an exact spelling). Joe has included a couple of pictures. The one of the big white building with the statue out front is there government building. The statue is V.I.Lenin. When we first came to town and were looking for the government building Nikolai just stoped in front of it and said here we are. Ramon wanted to know how he know and Nikolai responded that the Lenin statue was a giveaway for the government!
We also have a picture of an intersection and the plethora of potholes that abound, not just in this intersection but all up and down the roads. We had read that the roads were pretty rough but had not really seen anything but the main roads up to this point. The roads in Kiev are great as are the main roads through the towns - but turn down a side road and the picture is what you get. Try riding down one in a taxi and you can imagine that the entire ride is spent swerving from one side of the road to the other.
Outside Kiev it is not uncommon to see many horse drawn carts. We have said several times that they look like something you would see in a picture from the 1920's. Lot's of stereotypes abound here. This one looks like one of the Ledbetters is driving! (My family will understand this.)
The large red brick building is the orphanage, at least it is one of the orphanage buildings. Ramon has said several times what a large facility it is. The right side of the picture is the dorm and to the far left is the administration (main office) and classrooms. On our second meeting with the children we met in their science classroom. Looked very much like one of ours with some fish tanks, a periodic table, a couple of rabbits, preserved things in jars, etc.
The school is close enough to town that we have been walking back and forth - which is the best thing to do considering the condition of the streets. Also, I have not been able to figure out how taxi's determine their fares because none of them have a fare box. You just get where you are going and they say an amount and you pay it?!
Both Joe and I get to meet with the children 1-2x daily. The boys are always playful and curious, and Oksana is getting more and more used to us on a daily basis. Oksana is a very mature 12 year old, and has obviously had a lot of experience caring for her brothers - they listen very closely to everything she says. It is pretty amazing to see how quickly she can corral her brothers when they get out of line - we wish she did not have such responsibilities placed on her so early in her life.
Joe and I will head back to the orphanage on Tuesday (its Saturday today) and will work on getting documents together so we can set a court date - our next big hurdle. Thanks to Rachel for updating the blog while we have been away! We will likely be back out of internet contact for the next several days/weeks.
By the way, we have been in contact with a few folks that are pursueing adoptions here in Kiev - thay all have similar stories of delays and frustrations with the "process." Please keep Steve and Shirley, David and May and all of the other families fighting through this process in your thoughts and prayers!
Tonya & Joe
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Paperwork has started!
One more day of updates from Rachel and then hopefully we can hear from Tonya and Joe tomorrow or Saturday as they return to Kiev for the weekend.
I spoke with them live today for a few minutes. They sounded tired but encouraged with the events of the past few days. I am not going to pretend to understand all the paperwork (Tonz and Joe will have to help us out with those details) but they did receive a letter from the orphange today regarding their intentions to adopt the children and they also received a letter from a Notary stating that they intend to adopt the children, so the process has begun. They said that the paperwork process at this orphanage is slower than at some of the others so they anticipate it to take two weeks to be completed.
Konstantine had arranged for Oksana to talk on the phone with a 19 yr old girl,now living in the USA, that had been adopted from the Ukraine at age 15. This was awesome because the 19 yr old was able to speak to Oksana in her language and tell her about the USA, the opportunities, what her life might be like, etc... Tonya and Joe said they could see an obvious change in her demeanor following the phone call. She seemed to be more relaxed and was starting to show a little more emotion than previously. Hopefully each visit will provide more of a comfort level as they get to know each other.
Hopefully the next post will be from Tonya and Joe. The last thing they said before we got off the phone was "keep us posted on the tournament". Go Heels!
I spoke with them live today for a few minutes. They sounded tired but encouraged with the events of the past few days. I am not going to pretend to understand all the paperwork (Tonz and Joe will have to help us out with those details) but they did receive a letter from the orphange today regarding their intentions to adopt the children and they also received a letter from a Notary stating that they intend to adopt the children, so the process has begun. They said that the paperwork process at this orphanage is slower than at some of the others so they anticipate it to take two weeks to be completed.
Konstantine had arranged for Oksana to talk on the phone with a 19 yr old girl,now living in the USA, that had been adopted from the Ukraine at age 15. This was awesome because the 19 yr old was able to speak to Oksana in her language and tell her about the USA, the opportunities, what her life might be like, etc... Tonya and Joe said they could see an obvious change in her demeanor following the phone call. She seemed to be more relaxed and was starting to show a little more emotion than previously. Hopefully each visit will provide more of a comfort level as they get to know each other.
Hopefully the next post will be from Tonya and Joe. The last thing they said before we got off the phone was "keep us posted on the tournament". Go Heels!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
One step closer
Word today from Tonya and Joe is that they had another good day of visits wtih the children. I think they are allowed to visit with them twice daily, not sure for how long each time. Although no formal conversation has been had regarding Oksana's decision, Tonya and Joe think they are operating on a tenative Yes. An appointment has been scheduled for tomorrow with the director so hopefully that will yeild a difinitive answer.
Yesterday they received 4 inches of snow but it all melted today. I think they are hoping to start the paperwork tomorrow and then possibly return to Kiev for the night to do some laundry (they haven't been able to do any at their current location), eat at McDonald's, and hopefully get internet access to send us an update themselves.
Yesterday they received 4 inches of snow but it all melted today. I think they are hoping to start the paperwork tomorrow and then possibly return to Kiev for the night to do some laundry (they haven't been able to do any at their current location), eat at McDonald's, and hopefully get internet access to send us an update themselves.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Another encouraging day
This is Rachel again. Today's e-mail from Tonya and Joe described another good day of visits with Oksana, Dimi, and Vitali. It sounds like the care givers at the orphanage have been counseling Oksana about all the possibilities and options that she could have in the USA with loving parents like Tonya and Joe. Two good days in a row let's all keep praying for a few more! Below is an excerpt from their email.
"Roman has been excellent with helping us get through to Oksana, and is very instrumental in making this experience a positive one for us. He talked with Oksana about her current situation and what we might offer her in the US, and she told him that she felt good about the situation. We are taking things in small steps, but today was very encouraging."
Joe and Tonya
"Roman has been excellent with helping us get through to Oksana, and is very instrumental in making this experience a positive one for us. He talked with Oksana about her current situation and what we might offer her in the US, and she told him that she felt good about the situation. We are taking things in small steps, but today was very encouraging."
Joe and Tonya
Monday, March 24, 2008
Somewhere in the Ukraine
This is Rachel, Tonya's sister. Tonya and Joe realize that everyone is in desperate need of an update so they have handed over the controls to me (at least for today) so I can spread some news. I titled the blog somewhere in the Ukraine because Tonya and Joe are currently in a small town about 1 1/2 hrs West of Kiev that they don't know the name of. They have bought a few maps but the town doesn't show up on any of them. The town has one hotel, one restaurant, and yesterday they saw a horse and wagon. Not to surprising they have no access to the internet. Thank God for the blackberry and communication by e-mail or we would all go insane.
Tonya and Joe traveled to the orphanage on Friday expecting to get to meet the children they had been assigned at the last referral. They were told at noon that the director was out and to try again at 2......still no director, at 4....still no director...at 5 still no director. They aren't allowed to visit the orphanage on the weekend so they camped out in the one hotel and waited until today.
I am going to insert Joe's e-mail from today's visit. "Well, we had a good meeting with the orphanage administration this morning that finally led to a meeting with Vitali (boy age 3), Dima (boy age 6.5) and Oxana (girl age 12).All went very well overall, with the orphanage Director stating she thought we looked like able parents and that she could support the adoption. The big wrench in the works is Oxana and her decision to come to the US. Convincing a 12-year old to think about her future and leave the relative safety of the orphanage, all her friends and teachers, her Grandfather - basically her whole world - is a tall task. Something we have only a few days to convince her of.Tonya and I are looking forward to something getting easier soon!!!Joe"
All three of the children are in good health and have been in the orphanage for approximately a year. The Grandfather Joe mentions had been the primary care giver but placed them in the orphanage when he was no longer able to care for them. Noone wants to see the children seperated from each other. Tonya and Joe are going to spend the next few days visiting with the children and then ultimately Oxana will decide for all three. Wow!
Tonya and Joe really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and warm wishes from home. Now we are waiting again to see what the next few days will bring.
Tonya and Joe traveled to the orphanage on Friday expecting to get to meet the children they had been assigned at the last referral. They were told at noon that the director was out and to try again at 2......still no director, at 4....still no director...at 5 still no director. They aren't allowed to visit the orphanage on the weekend so they camped out in the one hotel and waited until today.
I am going to insert Joe's e-mail from today's visit. "Well, we had a good meeting with the orphanage administration this morning that finally led to a meeting with Vitali (boy age 3), Dima (boy age 6.5) and Oxana (girl age 12).All went very well overall, with the orphanage Director stating she thought we looked like able parents and that she could support the adoption. The big wrench in the works is Oxana and her decision to come to the US. Convincing a 12-year old to think about her future and leave the relative safety of the orphanage, all her friends and teachers, her Grandfather - basically her whole world - is a tall task. Something we have only a few days to convince her of.Tonya and I are looking forward to something getting easier soon!!!Joe"
All three of the children are in good health and have been in the orphanage for approximately a year. The Grandfather Joe mentions had been the primary care giver but placed them in the orphanage when he was no longer able to care for them. Noone wants to see the children seperated from each other. Tonya and Joe are going to spend the next few days visiting with the children and then ultimately Oxana will decide for all three. Wow!
Tonya and Joe really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and warm wishes from home. Now we are waiting again to see what the next few days will bring.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
News - We Have Second Appointment!
Just found out while we were sitting here that we have a second appointment tomorrow (Thursday) at 2:00. Konstantin sems to think this is good. I am not so sure.
There was no word Monday about a second appointment and so we met Konstantine yesterday (Tuesday) at the SDA to see if they knew anything else. When we left there at 5:00 there was no word. But at 12:30 today he called to tell us we have an appointment for tomorrow. He also told us yesterday that there were 100 couples waiting for a second appointment. I do not think that says anything good about their process and worries me more than a bit about the selection of referrals we may receive. Still hope prevails!
On another topic - Joe went in to the INC office here in Kiev yesterday and worked for several hours. It was good for him to visit and he took some INC goodies with him.
Tonya and Joe
There was no word Monday about a second appointment and so we met Konstantine yesterday (Tuesday) at the SDA to see if they knew anything else. When we left there at 5:00 there was no word. But at 12:30 today he called to tell us we have an appointment for tomorrow. He also told us yesterday that there were 100 couples waiting for a second appointment. I do not think that says anything good about their process and worries me more than a bit about the selection of referrals we may receive. Still hope prevails!
On another topic - Joe went in to the INC office here in Kiev yesterday and worked for several hours. It was good for him to visit and he took some INC goodies with him.
Tonya and Joe
Monday, March 17, 2008
Waiting Continues
Tonya and I are continuing to wait to hear from the SDA on our next referral date - hopefully we will get some news later today or (more likely) tomorrow. We'll try to post when we hear something!
I've posted a few pictures at the bottom of the page - we've taken lots of photos to share once we return to the US.
Joe & Tonya
I've posted a few pictures at the bottom of the page - we've taken lots of photos to share once we return to the US.
Joe & Tonya
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Appointment & Orphanage Visit
So it has been several days since we have been able to get the internet. Hopefully this will catch you up.
Tuesday we were ready to go at 8:00. Keep in mind we still have no idea what time our appointment is. At 10:00 Konstantin called and said to meet one of his associates Giorgi outside in about 15 minutes. At 10:30 we called Konstantin who said Giorgi was at the train station and on his way. A few minutes later he arrived and we headed to the SDA (State Department for the Protection of Children). I am just going to go ahead and say that this day and Thursday have been two of the most surreal experiences of my life. Not anywhere near my comfort zone!
We waited outside the building and Konstantin kept checking inside every so often. There were several other people milling around outside and others lined up in the stairwell. We went inside after only a few minutes and into a pretty small office. There was a couple sitting at a small table right inside the door looking at referrals. We went into a back office that was probably about the size of a decent walk-in closet in the US that had a place to sit with a small round table in front. There were two desks in the room with workers at them (although I never actually saw one of the people do anything while we were there). A young woman sat down across the table from us and started showing us referrals. Konstantin translated what she was saying and we asked some questions as well. In total we saw three sets of children. In each set at least one of the children had some sort of serious medical condition (Cerebral Palsy, chest deformity, mental retardation, etc.) The "best" referral was of two girls with one described as having Cerebral Palsy. Then pretty abruptly the woman said, "So what do you think?" and both she and Konstantin turned to look at us. Talk about your spur of the moment decisions with absolutely no time or privacy to discuss. Joe and I put our heads together and decided to go visit the girls. Then the appointment was over and out we went.
Outside we talked briefly with Konstantin about the next steps. He then took us back to our apartment. We regrouped and went out to find some food and internet. In our wandering we found a McDonald's - thank you for Big Macs. After lunch we went to a mall nearby and got onto the internet to do some serious research about CP. Nothing we read made us feel comfortable about the referral. (Apologies - but we were too shell shocked to update the blog and I am not sure what we would have even said at that point.)
By the time we saw Konstantin that evening we had almost decided not to go visit. He had talked to the Orphanage Director who had made it seem that the children were even worse off than we had been told. This actually made Konstantin believe that she was crooked and was making everything up to save the children for someone who would pay more money. Joe and I decided we could not know for sure unless we saw for ourselves.
We left the apartment at 5AM Thursday morning for a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive to a city in the western part of Ukraine called Khmelnytsky. Konstantin had arranged for Nikolai to drive and another Coordinator, Roman, to accompany us. Once we got out of Kiev the countryside was very poor. Joe actaully said it looked like something out of pictures from the 1920's. We do not have any pictures because we were moving past pretty quickly.
We arrived at the orphanage around 11AM and had gotten permission to go there first instead of checking in with the local Inspector. We were pleased to see the orphanage was clean and decorated. There were children playing outside when we arrived. We were led down a hallway and after turning a corner there were the two girls and 4-5 other adults. This was most surreal day number two. We spent about 30-45 minutes with the girls - Bagdana and Ivanca. We gave them a coloring book and some crayons and Joe blew up several ballons with the cool ballon blower-upper we brought with us. We then went to the Head Nurses Office to go over their files in more detail. After about 30 more minutes they said the same thing, "So what do you think?" People here must be used to making big decisions in a split second. I actually asked if Joe and I could go outside and talk things over, which we did, and we decided to refuse the referrals. Both girls actually had more severe medical disabilities than the SDA had in their files that we are not prepared to care for.
This was far from the end of the day. The rest went something like this:
- go see Inspector - get letter of refusal
- take letter to Orphanage - get another letter of refusal
- take letter to be notorized and back to Inspector
This all took from about 12 to 4:30 because of the driving back and forth across town and waiting for people to get out of meetings.
We left Khmelnytsky about 4:45 headed back to Kiev.
We got to our new apartment about 10:00. (We are staying at a different apartment. This one is actually nicer even though we have not found a grocery store close to us yet.) It is on the ninth floor and the couple who owns it actually lives on the same floor. The buildings are pretty interesting - there isn't a central hallway like in American apartment buildings but several different entrances that serve about 4 apartments. The couple was Peggy and Tony - they were actually still cleaning the apartment when we arrived and they did not speak English but their daughter Sasha did (she has been taking English for 8 years and is now 16) and her parents asked us to go across the hall and sit in their apartment while we finished. So off we go with Sasha. She was very nice and we asked her lots of questions about school and her English studies.
When we did get in the apartment we just flopped into bed and slept until 8:30 the next morning. Friday morning brought a quick trip by me to a McDonald's (I know - but thank goodness for cherry pies and Coke!) just up the street to get Joe some breakfast because his sugar was a bit low - probably as a result of eating only a granola bar, 3 crackers and some mashed potatoes the day before). We did go to a cafeteria-style restaurant the day before, while we were waiting for some documents, but the selections included a lot of fish and meat we were not prepared to eat with our prety long ride back on our minds. Sometime you will have to ask me about the bathroom experience on the way there but it is not something I am going to share on the blog!
After getting Joe's sugar under control we showered and did the tourist thing for the rest of the day. Determined to have a day where we ate three meals at the appropriate times we went back to McDonald's. Konstantin met us there and we turned our dossier back over to him and the letter of refusal from the Inspector. He was going to try and turn it in yesterday at the SDA and ask for a second appointment.
We parted ways and Joe and I went to St. Sophia's Monastery - the oldest church still standing in Keiv. History teachers will appreciate that this is where Yaroslav is buried, at least it is where his sarchphagus is located. It was way cool. We also saw St. Michael's chuch.
We met Konstantin to sign our letter for a second appointment and then headed back to the apartment. Dinner was at Arizona (an American eatery) and then we went to sleep pretty early.
Today we are back at Arizona for breakfast - mainly because we saw that they have free wi-fi access. Not sure what today will bring. Looks like the soonest we will find out about our next appointment will be Monday or Tuesday. We may end up returning to the States for a few weeks before coming back to Kiev again. The Ukraine government is not exactly organized. Not sure when we will get back to the blog but hope this gets everyone caught up.
Love to all,
Tonya & Joe
Tuesday we were ready to go at 8:00. Keep in mind we still have no idea what time our appointment is. At 10:00 Konstantin called and said to meet one of his associates Giorgi outside in about 15 minutes. At 10:30 we called Konstantin who said Giorgi was at the train station and on his way. A few minutes later he arrived and we headed to the SDA (State Department for the Protection of Children). I am just going to go ahead and say that this day and Thursday have been two of the most surreal experiences of my life. Not anywhere near my comfort zone!
We waited outside the building and Konstantin kept checking inside every so often. There were several other people milling around outside and others lined up in the stairwell. We went inside after only a few minutes and into a pretty small office. There was a couple sitting at a small table right inside the door looking at referrals. We went into a back office that was probably about the size of a decent walk-in closet in the US that had a place to sit with a small round table in front. There were two desks in the room with workers at them (although I never actually saw one of the people do anything while we were there). A young woman sat down across the table from us and started showing us referrals. Konstantin translated what she was saying and we asked some questions as well. In total we saw three sets of children. In each set at least one of the children had some sort of serious medical condition (Cerebral Palsy, chest deformity, mental retardation, etc.) The "best" referral was of two girls with one described as having Cerebral Palsy. Then pretty abruptly the woman said, "So what do you think?" and both she and Konstantin turned to look at us. Talk about your spur of the moment decisions with absolutely no time or privacy to discuss. Joe and I put our heads together and decided to go visit the girls. Then the appointment was over and out we went.
Outside we talked briefly with Konstantin about the next steps. He then took us back to our apartment. We regrouped and went out to find some food and internet. In our wandering we found a McDonald's - thank you for Big Macs. After lunch we went to a mall nearby and got onto the internet to do some serious research about CP. Nothing we read made us feel comfortable about the referral. (Apologies - but we were too shell shocked to update the blog and I am not sure what we would have even said at that point.)
By the time we saw Konstantin that evening we had almost decided not to go visit. He had talked to the Orphanage Director who had made it seem that the children were even worse off than we had been told. This actually made Konstantin believe that she was crooked and was making everything up to save the children for someone who would pay more money. Joe and I decided we could not know for sure unless we saw for ourselves.
We left the apartment at 5AM Thursday morning for a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive to a city in the western part of Ukraine called Khmelnytsky. Konstantin had arranged for Nikolai to drive and another Coordinator, Roman, to accompany us. Once we got out of Kiev the countryside was very poor. Joe actaully said it looked like something out of pictures from the 1920's. We do not have any pictures because we were moving past pretty quickly.
We arrived at the orphanage around 11AM and had gotten permission to go there first instead of checking in with the local Inspector. We were pleased to see the orphanage was clean and decorated. There were children playing outside when we arrived. We were led down a hallway and after turning a corner there were the two girls and 4-5 other adults. This was most surreal day number two. We spent about 30-45 minutes with the girls - Bagdana and Ivanca. We gave them a coloring book and some crayons and Joe blew up several ballons with the cool ballon blower-upper we brought with us. We then went to the Head Nurses Office to go over their files in more detail. After about 30 more minutes they said the same thing, "So what do you think?" People here must be used to making big decisions in a split second. I actually asked if Joe and I could go outside and talk things over, which we did, and we decided to refuse the referrals. Both girls actually had more severe medical disabilities than the SDA had in their files that we are not prepared to care for.
This was far from the end of the day. The rest went something like this:
- go see Inspector - get letter of refusal
- take letter to Orphanage - get another letter of refusal
- take letter to be notorized and back to Inspector
This all took from about 12 to 4:30 because of the driving back and forth across town and waiting for people to get out of meetings.
We left Khmelnytsky about 4:45 headed back to Kiev.
We got to our new apartment about 10:00. (We are staying at a different apartment. This one is actually nicer even though we have not found a grocery store close to us yet.) It is on the ninth floor and the couple who owns it actually lives on the same floor. The buildings are pretty interesting - there isn't a central hallway like in American apartment buildings but several different entrances that serve about 4 apartments. The couple was Peggy and Tony - they were actually still cleaning the apartment when we arrived and they did not speak English but their daughter Sasha did (she has been taking English for 8 years and is now 16) and her parents asked us to go across the hall and sit in their apartment while we finished. So off we go with Sasha. She was very nice and we asked her lots of questions about school and her English studies.
When we did get in the apartment we just flopped into bed and slept until 8:30 the next morning. Friday morning brought a quick trip by me to a McDonald's (I know - but thank goodness for cherry pies and Coke!) just up the street to get Joe some breakfast because his sugar was a bit low - probably as a result of eating only a granola bar, 3 crackers and some mashed potatoes the day before). We did go to a cafeteria-style restaurant the day before, while we were waiting for some documents, but the selections included a lot of fish and meat we were not prepared to eat with our prety long ride back on our minds. Sometime you will have to ask me about the bathroom experience on the way there but it is not something I am going to share on the blog!
After getting Joe's sugar under control we showered and did the tourist thing for the rest of the day. Determined to have a day where we ate three meals at the appropriate times we went back to McDonald's. Konstantin met us there and we turned our dossier back over to him and the letter of refusal from the Inspector. He was going to try and turn it in yesterday at the SDA and ask for a second appointment.
We parted ways and Joe and I went to St. Sophia's Monastery - the oldest church still standing in Keiv. History teachers will appreciate that this is where Yaroslav is buried, at least it is where his sarchphagus is located. It was way cool. We also saw St. Michael's chuch.
We met Konstantin to sign our letter for a second appointment and then headed back to the apartment. Dinner was at Arizona (an American eatery) and then we went to sleep pretty early.
Today we are back at Arizona for breakfast - mainly because we saw that they have free wi-fi access. Not sure what today will bring. Looks like the soonest we will find out about our next appointment will be Monday or Tuesday. We may end up returning to the States for a few weeks before coming back to Kiev again. The Ukraine government is not exactly organized. Not sure when we will get back to the blog but hope this gets everyone caught up.
Love to all,
Tonya & Joe
Monday, March 10, 2008
Our First Full Day In Kiev
Well, we did get on the 6:45 (more like 7:30PM) flight out of RDU. Landed at London - Gatwick about 7:15 AM (London time). A trip through customs and reclaiming of baggage gave us about 3 hours before our flight from Gatwick to Kiev. We found a quiet spot to sit down. Joe found a Krispy Kreme donut place and diet coke and we chatted with a nice man from San Francisco for a little while.
We checked in with Ukraine Airlines, made another trip through security and found our way to the gate. If it is possible I believe the space between the seats was about the smallest space I have been in. If Joe was 1 inch taller he would not have fit at all. 3 1/2 hours later we landed in Kiev. Customs was not that bad. Waited for about 10 minutes for Konstantine, threw all our stuff in his car and off we went. Do not ask me where we went, it felt like we took a tour of the entire city. We stopped to change money and drop off some paperwork. We finally made it to our apartment sometime after 7:00 PM (Kiev time). Konstantine helped give us a quick tour of the area - mall, grocery store, internet cafe (looked sketchy - found a better one today) and a couple of restaurants. He went to dinner with us and answered our many questions about the adopotion process.
We went to sleep around 11:00 PM (Kiev time) and rolled out of the bed at 12:00 (PM) today. After a quick tour through the mall we had some yummy pizza for lunch, tried to figure out where we are in Kiev (still not sure), and went out again to find an internet cafe. We did try to look at the sketchy one Konstantine showed us last night but thank goodness it was not open and not far down the street we have found us a nice Cafe that has free wi-fi as long as you buy something. I do not recommend the COKE as it comes room temperature (note to self). We need to go back to the mall to get some flowers to take to our appointment tomorrow (still do not know what time) and make a quick trip through the grocery store.
Tomorrow is our appointment with the central adoption agency - we will learn about our prospective new family! Keep us in your thoughts!
Tonya & Joe
We checked in with Ukraine Airlines, made another trip through security and found our way to the gate. If it is possible I believe the space between the seats was about the smallest space I have been in. If Joe was 1 inch taller he would not have fit at all. 3 1/2 hours later we landed in Kiev. Customs was not that bad. Waited for about 10 minutes for Konstantine, threw all our stuff in his car and off we went. Do not ask me where we went, it felt like we took a tour of the entire city. We stopped to change money and drop off some paperwork. We finally made it to our apartment sometime after 7:00 PM (Kiev time). Konstantine helped give us a quick tour of the area - mall, grocery store, internet cafe (looked sketchy - found a better one today) and a couple of restaurants. He went to dinner with us and answered our many questions about the adopotion process.
We went to sleep around 11:00 PM (Kiev time) and rolled out of the bed at 12:00 (PM) today. After a quick tour through the mall we had some yummy pizza for lunch, tried to figure out where we are in Kiev (still not sure), and went out again to find an internet cafe. We did try to look at the sketchy one Konstantine showed us last night but thank goodness it was not open and not far down the street we have found us a nice Cafe that has free wi-fi as long as you buy something. I do not recommend the COKE as it comes room temperature (note to self). We need to go back to the mall to get some flowers to take to our appointment tomorrow (still do not know what time) and make a quick trip through the grocery store.
Tomorrow is our appointment with the central adoption agency - we will learn about our prospective new family! Keep us in your thoughts!
Tonya & Joe
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Hitch In The Travel Plans!
Well, the first leg of our trip has not gone as well as hoped - I'm sure the rest of the trip will go much smoother.
RDU to London-Gatwick Flight 174 American Airlines
Depart RDU 6:45PM Arrive Gatwick 7:00AM (Sun., March 09)
London-Gatwick to Kiev Flight 502 Ukraine International Airline
Depart Gatwick 11:30AM Arrive Kiev 4:50 PM (Sun., March 09)
Tonya and I are hopeful that this is the first and last hitch we will encounter!
Keep checking her for new info -
Joe & Tonya
Our original plan had us well on our way to Kiev from Raleigh at this point. However, here we sit in the RDU airport waiting to leave. It appears the weather in the midwest US has slowed air traffic across the country, and our flight has been delayed such that we can not make our connecting flight to Kiev. When we inquired about changing our flight, we we told nothing else was available until Monday! Thanks to a friendly and sympathetic Delta employee at the gate (thanks Carolina - Delta ID 393619), Tonya and I will be re-routed on another air carrier and will (hopefully) arrive in Kiev only 9 hours later than originally planned!
So, our adventure has definietly begun! We have updated our coordinator in the Ukraine with our new flight arrangements, but here it is for the rest of you:RDU to London-Gatwick Flight 174 American Airlines
Depart RDU 6:45PM Arrive Gatwick 7:00AM (Sun., March 09)
London-Gatwick to Kiev Flight 502 Ukraine International Airline
Depart Gatwick 11:30AM Arrive Kiev 4:50 PM (Sun., March 09)
Tonya and I are hopeful that this is the first and last hitch we will encounter!
Keep checking her for new info -
Joe & Tonya
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