Let the Waiting Begin (Continue)

Below is the update from Tonya. It goes into a little more detail than I did yesterday. I have been sending Tonya and Joe e-mail's about how this experience parallels being on the TV show "Survivor". Well this episode is the one where you receive the visit from a loved one at home. Mom will arrive in Kiev today and Joe's mom is picking him up from the airport today, so both will get their much needed hug from home. The thing that continues to amaze me about this process as I read other peoples blogs and journeys, is that every experience is somewhat unique. We can't wait to welcome home the new additions to our family, but I think we all had ideas in our heads that this process would be a little more "warm and fuzzy" than it has turned out to be.

I just checked the flights and Mom's plane has touched down and she should be at the gate! Here is Tonya's update.

" So, as I have some airport time to kill (it is 12:45 and we got here at 8:00, mom gets here at 4:15 - the time is going surprisingly fast) I thought I would update the blog info. I wrote 12 pages in my journal about yesterday but I will try to keep it a little shorter for this.

I think the appropriate title for this is "Let the Waiting Begin (Continue)"

So, we had court yesterday ( Aprill 16th) among other things. All in all a pretty full day.

Court was scheduled for 1:00. Ramon came to Radamashel about. 9:00 to go to the Inspector's office because he needed to get official stamps on some copies of paperwork that the SDA requested. This is paperwork that the SDA does not normally request - but remember Joe and I are not doing this the easy way, that is not our way. This will become even more evident later on. Anyway we basically only got to keep our court date yesterday because Ramon promised to bring the officially stamped copies back to the SDA the same afternoon - 9:00 today is when he actually got them to the SDA as he did not leave Radamashel until almost 7 last night.

So court...

We get to the court - I will have Joe post a picture of the building as well as the courtroom - a little before 1. The other participants arrive shortly after - Inspector (I) and the Orphanage Representative (OR), thr Director' second in command. My fvorite thing about the entire court experience is that the Judge was running around in her slippers (pink!). She was appropriately robed and shod when court started.

Courtroom does not seem to be a busy place as the room was opened specifically for our hearing and closed again afterwards. (You just have to see the picture). They did not even turn the lights on.

Entire court presence:
Joe, myself and Ramon
Inspector
Orphanage Representative
Court Recorder - pencil and paper, no machines here
Judge and 2 other court witnesses
Town Prosecutor

Before setting out for court we asked Ramon what kinds of questions we would be asked and he said none really because this is just a formality. He wasn't exactly correct - I refer back to the difficult way!

When the procedings started there was a lot of reading by the judge of required documents, people present (each of us - including the I and OR - had to stand and identify ourselves and say our birthdays), our rights as petitioners, and other stuff like that. Then the judge says there will be a few questions - 20 minutes later we moved on. The questions ranged from "how many rooms do you have in your house?" to "Will you be able to give these children the love they need?" There were plenty more and if I was not typing this on Joe's blackberry at the airport I would type more.

Aside: I just spent the last hour at the internet cafe in the airport trying to use my school e-mail to send the message instead of the crackberry. Pretty much all I could do was look at messages and delete some - sending did not work. There is something about Wake Counties e-mailsystem that is very difficult to use out of town.

The I and OR then gave their statements approving the adoption petition. There ws some more reading of stuff and then the judge says they will be going out to debate for 15 - 20 minutes. 15-20 minutes later they were back and the judge starts to read a two page, front and back statement, word for word that basically says says the court approves the petition and now we have to wait for 10 days to see if anyone objects. Court adjourned.

Ramon wanted to say a few follow-up words to the judge just to get clear when we could pick up the paperwork and where the new birth certificates need to be made. when he is finished it is now 3:30. Our 20 minute court date took two and a half hours.

We now head to the orphanage to see the Director. Of course she was not there - so 15-20 minutes more waiting. (Ramon has told us that Ukrainians are good at waiting because during the Soviet occupation they had to wait in line for everything) Director was in a very chatty mood. I will not bore you with those details but it was after five when we left.

It is at this point that my anger for the day really takes off. Ramon tells us that he is still waiting to hear about our apartment in Kiev. Why are we still waiting? Why wasn't the apartment booked last week when we told you we were going to need it on Wednesday.

I will skip all the sordid details, but in the end we stayed in Radamashel because there were no hotel rooms or apartments available in the entire city of Kiev. You all know my penchant for having a plan and making preparations ahead of time. So, when the men (sorry men for the stereotyping but this is such a man thing to do) do not try to get an apartment until the day of this is what happens. So, Joe and I leave Radamashel with Nikolai at 6AM to get him to the airport because he is going home for a week or so and mom is taking his place.

Here comes thing two that almost puts me over the edge.

While we are waiting to hear about the apartment we go over the timeline for the next set of paperwork. We have to wait ten days, that is April 26th a Saturday, so we have to wait until Monday to pick up the paperwork, but the 28th is Easter here so Monday is a holiday (no problem the same is true in the US). But, May 1st is a holiday similar to Labor Day (only a much bigger deal here) and the little town we have to get the birth certificates issued in, something like Karastachif, may be closed the entire week. WHAT! So the next day that we could get anything done would be May 5th! WHAT!!!!!

The agency may be open on the 28th and 29th but Ramon does not know that (he is suposed to be finding out today, haven't heard from him yet) and if they are he does not know if they will be able to do the new certificates in two days before they go on vacation until the next week. GOOD GRIEF!

I am trying not to borrow trouble but today is day 40 here and I am ready to get back in touch with my life. I am aware that we will be coming home with three great children and that is the most important thing.

Random Observations:
- the airport is seriously busy and has not slowed down since I got here at 8AM. They could stand for an expansion

- I had a surprisingly good - if not salty lunch at the airport

- the majority of men here carry "man bags" - yes, very much like Joey's on "Friends"

- everyone even if they have a purse or "man bag" carries a plastic shoping type bag. You can buy them at street vendors and "Hugo Boss" is a very popular style. Also seeing a lot of flower covered ones now that the weather is a bit warmer. Joe and I are perplexed by these bags and neither of us has taken up the habit- although we did look at "man bags" for Joe!

Hope this satisfies everyone's craving for an update. I am going to go get a soft serve ice cream. A lot of that is sold here as well and you can get a cone at McDonald's for 1.50 hriyvna which is about thirty cents - pretty good deal. Wonder how much they are here.

3:00, only an hour and a half to go. Mom is almost here."

Tonz