Finding Joshua at the End of Reece's Rainbow: Kyiv

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

SDA appointment and exploring Kyiv

Last night I did not sleep much at all. I woke up at 2 am and didn't really get more sleep until around 6am. So when Niko called this morning and said he was almost here, I was far from ready! I wasn't even dressed! So, in the rush, I forgot several important things, like my camera!
Niko had some papers to pick up, and then we went to our appointment. The SDA building is near beautiful St. Sophia Cathedral, which was founded in 1037! It is in the old part of town, and we were surrounded by gorgeous buildings and churches. The SDA, of course, is in a random side door, with a teeny waiting area at the bottom of the stairs. It looks a little shady, until you go upstairs for your appointment. Our psychologist/social worker was a very sweet young woman. She took a long time to find Charlie's file and had to look in several books. In the meantime, our facilitator started arguing with another lady, and I was getting nervous! Eventually he looked at us and said, "Not about you!" and I could relax. When we got Charlie's profile, there were three younger photos of him! Oh, he's so cute! Of course, I had forgotten my camera AND replacement photos (sometimes they let you take the baby photos if you give them new ones), but one of the photos was shoved under my coat. Literally. So we have an adorable pic of Charlie, I think he is about 2yrs in it.
After we officially accepted the referral, Niko told us to go shop while he did paperwork. There's a bunch of little street shops set up near the SDA building, with lots of great souvenirs. We picked up a bunch of things, and then I was freezing, so we headed back to the car. Our facilitator, S, told us Niko had left to go make copies. Oooookay! S saw how cold I was and took us for tea. We said we didn't want anything, but he ordered us something anyway - they were like crepes, with chocolate and nuts. We were there for awhile and then went to buy train tickets. By the time we were done, it was 1pm and our friends were waiting for us at our apartment. We took them out to lunch and had a blast! They helped us find what food to eat in the cafe and then we walked down the Main Street to the Dnipro River. HERE are a bunch of photos of some things we saw today. The picture of the river is the view we saw. It was much better in person, of course. If you are coming to Kyiv, you need to find your way to Independence Square! It's beautiful. If you turn right out of Friday's, you will hit the main street. Turn right onto main street and if you walk about 20 minutes, you will hit the river. Look for the grey rainbow and head towards it! You will pass the Parliament buildings on your left, too. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera, but our friends took lots of pictures so I will put them up when I get them!
Our next step is to pick up our paperwork tomorrow after 4p, and then our train leaves around 7p. On Friday morning, we will FINALLY meet Charlie!
I have to share something that may shock you: I really like the food here! I know, it's surprising! For those of you who don't know, I don't like a lot of foods - pizza, tomatoes, mushrooms, spices, peppers, a lot of veggies, sour cream - a lot of these things are common here! I choose my foods carefully, but the ones I have had are really good! Everything has a stronger flavor than in the US - things like cheese and bread are tastier. Mmm, and the chocolate, of course!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

We're here!

We finally made it to Kyiv last night. We spent nearly 30 hours travelling, including a 10 hour layover in Munich. I don't know ANY German, but luckily everyone spoke English!

Our flight arrived at about 10:45pm, then we took a shuttle to the airport. We stood in a line for passport control for a loooong time before the workers even got there. After we were through, we found our driver, Nico. He's a pretty neat guy! He took us to a store that was still open (it was about midnight) so we could change money and get food and water. He actually did some of the shopping for us, grabbing things off of shelves and saying, "You need bread I think. Here is butter!" Lol. We finally got to our apartment around 1 AM and were able to Skype with Brennan (and my parents!) right before his bedtime. He really wasn't sure what to think! He'd been watching a Youtube video (Veggietales!) and suddenly Mama and Daddy were there! He did sign mama/daddy at one point, but mostly he was weirded out.

Today we are relaxing and exploring. Tomorrow morning we have our SDA appointment, and then meet some missionary friends for a late lunch. Thursday afternoon we will pick up our paperwork and take an overnight train to Nikolaiv and meet Charlie!

Here are some specific prayer requests:
- Safe, smooth travelling
- A quick, smooth adoption process - no snags or paperwork issues!
- That we have court on or before Friday, the 25th. This is entirely possible, but not guaranteed. It's really important for the timeline we want - one that will best allow my sister to accompany me back to Ukraine, AND allow me to be with Charlie on his birthday!
- That the 10-day wait will be waived. This is NOT at all likely, and is almost impossible. But, I figured I can always ask God - won't get it if I don't ask. :)