We Meet The Kids

Dave and I had a day to ourselves, so we slept in late and they got up and went to St. Sophia’s, it is a beautiful 1,000 year old church. The frescoes inside were amazing, but they would not let you take pictures of them because it would destroy the integrity of the paintings, but I highly recommend to anyone visiting Kiev to make a trip to St. Sophia’s. After that we had lunch and waited on Viktor so that we could go and pick up our referral from the SDA. Soon after we headed to the train station.

Riding the train was a rather unique experience…it wasn’t bad minus the bathroom, and of course I forgot how Laura told me to turn on the water in the sink, so needless to stay I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to figure it out before I finally went and asked Viktor, then I remembered how Laura told me to turn it on.

We got to Berdyansk this morning. We had a great ride on the train, myself, Dave, and Viktor stayed up til midnight playing rummy…it was a nice way to pass the time, plus it was fun…minus the fact that Dave kept cheating. Once we got settled into the apartment we went over to the orphange and met Yakov and Taisya (I hope that I am spelling that correctly). In all honesty we were both nervous and apprehensive, we had no idea what to expect and we had no idea how the kids would react to us or how we would react to the kids, however it only took all of 5 minutes to decide that we would adopt them. Yakiv is 9 and loves to play soccer and he is quite the ham and Taisiya is 10 and loves to do ballet and play soccer as well. They are both in the 4^th grade and appear to happy healthy kids. The two of them were eager to look at the pictures that we brought and they were excited to show us the pictures that they had of themselves with their friends. Dave and I spent about 2 hours with the kids today and had a blast, we promised that we would go back tomorrow and this time bring a soccer ball so we can go outside and play, although I have a feeling that Dave and I are going to get beat by a 9 and 10 year old. We are eager to proceed from here and we hope that they agree to let us adopt them, but I can’t help but wonder how scared and nervous they must be, I know that if I were in their shoes I would be petrified. The two have been in the orphanage since they were 3 and 5 and we are the first family to meet them and it amazes me as to why, they are absolutely adorable and so full of life. We can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

We Have Heat!!

Today was a very good day, we got up early and met Viktor and walked to the State Department of Adoptions Building (SDA). The way there was quite the adventure, especially for someone who does not wear high heeled shoes. I discovered today that true cobblestone roads are designed to be walked on in anything else than flat soled shoes, but the good news is that I only did the weebly wobbly dance once (stop laughing Alisha), and I only twisted my ankle once. All in all I thought that it was a successful walk, however once we left the SDA I put my Crocs on and walked back to the apartment...I have filled my high heel wearing quota for the month.
At our meeting this morning with the SDA, we were there about an hour perusing through the different files. We found a brother and sister that we chose to meet in Berdyansk, they are 9 and 10 respectfully, and their names are Yakov and Taisia (I am not sure if that is the correct spelling, but it is close). So we will pick up our referal tomorrow afternoon and leave tomorrow evening to make the trek to Berdyansk via the train and we will meet the kids probably sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.
After our meeting we came back to the apartment and chilled out for several hours. Dave walked down and got McDonald's french fries, and believe it or not they were the best McDonald's fries that I have had in years...it was either that or I was just starving and didn't recognize the fact that they were gross. Rick says it is because they were fried in real beef fat and not the stuff that we have in the U.S., who knows but they were good.
We met up with Fran, Rick, Kola, and Viktor for dinner, of which I ate too much AGAIN...and to top it off I ate dessert, I tried some of Viktor's dessert and I ate most of mine. I have no idea what I ate but it was good. Then the five of us (Viktor went home) walked around Kiev for the ever elusive coffee pot for Rick, we still did not find one. We took some good pictures today and even got a self portrait of Rick (he was attempting to take our picture in front of the fountain, but instead got one of himself) that picture will be posted on Facebook later this week.
When we finally made it back to the apartment I was excited to discover that we have HEAT!!!! Whooohooo lets hear it for me not freezing my butt off tonight! Then to top off our evening Dave went for scenic tour of Kiev in search of toilet paper...he came back empty handed, but did happen to find 2 rolls that I overlooked in the cabinet...oops...he needed the excercise;-) Well until tomorrow...

We have made it!

Whoohoooo we have safely landed in the Ukraine!
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it to Kiev, and thankfully the journey was uneventful. I slept like the dead on the plane, but poor Dave was not so lucky. So needless to say he is currently passed out taking a nap while I am checking emails and writing the blog. We met up with Viktor and he was fantastic, got us to our apartment, discussed the process with us, and then took us on a short tour of the city. Luckily we are very close to downtown, so we are within walking distance of everything. He even took us to a great place to eat, the food was really good...and yes I ate chicken Kiev! Our apartment is on the 3 floor, so I told Dave that I have stairs that I can run on and burn off this excess energy AND to burn off what I ate for dinner.
The trip so far has been a good one, but I have learned a valuable lesson. Never, ever, ever, ever, put the crystal light packets into a bottle of carbonated water...it makes for a volcanic like eruption, everyone turns their head, and it makes a big mess. Lesson learned, I won't be doing that again.
After we go to the SDA in the morning I will give everyone an update. Until then:
See ya later alligator!

and the adventure begins...

Well as many of you may know, Dave and I started this journey a year ago. Although we hit a couple of speed bumps along the way, the road has finally lead to use leaving for the Ukraine. So after a very rough week, the house is clean, the furry children have been taken care of, the bags have been packed, and we have kissed our friends and family good-bye, now our journey to Ukraine has begun.
Dave and I are sitting in the airport and surprisingly he is behaving (I keep waiting for the pestering to begin, but I guess he is not bored enough yet). From here we head to JFK and then tonight we leave for the Ukraine...Thank goodness for things like Ambien and ear plugs, maybe with this two items I can tune him out...Love you Honey! Well until my next update...