The latest! AT LAST! I finally solved the language problem and caught up my records of the last few days! It is quite long....and it generally takes me a LONG time to proof before I publish it. BUT in the interest of keeping my family and friends informed of our goings on, I am going to apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling errors and just send what I have! Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, for your love, support and prayers!!:)
Sunday, Sept. 23 into Monday Sept 24
Our timeline:
Before we left for the airport, we were prayed over by all of Liberty Baptist! Wow! Our Church Pastor sang a solo, “Walk by Faith”, which was so perfect for us! Amazing Church, amazing morning.
Left for airport around 12:45.
Airport by 1:45. Hang out in atrium of airport, then wait until last minute to go to gate to be nearly last on plane. That was not smart! Our huge carry ons were scattered all over the plane… we learned our lesson!
Sept 23, leave Orlando ~4:30 PM arrive Chicago 6 something PM.
Dinner at Chilis,,,,,one last “hit” on our droid and blackberry. ;) Should have bought an Iphone! Battery dying, search for outlet, freaked Weej out.
Queasy Stomachs beware of following story, even though it is rather funny, too: Getting in line for our Lufthansa flight to Munich in Chicago airport, we barely miss a BIG Glob of POOP on the floor!!! What?!?! It had been stepped in, smeared, and tracked for several yards. Nobody cares but us, apparently, and I become the poop sentinel. “Watch out!!! Poop!!! Look out!!! Watch your step!!!” As that entire wing of the departure terminal had to pass by the poop, I am the famous Poop smear guardian….but frequently adding, since my kids were the ONLY kids around, “it wasn’t us!” J Extraordinarily LOOOOONNNNG time to get anyone to come from Janitorial services. At time of boarding, still nobody is there, no “safety cones”, nothing to warn people of the impending danger of poop slippage….so I hope someone took over my post as I needed to board the plane for Munich. Bidding farewell, and wishing good luck and Godspeed to travelers near the Gate 17 Poop Debacle, we boarded our plane bound for Munich!
Boarding plane in Munich- WoW- it is HUGE!!!!! The only plane I have EVER seen with a group of bathroom stalls DOWNSTAIRS! A downstairs on an airplane????? I had to have a picture!
The seats were comfy, each seat had its own tv monitor, free headphones, and the staff was very kind. My girls watched Brave twice and Tangled twice on our way across the Atlantic, while Jonah and I selected several different nature shows. We also thoroughly enjoyed having one screen pulled up to the current location of our flight plan, over which continent, etc. We were so excited to recognize so many places we have learned about in Classical Conversations! We flew right over the St. Lawrence River (CC kids- can you just see it??). We were told on our flight info/itinerary that only a snack would be provided. Imagine our surprise when they brought us a full dinner of chicken and rice, snap peas, cheese chunk, a roll, apple strudel and a drink of our choice! Wow! That was at about midnight! After dinner and clean-up, they turned down the lights and most of us went to sleep. Well, at least we napped a bit between hundreds of varied people noises- low talking, coughs, etc. etc. Nothing like a slumber party with 300 of your closet friends...all strapped in! HA! Oh, let us not forget the scalding hot towel they administered with tongs for a refreshing way to prepare your face for sleep!:) It was so hot my kids had to throw it on their trays - “ohh!”,” ahh!!”, “yow! “ “What is this for Mom??”
Our flight was blessedly uneventful and very comfortable. We were able to sleep most of the way after the movie. At about 5 am our time, but noon local time, they started waking us up by turning up the lights and they fed us AGAIN! We were given a breakfast tray with a Granola bar, Blueberry muffin, and beautiful fruit cup. Not the cafeteria /canned kind, either! It was fresh fruit with strawberries, kiwis, and other delicious fruits! I have decided I LOVE Lufthansa!:) We hope we get it again on our way back!
Landing was exhilarating and fun. I looked at the big kids and we were all ecstatic to have made it to GERMANY!!! I exclaimed “We need a PICTURE!!” and got their attention one by one. Sadly, Anna, who was hidden from my view on the other side of Abigail, had been thrown into severe motion sickness during the bumpy and FAST landing and NEARLY got sick. She attempted to dash for the bathrooms , but they sent her back to her seat. I was frantically digging for the airsick bag for her, but no success. Fortunately, the plane quickly stopped and her misery subsided. WHEW!
We disembarked in Munich Germany and were welcomed by perfect crisp cool air – Ahhhhhh! I miss Fall so much living in FL and it appears as if we’ll get to see some Fall over here!
We only had FORTY MINUTES to change planes in Munich. Most travelers know that a plane change that quick, especially with three kids in tow, is nearly impossible. So I was mentally prepared to spend the night in Munich and DEFINITELY didn’t expect our luggage to make it to Kiev when we did! BUT GOD, answered the prayers of our precious Church, family and friends who have been praying for us to have a safe and smooth trip….and we made it to the next gate with plenty of time to spare! AND shockingly, ALL SIX of our suitcases made it to baggage claim and not a single item appears to be missing. God is so good!
On our flight to Munich, we saw a classic German, lederhosen (sp??) man with a cute Peter pan hat! I HAD to get his picture!
The flight was pretty short and we used it to nap some more before our arrival in Kiev!
Two hours plus later, the pilot announced our approach into Kiev….WOW! It was, and still sort of is, surreal!!! We have been working FRANTICALLY toward this day, so now here we are….and it is nearly beyond belief!
After landing, we cleared the passport check. Those who told us the people here DO NOT smile, was absolutely correct. The young, handsome passport check man was SO serious. Anna said, “Wow, they are stoic aren't they? “ We are smiley and are used to smiley people, too, loving on us and in general being VERY excited for us with our adoption! Not this man…he looked as though he was taking out the trash. Oh….well….maybe angrier than that. We have enjoyed putting on our Ukrainian faces when we got about town. In order to blend better, I say, “Kids, put on your scowls and let’s go!”
After passport check, we picked up our miraculous luggage- (Praise God!) and loaded it onto two rolling carts! Next, we approached a red line and a green line. The best I could figure out, red line meant you were carrying in over a certain amount of alcohol or cigarettes. So, since that didn’t describe us, we approached the green line. They had a scanner to look inside your luggage, but he must have been too tired…he motioned us around! Yay! SMOOTH again! Thank you God!
The next God story was woven around the person who awaited on the other side of those swinging doors just past baggage claim. A Church friend of a Church friend of a Church friend, was contacted on our behalf regarding possibly hosting us. He actually said, “Yes!” Yes….. to complete and total strangers ……who are travelling with three kids!! Can you imagine that?!? He is single/engaged man, who LOVES kids and is amazing with them. He is an American soldier, in fact, and one of those our family has been praying for since 2001! As we came through the doors, we spotted him holding the scrolling banner on his ipad reading, “Lynch Family”. What an amazing sight! We immediately joined him and he led us outside. His beautiful fiancé, who happens to be Ukrainian, joined him to pick us up as he would never have gotten all of us and our luggage into his car! They loaded us up and spirited us off into Kiev, through honking and close/ FAST driving fellow “Kyivians” (I made that up!) who just make you cringe, gasp, grab your neighbor's arm and press your foot into the floorboard.
We got the cars unloaded then went to the market to get our food & supplies! THAT was an experience, but I must say we are tremendously spoiled to have had our host’s Ukrainian/ English speaking fiancé shopping with us! She helped us decipher and find EVERYTHING! We are blessed!!!!
After putting away the groceries, we all showered and went to bed. Ahhhhh! It had been a 24 hour travel day with just sitting upright napping in between. We were exhausted!
Tuesday, Sept 25
We slept in late and got in touch with our friends J. & P. who are here adopting E.! We made a plan with them to go visit our boys and the driver came around 12:00 noon. The ride out was surreal…it was really here, it was really happening! Thirty minutes later we pulled up in front of V.’s orphanage- WOW! Even though I knew this event was coming- it was nearly unbelievable to finally be there! We were surprising V., so J. & P. made a plan to video tape our reunion and take pictures for us, and went ahead of us into the gate. He was still at school so we went inside the gate and waited for him to arrive. When he walked in, he ran first to ME and gave me an enormous hug! Next, he hugged Weej, then Abigail, Anna and Jonah. After initial greetings , we took a photo and he took us up to show us his room. He has a little bed, a bulletin board and a desk. He has a roommate, but we couldn’t figure out who it was. His sweet friend L. helped us interpret as her English is very good. She also lives there in V.’s foster family and is a precious young lady.
After visiting his room, we went back outside to the courtyard to enjoy the amazing weather! Although the weather is beautiful here, the buildings are still quite hot inside. Whew! I can’t imagine being here in July/Aug like my friends P&B and D&M were! I would keel over! Like D & M's sweet C. did!
Once back outside, we played Frisbee, Uno, and more Frisbee and just generally laughed and attempted to communicate. At one point V. ran off, saying “One moment” in English. He returned with his camera and began to take pictures of us. My favorite picture was the one he got when he sat right next to me, held out his arm with camera in hand and took one of US! Just Mom and V.! HIS idea! What 13 yr old boy does THAT?!? (So if you’ve ever seen lists of older kids who are looking for host families and think “oh I couldn’t host or adopt a teenager, they are wild, eye rolling, and standoffish. I’m not sure about all of these kids, but suspect they are NOT like the 13 yr olds we know in the US with the eye rolling and “don’t touch me Mom, that’s embarrassing” attitude. My little V., who is now 13, is a precious snuggle bug who is just thrilled to have a Mom & Dad and a family. So although some may think, “oh, what a nice thing you are doing for this boy”, I suspect he’s going to do a nice thing for us, as well.
After taking several pictures of us, he paused to show his new DAD the pictures he had on his camera! I must have taken 7 pictures of little V. and his BIG Daddy sitting there looking at what he was showing him. Here sat the man who said, “ARE YOU INSANE?!” when I suggested adoption back in 2005, intrigued by the photos his new son was showing him. I guarantee that little guy will continue to steal his heart!
I especially loved the photos V. had taken of flowers! If you read this Dan and Joan, you may be having a flashback of the 15 rolls of pictures I took of flowers in Amsterdam back in 1998!!! Yet another way God has created this little guy to perfectly match our family!
After getting all of his still camera shots, V.’s sweet friend L. used his camera and took video of V. and his sisters Ab. & An. and his brother J. playing another game of Frisbee. Soon afterwards the Frisbee sailed over a fence into the neighbor’s yard with a scary sounding barking dog….OH NO! Fortunately our little interpreter knew just what to say to the grumpy neighbor to get it back. He scaled up the fence, popped his cute little face over top of it and asked for help. I love hearing him speak Ukrainian – I’m in awe! Glad these kids can speak Ukrainian to help us out here!:)
Since we only had a day and a half with V. before he left the U.S. in January (after his Christmas visit) I wasn’t really sure how my kids would interact. But, our reunion couldn’t have been better!!! He fits us like a glove. They played seamlessly even though they barely speak each other’s languages. They enjoyed every minute of their time together and laughed a LOT. My boys both like to climb and climbed up some monkey bars together. My boys both like BUGS, and spent lots of time with a strange grass hoppery bug that flew into our area. Then when Abigail accidentally flipped a tile up exposing potato bugs, they were off on a new adventure catching them, too. An. enjoyed helping her big brothers hunt for bugs while Ab. chatted with the adults.
It all went by TOO fast before we had to head back to Kiev without him. We are looking SO forward to being able to bring him back with us!!
That evening after making tacos for dinner, we chatted with our host, S., who we have decided really is “the Most interesting Man in the World” (not the Dos Equis man!:) We had an absolutely amazing evening with him, sharing our life stories, our God stories, laughter, bonding and even some tears. God truly blessed us when he united us this way. We have truly made a lifelong friend here!
Wednesday, Sept 26- Our SDA Appointment (Department of Adoptions)
Prior to the SDA appointment, we met J. & P. for coffee at a little café they found. They knew the way to SDA and recommended walking there rather than waiting & paying for a driver. Traffic is so horrible during rush hour that it is MUCH faster to walk if it is within a reasonable distance. So after coffee, they walked us to SDA and even waited outside holding our bags for us!!! AND it was P.’s BIRTHDAY! We are so blessed to have met them this year on this incredible journey and are extra thankful that they live nearby in FL and our boys know each other! Good thing we enjoy one another, we’re sure to spend LOTS of time together in the future!
The LOOOONNNNNNNG awaited SDA appointment (all YEAR!) arrived at 9am. We met our facilitator outside and proceeded past several stray dogs, into an interesting unassuming little side door, up a flight or two of stairs and into a little room. I had been picturing a big courtroom type situation, with a large elevated panel of scary harsh looking judge-like men glaring down at us, evaluating us over glasses on the ends of noses. Imagine my surprise when we entered a little tiny office, with a small, pretty, young lady, who was the Department Head and the only one present at our appointment besides our facilitator! WHEW! So, fellow adoptive parents who haven’t been there yet- don’t worry about this part!! It was a breeze, in and out in 20 minutes and the lady was not at all threatening. I wouldn’t say she was bubbly and friendly, but not at all threatening. More on the lack of bubbling and friendliness here coming soon!:) I like to add smiles to my sentences :), but here’s what they probably accentuate their sentences with :l Ha! Ukraine adoption families will know exactly what that means! :D Fortunately, I have met and witnessed several Ukrainians with beautiful hearts and smiles. They just save them up for those they really care about!:)
The SDA appointment consisted of a few questions, such as “why do you want to adopt?, where do you work, what do you do? How to the children feel about this?” Also fortunately, our facilitator was interpreting for us. I decided that if we said something stupid he could tidy it up in his translation.:) After answering her questions in an acceptable fashion, we were shown the profile of our V. He was SO much smaller than he is now….it is sad how long he’s been there. We were also shown two other boys so it was recorded that we had a choice. Sadly, V. and these two others came from a stack of other 12-16 year old boys which was nearly four inches high. Each document had a couple of pages about the child with a little sad photo attached. I wish I had a picture of the stack. It was just heart wrenching. If you have EVER considered adoption, or sensed God whispering to you about the idea of adoption…Please, oh please DO IT! Just step out of the boat, trust God and He will bring it to pass! When we saw that stack, Weej and I said sadly to one another,”…so many kids”. We have heard Ukraine has around 300,000 orphans, 30,000 in Kiev…but it really hit us to see the HUGE stack of papers and photos of just a few of them.
The SDA office is right next door to a beautiful church, St. Andrews! When we came out of the SDA office and had the P&J take our picture, we noticed a big group of Asian people, some with cameras. One of us commented, “Wow, I wonder what is going on?” And then realized they were taking photos of St. Andrews. As enormous and beautiful as that cathedral was, we were far more interested in taking pictures of the run down, dingy yellow SDA building which held our future in their hands!
After our SDA appointment, we decided it would be fun to tour around Kiev and see some more of the BEAUTIFUL Churches! We visited St. Michaels, St. Sophias and then walked down to Independence Square to see the area and visit the big underground Mall! It was so surprisingly nice!
After walking miles and miles, we decided it was high time to take the crowd to our new favorite place, Puzata Hata (sp?) The English translation is: Fat House! HA! It is a bit like a Golden Corral with Ukrainian food, but it is cafeteria style rather than all you can eat buffet. It was an adventure in tasting where my very hungry son got so many items they wouldn’t all fit on his tray! We all had fun with that one!:) At least we all got to taste even more mysterious Ukrainian items. We decided we liked the Pierogie like items (the name evades me now) which were stuffed with cherries! They were like a little pocket of Cherry cobbler! Mmmmmm! All this for (normally) less than $5 per person!
After Fat House, we burned off a part of a cherry thing by traipsing UP, UP, UP and UP the hill toward home. WHEW!!! Our FL legs are not used to mountain climbing! By the time we neared home, we were SOOO tired and sore. Poor out of shape Americans we are. We walked many miles that day!
Thursday, Sept. 27
Whew, I finally made it to TODAY! Hopefully I can catch this up quickly and get it posted TONIGHT! Today we slept in REALLY late…10 ish I think, to try to catch up on our sleep! Ahhh, it was awesome. We had intended to go see our boys again today, but the driver was not available and we didn’t have time to figure out the busses and metro and get back in time for our SDA referral appointment today at 4:30 pm. So we hung out here at the apartment until ~2pm then went for a late lunch to the little Coffee house J. & P. showed us. The food is tasty and affordable and the dining area outside is so European and adorable. The weather is amazing now, too! During our lunch we met a server that P.& J. had told us about. We will call her O. J She is adorable, sweet and has great English. When we asked if she knew P. & J., she said,” Oooooohhhh, they are great! They are adopting!!!” When we told her we were, too, she was beside herself with excitement for all of us and our boys. She is another unexpected treasure we have uncovered here in Kiev!
After our lunch, we went back to SDA for our referral. That took an even shorter amount of time than the first visit. We met with the same lady, signed in her journal, and our paperwork was handed to our regional facilitator. That was it! In and out, quick and simple! After SDA, our new facilitator told us that P. & J. wanted to hang out with us and they wanted to meet us at the Coffee House! Ha! So back up the hill we went, and there they were! Not sure how we passed them (they were at SDA while we were at the Coffee House earlier) but there they were and O. was so happy to see ALL of us! She didn’t even mind that we didn’t buy any more food the second time, just hung out to chat! What a gem she is. We all want to take her home with us!:)
Tonight, our amazing Host, S. texted us that he was on his way home and to expect an adventure. He took us to an amazing authentic Ukrainian restaurant which sits on a hill overlooking the river. On our way there, we got to ride the bus for the first time, as well as the Metro! This Metro in Kiev has the world’s LONGEST escalator! AND I might add, it moves at light speed! Wow! When you hop on it, your neck nearly snaps back! An. literally JUMPED when she got on it! Ha! Once you successfully get on, you zoom along into the depths of the earth and MUST watch carefully when the end approaches or you will be shot off the end at high speed! I don’t suspect many Babushka’s can take the metro, as there is NO WAY my Mom could get on and off this thing!
And S. was NOT kidding when he said we were in for an adventure! Once we exited the metro stop, he led us down this darkening alley, onto a little path in some woods! Wow! I told him, “if we didn’t know you so well now, and know so many people who know you, I’d be a little concerned right now!!” We went down some rocky uneven steps, down, down, down, down in almost complete darkness. He decided to break out his flashlight on his phone for us which helped a LOT! We continued down this rocky forest path and heard dogs barking- in the dark. He had JUST told us last night that stray dogs roam in packs at night (after we heard howling out the window) and to be very careful if we walk around at night! We continued into the darkness until we came to a back alley type little road…walked down the alley and there, out of the strange dark forest, emerged an AMAZING restaurant! We got outdoor seating and nearly all of us just HAD to get Chicken Kiev! J The setting was beautiful and we were blessed with some more of the delightful company of our amazing host. Never a dull moment with the Most Interesting Man on Earth.
On our way back to the metro stop, we encountered a pedestrian hit by a car on a crosswalk. The ambulance was there, as were the police, but the scene was so foreign to me. The people around him seemed to just be helping him casually. The urgency and professional medical appearance of medics just seemed to be absent. It was odd and looked more like some buddies helping their buddy to sit up after a sports injury, but I didn’t stop and stare- it was just a quick glance. He was alive, and looking around, but the side of his face was very bloody. It was very startling, but after seeing a VERY drunk man who had passed out today as we had lunch being carried by some passers-by, we suspect this man hit by the car was drunk. Sadly alcoholism is a major problem here and a major reason for the THOUSANDS of orphans in Ukraine.
After we returned to the apartment, safe and sound, our amazing Host brought in some boxes of fun! I could tell before meeting him that he was great with kids (helps with youth group) and a big kid at heart (he LOVES Kermit!) He broke out a box of “Finger Rockets” and he, Weej and the kids began a war around his house. Several times some of his breakable looking items got knocked over, but as he told us in a story our late Tuesday night, “things may get broken, but these relationships are far more important than any item I have sitting around” Wow!!! What perspective! I feel like we’ve entered a bit of a “Team Building” adventure by staying here which will prepare us for our new improved family of six!:)
Tomorrow, we meet with our Facilitator again at 8:30 to go to the CPS office and pick up a very important and official (scary, I’ve heard) woman who will take us to the orphanage, verify V. wants to be adopted, have him write a document stating that, and then return her, visit a notary, and generally drive back and forth accomplishing the next step in this journey!
Thanks for tuning in! Until next time……
