Happy November 1st!!
Again, my apologies for not keeping up to date on this. I have been keeping an outline journal on my laptop, but finding time to blog is very difficult now without my better half helping me with the parenting and cooking and cleaning!
So here it is! I hope it doesn't have too many errors, but no time to proof again since we have another big day tomorrow!
Sorry no pix this time, they take HOURS to load and it's already 2 am!
Wednesday, October 25, 2012
On this day we ventured out to the bank to exchange money, stopped by the grocery and came home to get ready to GO to our sweet boy’s Farewell Party.
Initially the party was scheduled for 4 pm, however at 3pm when our ride was supposed to be here, we received a text that he wouldn’t be there until 4:30. That was actually a relief as we were able to more leisurely unload groceries and get dressed at a less frantic pace. I must add that we have been blessed beyond measure by so many people and circumstances here. J.V’s orphanage director heard that we paid $50 for our driver the first day we went out to visit him, said that was ridiculous and asked us to allow her to help us find a driver. Of course! Her assistance has saved us a fortune so we are not complaining about a delay with our driver.
At 4:30 our driver arrived. He is one of the foster Dad’s at J.V.’s orphanage. If he speaks any English, we haven’t uncovered his abilities, but we are so grateful for his help. Our rides out are marked by 35 minutes of complete silence, watching the cars careening about, busses groaning by, and pedestrians shuffling seriously to their destination. I am sure the silence is just as uncomfortable for him as it is for us. .. and we all curse the Tower of Babel builders again. We arrived and weren’t entirely sure where to go….so we proceeded to his foster family’s home. Fortunately, that is exactly where we needed to be!
There we found a room full of people and a table FULL of food. J.V. had decorated the party himself, with a little help, with balloons, ribbons and an Eeyore poster he had painted himself! When we arrived we met two of his friends from school and Church, the other children in his foster family, along with many adults who obviously cared deeply for him. The beautiful Orphanage director, R., hosted the evening and had several different people to come up and say a few words to V., present him with their gift and exchange hugs. He received a pink elephant, which they said symbolized dreams. She said he has always dreamed big and to never stop dreaming. He was thrilled and later named him, “Jerry”. J He also received lots of candy, a CD of pictures from his time at the Orphanage, a music CD from his Church, a Lego-type set, and beautiful leather bound Ukrainian Bible. Along with every gift he received came volumes of words of well wishes, what he meant to everyone and how much they would miss him. It was very emotional. V. and I didn’t make it through without many tears. The Founder of his Christian orphanage happened to be visiting there for a Board meeting and heard V.’s party was going on and came up to say good-bye. He not only said good-bye, but also knelt in front of him and spoke to him at length, counseling him to always follow God, listen to and honor his parents, and be a good boy, “better than the rest”. I was blessed to receive interpretation of this conversation from the Orphanage director. Next, he prayed over V. with a passionate, incredible, heartfelt prayer.
I started to say I can’t even imagine saying good-bye to friends I have known for 6 years…but I can. We moved all of my life. Initially, each transition was difficult, but eventually within a few months I couldn’t even imagine having not moved. I am very grateful for all of our moves. I have incredible, irreplaceable friends who I would never have met had we not moved. (in fact a few of them are probably reading this!:) I’m hoping that soon he’ll feel that way, too.
After his gifts, V. said the prayer over the food, and we enjoyed some of the items which had been prepared. Our sweet boy was one of the first through the line, filled his plate…then glanced over at me and gave his plate to me. Wow. He is so selfless. I really didn’t want several of the things he had selected (toast with raw ?/smoked? salmon on topJ) but didn’t want to turn down his generous offer…..so I took it. I wondered if he plated it up with me in mind, or just filled his plate and decided to give it to me. So, after he made a plate for his big sister…(the pickiest one of the family…hee heeJ) I saw the plate he filled for himself and determined that the items on his plate were identical to the items on mine. My plate had been his...which he sacrificed for me. This sweet boy God has given to me has a HUGE heart.
After the gifts were presented and we had eaten, another couple walked in. Excitedly, V. told me “that’s my Pastor!” They are a lovely couple. They don’t speak any English, but overflowed with God’s love and peace, with ear to ear smiles and obvious adoration of our new son.
After greeting them, J.V. disappeared for a while- running about the house with the other kids in his foster family. We had no idea where he was or what was going on…but we let him enjoy the last evening there with his friends. It was a little awkward being the only English speaking people in the entire house, but I reminded the kids that this is what he will feel like when we get together with all of our friends back at home. The kids will be running around and laughing while he’s left out of most of the jokes…for a while anyway. So the entire experience has been a good one for us to sympathize with what he’ll go through in the U.S.
After the playing & running around died down, I decided to walk back toward the bedrooms and see what was going on. J.V.’s foster Mom was helping him pack up his room. I am sure that was a challenging evening for her. I have seen so many of the awesome foster Moms at our Church relinquish the children they have cared about for a long time. It is never easy. His foster Mom had been with him for 2 years and obviously enjoyed his sweet and helpful nature. She beamed as she told us (through the interpreter) how he loves to help set up parties for people and make everything special. I have already seen he loves to help. When I made my bed the other day he rushed to help me and said, “I like to help”. When I had a headache last night, he asked two of the other kids to be quiet because “Mommy has a headache.” He is a very thoughtful and sweet boy who is sure to be missed by all in his foster family. I helped her pack up his belongings into the two large backpacks we had brought for him. Nearly all of his clothing was left behind for the other kids who will come behind him. He was in complete agreement with that and even explained it to me again when I asked if he had his hat yesterday. He said, “No...it is at FH for the other kids who will come later.” I think he’ll teach my other three a thing or two about being more selfless.
We finished packing up his things and we proceeded down the hallway. The teary eyed little boy who had been surrounded by loved ones in the living room just an hour earlier had transformed into a strong and determined little soldier…heading forward into what he knew was a better life. We gathered our things (the Ukraine adventure of donning shoes by the door, as well as coats, hat, gloves, and scarves takes quite a while to coordinate with 4 kids!:) and proceeded out the door. There were no more tears and just sweet good-byes.
The amazing orphanage director gave us a ride home along with another lady who needed a ride into town. It was an adventure in cramming as we stuffed six of us into the 5 available seats which felt more like 4. But at least we had a nice ride home and didn’t have to ride the metro and busses back for 2 hours in the dark!
When we returned to the house J.V. opened his Lego type set and began building diligently. An. assisted J.V. in the assembly of the new creation since J1 fell asleep early. My Littles, as I call my youngest two, work and play very well together and had it nearly finished by bedtime. The structure was similar to The Swings at a Carnival and was even motorized and spun around and around. J.V. enjoyed putting all of his little Disney characters on the swings for a ride.
Eventually bedtime rolled around and all toys had to be put up. Thursday night was the beginning of our new normal! He will never have to go back to the orphanage again, and we now have him full time!:)
Friday, October 26, 2012
After a busy night, we all slept in a little. J1, J2 & An. woke up and worked more on the Carnival swing creation for at least an hour or two. What a great toy! We eventually got ourselves together for a journey to MegaMarket! We had only been once on foot, with the whole gang when P&J were still here, so it was intimidating, but we needed some things we can’t get at the local market, Billa. I knew all we had to do was walk to the Circus, (1-2 miles?), catch a bus going in the right direction, and then get off at the right placeJ . AND….after a little more walking than we remembered (to catch the bus)- we didn’t want to get on one right in front of the Circus because several of them go up the hill we had just walked down and we didn’t want that. So we walked in the direction we wanted to go by bus until we came to a bus stop. The kids said, “Which bus Mom?” “I don’t know…we’re just going to hop on one and as long as it stays on this main road, we’re good.” J If it turns we’ll get off and walk until we can catch another bus. So away we went, walking and walking and walking until FINALLY another bus stop. We got on the first bus which didn’t look too crowded and off we went! AND , it stayed on the road we needed! I had studied the paper map earlier in the day so had attempted to memorize the route. WOW have I ever missed my navigation feature on my smart phone! (which doesn’t work at all here- except for email when I have wifi.) I watched the road like a hawk….MUCH less enjoyable than when we were following P&J and he was leading us to the store! I was wishing I had paid a little more attention, but remembered more than I thought I did. We finally arrived at our destination, which I remembered was just past an overpass (which are NOT a common sight here). We hopped out and my little translator/navigator said, “Oh,Mom..this way.” He’d only been there once before like the rest of us, but led us expertly up some stairs, through a flea market looking area and down some more stairs to the underground passage way we needed to get to the other side of the street! In these underground passage ways are people selling everything from donuts to flowers, gloves to underwear, dvd’s to sunflower seeds…Oh, and light bulbs! It’s hilarious! Obviously no zoning regulations here! You want to sell it, just pop up a table and start selling! We weaved our way through the underground labyrinth of vendors and popped out on the other side of the road. Yay! We then proceed down the road I remembered going down with P&J. I was apparently having SO much fun on our first trip to Megamarket that I didn’t realize how FAR we walked from where the bus dropped us! I was thinking it was just a few feet down the mysterious alley type road, but it went on and on and on and on. I was about to give up and turn us around when I saw a big red sign in the distance..and held out hope. We were jubilant when we saw the Mega Market sign!!! YAY!
We went in and got what we came for and made our way to the checkout lanes. We’d been told by our host that here you are guilty until proven innocent if caught with an outside drink or food in a grocery- they will try to make you pay and will NOT believe that you had it when you came in. When you walk everywhere all day, of course you have food and beverage in your bag! So imagine my horror when J2 pulls out his candy bar to show me as we approach the checkout lane. “AHHH---put that away, they’ll think you bought it here!” Then just minutes later, as Ab. & J1 return from the lockers with our backpack, J1 decides to pull out his bottle of coke while I am paying! I tell him the same thing and he proceeds to put it away…but it is too late. The outside food Nazis spotted him and descended upon him like rabid dogs circling a wounded cat. I was paying for our purchase, so it took me a minute to even know what was going on until I looked over and saw my oldest son with two officials scolding him harshly and demanding to see inside his bag. He was dumbfounded and unable to explain, when his little brother rushed to his rescue. With his most serious scowling face, he told those bullies in his streams of Ukrainian/Russian that we bought those before we came in. He is so cute in his vacillations between snuggly little boy, to confident assertive interpreter. They appeared to argue with him, but he was unrelenting. His brother was not going down for a bottle of Coke! Eventually the guards walked away….but since we had no idea what had been said, we thought they were calling the police. Sweet J2 said, “It’s OK, Mom…we go.” Whew! Our little rescuer!
After all of that excitement, I needed a nap, but we still had a LOOONNG road ahead of us. The next time you hop in your car for couple of things at the Walmart, 7 minutes away, and don’t feel like going, think about a 2 mile walk then 20 min bus ride journey to get one bag of stuff.
After the Coke bottle shake-down, we popped over to the mall to get J1 a Ukraine shirt (from the EuroCup this summer so they are all on clearance for only $3!!). The entire family got one the last time we were there, but J1 insisted he didn’t need one. We decided he DOES need one and we needed to return to that Mall. We also did not remember how HUGE that Mall was since we were evidently having far too much fun walking along behind our fearless leader P. and not realizing how big it was! The kids and I FINALLY found the store with the shirts! Most malls here are not what we are used to- with a big open area flanked by two rows of stores. Most malls are random smatterings of stores under one roof. You may need to walk through one store to get to another one. Or there is a store down the center of the mall, which you can walk through, or go around on either side to get to the rest of the Mall. At one point we even had to walk through what looked like the middle of a restaurant to get to the other section of the mall!
After we had located the shirt shop we made a hasty retreat in order to get back to Maidan to meet Sl. so Ab, could go with her to Youth group! By looking at the map we determined that the metro station was VERY nearby, so we had our interpreter ask for us!:) Oh, yes, Friday was also quite cold and two of my “little Kittens had lost their mittens” so I bought them some new gloves at the vendor near the overpass, just past the scaffolding. J They were MUCH cheaper there than in the MegaMarket! J2 is always SO grateful when I buy him something and said, “Thank you Mom, these good gloves”. (or whatever the item may be). I noticed the others learning a bit more gratitude today as a couple of them thanked me for something very mundane, like breakfast, too! I KNEW he’d be as good for us as we were for him…probably even more so!
With J2’s help we found the metro nearby and hopped on. We realized after much stress and wondering, it was the green line and we needed the blue line. Ab. had suggested we just ride the metro all the way to Church and save Sl. some time out of her usual Friday picking Ab. up to ride the metro to Youth group! We gave her a call and told her we would meet her at the destination. I think she was worried about us, but we MADE IT! The hardest part was the transfer because the signage is TERRIBLE here- not just in the metro, but on the streets. No street signs! Only an occasional plaque on a building to tell you where on earth you are. Anyway, back to the metro. There are only signs telling you some stops that that train takes you to, but not a single indication of what color line it is! (Unless I haven’t figured it out! ) But we made it, and got Ab. to Sl. for their night at Youth group and the other three and I headed back home! Good thing the metro is only about a quarter, no matter how far you ride!
After Youth group, Sl. and Ab. got a ride home with Sv. and Sl hung out with us for the evening. We have started watching Survivor, Amazing Race and Touch with Sv. and have really enjoyed all of them. He has these shows on his computer, a provider which reminds me of Netflix, although I hear you can’t get Netflix here.
Saturday, October, 27, 2012
We slept in and Ab. made pancakes when we got up. Cooking in someone else’s kitchen is always challenging: gas burners when you are used to electric, different pans, different ingredients and especially cooking in the kitchen of a bachelor who doesn’t cook so has very few kitchen gadgets.:) So, Ab.'s first pancakes fell into crumbs. They were pancakes only a mother could love…and I didJ. They were still delicious crumbs even though the outward appearance was less than restaurant quality. After a little help, we managed to get the heat right and the pancakes came out just fine. Sv. came out to join us for breakfast and he said, “Somewhere in this world God is preparing a man who will love your special pancakes…and you must love him.” We all giggled. Then he added, “This plate of pancakes is like parenting- sometimes the kids are like this perfect pancake…sometimes they are more like this messed up pancake but we love all of our pancakes equally and unconditionally.” We laughed and also agreed as we ate and allowed those words of wisdom to sink in. Sl. had also joined us for breakfast and was prepared to have an adventure with us for the day. Sv. & Ir. had wedding preparation plans. The kids and I had talked with Sl. about going to a historical village type place called Pirogovo Open Air Museum. She decided to go with us, but as we heard more about the weather being SO cold on Saturday, we decided that an outdoor museum wasn’t a great choice. We actually ended up just sitting around and talking for HOURS after pancakes! It was GREAT! The three youngest played and played with the swing toy while Ab. & I solved the problems of the world with Sl. It was great!
Finally we decided to get ourselves together and take the kids ice skating. (only $7!) I had JUST made myself a note to blog about how much I LOVE October here in Ukraine and a major reason is this: NO Halloween!!! Yay! I don’t mind the kids dressing up and we actually have a great time at Fall Festivals at our Church and others, but I am over the horrific, demonic billboards all over town, the cackling/startling figurines that line every aisle in every store, and the inundation with terror everywhere you look all month! Halloween has gone from cute dress up when we were kids, to the more demonic the better and it disgusts me as a Mom. SO, the fact that I nearly forgot it was even approaching because it is NOWHERE here has been refreshing! The only reminder I saw was one little overhead banner with a silhouette of a witch on a broom. Evidently it was advertizing an upcoming event we were unfortunate enough to stumble upon…. So off we went to a sweet time of ice skating- my kids and I and our sweet friend, Sl, who leads a small group at their Church’s youth group. We walked into the mall and teenagers in full costume are everywhere! I really don’t mind costumes and saw a big spider man, and a few others which were cute- but wading through the terrorizing, bloody, evil looking ones was not what I was looking to do with my kids on a Saturday night! God truly put J2 in the right family as when he saw the costumes starting to parade by, he leaned in close and said, “I no like Halloween.” After trekking for SUCH a long walk/bus ride, metro ride and then walk- we really didn’t want to turn around and leave! We made our way to the skating rink- nearly the only place without ghouls and purchased the tickets. The skate time was 7 and it was only 6:15 so we went to the food court for a bucket of chicken wings and fries like we had before with Sv. & Ir. just before our “fish massage”! The food court was packed with gorey and frightening costumes and there was a loud obnoxious band playing. We had to eat, though, so bought our chicken. As we waited in line, J1 said, “this is all making my stomach hurt” and Sl. added, “I feel like we’re in Hell.” My thoughts exactly. Fortunately the skating rink had no ghouls.
Since the last time I ice skated I broke my tailbone- I passed! Sl. decided to skate so I waved good bye to all of them at the turnstiles and went around to watch. My original three kids have only been skating once in their lives, and inherited the athletic prowess of their parents (or the lack thereof) so they all started the first two laps clinging to the rail. J2, however, had been skating 5 times and zipped out on the ice without a care in the world- took a few spins around the rink and then came back to check on everyone else! He was very helpful, and frequently was sighted holding An.’s hand and helping her along. When J1’s boot had been hurting him and I advised him to go back to the shoe area to tighten the strings- then hadn’t seen him in a while, J2 skated off quickly to find him. On every lap J2 looked over at me, waved and smiled! More than half of the time the kids would all gather over near me to say Hi! I used to always love looking at my Mom and Dad, waving and smiling as I went by on rides- (actually even caught myself doing that the fair last summer as I went around with the kids on the ferris wheel as my parents looked on! We had to smile and wave at them on every lap!) How fun to have one more smiler and waver going by. I think he’s enjoying being adored!:)
Immediately after the skating time was over we all looked at each other and said, “let’s get out of here!” and made our way back through the teenage ghouls to the exit. Whew! I know some of you probably love it and think I’m crazy…but God modified my desires in 1991 and what used to thrill me repels me now.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Phone call from Ro. , J.V.’s Christian orphanage founder, to let me know he is meeting us at Church then wants to invite us for lunch after Church! Wow! What an honor! An even bigger honor knowing that he is running for office in Parliament and Sunday was election day!!! I was so excited to get to meet his family since we had met his precious daughter, A., in FL when J.V. was being hosted by her boyfriend’s family! It is all a crazy good story only God could have written!
We trekked to Maidan by bus, then metro red line to a stop where we caught another bus. J2 is great with directions and got us off expertly at the correct stop for his Church.
Church with J. V.! His Church was large and beautiful. Reminded me of a small version of First Baptist Merritt Island! We were met on the walk by sweet Li., Ya., and Al. from J.V.s foster family. These girls clearly adore him and were thrilled to see him again.
Before the service we decided to use the restrooms. They looked nice at first glance, but were squatty potties!! Wow, I am deciding that is normal to them. I was thinking that the squatty potties were mainly in the OLD OLD buildings, but this Church is quite new and modern. Squatty potties it was!
J. V. took us into fellowship hall where we met up with his pastor, who escorted us to front row seat in the sanctuary. Besides being yelled at by food police for our bag of croissants and a backpack on the floor, we felt very special!:) .
Praise and worship - Gods’ love goes far beyond language! Although we could only understand two words, literally, we could sense His peace, love, and JOY as the worship time continued. The worship style was contemporary with a praise team, small Choir and praise band. Our little J.V. can sing well and was singing his heart out to these songs. I wish I knew what they were! We knew two words, Jesus (Ісус - pronounced EESOOS) and Glory (Slava). We were SO thankful to have a new friend here who taught us the meaning of that name! J
After worship time, we were called up on stage for prayer with Ro. On election day! He was running for office in Parliament and took a big part of his day to be a part of ours. Wow. He prayed over us in a passionate, moving prayer while another man stood near me and translated for me. After the prayer, the Church presented me with BIG flowers! They were BEAUTIFUL and so unexpected! I am so not a center stage type person- it was an honor, but quite out of my comfort zone, as well.
Sitting through a service in another language ended up giving Ab. and I headaches. I think we were concentrating too hard trying to hear a word we knew. J I hope it isn’t this challenging for J.V. at Church in America (he knows FAR more English than we know Ukrainian, and he’s younger and can still learn more easily than me, so hopefully he will be fine!)
Fortunately, there were no tears for J.V. this time at parting from his pastor and friends. In fact he is so settled in with us that when he woke up Sunday morning he said to me, “today, I smile, because I no go home!” He was referring to our every Sunday ritual of sending him back to the orphanage for school that week until now! I am so proud of his resilience and ever improving abilities with English.
Lunch with Ro. and Na. We were greeted in their lovely home by a fluffy orange cat and a beautiful fish tank which kept us interested for quite some time. Na. insisted she didn't need help in the kitchen. Eventually, Na. had the table ready with so many dishes you couldn’t see the table! We had rice with mushrooms & chicken, potatoes and eggplant, blueberry juice, chicken nuggets, "pigs in blanket", green borsht, homemade dill pickles, jam filled crescent rolls, raspberry tarts, oranges, apples, and chocolate! And J1’s favorite…donuts for dessert….Mmmmm. We spent a little time visiting with them afterward and getting to know one another more. We enjoyed their photos on the wall of their family including their sweet daughter back home in FL. We are beyond blessed to have her so nearby to help us with translation should we need help.
After dinner, R. brought us back home to Sv.’s
We were able to see Sl. in entryway of apt complex – she was leaving just as we were arriving. Ahhh, we got some much needed big hugs before she vanished into the darkness on her way to go vote!
Monday October 29, 2012:
When I woke up, I noticed that the hall light seemed to be on…how odd. When I came out of the bedroom I discovered that N. the cleaning lady, was already here! Evidently I was sleeping so soundly I never heard the doorbell so she let herself in. I think I started her a bit when I emerged from the bedroom.
The day was cold and rainy, of courseJ
We started our day at Coffee House. It was NOT the same without our friend Ox, who had just resigned the week before. L We met another English speaker, but she wasn’t nearly as sweet and friendly as Ox.
After a couple of hours at Coffee House, we went to the Mall by the circus. On our approach to the Mall, in the mysterious underground alleyway designed to aid in crossing the street, we just HAD to have a donut to make our dreary day a little brighter. My three youngest and I got a coconut covered donut, while Ab. got chocolate. Since the underground tunnel is drab, grey and crowded we decided to go into the mall to try to find a more pleasant place to eat the donuts. When An. was yelled at for sitting on the edge of the fountain right inside the mall entry, we decided that was NOT the place! We wandered deeper into this most bizarre of malls, fashioned more like a rat maze than a mall…and finally found a bench to sit on. We were shocked to have sufficient time to consume our ENTIRE donuts without being yelled at for something! Then we looked up and saw J1 posing beside a mannequin, in the exact same pose, with the exact same facial expression! AND he made a passing Ukrainian woman LAUGH! OUT LOUD! It was awesome! We told him, “Sv. will be so proud!” That did it. For the next hour or so, we wandered through the mall and the kids posed by mannequins and posters of people. It was hilarious and quite shocking that we weren’t thrown out!!
We shopped a little in the toy store, but toys here are OUTRAGEOUS! One Disney Princess Barbie was $45! We left soon after our arrival there as I am tiring of the hateful suspicious glares we get from the store employees.
After leaving the mall, we dropped b y the F. family’s home to pick up stuff from J&P. It is ALWAYS nice to see another American!:)
On our way home from there, we stopped by Billa to pick up some groceries we needed.
It is getting really COOOOLD here now…..brrrrrrrr!
After dinner of Pelmini ( a Ukrainian dinner we will really miss!) we retreated to our room to give Sv. some space to meet with his wedding photographer.
The 3 youngest kids built a fort out of their air mattresses and entertained us with a shadow puppets show. After the show, J2 and An. played with my hair….ahhhh….heaven…..and we all calmed down for bedtime!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Nina started her day at the Court House and GOT OUR DECREE!!!! J.V. is officially Official now!!!
By noon we were all dressed and ready for Nina to pick us up any moment. None of us anticipated her trip would turn into a 3-4 hour venture to the Birth Certificate office and would end without her even seeing the people before they closed at 6.
While we waited for the phone to ring, the kids did school work. An. & J2 finished their lists and were allowed to play electronics for a while. Although it was frustrating to get all dressed and never get the “let’s go” call, it was a good day at home.
The highlight of this day, besides our court decree, was watching Narnia with the kids in the afternoon. I love that movie and having all four of my kids snuggled near me was so nice.
We made chill for dinner! Actually, Ab. made chili so boys and I could walk to store ~6pm to get water and other supplies.
Sl. & Sa. came over to visit us!!! We hadn’t seen Sa. since Friday and we were all gleeful to see one another!:) They even liked the chiliJ Chili isn’t exactly a big thing here….neither one of them had ever heard of it! Sv. joined us for the last bowl of chili. Ir. didn’t make it since she was feeling sick.:(
After dinner, Sl. & Sa. needed to use the internet since theirs in their dorm has been down for weeks. They each had their laptops and sat and caught up on facebook, etc. while the rest of us watched Touch. It is a great show about connectedness, which we have seen a lot of in real life on this amazing journey. Except, unlike the show, we know that our connectedness is God's Hand!
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012
Started out as a nice relaxing day, having coffee & reading my Bible before everybody got up…but then the text came. Nina was at Birth certificate office and had been told we needed additional paperwork from another office. Next she called and said, “I need you.” She found out before she left for the distant village that I needed to sign for this paperwork! Ah! The kids were all still in bed! I told her we could scramble and be ready in 30 min…so we did our best, got dressed, packed a breakfast bag of bread, cheese and bananas and waters and suited up for the cold day in our coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots.
We drove out about an hour to the area we needed to get these “essential papers” which had never before been asked about in any other adoption case our facilitator has had. The building was one of the nicer buildings we have been inside while here, but still didn’t have a restroom. We ventured out to the nearby shops and finally found one beside a little tiny grocery. You guessed it….a nasty, dirty squatty potty with no toilet paper and no lights inside (used the flashlight on my phone!) Since there were three large holes to the outside in the door I didn’t need my flashlight after all- ha! Some parts of this country are like a third world nation!
Oh, I must add, when Nina went in, I wandered away from the potty door to take pictures of the hilarious circuitous route we took to find the bathrooms. When Ni. came out she nearly had a heart attack because she didn’t see us! When she came around the corner she said, “Don’t do that! You scared me!!”
After the potty adventure, we went into the building we were sent to in order to get the documents they wanted to provide the birth certificate. This building was actually quite nice inside, much unlike most other places we have been. But the lobby area, complete with beautiful marble, was deserted! There were three random people standing around waiting, several closed doors surrounding the lobby, but not a soul to greet or instruct those entering the building! So bizarre! Another bizarre thing about this building was the lack of heat! Most buildings here are SMOKING HOT! It is nearly unbearable! You come in covered head to toe in coats, gloves and hats and immediately have to strip down to an undershirt in order to avoid combustion! But this building was freezing, so we sat in our coats and waited. …and waited and waited and waited. We left the kids out in the car with Ro. the driver while we waited. Actually he wandered down the street to go to the bank and the pharmacy, so they pretty much just waited in the van. After about an hour, Nina finally made it into the mysterious door we needed to go into, and learned that they were going to lunch, but would be ready to help us in 30 min. Oh, wow. We returned to the van to wait somewhere warm! I spotted a playground behind this run down Soviet looking apartment building we were parked beside, so took my two “Littles” to play a while on the swings, slide and teeter totter. The playground equipment was in FAR better condition than the dilapidated apartments…odd. After a few minutes, I HAD to get back to the car as I was the coldest I have been since we got to Ukraine! BRRRRRRRRR!!! I was standing there shivering and wishing I had long johns. My jeans felt as thin as if I had worn shorts!
I had some nice conversation with our facilitator while we waited and we shared a few laughs. She agrees that Ukraine is totally messed up and is super frustrated with all of these crazy delays.
When we were finally called into the office where they had those essential papers, we took our seats to watch the “show”. We nearly laughed out loud at the lady in the unprecedented extra document office...moving like a snail, stapling our packet of papers in three places rather than just the corner...as if she was making a book...then stacking two extra papers in that, then pulling out a legal size envelope, attempting to stuff the booklet into it.. unsuccessfully, taking papers out of packet so they'll fit. FINALLY getting them in, closing envelope then getting a bottle of elmers glue wanna-be out to seal it..which was slow moving so she had to tap tap tap it. It was like a Tim Conway and Mrs. AWhiggins show!! I couldn't look at Nina... but I did and we both stiffled our laughter with a smirk. We finally got out of there and BURST into laughter in the parking lot!
Fast forward about 3 hours and we FINALLY had the paperwork necessary for the Birth Certificate office. It was after 3 and the kids were starving so on our way back to town, we all went to McDONALDS! It smelled heavenly and comforting! We indulged in McChickens or Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. J.V. selected a Happy Meal! AND, the bathrooms were NORMAL, CLEAN and fresh smelling! Wow!!
After our late lunch, we made it to the Birth Certificate office. After waiting about 45 minutes in the van, we went into the building to find a restroom and Ni.’s face was downcast. She said they had just informed her that there was a mistake in the Court Decree. We have to return to the frightening judge! Ni. Is the one who has to face her, so she was especially distraught about having to go back. We made it back before the courts closed, but the judge was gone for the day. SO, this saga carries on in the morning!
We returned to the apartment, made some spaghetti and meat sauce and got ready for bed.
More next time on “Adventures in Ukrainian Adoption” The trials are great, but the reward is beyond description! Oh, speaking of my reward, as I waved good-bye to our facilitator out in front of the apartment, I stepped into a hole in the sidewalk and stumbled into my wall of children. It didn’t hurt at all, just startled me so I laughed and the kids all laughed. Except J.V…..he said, with GREAT concern, “Mom, you OK?” I assured him I was. He told the others, still laughing at me, “It no funny.” “Mom you ok?” I tried to explain that I was fine…and it really was pretty funny, but he kept insisting that it was “no funny.” All the way back to the apartmentJ Again, he’s just as important for us as we are for him, if not more so!
