We met the McCoys today, adopting Celia. They are just as kind and wonderful in real life, as we thought they were. They live in Arizona, quite far from us, but they have family in our town. We hope to keep in touch with them, so our kids can grow up knowing each other. We have really enjoyed getting to meet so many different families here and hear what has led them to adoption.
Other that that, we've had a boring day. Some packing and stuff, getting things ready for tomorrow. I packed two little outfits. We also have two grocery bags of toys to give the children at the orphanage, thanks to the children and youth staff at Lawrence Heights Christian Church. They are also in the process of collecting shoes and other donations for this orphanage.
I am eager for tomorrow and also a bit um, anxious? Sasha arrives here at 4am! We will all go back to sleep for a bit and then start the document run at 8. I just really hope we can get it all done. I know we will if it is possible-- Sasha and our driver are really wonderful. I am sort of hoping for a day of down time before we head back to Kiev. We'd like to see the McCoys again and rest a bit.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A Very Good Day
It is only 11am here, but today is turning out to be a very good day.
Thanks to some wonderful friends at home, our house will be decorated for Christmas. It sounds so trivial, but coming home to a festive house will mean a lot to us. It is hard to get in the Christmas spirit here. We are not bombarded with the holidays like we are at home. We are doing out best to remember it is in 10 days and we listen to Christmas music often. Especially Sara Groves' FREE O Holy Night Tour. You can download it here. It is a wonderful mix of classic Christmas carols and her own music.
I am feeling way less sick today. I think I've coughed once all morning. I am so glad that I should have my energy up for Friday.
Our driver took us to the outdoor market. It was so much fun! I am glad we declined his offer to help us. Struggling to communicate can be a bit fun at times. We got boots for both kids, which were each $31.25 USD. That was about what we found them for at a store around the corner from us, but that store had few options in their sizes and we like the ones we got. We just wandered around the market for awhile, taking it all in. Lots of clothes for sale. That was most of it, at least in the section we were in. There were also ladies pushing little coffee carts for the vendors to warm up. I can't imagine being at one of those stands all day.
My mom will be mad... I did not take a single photo of the market. I wanted to wait until we were leaving, in case that was NOT okay with them. I did find this photo, which looks like the same market we went to. But, you have to imagine snow everywhere. A few inches on the ground and people shoveling it out of the way with whatever they had... brooms, dustpans or shovels.
After that, we asked our driver to stop at the grocery store. We wanted to get some gifts, like boxes of chocolate for the orphanage staff. One of the things I wanted to get was a children's book in Russian for them-- just to have as a keepsake. We looked at all of the books at the grocery store, not sure which one to buy or what they were able. But we found a children's alphabet book with all of the Russian letters. Very cute. We also got all of our major gifts covered. And we got diapers. Basically my whole list from yesterday has been done. A big relief.
We also got a call from Celia's papa today! They're here! I really fell in love with Celia while advocating about her on my blog. Meeting her during our visits at the orphanage just confirmed that she is just as special as I thought. Although we have not met them in person yet, Celia's family seems really wonderful too and I am so excited to get to know them and hear how their first meeting went with Celia. Just for clarification, her name is not really Celia, just like Scarlett Lena was not really Erika, the name we first identified her with. It is just a code name for internet protection.
The reality of Friday, picking Ilya and Lena up forever, is slowly hitting me. Setting out their clothes, packing our bags, it's all becoming a lot more real.
Thanks to some wonderful friends at home, our house will be decorated for Christmas. It sounds so trivial, but coming home to a festive house will mean a lot to us. It is hard to get in the Christmas spirit here. We are not bombarded with the holidays like we are at home. We are doing out best to remember it is in 10 days and we listen to Christmas music often. Especially Sara Groves' FREE O Holy Night Tour. You can download it here. It is a wonderful mix of classic Christmas carols and her own music.
I am feeling way less sick today. I think I've coughed once all morning. I am so glad that I should have my energy up for Friday.
Our driver took us to the outdoor market. It was so much fun! I am glad we declined his offer to help us. Struggling to communicate can be a bit fun at times. We got boots for both kids, which were each $31.25 USD. That was about what we found them for at a store around the corner from us, but that store had few options in their sizes and we like the ones we got. We just wandered around the market for awhile, taking it all in. Lots of clothes for sale. That was most of it, at least in the section we were in. There were also ladies pushing little coffee carts for the vendors to warm up. I can't imagine being at one of those stands all day.
My mom will be mad... I did not take a single photo of the market. I wanted to wait until we were leaving, in case that was NOT okay with them. I did find this photo, which looks like the same market we went to. But, you have to imagine snow everywhere. A few inches on the ground and people shoveling it out of the way with whatever they had... brooms, dustpans or shovels.
After that, we asked our driver to stop at the grocery store. We wanted to get some gifts, like boxes of chocolate for the orphanage staff. One of the things I wanted to get was a children's book in Russian for them-- just to have as a keepsake. We looked at all of the books at the grocery store, not sure which one to buy or what they were able. But we found a children's alphabet book with all of the Russian letters. Very cute. We also got all of our major gifts covered. And we got diapers. Basically my whole list from yesterday has been done. A big relief.
We also got a call from Celia's papa today! They're here! I really fell in love with Celia while advocating about her on my blog. Meeting her during our visits at the orphanage just confirmed that she is just as special as I thought. Although we have not met them in person yet, Celia's family seems really wonderful too and I am so excited to get to know them and hear how their first meeting went with Celia. Just for clarification, her name is not really Celia, just like Scarlett Lena was not really Erika, the name we first identified her with. It is just a code name for internet protection.
The reality of Friday, picking Ilya and Lena up forever, is slowly hitting me. Setting out their clothes, packing our bags, it's all becoming a lot more real.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Still Quarantined and Good News
Sasha called us around 11 this morning telling us to be ready to go to the notary in a half hour. So, off we went, downstairs to meet our driver. We seemed to be getting closer to where Olivia's family is staying. "I wonder if we're picking them up?" Yes, we were. They needed to go to the notary too.
We went there to make a paper to apply for the kids' passports. It did not take long. It is so funny... Sasha translates the whole thing for us. Then we sign both papers. Then, they give us the official copies to sign. I am not sure what they do with the official copies, but I swear I saw them rip them up the first time we went to the notary. Like, please sign this. We need you to practice your signature before you sign anything official.
After we were done at the notary, the driver took Olivia's parents back to get ready for court and Aaron, Sasha and I hung out in the mall, waiting for him to come back. Sat there and talked, asking Sasha all of the questions I have been wanting answered. Very important things. Like what kind of vodka I should get my sister for Christmas.
Then the driver returned and off we went to run another errand, before heading home. Sasha wanted to take care of what she could for us today so that we can get everything possible done on Friday.
Our most exciting thing we did today is to book our tickets home! We'll be flying in to Kansas City at 6:40pm on Christmas Eve! I cannot wait!
I feel like we have so much to get done before we go. We want to get gifts for some of the people who have been good to us and Ilya and Lena. People at the orphanage, Sasha, our driver, Ilya and Lena's friends at the orphanage. Exchange some money. Try to find pull-ups. Market tomorrow for boots for the kids.
Before we left, I took all of the money and divided it up into envelopes marked for different things. "Facilitator." "Visas." "Passports." One of my envelopes was marked "Orphanage Donation/Dossier Prep" from the Reece's Rainbow handbook. Well, the orphanage donation was apparently a part of our facilitator fee and we do not need to give them an additional donation. The cost of our plane tickets was a bit more than expected. I believe because we are flying so close to Christmas. But without that extra fee, it all works out. Yay!
We went there to make a paper to apply for the kids' passports. It did not take long. It is so funny... Sasha translates the whole thing for us. Then we sign both papers. Then, they give us the official copies to sign. I am not sure what they do with the official copies, but I swear I saw them rip them up the first time we went to the notary. Like, please sign this. We need you to practice your signature before you sign anything official.
After we were done at the notary, the driver took Olivia's parents back to get ready for court and Aaron, Sasha and I hung out in the mall, waiting for him to come back. Sat there and talked, asking Sasha all of the questions I have been wanting answered. Very important things. Like what kind of vodka I should get my sister for Christmas.
Then the driver returned and off we went to run another errand, before heading home. Sasha wanted to take care of what she could for us today so that we can get everything possible done on Friday.
Our most exciting thing we did today is to book our tickets home! We'll be flying in to Kansas City at 6:40pm on Christmas Eve! I cannot wait!
I feel like we have so much to get done before we go. We want to get gifts for some of the people who have been good to us and Ilya and Lena. People at the orphanage, Sasha, our driver, Ilya and Lena's friends at the orphanage. Exchange some money. Try to find pull-ups. Market tomorrow for boots for the kids.
Before we left, I took all of the money and divided it up into envelopes marked for different things. "Facilitator." "Visas." "Passports." One of my envelopes was marked "Orphanage Donation/Dossier Prep" from the Reece's Rainbow handbook. Well, the orphanage donation was apparently a part of our facilitator fee and we do not need to give them an additional donation. The cost of our plane tickets was a bit more than expected. I believe because we are flying so close to Christmas. But without that extra fee, it all works out. Yay!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Quarantine
We showed up at the orphanage at our regular time. Aaron went upstairs to get Lena, while Olivia's parents and I waited downstairs for someone to get Ilya and Olivia. Aaron came back down about 10 minutes later and told us that the kids were in quarantine and we could not visit them.
Disappointing, especially for Olivia's family, who will only be here until tomorrow. And the kids will also be quarantined tomorrow.
We thought since we know had lots of time and a driver who we were already planning on paying for 3 hours, we'd stop at the supermarket and the outdoor market. Well, the outdoor market is closed on Mondays! So, we just stopped at the supermarket and were home by 11. A disappointing day, but I hope that the kids will be feeling better by the time we break them out and I'll be feeling 100% too!
Disappointing, especially for Olivia's family, who will only be here until tomorrow. And the kids will also be quarantined tomorrow.
We thought since we know had lots of time and a driver who we were already planning on paying for 3 hours, we'd stop at the supermarket and the outdoor market. Well, the outdoor market is closed on Mondays! So, we just stopped at the supermarket and were home by 11. A disappointing day, but I hope that the kids will be feeling better by the time we break them out and I'll be feeling 100% too!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
More Q & A
How was the train ride from Kyiv to where you are now?
It was not bad, but very long-- 15 hours. We had first class tickets, because that is all Nikolei could get for us. The train left at 7:40. We slept for awhile, about 9:30 until about 5am for me. I was very concerned that we'd get off at the wrong place, which really should not have been a concern, because Sasha hopped on and got us. The bathrooms really are as disgusting as everyone says, though. Everything in them is wet. Bring hand sanitizer and wipes.
What is your flat like in this city?
It is huge! We pay about $45USD/day. We have internet (obviously) and cable TV, which gets channels in many different languages. The English channels, either 1 or 2 of them, are not so good.
This is our kitchen, of course. Refrig, Stove, Microwave, Sink, no oven.
This is the living room. The couch pulls out into a second bed.
This is the washing machine in the bathroom, very small and no dryer. This thing shakes so hard it will knock off whatever is on top of it. And in this case, it disconnected a bit from the waterline and leaked a bit.
This is the bedroom, very big. The bed is futon-like and not super comfortable.
Do you get any sense of the general politics there?
No. Not really. There is a very big statute of Lenin, and then down a few blocks, there is a very big statue of Artoma, a revolution leader (don't ask me more about him!).
What are you doing about language? Will you have them only speak English, or will you try to continue Ukrainian (or Russian)? Do they speak Russian as well as Ukrainian?
They'll speak all English. In this region, they only speak Russian. As I understand it, it is best for an adopted child to lose their first language and learn exclusively their parents' language to bond with their parents. If they want to relearn Russian or learn Ukrainian when they're older, we'd be happy to help them pursue that.
Are you taking a cab back/forth to the orphanage?
We have a driver. Same guy, every day. He waits at the orphanage during our visit. His name is Oleg and he is a great guy, so nice and tries to speak English to us. A taxi costs about $12.50 per visit. A driver costs about $22.50 + tip per visit. We tried a taxi the first day and he had to stop twice and ask for directions. Our taxi on the way home smelled horrible and I was about ready to vomit. Of course, most taxi drivers don't speak English and don't know we don't speak Russian. I didn't think I could deal with the surprise of a new taxi driver each day. We decided to hire a driver. Now, we share our driver with Olivia's family, which cuts the cost down a lot. I am very happy with our driver and he will stop wherever we ask for an additional cost, which is great for getting things like groceries.
It was not bad, but very long-- 15 hours. We had first class tickets, because that is all Nikolei could get for us. The train left at 7:40. We slept for awhile, about 9:30 until about 5am for me. I was very concerned that we'd get off at the wrong place, which really should not have been a concern, because Sasha hopped on and got us. The bathrooms really are as disgusting as everyone says, though. Everything in them is wet. Bring hand sanitizer and wipes.
What is your flat like in this city?
It is huge! We pay about $45USD/day. We have internet (obviously) and cable TV, which gets channels in many different languages. The English channels, either 1 or 2 of them, are not so good.
This is our kitchen, of course. Refrig, Stove, Microwave, Sink, no oven.
This is the living room. The couch pulls out into a second bed.
This is the washing machine in the bathroom, very small and no dryer. This thing shakes so hard it will knock off whatever is on top of it. And in this case, it disconnected a bit from the waterline and leaked a bit.
This is the bedroom, very big. The bed is futon-like and not super comfortable.
Do you get any sense of the general politics there?
No. Not really. There is a very big statute of Lenin, and then down a few blocks, there is a very big statue of Artoma, a revolution leader (don't ask me more about him!).
What are you doing about language? Will you have them only speak English, or will you try to continue Ukrainian (or Russian)? Do they speak Russian as well as Ukrainian?
They'll speak all English. In this region, they only speak Russian. As I understand it, it is best for an adopted child to lose their first language and learn exclusively their parents' language to bond with their parents. If they want to relearn Russian or learn Ukrainian when they're older, we'd be happy to help them pursue that.
Are you taking a cab back/forth to the orphanage?
We have a driver. Same guy, every day. He waits at the orphanage during our visit. His name is Oleg and he is a great guy, so nice and tries to speak English to us. A taxi costs about $12.50 per visit. A driver costs about $22.50 + tip per visit. We tried a taxi the first day and he had to stop twice and ask for directions. Our taxi on the way home smelled horrible and I was about ready to vomit. Of course, most taxi drivers don't speak English and don't know we don't speak Russian. I didn't think I could deal with the surprise of a new taxi driver each day. We decided to hire a driver. Now, we share our driver with Olivia's family, which cuts the cost down a lot. I am very happy with our driver and he will stop wherever we ask for an additional cost, which is great for getting things like groceries.
Friday, December 10, 2010
No Camera and James
You all are going to be mad... I forgot the camera today!
James from Reece's Rainbow came by and played with us today. He was waiting for his grandmother to visit, as I could understand. And she never showed up. :( He is a very cute little boy. He and Ilya are buddies and were wrestling and throwing things at each other-- having a lot of fun like little boys do. He seems like such a sweet little boy. I know there is a family out there for him. Who is it?!?!
James from Reece's Rainbow came by and played with us today. He was waiting for his grandmother to visit, as I could understand. And she never showed up. :( He is a very cute little boy. He and Ilya are buddies and were wrestling and throwing things at each other-- having a lot of fun like little boys do. He seems like such a sweet little boy. I know there is a family out there for him. Who is it?!?!
I'd be happy to tell any interested mamas and papas more about him. He is about 6 months older than Ilya and is about the same size, maybe even a tad bit smaller than him.
The boys got pretty crazy. It was all a bit overwhelming. Lena just sat on my lap for awhile and we watched them. She clearly gets overwhelmed when things are a bit crazy... just wait til you get home and meet the dogs, Lena!
For past few days, the kids have had a new game, running up the hall away from us. It is a bit exhausting and really just no fun for us grownups. I am really ready for "gotcha day" when we take them out of the orphanage.
I should have clarified yesterday... I am not homesick, just ready to go home. That might not make sense, but you know how when you go on vacation, you reach a point where you're just ready to go home? Like that. I was totally exhausted today and I have a sore throat right now. I am missing the comforts of a grocery store with 30 different kinds of orange juice and the deliciousness of American comfort food.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Please
Today's visit was just another normal visit. Lena was still being a bit more irritable than usual, but she was much better than yesterday.
Ilya is very cute with the girls. The girls were playing a rather trying game of running up the hall away from us today, to get us to chase them and pick them up. Ilya took it upon himself to bring them back a few times. Lena would respond to him going to get her and running back herself, but Ilya may have literally been trying to drag Olivia up the hall at one point. I think she was laughing, but someone intervened.
Ilya learned a new word today. "Please". He gets very demanding during our snacktime. "Caka, Caka, Sus, Sus, Caka". I was telling him "please" in Russian, trying to get him to say "Caka, please". Well, he wouldn't say it in Russian, so I thought I'd try English. And then he said it... "please!". All of the grownups just burst out laughing and he was sooo proud of himself. Huge smile. I think speech is a struggle for him, and he can be shy about it. After that, I asked Lena to say please when she wanted a cracker and the little copy cat said "crackers cheese!"
Lena sat on my lap for over a half hour eat crackers. Constantly. Ilya and Olivia got up and played. She watched but she was totally content to keep eating as long as I handed over another one when she said "crackers cheese!" I don't know how many crackers she ate, but it was a lot. I am not sure if it was out of hunger (certainly a possibility) or a security thing, wanting to know that there was food and she could have it. Eventually, she slowed down and I put them away. I think she may have kept on eating if I had let her, but I was able to put them away without much fussing.
I hate to sound whiny, but I am ready to go home. There are lots and lots of things which I am missing. Two and a half weeks is a long time to be gone and it'll be at least another two before we're home.
Ilya is very cute with the girls. The girls were playing a rather trying game of running up the hall away from us today, to get us to chase them and pick them up. Ilya took it upon himself to bring them back a few times. Lena would respond to him going to get her and running back herself, but Ilya may have literally been trying to drag Olivia up the hall at one point. I think she was laughing, but someone intervened.
Ilya learned a new word today. "Please". He gets very demanding during our snacktime. "Caka, Caka, Sus, Sus, Caka". I was telling him "please" in Russian, trying to get him to say "Caka, please". Well, he wouldn't say it in Russian, so I thought I'd try English. And then he said it... "please!". All of the grownups just burst out laughing and he was sooo proud of himself. Huge smile. I think speech is a struggle for him, and he can be shy about it. After that, I asked Lena to say please when she wanted a cracker and the little copy cat said "crackers cheese!"
Lena sat on my lap for over a half hour eat crackers. Constantly. Ilya and Olivia got up and played. She watched but she was totally content to keep eating as long as I handed over another one when she said "crackers cheese!" I don't know how many crackers she ate, but it was a lot. I am not sure if it was out of hunger (certainly a possibility) or a security thing, wanting to know that there was food and she could have it. Eventually, she slowed down and I put them away. I think she may have kept on eating if I had let her, but I was able to put them away without much fussing.
I hate to sound whiny, but I am ready to go home. There are lots and lots of things which I am missing. Two and a half weeks is a long time to be gone and it'll be at least another two before we're home.
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