Toto, We are NOT in Kyiv Anymore

The second leg of our wild & crazy adventure started yesterday afternoon when we packed up all of our stuff and headed down to meet our facilitor to go to the SDA to pick our our referral that we requested the day before. While we were still in the apartment we could see there was a crowd gather in front of our apartment building which was unusual (like we've been here long enough to know what is "unusual", but our apartment building entrance is sort of in an alley. So people don't general come this way without a purpose. Turns out they were actors and movie- (or TV or commercial) making people. They filmed a scene a few times and left. No big deal - if you actually knew what was going on but at first it was a bit unnerving!

Our visit to the SDA was swift. We entered through the same side doors but this time passed by the staircase into this tiny area where there was a desk and a woman issuing referrals from the day before. There was no waiting; only showed our passports, signed our names, and said spaseeba. Then we enjoyed a very nice meal with our facilitator and other friends from the US who also picked up their referral. After dinner is when we parted ways with our American friends as we were all taking a train but to different places and we had different drivers to the train station.

We arrived at the train station with no time to spare. I could only describe the traffic scene at choas (and I pursposefully left our the word "organized").

The train was very nice and thanks to my lil' motion sickness patch, I actually enjoyed some sleep! And some "brewed" koyfee. The best part about the train, NO SMOKING!

When I asked our facilitator how we would know when it was time to get off of the train, he said it is the last stop. Like we'll know? We did. I wish I could tell you where we were at that point, but I don't know! I also had asked our facilitator how we would know who our driver was who was to meet us at our train destination. He said the driver would recognize us. Hmmmm...if I had to guess I would imagine his description of us to the driver was as brief as short red hair! Our driver spotted us immediately and I greeted him with my best do-bra-ye-oosta (good morning) & he seemed to appreciate my efforts. He's a very kind man but seems to speak about as much English as I do Russian!

We had a 2-hour car ride to our final destination. The landscape was mostly flat & littered and the road was mostly potholed and uneven. Thanks again, to my motion sickness patch. I surely would have not enjoyed myself nearly as much (in fact, I might have died) as we weaved, bounce, and bobbled the entire way!

I can't tell you how many buildings I saw (some of the 10-stories high or more) there were complete shells; no windows, no nothing. It was impossible to tell if the buildings were on their way up or their way down. And they seemed to be everywhere! I don't get it.... And the housing is like nothing we are accustomed either. Everything looks rundown and overgrown with bare vines.

There are no leaves yet on the trees. Maybe while we are here? Most likely yes considering how loooong we will be here! We are hoping that by the end of our trip we will no longer need our coats and can leave them with one of the orphanages.

Our driver had the radio on while we were in the car and most of the songs and talking were in Russian or Ukrainian. But every so often you would hear something in English. Oh, and Flashdance came on (the original English version). It took all I had not to sing along! But now you can see how turning off your brain isn't possible! And to that end, it occured to me today that in the very old country, it is not uncommon to see things in English. Yet in our very young country, you would never see anything in Russian. Made me realize how strong of an influence our little baby country has made on the world! Whether you like the Obama administration (or the ones before him), our democratic checks and balances really do work.

Upon arrival to our destination, we meet our facilitator briefly (she has court today with another family from the US adopting from our son's orphanage) and our driver to us to McDonalds for breakfast. So here we are trying to figure out how we are going to order. It would have been easy if they had numbered combos like we do in the US. We could have just held up the number of fingers corresponding to the combo meal we wanted. But no numbered combos. So Richard's looking like he'll just go hungry & I approach the counter flashing my Russian dictionary & start pointing at the overhead pictures only to be handed a picture menu! Yay, we will eat afterall!

Our drived then escourted us to our apartment which we will call home for the next 5 or so days. It is a bit larger than our apartment in Kyiv but not quiet as nice. No matter...we are keeping our eye on the prize!

I've taken lots of pictures to bring my words to life but I don't think my internet connectio will support me uploading the photos. :(

We are told that in about three hours, we will be picked up. I am not sure if we have business to tend to first or if we will go directly to the orphanage to meet out son. Either way, we're anxious and excited to meet him. We have no idea if he has been informed about us and if so, what he has been told. Should be interesting! :)

We've waited for this day for a long time.........