What are we thankful for in Ukraine?
*Ana - the reason we are here. We can not wait to be home and spend time as a family but have enjoyed the family time we have been able to spend here with Ana.
*Our kids - We had many people tell us this would be a mistake but I have to say that we would not do this any other way. Not sure how Jim and I would have made it 3 weeks without them. We felt that it was really important for our family for everyone to experience Ana's culture and see how she has spent the first 14 year of her life. The kids have had some life changing experiences here - things that they will remember forever
* Kostyia - we are so blessed to have a facilitator has great as Kostyia. He has been wonderful through the entire process here, speaks very fluent English and has become a lifelong friend. We can not wait until he brings his family to visit us in America!
*Liliya and Michale - It made the past 2 1/2 weeks go faster to have friends in the same town.
* Skype and Internet - I don't think we have ever relied on it more than we have here
* walking out the door and buying milk - Having never lived in a city (except for Jim) it has been nice have all the things you need right outside your door or just a short walk away
* chicken and perogies - our main diet here
*Pepsi - those that know me well know that I can not live without my pepsi. It is a little harder to find than Coke here but it's here!
* Soccer - so thankful that the boys could find friends to play with here to run out some energy! Plus it has been like a Ukrainian Soccer Camp for 3 weeks - lots of practice!
* American Music playing in the taxi and in stores!
* The cost of living here- Amazing! I can't believe what I walk out of a store with for such a small amount of $. Also, out to eat costs us less than half of what it costs at home. For the most part, everything here is cheaper with very few exceptions. And as far as Americans making so much more than people do here - it is all relative. We could live here for far less than what we need to survive at home.
* Our family and friends encouraging words and prayers back home - it has truly kept us going!
Things we miss from home:
* Family and Friends
* Emma and Zeb - we are sure they proably think we are never coming back!
* School - the kids are ready to go back and I am ready to get back to teaching
*Washer, Dryer, Microwave - Doing luandry for 6 in the bathtub for 3 weeks is not a fun task. Jim has taken on most of this responsibility.
*Paper Towels or any decent paper products! - A family of six can not live without Bounty!
* A big house and backyard with grass! - There is not much grass here at all - mostly weeds and dirt.
* American TV - The Tv here has been on less than 5 times
* Knowing what I am buying at the grocery store - like the 3 times I bought ketchup instead of spaghetti sauce or the pork I bought when thought it was steak!
* A kitchen that has all the utensils and pot and pans that I need - and my electric stove!
* Driving our own vehicles and roads with lines on them! - I will never complain about Kyle's driving again! I can't wait to get in the suburban and have some control over my life - instead of watching it flash before my eyes every time I am on the road!
*Dance,Soccer, all of the events that make our life crazy at home!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Court!
It has taken me a full day to blog about court because I just don't know what to say. The emotions yesterday were overwhelming. We have been through a stressful year to get to this point and it was such a relief to hear Kostyia translate that the court was granting the petition to adopt.
When we got the courthouse, we waited in the hallway for quite a while. Our hearing was delayed while Michale tried to get back in to see the judge after Friday's unsuccessful round. Happy to say that she was successful on Monday and now has a son, Evon. While we waited, Ana and I played games on my iphone (how did I function without that until 3 weeks ago?). When we first went in it was just all of the people for the court, Jim, Kostyia and I. Ana waited outside. It took place in the judge's chambers so it was very laid back, we all sat around a table - but it was still unsettling. The judge asked us some basic questions, Where do you work? What do you make? Tell us about your house. They were all surprised that we had all of the kids here with us and were very interested in what our kids thought about the experience (our 4 were still at the apartment sleeping). Some of the women (it was all women including the judge) asked us some other questions - are we from a religious sect since we have such a big family - I loved that one expecially since I finished reading the book, Stolen Innocence about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS in Utah. They asked we why wanted more children, how we were going to care for them all and if we thought there would be any jealousy (I answered no because that is what I knew they wanted to hear but - really? Have any of them ever been part of a family?)
Then, the judge read through some of the submitted paperwork and asked the representives to give their opinions - the social worker, the orphanage representative and the SDA rep. During this time there was major construction going on right outside the door, everyone was kind of laughing and judge went out and yelled something in Russian. Next, the judge's cell phone rang and she went out to the hall to take the call - the reps just kept talking - it was rather amusing! They called Ana in and she gave her memorized speech from the director. The words were obviously not her own but what the director wanted her to say (remember that there is an issue here about those who support hosting programs and those who do not).
We were asked to step out into the hall again and wait. In about 10 minutes we called back in and told the adoption was approved and on the 11th day we could take Ana from the Center.
It was a surreal moment. Tears, smiles, laughter. Ana was on cloud nine. We picked up the kids at the apartment and went back to the Center. The director was all smiles and extremely friendly today. She took us upstairs to show us around (Ana already did that but we just pretended that we hadn't seen it) and then allowed Ana to go with us for pizza. This was a big deal for Ana she jumped up and down and hugged the director saying thank you thank you.
It was a nice walk to the restaurant with all of us. I can't wait until we are free to do that whenever we want! We let Ana pick the pizza that she wanted from the menu and we ordered a couple other pizzas. Kostyia ordered French Fries - I don't think any of us have been so happy to eat fries as we were yesterday. It has been 3 weeks! I think Ana ate about 5 pieces of pizza! Then we walked to get her picture taken for the Embassy and back to the Center for the party.
The kids preformed at the party with dancing and singing - it was very good. Ana sang a solo that she dedicated to me - priceless. Check the vidoes out on youtube (tyronesoccer). Ana's group all wished her something - good luck, a happy life, etc. Ana is very well liked at the Center and you could tell by the tears and hugs that were given. Everyone seemed honestly excited for her even though I am sure they are wishing it was them. A couple of the younger girls were teary during most of the program.
We took a couple more pics and came back to the apartment after a long, exciting and exhausting day!
Today's agenda - visiting with Ana afterschool and shopping for some things to take home.
When we got the courthouse, we waited in the hallway for quite a while. Our hearing was delayed while Michale tried to get back in to see the judge after Friday's unsuccessful round. Happy to say that she was successful on Monday and now has a son, Evon. While we waited, Ana and I played games on my iphone (how did I function without that until 3 weeks ago?). When we first went in it was just all of the people for the court, Jim, Kostyia and I. Ana waited outside. It took place in the judge's chambers so it was very laid back, we all sat around a table - but it was still unsettling. The judge asked us some basic questions, Where do you work? What do you make? Tell us about your house. They were all surprised that we had all of the kids here with us and were very interested in what our kids thought about the experience (our 4 were still at the apartment sleeping). Some of the women (it was all women including the judge) asked us some other questions - are we from a religious sect since we have such a big family - I loved that one expecially since I finished reading the book, Stolen Innocence about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS in Utah. They asked we why wanted more children, how we were going to care for them all and if we thought there would be any jealousy (I answered no because that is what I knew they wanted to hear but - really? Have any of them ever been part of a family?)
Then, the judge read through some of the submitted paperwork and asked the representives to give their opinions - the social worker, the orphanage representative and the SDA rep. During this time there was major construction going on right outside the door, everyone was kind of laughing and judge went out and yelled something in Russian. Next, the judge's cell phone rang and she went out to the hall to take the call - the reps just kept talking - it was rather amusing! They called Ana in and she gave her memorized speech from the director. The words were obviously not her own but what the director wanted her to say (remember that there is an issue here about those who support hosting programs and those who do not).
We were asked to step out into the hall again and wait. In about 10 minutes we called back in and told the adoption was approved and on the 11th day we could take Ana from the Center.
It was a surreal moment. Tears, smiles, laughter. Ana was on cloud nine. We picked up the kids at the apartment and went back to the Center. The director was all smiles and extremely friendly today. She took us upstairs to show us around (Ana already did that but we just pretended that we hadn't seen it) and then allowed Ana to go with us for pizza. This was a big deal for Ana she jumped up and down and hugged the director saying thank you thank you.
It was a nice walk to the restaurant with all of us. I can't wait until we are free to do that whenever we want! We let Ana pick the pizza that she wanted from the menu and we ordered a couple other pizzas. Kostyia ordered French Fries - I don't think any of us have been so happy to eat fries as we were yesterday. It has been 3 weeks! I think Ana ate about 5 pieces of pizza! Then we walked to get her picture taken for the Embassy and back to the Center for the party.
The kids preformed at the party with dancing and singing - it was very good. Ana sang a solo that she dedicated to me - priceless. Check the vidoes out on youtube (tyronesoccer). Ana's group all wished her something - good luck, a happy life, etc. Ana is very well liked at the Center and you could tell by the tears and hugs that were given. Everyone seemed honestly excited for her even though I am sure they are wishing it was them. A couple of the younger girls were teary during most of the program.
We took a couple more pics and came back to the apartment after a long, exciting and exhausting day!
Today's agenda - visiting with Ana afterschool and shopping for some things to take home.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday
Last evening and this morning we spent time watching videos of 9/11. MB, Keegan and Kelton had never really watched any of it and so it was quite a learning experience for them. It is really strange to be in another country on this day while we think about how our world changed 10 years ago. I really wanted to hang an American flag today from our apartment.
We spent the day visiting with Ana - we played ping pong, basketball, soccer and took lots of pictures. I just love the group of girls (and boys) Ana spends most of her time with. There was quite a successful hosting program over the summer and many of the kids will be living with their forever families in Utah soon. We tried to explain that Utah and Pa are not very close to each other but maybe at some point the kids can see each other again. At least they will all be in the same country!
One girl, Vika, really touched my heart today. Her English was amazing and we had a great conversation. She is going to a family with 7 siblings. She will pretty much be in the middle at 14. She just loved Kelton and told me how much she likes little children. We talked about how she could be a teacher one day and I told her that's what I do. She asked some questions about it and said - I think that is what I will do. A beautiful girl with a good heart and great personality. I was so happy to hear that she was waiting for her family.
Ana tried on some clothes for me today so I could see if I have the right size for her. We will have to provide her with clothes on the day she leaves. I think they will do however, I'm pretty sure the mall is calling us already and we are not even home yet!
We walked to and from the orphanage today. On the way back we stopped at a big market that we had not been to yet. It even had the signs with English underneath. I knew I liked it right away. There were many more choices compared to our little market by our apartment. And we even found paper towels. Not sure how this family of 6 has survived for over 2 weeks without paper towels!
We took the kids to the circus today. It was 3 hours long and on hard wooden bleachers - we were sore when we walked out! It was entertaining. We understood about 90% of what was going on and enjoyed many of the American songs they played in the background - We Will Rock You, Mission Impossible.
Then we checked out the new pizza place by our apartment. More American music - Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull. It is so nice to hear English once in a while! The pizza was not anything great but we were starved (since the tuna noodle casserole we made before the circus ended up in the garbage - the mushroom sauce was not what we were expecting).
It was our first night walking back in the dark. We have made sure we have been home before dark every other night. We made it safe and sound.
Tomorrow is the big day! Court is at 9:30(2:30AM your time). Ana is very excited! We will post as soon as we are somewhere with internet.
We spent the day visiting with Ana - we played ping pong, basketball, soccer and took lots of pictures. I just love the group of girls (and boys) Ana spends most of her time with. There was quite a successful hosting program over the summer and many of the kids will be living with their forever families in Utah soon. We tried to explain that Utah and Pa are not very close to each other but maybe at some point the kids can see each other again. At least they will all be in the same country!
One girl, Vika, really touched my heart today. Her English was amazing and we had a great conversation. She is going to a family with 7 siblings. She will pretty much be in the middle at 14. She just loved Kelton and told me how much she likes little children. We talked about how she could be a teacher one day and I told her that's what I do. She asked some questions about it and said - I think that is what I will do. A beautiful girl with a good heart and great personality. I was so happy to hear that she was waiting for her family.
Ana tried on some clothes for me today so I could see if I have the right size for her. We will have to provide her with clothes on the day she leaves. I think they will do however, I'm pretty sure the mall is calling us already and we are not even home yet!
We walked to and from the orphanage today. On the way back we stopped at a big market that we had not been to yet. It even had the signs with English underneath. I knew I liked it right away. There were many more choices compared to our little market by our apartment. And we even found paper towels. Not sure how this family of 6 has survived for over 2 weeks without paper towels!
We took the kids to the circus today. It was 3 hours long and on hard wooden bleachers - we were sore when we walked out! It was entertaining. We understood about 90% of what was going on and enjoyed many of the American songs they played in the background - We Will Rock You, Mission Impossible.
Then we checked out the new pizza place by our apartment. More American music - Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull. It is so nice to hear English once in a while! The pizza was not anything great but we were starved (since the tuna noodle casserole we made before the circus ended up in the garbage - the mushroom sauce was not what we were expecting).
It was our first night walking back in the dark. We have made sure we have been home before dark every other night. We made it safe and sound.
Tomorrow is the big day! Court is at 9:30(2:30AM your time). Ana is very excited! We will post as soon as we are somewhere with internet.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Finally a new post!
It has been a few days - sorry for our loyal followers :) We have had a blah couple of days. Just questioning how this process actually works and why we are feeling so down. Things are better now. There are no answers for how this works.
So, today we were supposed to meet our friends at the Center at 10 am. I woke up, looked at my phone and realized it was 10:30 (again!) We only have a week left to get this schedule down so I say we just stop trying! Luckily we skyped with them and they hadn't left either!
Kyle and Kelton walked to the bakery to get some treats while the rest of us got ready. After our visit we are heading to our favorite taco stand and all of us plus Liliya and Michale will head to the beach. I guess the circus will wait for tomorrow.
Keegan has not felt well the past couple of days. We had a big talk about not touching everything in sight - the handrail, the elevator buttons, etc and using hand sanitizer.
Please pray for Michale as her court date on Friday did not go as planned. She hopes that things get better as this next week starts. This, of course, makes us a little more nervous for our date on Monday. Our facilitator has assured us that ours will go smoothly but we still worry. I'm sure Ana is worried. She was supposed to sing and dance at Evon's party yesterday after court. I am not sure why they told the kids it wasn't going to happen on Friday but I'm sure she is wondering if she will get to have her party on Monday.
After talking with our agency director last night I think it has pretty much decided that Jim will travel to her house (about three hours away) when the kids and I leave Friday. He will help her with the work she is doing in the orphanages there. This will be a good break for him when we leave. She lives in Florida but will be coming to Ukraine on Monday for a month long mission trip. Then, he will come back, pick up Ana, finish what needs done in Kiev and come home!
a blog to look forward to in the next 24 hours - my what I am thankful for here and what I miss from home. I have been planning this one in my head for some time now!
So, today we were supposed to meet our friends at the Center at 10 am. I woke up, looked at my phone and realized it was 10:30 (again!) We only have a week left to get this schedule down so I say we just stop trying! Luckily we skyped with them and they hadn't left either!
Kyle and Kelton walked to the bakery to get some treats while the rest of us got ready. After our visit we are heading to our favorite taco stand and all of us plus Liliya and Michale will head to the beach. I guess the circus will wait for tomorrow.
Keegan has not felt well the past couple of days. We had a big talk about not touching everything in sight - the handrail, the elevator buttons, etc and using hand sanitizer.
Please pray for Michale as her court date on Friday did not go as planned. She hopes that things get better as this next week starts. This, of course, makes us a little more nervous for our date on Monday. Our facilitator has assured us that ours will go smoothly but we still worry. I'm sure Ana is worried. She was supposed to sing and dance at Evon's party yesterday after court. I am not sure why they told the kids it wasn't going to happen on Friday but I'm sure she is wondering if she will get to have her party on Monday.
After talking with our agency director last night I think it has pretty much decided that Jim will travel to her house (about three hours away) when the kids and I leave Friday. He will help her with the work she is doing in the orphanages there. This will be a good break for him when we leave. She lives in Florida but will be coming to Ukraine on Monday for a month long mission trip. Then, he will come back, pick up Ana, finish what needs done in Kiev and come home!
a blog to look forward to in the next 24 hours - my what I am thankful for here and what I miss from home. I have been planning this one in my head for some time now!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A Date at the Notary and Birth Certificate Office - Woo Hoo!
We were all up by 9 today! That is an accomplishment. It is amazing how a trip to the beach can motivate this family!
No bakery today :( Cold cereal to the kids' dismay. We loaded up a backpack with snacks, drinks and towels and hiked to the corner to meet Liliya and Michale and the kids were off. They had the "you need to listen" speech at least 20 times. I have to say that I was pretty worried about how they would behave but it turned out to be a great time for them. And for us it was a nice break.
For almost 2 weeks, we have been together as a family in an apartment. So it was nice to spend some time just the two of us. Of course, it was to meet Kostyia at the Notary and then to the Birth Certificate Office for paperwork. But it was still peaceful to walk down the street for a while and not have to count heads every couple of minutes.
When our work was done, we had planned on meeting up with everyone at the beach but we could not get in touch with anyone. So we decided instead of taking the chance that we would pass midway on busses, we would enjoy some quiet time at a French Bakery. The three of us sat outside and had some wonderful pastries and Jim finally had some coffee - after going over a week with out. We had a good talk about different cultural issues and about our families. It was some nice down time.
We met the kids back at the corner and the entire walk back to the apartment was filled with talk about the fun at the beach. So happy they could go and have a good time. Back at the apartment, we changed clothes and jumped in the most interesting taxi ride yet (until the way home - read further).
I love when Ana first comes out to greet us everyday. She is so excited and always tells us if school was good or bad that day - most days it is good, thankfully! For the past couple of days she has had gifts for me. One day a picture she painted, yesterday a flower she made by folding a bunch of little pieces of paper, and today she had a zip loc bag full of the things she made with the bend a roos after we left yesterday - a bracelet for me, a penguin for Keegan, a couple of hearts, a bee and a hive. She is very creative, something we heard both at our SDA appt and from the director.
We learned a couple of things today from Ana: Gym class is her favorite class. Why? Because she doesn't have to do anything. Mary Beth decided they were destined to be sisters with that comment! We asked, through Liliya, if she had to change clothes and she said no. So we made sure that she knew that was something she would have to do at home. Then as she was looking through the pics on my iphone, she saw the church that I took pictures of since we pass it everyday on our walk to see her. She said - my church on Saturdays. We are going to try to surprise her at church this week! As she was talking to us we noticed something written on her hand. It ends up that it was words for English class that she could not remember for a test today! We had a big talk about how that could not happen at home. How she could get into a lot of trouble if she did that at school. Hopefully, it sank in! I realized today that she thinks she has to choose just one thing to do when we get home. She kept saying basketball and I said you can dance and sing too. She couldn't understand that she could do all those things through school or the dance studio. I had to say each child's name and what they do - Kyle - sing, soccer, Keegan - soccer, basketball, baseball.
When it was time to leave I went to get in the taxi and realized it was the same driver as earlier. Even though I have blisters on the bottom of my heels today (not sure why - I have walked further other days) I just wanted to walk and not get in the car! He did not disappoint in providing us with an exciting ride! We pulled out in front of a truck, almost hit some people crossing the street and Keegan hit his head against the window at least 4 times from the brakes being slammed.
We came back to our usual playground soccer game and dinner. The boys at the playground today really wanted to practice the English phrases they know with our boys - My name is, What is your name? I am ____ years old. How old are you? Please, Thankyou, Hello, Goodbye. It was fun to watch them interact today. And, the "American Boys" won the game tonight!
No bakery today :( Cold cereal to the kids' dismay. We loaded up a backpack with snacks, drinks and towels and hiked to the corner to meet Liliya and Michale and the kids were off. They had the "you need to listen" speech at least 20 times. I have to say that I was pretty worried about how they would behave but it turned out to be a great time for them. And for us it was a nice break.
For almost 2 weeks, we have been together as a family in an apartment. So it was nice to spend some time just the two of us. Of course, it was to meet Kostyia at the Notary and then to the Birth Certificate Office for paperwork. But it was still peaceful to walk down the street for a while and not have to count heads every couple of minutes.
When our work was done, we had planned on meeting up with everyone at the beach but we could not get in touch with anyone. So we decided instead of taking the chance that we would pass midway on busses, we would enjoy some quiet time at a French Bakery. The three of us sat outside and had some wonderful pastries and Jim finally had some coffee - after going over a week with out. We had a good talk about different cultural issues and about our families. It was some nice down time.
We met the kids back at the corner and the entire walk back to the apartment was filled with talk about the fun at the beach. So happy they could go and have a good time. Back at the apartment, we changed clothes and jumped in the most interesting taxi ride yet (until the way home - read further).
I love when Ana first comes out to greet us everyday. She is so excited and always tells us if school was good or bad that day - most days it is good, thankfully! For the past couple of days she has had gifts for me. One day a picture she painted, yesterday a flower she made by folding a bunch of little pieces of paper, and today she had a zip loc bag full of the things she made with the bend a roos after we left yesterday - a bracelet for me, a penguin for Keegan, a couple of hearts, a bee and a hive. She is very creative, something we heard both at our SDA appt and from the director.
We learned a couple of things today from Ana: Gym class is her favorite class. Why? Because she doesn't have to do anything. Mary Beth decided they were destined to be sisters with that comment! We asked, through Liliya, if she had to change clothes and she said no. So we made sure that she knew that was something she would have to do at home. Then as she was looking through the pics on my iphone, she saw the church that I took pictures of since we pass it everyday on our walk to see her. She said - my church on Saturdays. We are going to try to surprise her at church this week! As she was talking to us we noticed something written on her hand. It ends up that it was words for English class that she could not remember for a test today! We had a big talk about how that could not happen at home. How she could get into a lot of trouble if she did that at school. Hopefully, it sank in! I realized today that she thinks she has to choose just one thing to do when we get home. She kept saying basketball and I said you can dance and sing too. She couldn't understand that she could do all those things through school or the dance studio. I had to say each child's name and what they do - Kyle - sing, soccer, Keegan - soccer, basketball, baseball.
When it was time to leave I went to get in the taxi and realized it was the same driver as earlier. Even though I have blisters on the bottom of my heels today (not sure why - I have walked further other days) I just wanted to walk and not get in the car! He did not disappoint in providing us with an exciting ride! We pulled out in front of a truck, almost hit some people crossing the street and Keegan hit his head against the window at least 4 times from the brakes being slammed.
We came back to our usual playground soccer game and dinner. The boys at the playground today really wanted to practice the English phrases they know with our boys - My name is, What is your name? I am ____ years old. How old are you? Please, Thankyou, Hello, Goodbye. It was fun to watch them interact today. And, the "American Boys" won the game tonight!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Our Tuesday
Today we decided that in order to avoid the "getting tired of the close quarters" event of yesterday, we would get up (which still wasn't until almost 11) and had outside for our day as soon as we could get everyone going.
We headed to our favorite bakery first. The lady there knows us now. The kids were disappointed that there were no doughnuts today but they found other things they liked. We stopped at the nearby park first and played for a while. Then headed in the direction of downtown - thank to Liliya for showing us this! It is a long walk. We stopped for some Cokes and water, found another playground - nicer than any we have been to yet, took in the sights - especially the goats (posted on facebook!). We made our way back to the Ukrainian taco stand since the kids could not stop talking about them. We past quite a few on our way, now that we can recognize the picture, but we know the one we went to yesterday has an English speaking guy. He was happy to see us again today. The boys sat on stools by the window and watched him make our tacos today. He also explained where we needed to take Keegan's Coke cap that has a winning code on it. Keegan is hoping that he wins the soccer ball but we have to go to a market and match the code to see what his prize is. He can't wait!
After our lunch, we continued walking toward the Children's Center. We did learn that walking and eating tacos is not any easy task for any of us - but especially Keegan and Kelton. They were a mess - all over their faces, shirts and shorts. Oh well, they enjoyed it!
We had been walking around town for over 3 hours when we finally got there. I was just glad to sit on a bench for a while. Today it was Jim and Keegan and Kelton's turn to start the visit. MB, Kyle and I waited on a bench outside. They played cards, a little soccer and made things with Benderoos. Half way through the visit, the kids switched places. It was a smooth transition. K and K ran out and Kyle and MB went in. Apparently, it was not ok with the security guard - he came over yelling and Liliya said he was mad because kids were running back and forth and there needed to be some direction to what they were doing - not just running in and out. Honestly, whatever. If that is the only problem that you can find when all they did was switch places then it is really not worth my time to even acknowledge it. Can you tell that I am just getting tired of all of the nonsense rules that really, in the end don't even matter?
We brought a taxi back to our apartment and the boys played soccer for about 2 hours. Mary Beth and I walked to the market to get a few things we were out of. We all showered - again. It is really dusty and dirty here. I think the boys socks are not even coming home with us - they are so disgusting. We can barely get them clean at this point. Everyone looked like they had a dirt tan today!
Mac and Cheese for dinner and then just relaxing - reading, homework, a movie and now time for bed. Tomorrow we had planned on the beach with Liliya and Michale but now Jim and I have to do some paperwork with Kostya so our four kids are going with them without us! I have given the speech at least 4 times tonight about what I expect with their behavior. We will meet up with everyone when we go to see Ana at 3.
We did learn today that we got a Monday 9:30 court date. We are very happy about this since it is even a day sooner than we thought. But our friends got a Friday court date and we came a day ahead of them. They have also already been told that they will get the 10 day waiver. It is just so frustrating here. We have paid these people an extra $2000 to line their pockets and keep things moving and it seems like we still get taken advantage of. We have held it together pretty well over the past week and a half but this incident has really bothered both of us. I think we are ready to be done here with this process. The bribes, the connections between the director, the social worker and the judge is just more than we can handle at this point. We are enjoying our day to day adventures here but being in the middle of this corrupt, political process is more than we want to deal with or even have the energy to deal with anymore!
Hopefully, tomorrow we can get more answers about the waiver, etc. Koystia will be back in town with us tomorrow morning. Please pray that the process goes smoothly and maybe we can feel some sort of peace about all of it. Ana is getting anxious. She keeps asking us when we can all leave for America. We can't wait to get her home!
We headed to our favorite bakery first. The lady there knows us now. The kids were disappointed that there were no doughnuts today but they found other things they liked. We stopped at the nearby park first and played for a while. Then headed in the direction of downtown - thank to Liliya for showing us this! It is a long walk. We stopped for some Cokes and water, found another playground - nicer than any we have been to yet, took in the sights - especially the goats (posted on facebook!). We made our way back to the Ukrainian taco stand since the kids could not stop talking about them. We past quite a few on our way, now that we can recognize the picture, but we know the one we went to yesterday has an English speaking guy. He was happy to see us again today. The boys sat on stools by the window and watched him make our tacos today. He also explained where we needed to take Keegan's Coke cap that has a winning code on it. Keegan is hoping that he wins the soccer ball but we have to go to a market and match the code to see what his prize is. He can't wait!
After our lunch, we continued walking toward the Children's Center. We did learn that walking and eating tacos is not any easy task for any of us - but especially Keegan and Kelton. They were a mess - all over their faces, shirts and shorts. Oh well, they enjoyed it!
We had been walking around town for over 3 hours when we finally got there. I was just glad to sit on a bench for a while. Today it was Jim and Keegan and Kelton's turn to start the visit. MB, Kyle and I waited on a bench outside. They played cards, a little soccer and made things with Benderoos. Half way through the visit, the kids switched places. It was a smooth transition. K and K ran out and Kyle and MB went in. Apparently, it was not ok with the security guard - he came over yelling and Liliya said he was mad because kids were running back and forth and there needed to be some direction to what they were doing - not just running in and out. Honestly, whatever. If that is the only problem that you can find when all they did was switch places then it is really not worth my time to even acknowledge it. Can you tell that I am just getting tired of all of the nonsense rules that really, in the end don't even matter?
We brought a taxi back to our apartment and the boys played soccer for about 2 hours. Mary Beth and I walked to the market to get a few things we were out of. We all showered - again. It is really dusty and dirty here. I think the boys socks are not even coming home with us - they are so disgusting. We can barely get them clean at this point. Everyone looked like they had a dirt tan today!
Mac and Cheese for dinner and then just relaxing - reading, homework, a movie and now time for bed. Tomorrow we had planned on the beach with Liliya and Michale but now Jim and I have to do some paperwork with Kostya so our four kids are going with them without us! I have given the speech at least 4 times tonight about what I expect with their behavior. We will meet up with everyone when we go to see Ana at 3.
We did learn today that we got a Monday 9:30 court date. We are very happy about this since it is even a day sooner than we thought. But our friends got a Friday court date and we came a day ahead of them. They have also already been told that they will get the 10 day waiver. It is just so frustrating here. We have paid these people an extra $2000 to line their pockets and keep things moving and it seems like we still get taken advantage of. We have held it together pretty well over the past week and a half but this incident has really bothered both of us. I think we are ready to be done here with this process. The bribes, the connections between the director, the social worker and the judge is just more than we can handle at this point. We are enjoying our day to day adventures here but being in the middle of this corrupt, political process is more than we want to deal with or even have the energy to deal with anymore!
Hopefully, tomorrow we can get more answers about the waiver, etc. Koystia will be back in town with us tomorrow morning. Please pray that the process goes smoothly and maybe we can feel some sort of peace about all of it. Ana is getting anxious. She keeps asking us when we can all leave for America. We can't wait to get her home!
Monday
I'm behind a day in our blogging it is already 11 am on Tuesday here but I realized that I did not write anything about yesterday.
Another day of getting up too late... We were all out of bed around 11. Of course, part of the reason is that Doug finally figured out the problem with Mom and Dad's microphone so we could finally skype with them at 1 am! As hard as I try to get us off this schedule of staying up half the night and sleeping until noon, I just don't think I can!
The 3 boys and I walked to the bakery to get some more goodies for breakfast (lunch?). The lady remembered us from the day before and was very helpful. She only had 3 doughnuts left :( So we bought those and I wanted some of the pastries by the register but she kept holding her nose and saying no, no. She picked something from behind her that looked good so we got those and were on our way back. Everything was delicious. We also had watermelon - we can buy it right outside our apartment door for $1! And grapes - I have very spoiled kids who are used to seedless grapes. I don't think they have ever had grapes with seeds and they are not thrilled about it!
We did the daily homework battle but accomplished quite a bit. However, I think yesterday was one of the first days that everyone had just had enough of each other - constant arguing, teasing. It was the first day where I really felt like - what was I thinking?!!!. We decided to walk to see Ana again and that must have been the break we all needed. Things seemed better when we got there.
The director made a rule that only one of us and 2 kids can see Ana at a time. We did this on Thursday and Friday last week. On Saturday and Sunday Kostya said not to worry about it. The director had given us the paperwork we needed from her for the adoption and she wouldn't be there anyway. Monday we decided that 3 would go in and we would switch in an hour. I went in to sign the book and get Ana. Our friends Michale and Liliya were already there waiting for Vanya. We all headed outside. Visiting outside is so much nicer than being stuck in the bird room - first, I hate birds. Second, there is more freedom when we are outside. Soon it started to rain and Jim and Keegan and Kelton were stuck on the other side of the fence while we were under a roof. Liliya suggested that he just come in, the director left for the day. He did and we had another great visit. The rain stopped and Ana brought some friends outside. We played soccer, some card games, painted nails and Ana went crazy with the pictures again!
She was promised by the director that we could walk to a small amusement park last week. Everyday there is a reason why we can't go. She gets more disappointed everytime. I am hoping that one of the days this week, they let us go.
We decided to walk with Liliya and Michale towards the downtown area. We had a great time and Liliya introduced us to Ukrainian Tacos - kind of like a wrap at home - with chicken, cabbage, garlic sauce, cheese, mushrooms - pretty much any filling you can think of. They were delicious! And the best part is - as Liliya was explaining the choices to us, the guy at the counter started talking to us in English! Definitely a place we will return too! We walked some more - I think we had a total of 3 1/2 walking hours yesterday. Finally we realized it was still pretty far back to our apartment and Liliya helped us get a bus. She got on the bus and talked to the driver and told us 2 stops. To me, 2 stops means get off the second time the bus stops, right? That's what we did even though things did not look familiar. The entire bus was yelling no, no! and laughing at us, of course. One more stop and we were right in front of our apartment building! We visited with our puppy friends and came inside to relax. We even went to bed early (10 pm) hoping that we could get a better schedule. However, it is now 11:19 Am and we are all just starting to move around! Reality will be hard on the 19th!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)