Sunny day. Hooha! We got up kind of late, Eileen got a long shower, I had to rush. Fortunately, Olga was late as well. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, same food as yesterday. Well, we only had choice 1, 2, or 3. Like before, the breakfast was quite large, and I am used to eating little or no breakfast. I must be putting on pounds. We decided to go public transportation, so we walked through some apartment blocks to another street, and looked for a stop for the electric vehicle. (What is this vehicle called? A trolley runs on tracks in the street, this uses overhead wires.) We walked a little further down the street, and found a gathering of people, it looked good. Soon the vehicle came down the street, and we piled on. It was a very short ride to the internot, we could walk to it from here,there were cleared paths, albeit all ice covered., not sure we want to walk 1/2 mile on ice.
At the internot, Tanya had already arrived. She did want to be adopted! She is staying at her boyfriend Igor's house, and Igor's mother counseled her to go. She told Tanya that this is her opportunity. Igor is 5 years older than Tanya. Many things could be said about this, but we are going to think positively. We talked with Tanya and the director for a long time, 90 minutes maybe. We were waiting on more doctor checkups for Sasha and Nastiya, which was happening right then. The director hears that we are looking for the other hotel in town. We wanted to know if we can get a better hotel deal. He knows where that hotel is, so he offers to take us there. OK, off to the other hotel. This hotel is on one of the main drags, there are many here. Slovyansk seems like it was several small towns that all merged, although there is only one central square. The room was smaller, and 60% of the cost of Hotel Ukraine but adequate. We decided to take it.
It was now noon. We went back to Hotel Ukraine to checkout. Checkout was at noon, but if we could be out in 30 minutes, then there would be no charge. Why are we always trying to pack all our scattered stuff in such short notice? With some time to spare, we had all our things in the director's car. Thanks Nickolai! He was gracious to shlep us around during his lunch hour. He drove us back to Hotel Daropa (sp?). I will be so glad when we finally drop off all the stuff we brought for the orphanage. Four bulging suitcases plus packs plus computer plus bottle of wine (we celebrated a little yesterday) plus dirty laundry (won't fit in a suitcase any more) plus other things that won't fit in a suitcase.
Back to the internot. As we crossed the threshhold, Sasha was waiting for us. With tears in her eyes, she jumped up and gave me a big big hug. And she kissed me on the cheek. That is big for Sasha. Then Nastiya came up and hugged me. They also went to Eileen and hugged and kissed her too. We all went into the director's office, and I got to sit with both girls on my lap. Now we had all three girls in the office. There was more discussion. Much laughter. Sasha and Nastiya both wanted to take pictures with my camera. At one point, Sasha and Nastiya signed consent forms, saying they wanted to be adopted. They each had to write a letter and then sign it. Nastiya does not write yet, so she had help.
At this point, the director needed his office for work, so we walked across the courtyard to the dorm. From what we saw, this is just a typical dorm, to hold 270 kids. That's right, in this one internot, there are 270 kids. Oh, man, some of them are so cute, smiling, playful, :( They just should not be here, but instead in a family. Sasha and Nastiya wanted to eat, so they skipped and ran down to the cafeteria. Tanya led us up to the third floor, where there is a play room for about a dozen kids. I think this room is for the kids in Sasha's group. Down some other hallws, we heard loud music. Maybe those rooms were for older kids. In less than 5 minutes, Sasha and Nastiya came in. They must have wolfed their food down, if they ate at all. We broke out some lollipops for the kids. They loved to have their tongues change color. Vika and her new dad were in this room. We got some pictures of them. Vika showed how she could count in Italian. We only spent 30 minutes in this room, then we needed to do some chores, plus we were hungry.
We walked to the restaurant Chinook, where we had eaten last night. Tanya thought this was a very expensive place. I don't think she had eaten there before. The food was again good. Then we caught a taxi to the train station to buy tickets. If we are going to adopt Tanya, we must go to Kiev, and Olga needed to go back to Kiev tonight. We bought all 4 beds in a coupee, the best way to have some privacy. Then Tanya asked if she could go to Kiev, since she has never been. Well, we bought 4 beds, and when we come back to Slovyansk, we will probably do the same since Olga will be with us, so, sure. Tanya is becoming very excited about hanging out with us.
I asked Tanya if she needed to attend school. She told us her director encouraged her to spend time getting to know us better. I thought that was wise. Sasha and Nastia got 10 weeks with us. Its a great idea to give Tanya her time too.
Another taxi, to the internet cafe. Oops, that was not what we wanted. I needed to get a modem so I can do some work. There is not much internet here in Slavyansk. Cell phones are everywhere, though. I spent 1000 Grivney on a little gadget plus some extra time. Now we will see how long 1000 megabytes of data transmission last. Then we looked for a currency exchange, but they all were closed. We walked to our favorite public transport stop, and decided to try the bus. Tanya left us here, since Igor's apartment was close. More hugs and kisses. The electric vehicle was 0,75 Gry, the bus was 1,25 Gry. For short trips, the taxi was 10 Gry. To get on the bus, you quickly form a queue in the street after the bus stops. Olga paid, so I missed that part. The electric vehicle had an old woman that walked around while the vehicle was moving, taking your money, and giving you a little blank piece of paper with a slight rip. People here are more interactive. I (Eileen) was told my coat was dragging on the dirty floor and another woman reminded a young lady that her purse was still open from extracting needed change. Thoughtful gestures.
At the hotel, Olga was kind enough to help me get my internet connection setup. The directions were all in Ukrainian or Russian. I would have been ok, though. It's just technical words. And there were clear pictures. Oh yeah, and I could have figured out how to add time to the SIM. That's just numbers and stuff. After rebooting a couple of times, and removing and attaching the modem a couple of times, and re-inserting the CD a couple of times, the software finally installed. Hooray, we're done. NOT. I tried to connect to amazon and google, and no luck. I tried changing the security settings on the modem. Now the software did not even report a connection. OK, put that back, that made things worse. Now when I tried amazon, everything worked ok. Score! Another victory! Things are moving so fast, I'll take any success that I actively participated in.
At 8pm, Olga left to catch the train to Kiev. Earlier in the evening, loud music began blaring. Uh oh, our cheap hotel may have some drawbacks. Now it's about 10, and the music is still loud. I may be dreaming about Hotel Ukraine. Is it worth $30 a night for quiet? I have my trusty earplugs, hope they can defeat the evil noise/music. Actually, the music seems to be coming from the town square. It must be very loud at the other hotel.
I may be sending pictures a little more slowly from an internet cafe, instead of using up my paid bandwidth. But lots of pictures coming soon.
Spending tomorrow with our new additions sans translator. Tanya is either excited or a talker or both. She badly wants to communicate! We will bring all our translation books.
Us
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 6
It was not too hard to get out of bed at 7, since we were going to be doing a lot today. The fridge in our room was like the one in our apartment: it wanted to run more than it wanted to rest. So we unplugged it. In first light, the view from our room has a beautiful smoke stack. We had breakfast with Olga in the hotel restaurant, The Eldorado. The restaurant was dark when we came in, and the server decided we wanted the TV on, loud. Thanks, guy. We haven't been in a restaurant yet that didn't have a TV on and attached to a wall or the ceiling. Even in McDonalds. The meal was good. It was part of our hotel bill, so of course it was. I'm enjoying tring new foods. The french fries were some of the best I've ever had. Olga told me my dish came with a hot dog and, well, that's what it was. It was more compact but tasted much the same as a high quality hot dog (whatever that might be).
We walked down the street to the town square, where there is an imposing statue of Lenin. We went into the official building, up several flights of stairs to the adoption department. Behind a heavy metal door were two women, typing away, answering phones. We sat down on chairs, and proceded to wait for 20 minutes while listening to loud driving techno, some in English ("I am a spitfire"). Which reminds me, it was good to hear No Doubt and George Michael on the radio in the cars, even some techno that my boys had given me ("I feel so far away ... Just go away"). I proceded to sweat buckets. It was warm in the office.
After our wait, we were handed our referral for the orphanage director. The two ladies walked out of the office with us, and locked the big metal door. That office could serve as a solitary confinement cell. Then we walked across the square to where the taxis were waiting. I took this chance to get some more local currency. The rate is quite variable. It started at 8.10, then it dropped to 7.70. Deciding when to exchange currency is like playing the market.
Our new taxi driver drove us to the internot, which is a step up from a true orphanage, in that there is a school here. We were led into the director's office. Both the director and the assistant were very happy to see us, and they knew who we were. The assistant went to get Nastiya. It turns out that Sasha was not around, she has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, something wrong with her kidneys, they say. The director pulled out a book of photos that Nastiya put together before she left. I'm not sure why he had it, maybe in preparation for our visit, maybe to keep it safe for Nastiya. Nastiya walked in, and gave me a big hug. Then she gave Eileen a big hug. Then she sat of Eileen's lap, and we talked for a long time. I finally got her to sit on my lap. All of this was good, because it showed that Nastiya is familiar with us and not afraid. Nastiya's hair was so short, and she had no earrings. She looks so much like a skinny boy.
We got the director to call the hospital, and he said Sasha would be checked out of the hospital tomorrow. So we have to wait to see Sasha. Both of the girls will be given a physical exam, which is one of the documents we need before we can take them. It seems like we heard that Sasha and Nastiya turned down adoption requests from other families. They were waiting for us. Doesn't that tug at your heart strings? The third girl we wanted, Vika, is in the process of being adopted by another family, and they are actuall in the same hotel as us. This couple wanted 3 girls, and they tried to get Sasha and Nastiya. What loyalty from our girls. After a lot of hugging and kissing and tickling, we had to say goodbye to Nastiya, and go see older sister Tanya.
Our taxi driver drove us out to where Tanya is enrolled in a trade school. She has some legal rights over the two girls, so we had to make a good impression. The road to the trade school, wow. It was paved at some point in history, but there were a lot of holes, a lot of ice, and several lakes between us and our destination. At the trade school, we were shown to the director's office, where we waited outside for a few minutes. Then Tanya came out. We answered some of her questions, showed her pictures of Sasha and Nastiya. Then came some words out of my wife's mouth that I could not believe. She said something like, "We were hoping to adopt 3 girls, would you like to come to America?" Tanya did not say what I expected: "Oh no, I have boyfriend, I have job, I love Ukraine." She thought about the offer.
The director of the trade school popped out of the office and invited us in. We sat down around a table, with the director at her own table. Lots of questions from Tanya. Will I be able to keep in contact? Are you a dentist and is your wife a hair dresser? Do you live in Dallas? (Sasha and Nastiya were a bit confused, I think, and communicated some wrong information.) She also told us that they came back very happy, that they got along better after the visit with us. Much good news. Then, how will we keep in touch? Will I be able to visit? How often will I be able to visit? We heard no mention of the boyfriend. By the end of the meeting, we were telling her that we would be willing to adopt her if she wanted to come, and if it was allowed by both the U.S. and Ukraine.
OK, so instead of bringing home 3 girls aged 8, 10, and 11, it looks like I might have 3 sisters aged 8, 11, and 17. That's going to take a while to digest.
Eileen: I was instantly impressed with Tanya. I loved her right away. She greated us warmly, shared her gratitude and retold stories the girls shared with her when they returned last summer. She was respectful and genuine and had no trouble looking us in the eye. I wanted to promise her our help through life, people who would always care for her and make sure she didn't have to resort to prostitution for a living. She was sober about her future. She was concerned for her sisters and wanted to know how she could keep in touch with them. Could she visit? Yes. We could send he a ticket once a year or two. But Tanya, come live with us.
P.S. No NAYSAYING. I don't want to hear about it. Contrary to American foster teens, the teens that come from Ukraine do very well in the US.
Rolan: Tanya wanted to think about it for a day. The social worker will not be available on Friday, and our translator goes back to Kiev for the weekend, so things will be on hold until Monday. What more could happen? We made some calls to the U.S. embassy, and they said that there should be no problem, since Tanya is 17 and is a sister to the other two girls. The girls may all have been born here in Slovyansk, which is very good news, no travelling for birth certificates.
After our visit with Tanya, we walked to the local market, picked up food and water and wine and beer, and went back to the hotel room, where we celebrated and talked with Olga a lot. Her stories are very interesting. We went to a local restaurant "Chinook" for dinner. There was a great stroganoff there. During dinner, Olga found out from Valentina that if we want to adopt Tanya, we must be present in Kiev to petition at the SDA. I feel some shaking and baking coming on.
Plans for tommorow:
_ see Sasha, finally, and Nastiya,
_ get a modem and a plan that allows me to connect to the internet via phone service,
_ talk to Tanya, to see what she wants to do,
_ anything else that comes up that was unplanned.
We walked down the street to the town square, where there is an imposing statue of Lenin. We went into the official building, up several flights of stairs to the adoption department. Behind a heavy metal door were two women, typing away, answering phones. We sat down on chairs, and proceded to wait for 20 minutes while listening to loud driving techno, some in English ("I am a spitfire"). Which reminds me, it was good to hear No Doubt and George Michael on the radio in the cars, even some techno that my boys had given me ("I feel so far away ... Just go away"). I proceded to sweat buckets. It was warm in the office.
After our wait, we were handed our referral for the orphanage director. The two ladies walked out of the office with us, and locked the big metal door. That office could serve as a solitary confinement cell. Then we walked across the square to where the taxis were waiting. I took this chance to get some more local currency. The rate is quite variable. It started at 8.10, then it dropped to 7.70. Deciding when to exchange currency is like playing the market.
Our new taxi driver drove us to the internot, which is a step up from a true orphanage, in that there is a school here. We were led into the director's office. Both the director and the assistant were very happy to see us, and they knew who we were. The assistant went to get Nastiya. It turns out that Sasha was not around, she has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, something wrong with her kidneys, they say. The director pulled out a book of photos that Nastiya put together before she left. I'm not sure why he had it, maybe in preparation for our visit, maybe to keep it safe for Nastiya. Nastiya walked in, and gave me a big hug. Then she gave Eileen a big hug. Then she sat of Eileen's lap, and we talked for a long time. I finally got her to sit on my lap. All of this was good, because it showed that Nastiya is familiar with us and not afraid. Nastiya's hair was so short, and she had no earrings. She looks so much like a skinny boy.
We got the director to call the hospital, and he said Sasha would be checked out of the hospital tomorrow. So we have to wait to see Sasha. Both of the girls will be given a physical exam, which is one of the documents we need before we can take them. It seems like we heard that Sasha and Nastiya turned down adoption requests from other families. They were waiting for us. Doesn't that tug at your heart strings? The third girl we wanted, Vika, is in the process of being adopted by another family, and they are actuall in the same hotel as us. This couple wanted 3 girls, and they tried to get Sasha and Nastiya. What loyalty from our girls. After a lot of hugging and kissing and tickling, we had to say goodbye to Nastiya, and go see older sister Tanya.
Our taxi driver drove us out to where Tanya is enrolled in a trade school. She has some legal rights over the two girls, so we had to make a good impression. The road to the trade school, wow. It was paved at some point in history, but there were a lot of holes, a lot of ice, and several lakes between us and our destination. At the trade school, we were shown to the director's office, where we waited outside for a few minutes. Then Tanya came out. We answered some of her questions, showed her pictures of Sasha and Nastiya. Then came some words out of my wife's mouth that I could not believe. She said something like, "We were hoping to adopt 3 girls, would you like to come to America?" Tanya did not say what I expected: "Oh no, I have boyfriend, I have job, I love Ukraine." She thought about the offer.
The director of the trade school popped out of the office and invited us in. We sat down around a table, with the director at her own table. Lots of questions from Tanya. Will I be able to keep in contact? Are you a dentist and is your wife a hair dresser? Do you live in Dallas? (Sasha and Nastiya were a bit confused, I think, and communicated some wrong information.) She also told us that they came back very happy, that they got along better after the visit with us. Much good news. Then, how will we keep in touch? Will I be able to visit? How often will I be able to visit? We heard no mention of the boyfriend. By the end of the meeting, we were telling her that we would be willing to adopt her if she wanted to come, and if it was allowed by both the U.S. and Ukraine.
OK, so instead of bringing home 3 girls aged 8, 10, and 11, it looks like I might have 3 sisters aged 8, 11, and 17. That's going to take a while to digest.
Eileen: I was instantly impressed with Tanya. I loved her right away. She greated us warmly, shared her gratitude and retold stories the girls shared with her when they returned last summer. She was respectful and genuine and had no trouble looking us in the eye. I wanted to promise her our help through life, people who would always care for her and make sure she didn't have to resort to prostitution for a living. She was sober about her future. She was concerned for her sisters and wanted to know how she could keep in touch with them. Could she visit? Yes. We could send he a ticket once a year or two. But Tanya, come live with us.
P.S. No NAYSAYING. I don't want to hear about it. Contrary to American foster teens, the teens that come from Ukraine do very well in the US.
Rolan: Tanya wanted to think about it for a day. The social worker will not be available on Friday, and our translator goes back to Kiev for the weekend, so things will be on hold until Monday. What more could happen? We made some calls to the U.S. embassy, and they said that there should be no problem, since Tanya is 17 and is a sister to the other two girls. The girls may all have been born here in Slovyansk, which is very good news, no travelling for birth certificates.
After our visit with Tanya, we walked to the local market, picked up food and water and wine and beer, and went back to the hotel room, where we celebrated and talked with Olga a lot. Her stories are very interesting. We went to a local restaurant "Chinook" for dinner. There was a great stroganoff there. During dinner, Olga found out from Valentina that if we want to adopt Tanya, we must be present in Kiev to petition at the SDA. I feel some shaking and baking coming on.
Plans for tommorow:
_ see Sasha, finally, and Nastiya,
_ get a modem and a plan that allows me to connect to the internet via phone service,
_ talk to Tanya, to see what she wants to do,
_ anything else that comes up that was unplanned.
Day 5
It is still hard to get up. I finally got up at 10:30. The sun was shining on me. That's right, the SUN was shining on me. And it was WARM. Jet lag is a bear.
Not much was planned for today. We should get our referral from the SDA after 5pm. So we walked up to St. Sophias. We walked down to the SDA. The street has many beautiful apartment buildings (see photos). We walked past the outdoor mall. Nope, we almost walked past the outdoor mall. We stopped and bought souvenirs (those are so CUTE!). There was a lot of biting wind, so we went back to the apartment and had lunch. We needed to talk with Olga about transportation to Donetsk and/or Slavyansk.
Even here, many people have not heard of Slavyansk. It has a population of 140,000, but here, cities that size are considered small. In Colorado, there are definite city centers with comercial establishments and then sort of on the edges of those places of commerce, you have residential areas. This seems to be all mixed up here so you don't really know how big a city is.
We heard from Valentina and Olga that the rules for adoption are changing again. More forms to fill out. something about proof of housing size and ownership. If you are coming you have probably heard. We are in under the wire. The new rules take effect February 1.
A funny thing happened at lunch yesterday. Eileen was talking to Valentina about her brothers, and Eileen had her hands up near her face. Suddenly, Valentina grabbed her hands and started laughing. It turns out Eileen was making a rude gesture, and did not realize it. You have to be careful where you put your thumbs.
When Olga showed up, we decided that we needed to take a plane to Donetsk, since the social worker would not be there Friday. So we went around Independence Square to the travel agency, to get our tickets. The streets around the square are like any downtown: all one way streets. Another loop around the square back to the apartment. Then we had 30 minutes to pack. Then we ran to the SDA, to get in line to get our referral (its a good idea to be there 30 minutes early, otherwise you wait longer). Many of the other couples there spoke English. A family from Sicily, who used to live in Chicago. A family from Baltimore. We got in fairly quickly, got our referrals, and went back to our apartment. We had a whole hour for dinner. We were glad to eat our leftovers of chicken soup, bread (always a treat) and fruit.
After dinner we got in the car with all our luggage, and Sasha flew us to the airport. "Fly" is almost not a metaphor. The speed limit was 90, but Sasha was pushing 180. The highway lanes must be for: right lane - pokey petes, middle lane - go the speed limit, left lane - white knuckles. At one point, a "slow" car was in the left lane, probably doing the limit. We came up on his tail fast. Sasha started flicking his brights: flick...flick...flickflickflickflick. The guy ahead started to move over. Sasha was not happy enough, he passed the guy while he was still changing lanes. We may have been inches away from contact. We were also inches away from soiled clothes.
At the airport, we waited an hour, went through security, and hopped on a 737 (Donbassaero: Don(etsk)bass(??)aero). The airport here is like the one in Dusseldorf: you walk out onto the tarmac and climb on a bus, which takes you to the plane. Then you crowd around the steps leading up to the door of the plane, trying to stand behind someone taller than you so you get less wind in your face. The snack on this plane was a piece of candy, followed by a hambun (for those of you who are unfamiliar with dutch culture, it is a small roll with 2 small pieces of ham. This one was accompanied by shredded lettuce and tomato) and a pineapple juice. An hour later we were in Donetsk. It was very foggy, and the temperature was -1 C. We grabbed our luggage from the luggage trolley (much quicker than waiting for it to arrive inside) and went out to our waiting taxi. Really 5 minutes from plane to curb.
One thing we noticed on the plane and on some newscasts. It seems like a thing of pride to talk fast and not take breaths. We listened to a newscaster go for five minutes, and it felt like he never breathed in. It was like listening to the wind blow, up and down, up and down, bulabulabulaBULABULABULbulabulabula... The head steward of the plane could talk faster than anyone I have ever heard. When he spoke English, even though it was pretty good English, it was difficult to tell what he was saying. I took a class my sophomore year, and it was possible to listen to tapes of the lectures with the dead space removed. An hour long lecture could be heard in 30 minutes. You could do it if you paid attention. News speakers and plane stewards here can do it without electronics.
Sasha, the Kiev driver, has a nice expensive BMW, latest touch screen, etc. Donestk taxi guy's car was older, maybe a Fiat, but it had TV and other software. ("Glass" is Ukrainian for "cool".) The taxi driver was not prepared for the amount of luggage we had. We had to put several bags in the car with us. He just didn't know how to pack, the amatuer. Slovyansk is 100km north of Donetsk. The fog got worse and worse. Several times, he had to flash another driver to ask for directions. I guess that's what you do here: flash your high beams many times at another driver while flapping your left hand out the window, and that driver stops and asks, What the heck are you doing, you looney? We could not see anything on the trip, due to the fog and the fogged windows. We made a brief stop for much needed gas along the way. Our driver stuck his hand out the window to the attendant waiting there and the attendant put a small amount of gas in the car while THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING.
At midnight, we came into Slovyansk. It was dead. The only thing that was moving was: a guy pushing a wagon loaded with goods (at midnight?), a few guys hanging around a bar, and taxis. Lots of taxis. We still had to ask for directions many times. And finally, there it was, down a dark street: Hotel Ukraine. The nicest building in town. We check in and crash. Set the alarm for 7am, and try to sleep. Tomorrow we see Sasha and Nastia.
Not much was planned for today. We should get our referral from the SDA after 5pm. So we walked up to St. Sophias. We walked down to the SDA. The street has many beautiful apartment buildings (see photos). We walked past the outdoor mall. Nope, we almost walked past the outdoor mall. We stopped and bought souvenirs (those are so CUTE!). There was a lot of biting wind, so we went back to the apartment and had lunch. We needed to talk with Olga about transportation to Donetsk and/or Slavyansk.
Even here, many people have not heard of Slavyansk. It has a population of 140,000, but here, cities that size are considered small. In Colorado, there are definite city centers with comercial establishments and then sort of on the edges of those places of commerce, you have residential areas. This seems to be all mixed up here so you don't really know how big a city is.
We heard from Valentina and Olga that the rules for adoption are changing again. More forms to fill out. something about proof of housing size and ownership. If you are coming you have probably heard. We are in under the wire. The new rules take effect February 1.
A funny thing happened at lunch yesterday. Eileen was talking to Valentina about her brothers, and Eileen had her hands up near her face. Suddenly, Valentina grabbed her hands and started laughing. It turns out Eileen was making a rude gesture, and did not realize it. You have to be careful where you put your thumbs.
When Olga showed up, we decided that we needed to take a plane to Donetsk, since the social worker would not be there Friday. So we went around Independence Square to the travel agency, to get our tickets. The streets around the square are like any downtown: all one way streets. Another loop around the square back to the apartment. Then we had 30 minutes to pack. Then we ran to the SDA, to get in line to get our referral (its a good idea to be there 30 minutes early, otherwise you wait longer). Many of the other couples there spoke English. A family from Sicily, who used to live in Chicago. A family from Baltimore. We got in fairly quickly, got our referrals, and went back to our apartment. We had a whole hour for dinner. We were glad to eat our leftovers of chicken soup, bread (always a treat) and fruit.
After dinner we got in the car with all our luggage, and Sasha flew us to the airport. "Fly" is almost not a metaphor. The speed limit was 90, but Sasha was pushing 180. The highway lanes must be for: right lane - pokey petes, middle lane - go the speed limit, left lane - white knuckles. At one point, a "slow" car was in the left lane, probably doing the limit. We came up on his tail fast. Sasha started flicking his brights: flick...flick...flickflickflickflick. The guy ahead started to move over. Sasha was not happy enough, he passed the guy while he was still changing lanes. We may have been inches away from contact. We were also inches away from soiled clothes.
At the airport, we waited an hour, went through security, and hopped on a 737 (Donbassaero: Don(etsk)bass(??)aero). The airport here is like the one in Dusseldorf: you walk out onto the tarmac and climb on a bus, which takes you to the plane. Then you crowd around the steps leading up to the door of the plane, trying to stand behind someone taller than you so you get less wind in your face. The snack on this plane was a piece of candy, followed by a hambun (for those of you who are unfamiliar with dutch culture, it is a small roll with 2 small pieces of ham. This one was accompanied by shredded lettuce and tomato) and a pineapple juice. An hour later we were in Donetsk. It was very foggy, and the temperature was -1 C. We grabbed our luggage from the luggage trolley (much quicker than waiting for it to arrive inside) and went out to our waiting taxi. Really 5 minutes from plane to curb.
One thing we noticed on the plane and on some newscasts. It seems like a thing of pride to talk fast and not take breaths. We listened to a newscaster go for five minutes, and it felt like he never breathed in. It was like listening to the wind blow, up and down, up and down, bulabulabulaBULABULABULbulabulabula... The head steward of the plane could talk faster than anyone I have ever heard. When he spoke English, even though it was pretty good English, it was difficult to tell what he was saying. I took a class my sophomore year, and it was possible to listen to tapes of the lectures with the dead space removed. An hour long lecture could be heard in 30 minutes. You could do it if you paid attention. News speakers and plane stewards here can do it without electronics.
Sasha, the Kiev driver, has a nice expensive BMW, latest touch screen, etc. Donestk taxi guy's car was older, maybe a Fiat, but it had TV and other
At midnight, we came into Slovyansk. It was dead. The only thing that was moving was: a guy pushing a wagon loaded with goods (at midnight?), a few guys hanging around a bar, and taxis. Lots of taxis. We still had to ask for directions many times. And finally, there it was, down a dark street: Hotel Ukraine. The nicest building in town. We check in and crash. Set the alarm for 7am, and try to sleep. Tomorrow we see Sasha and Nastia.
Day 4
Still hard for me to get up. The bed is not helping, and in a bad way. The bed is not the kind you would jump up and down on, just like you would not jump up and down on a sleeping bag thrown on the ground. My back has been hurting, and I think it's because the bed is so firm. Maybe I'll sleep on the desk tonight.
Today was our appointment with the SDA, the State Department of Adoption (and youth and sports). Our translator Olga met with us at 11:15, we talked about what to expect, then hiked the short distance to the SDA entrance. Note: Those wanting to adopt now go in the front entrance. The back entrance is used for putting requests in a queue. The SDA is next to St. Andrews church. Both times we have been near there, we saw a pack of street dogs. NOT, according to Olga, wild dogs. We met a Canadian couple, currently living in Ukraine, who are wanting to adopt. They have been reading our blog, so of course we liked them right away. We stood outside until noon, then went through the threshhold, where we waited another 20 minutes. Then Maria escorted us back to her office. I was struck by her gentleness and genuine love for her work. She looked glad to have us.
Maria asked us to tell her about ourselves. Another chance to talk about our favorite subjects! After a very brief summary, she asked us the last name of the girls we wanted. She searched through her big book of children, and did NOT find them. At this point, we got scared. Out she went to the other half of the office, to get another book. Maybe a different age group. She flipped through that book, and we SAW the picture of Natiya, then Sasha. We excitedly told her to stop turning pages, there were our girls. Maria told us that many families that host children do not recognize the pictures of the children they hosted, since the pictures may be very old. Sasha and Nastiya were definitely younger in the pictures, but they were SO CUTE. Nastia still had her baby teeth. I hope we get to keep those pictures, they are so good.
Then we started to look for Vika. Flip through the book again. No Vika. Then Maria said she is quite certain that Vika was adopted, she remembered the name. Oh no. Well, if Vika is not available, how about another girl from the same orphanage, with no siblings? Flip through the book. Nope, no children like that. Back to the other office, back again with another, bigger book. Older kids. 1994. 1993. 1992. Nope, no girls without sibs. At this point, we were saying any girl, 6 to 15, without sibs. Maria kind of chuckled. This is the second time in recent months, a family has been disappointed they couldn't find THREE. Maria said she would call the regional social worker, and find out if there were available girls, and we could find out at 3pm.
So off we went to lunch, just down the street. We went to a place that had an English menu called "Cheers" (nothing like the sitcom, however). Eileen had cabbage rolls, which turned out to be very much like the kind she makes. "Traditional Ukrainian dish," the menu said. I had potato pancakes, country style, which meant it came with bacon and onions. Cubes of bacon. And we had a small bowl of borshch each.
At 3pm, we called back. There were no other girls without siblings available. So at this point, we are practically resigned to having 2 children. There is a very slim chance that we could find a third girl when we visit the orphanage, but really little hope. And after talking it over, we won't be able to take 2 more than the 2 we want. Four girls in our house at one time? I don't think so.
Goodbye Olga, goodbye Valentina. See you in a day or two. Now we wait for the written referral, which will probably be late tomorrow afternoon. The referral is our golden ticket to take to all the authorities. The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the SDA, as it were. Then we get to figure out how we are going to Donetsk: shake and bake (train), or plane.
What to do now? We are dazed, finding out that we do get to see Sasha and Nastiya, but sad that a third girl is not yet to be. We grab the laptop, and try to find the post office. The Canadians we met said there was internet access there. It's quite easy to find. We upload pictures, catch up on email. Then we explore the underground mall for a while. We run into someone we met last Sunday. This kind of thing never happens in Denver, but in the capitol city of a foreign country, why not? The Christmas tree is now unlit. The season must be over.
Back in our apartment, we eat some chicken soup, then I wash dishes. At 8pm, fireworks go off within easy view of our apartment. They last a minute or two, and the grand finale is 5 at once. Eileen picks up a guide and reads about Donetsk (THE major city close to Slavyansk, where Sasha and Nastiya are): "There's almost nothing to lure the casual visitor, but if you've always wanted to visit a coal pit or salt mine, now's your chance."
Today was our appointment with the SDA, the State Department of Adoption (and youth and sports). Our translator Olga met with us at 11:15, we talked about what to expect, then hiked the short distance to the SDA entrance. Note: Those wanting to adopt now go in the front entrance. The back entrance is used for putting requests in a queue. The SDA is next to St. Andrews church. Both times we have been near there, we saw a pack of street dogs. NOT, according to Olga, wild dogs. We met a Canadian couple, currently living in Ukraine, who are wanting to adopt. They have been reading our blog, so of course we liked them right away. We stood outside until noon, then went through the threshhold, where we waited another 20 minutes. Then Maria escorted us back to her office. I was struck by her gentleness and genuine love for her work. She looked glad to have us.
Maria asked us to tell her about ourselves. Another chance to talk about our favorite subjects! After a very brief summary, she asked us the last name of the girls we wanted. She searched through her big book of children, and did NOT find them. At this point, we got scared. Out she went to the other half of the office, to get another book. Maybe a different age group. She flipped through that book, and we SAW the picture of Natiya, then Sasha. We excitedly told her to stop turning pages, there were our girls. Maria told us that many families that host children do not recognize the pictures of the children they hosted, since the pictures may be very old. Sasha and Nastiya were definitely younger in the pictures, but they were SO CUTE. Nastia still had her baby teeth. I hope we get to keep those pictures, they are so good.
Then we started to look for Vika. Flip through the book again. No Vika. Then Maria said she is quite certain that Vika was adopted, she remembered the name. Oh no. Well, if Vika is not available, how about another girl from the same orphanage, with no siblings? Flip through the book. Nope, no children like that. Back to the other office, back again with another, bigger book. Older kids. 1994. 1993. 1992. Nope, no girls without sibs. At this point, we were saying any girl, 6 to 15, without sibs. Maria kind of chuckled. This is the second time in recent months, a family has been disappointed they couldn't find THREE. Maria said she would call the regional social worker, and find out if there were available girls, and we could find out at 3pm.
So off we went to lunch, just down the street. We went to a place that had an English menu called "Cheers" (nothing like the sitcom, however). Eileen had cabbage rolls, which turned out to be very much like the kind she makes. "Traditional Ukrainian dish," the menu said. I had potato pancakes, country style, which meant it came with bacon and onions. Cubes of bacon. And we had a small bowl of borshch each.
At 3pm, we called back. There were no other girls without siblings available. So at this point, we are practically resigned to having 2 children. There is a very slim chance that we could find a third girl when we visit the orphanage, but really little hope. And after talking it over, we won't be able to take 2 more than the 2 we want. Four girls in our house at one time? I don't think so.
Goodbye Olga, goodbye Valentina. See you in a day or two. Now we wait for the written referral, which will probably be late tomorrow afternoon. The referral is our golden ticket to take to all the authorities. The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the SDA, as it were. Then we get to figure out how we are going to Donetsk: shake and bake (train), or plane.
What to do now? We are dazed, finding out that we do get to see Sasha and Nastiya, but sad that a third girl is not yet to be. We grab the laptop, and try to find the post office. The Canadians we met said there was internet access there. It's quite easy to find. We upload pictures, catch up on email. Then we explore the underground mall for a while. We run into someone we met last Sunday. This kind of thing never happens in Denver, but in the capitol city of a foreign country, why not? The Christmas tree is now unlit. The season must be over.
Back in our apartment, we eat some chicken soup, then I wash dishes. At 8pm, fireworks go off within easy view of our apartment. They last a minute or two, and the grand finale is 5 at once. Eileen picks up a guide and reads about Donetsk (THE major city close to Slavyansk, where Sasha and Nastiya are): "There's almost nothing to lure the casual visitor, but if you've always wanted to visit a coal pit or salt mine, now's your chance."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 3
Jet_lag update. Sunday was awesome. We were alert, moving around, having a great time. Sunday night at 10:30, what, time to go to bed? Well, all right. Monday morning at 9:00, do we have to get up? Now it's noon. Not on Ukraine time yet.
We tried to use our washing machine. No internet connection in the apartment, so we have to guess at the settings. Plug it in, turn it on, pour in some soap, add the clothes, hit the play button. It sounds like an angry robot. The timer made us think it would wait 2 hours before starting, instead it ran for 2 hours. Shouldn't have washed jeans with whites. Yeah, it was that good.
Jim called and had us meet him at St. Michaels church. It's just up the hill. The sun was out! Quick, get outside! We dashed up hill, got to the church, and started snapping pictures. St. Michaels is at one end of the street, St. Sophias is at the other. We are right in between the two, about 1/2 mile between the two. The sunlight lasted for 30 minutes, then the sun went behind thin clouds. It started to get cold right away.
We went shopping with Jim and Joshua and Ashley at the outdoor mall. After a few (?) purchases, we went through the underground mall to exchange some money, hopped on the subway. I have never lived in a BIG city, so subways are new to me. But this is not like the train ride at DIA. When the train stops and the doors open, everybody moves at warp speed. Jump on, get out of the way of the people coming out, grab on to a pole. And when the door closes, it means business. Just like the doors in Star Trek, they slam shut. You better not be in the way, or you will lose an arm. There's none of this, "The doors are closing, please move out of the way," spoken in a firm but non-threatening way. Just, wham! And when you get to your stop, you had better exit quickly or you will get trampled by the crowds moving in.
We ended up at Eunice's house. Eunice and her husband work for Teen Challenge. The home is at the western edge of Kiev. Becky and Nadia joined us, and eventually Leslie, who is rooming there temporarily. Eunice has internet, drool, drool. We were served a tasty spaghetti dinner. Afterwards, Nadia tricked us into playing some word game. "Just one more round." As we left, snow started falling.
Eileen and I took the subway back to downtown. We were a bit confused at the start. Do we pay attention to the red signs, with a single name on them? Or do we pay attention to the blue or green signs, with more names? And what was the name of the stop we wanted? We jumped on a train with everyone else, and then we could read the map on the walls of the train. The announcement of the first stop confirmed we were on the correct train. Up and down a few escalators, then up the long escalators. The long escalators have signs every 15 or 20 feet, there must be 50 or 60 signs, and the escalator goes at a 45 degree angle. How far underground does that put us? And the top of the escalator is at the underground mall. There are lots of vendors near the gated entrances to the subway. It's out of the weather, and perhaps slightly warmer. One long section of walkway had row of flower vendors.
Tomorrow is our first big day. Our appointment with the SDA. Are we acceptable as parents? Are Sasha and Nastiya still available?
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 2
Our apartment:
Hot water. Eileen hopped in the shower. After a few minutes, no hot water. Called Becky for help. Did you turn on the hot water heater? Looked at the hot water heater. It looks like it holds about 5 gallons. Next time, quicker showers.
Our toilet. After you flush the toilet, it sounds like one of those horror movies, where something comes up out of the plumbing. Bloop bloop... bloop bloop... bloop, for about 5 minutes. Then another 5 minutes of hissing as water slowly does something.
Our fridge. The poor thing probably needs cleaning. It runs for many minutes, and then rests for just as long. It sounds like a friendly jack hammer. It does keep things cold.
Our bedroom door. The door is a sliding door. I tried to close it from inside the bedroom. It sort of jumped its track. OK, lift it up, put it back, and pull some more. It jumped its track a couple more times, until the door was almost closed. Then I tried to push it back open. No deal. Lift, push, drop, push. Finally I found a way to lift and push, and the door moved, and jumped its track. Several more minutes, and we could leave the bedroom.
Our bed. It's big, so we were not bumping into each other all night. It's like a thin mattress laid down on wood, so it is extra firm. Eileen really likes this. I like softer. There are also ridges under the mattress, sort of like you would find in a bed from a sleeper sofa, only not as cruel. Either the bed is quite good, or we are still jet lagged out of skulls.
Our elevator. With the door closed, its about 4ftx3ft. Scrawled on the wall in English (read it carefully), "Graffiti is not crime." Bad smell inside. Our translator told us that someone probably took their dog our for a walk, but waited too long to start the trip, and the dog did not need to leave the elevator by the time it got to the bottom. Our apartment is on the 9th floor. Seems like the dog could have waited a little longer.
Our view. We can see "Hotel Ukraine", the world's largest most gaudy Christmas tree, one of the largest TV screens in Europe, an ice skating rink, a lighted government building, the statue of independence, a car sitting on a glass roof that is tilted at a 45 degree angle over an underground mall, and lots of clouds (snowed all day).
Downtown Kiev. We are within easy walking distance of McDonalds, O'Brien's, Potato House, the Guam Embassy, many other exciting locations.
All in all, I would say the apartment is OK.
We spent most of today with Becky and Nadia. Becky teaches English to Russians, and Nadia teaches Russian to Americans. They have a car and can speak the language.
They took us to a large Christian church service. Like many modern American churches and mega churches, it had multimedia, live band with drums, bass guitar, etc., a choir, and the volume was painfully loud. A well known poet (well known to many, but not us) got up and read some of his poetry. The pastor gave a sermon of reasonable length service. We have heard of multi-hour services in Ukraine, but not this one. At one point, I think visitors were asked to stand. Becky and Nadia told us stand up. The pastor saw us, and asked us to come up on stage. He asked what we were doing in town. After we told him and everybody else about our adoption plans, he prayed over us and blessed us. This is a pretty big deal, since adoption is just starting to be accepted, even in the church. Becky said it has great meaning when the pastor blesses a couple who are doing this.
After church, we went out to eat. We could have stopped at "Mister Snack", but instead went around the corner to a buffet. We had borsch, chicken Kiev, beets, bread with garlic paste, vareniky (a childhood favorite for Eileen), and NestTea tea. Nadia had kvas. I've had that before, and decided it is a aquired taste. It's a drink that, I was told, tastes like root beer, but it's more like molasses water. Lunch for the two of was was about $10.
Then we travelled to the outdoor market. OK, it's below freezing, light snow is falling, and these people set up stalls every day. No heat, no lights, just small 8x10 stalls. All kinds of goods for sale. Eileen picked up some stuff for our kids, and I got a hat. Becky knows some of the vendors, so we gave them the business (the good kind).
Next we went to a mall. Typical mall. Skating rink, food court, electronics, jewelry, clothes, blah, blah, blah. At one point, it looked like we had stepped back into America. Most writing was in English. "Sale, 50% off." "Lingerie." "Tommy Hilfiger." "Hallmark." "Sbarro." Under the signs was the Ukrainian. (And speaking of English, advertising is here in all its glory. An apartment block is named "Desire." Right.) We stopped iat the equivalent of KMart, to shop for food. When you are buying drinking water, it goes faster than you would imagine.
On the way to the mall was a flea market. This only happens on weekends. It is outdoors, just like the outdoor market. No stalls, just people standing with their goods at their feet. They looked cold.
After the shopping, it was time to eat again. Back to downtown. We tried to eat at O'Brien's, but no wifi (for essential internet connection). So we went to "Planet Sushi". No seating available, but a table was opening soon in the smoking section, so we waited and were seated almost immediately. Again, typical good food, decent prices. As we talked, we found out that Eileen's 2nd cousin is well known in many parts of the Russian speaking world. She has written poetry that has been read over the radio, and her voice was used in a reading of the New Testament. Way to go, V.K.!
We got a new sim card and number for our phone, we are now on "Kiev Star". We'll try to get the new number out soon.
Finally, back to our good old apartment. Last night we got 10 to 11 hours of sleep. It was still hard to get up, but it's almost 10pm now, and we feel good. Maybe we can be completely on Ukrainian time tomorrow.
Hot water. Eileen hopped in the shower. After a few minutes, no hot water. Called Becky for help. Did you turn on the hot water heater? Looked at the hot water heater. It looks like it holds about 5 gallons. Next time, quicker showers.
Our toilet. After you flush the toilet, it sounds like one of those horror movies, where something comes up out of the plumbing. Bloop bloop... bloop bloop... bloop, for about 5 minutes. Then another 5 minutes of hissing as water slowly does something.
Our fridge. The poor thing probably needs cleaning. It runs for many minutes, and then rests for just as long. It sounds like a friendly jack hammer. It does keep things cold.
Our bedroom door. The door is a sliding door. I tried to close it from inside the bedroom. It sort of jumped its track. OK, lift it up, put it back, and pull some more. It jumped its track a couple more times, until the door was almost closed. Then I tried to push it back open. No deal. Lift, push, drop, push. Finally I found a way to lift and push, and the door moved, and jumped its track. Several more minutes, and we could leave the bedroom.
Our bed. It's big, so we were not bumping into each other all night. It's like a thin mattress laid down on wood, so it is extra firm. Eileen really likes this. I like softer. There are also ridges under the mattress, sort of like you would find in a bed from a sleeper sofa, only not as cruel. Either the bed is quite good, or we are still jet lagged out of skulls.
Our elevator. With the door closed, its about 4ftx3ft. Scrawled on the wall in English (read it carefully), "Graffiti is not crime." Bad smell inside. Our translator told us that someone probably took their dog our for a walk, but waited too long to start the trip, and the dog did not need to leave the elevator by the time it got to the bottom. Our apartment is on the 9th floor. Seems like the dog could have waited a little longer.
Our view. We can see "Hotel Ukraine", the world's largest most gaudy Christmas tree, one of the largest TV screens in Europe, an ice skating rink, a lighted government building, the statue of independence, a car sitting on a glass roof that is tilted at a 45 degree angle over an underground mall, and lots of clouds (snowed all day).
Downtown Kiev. We are within easy walking distance of McDonalds, O'Brien's, Potato House, the Guam Embassy, many other exciting locations.
All in all, I would say the apartment is OK.
We spent most of today with Becky and Nadia. Becky teaches English to Russians, and Nadia teaches Russian to Americans. They have a car and can speak the language.
They took us to a large Christian church service. Like many modern American churches and mega churches, it had multimedia, live band with drums, bass guitar, etc., a choir, and the volume was painfully loud. A well known poet (well known to many, but not us) got up and read some of his poetry. The pastor gave a sermon of reasonable length service. We have heard of multi-hour services in Ukraine, but not this one. At one point, I think visitors were asked to stand. Becky and Nadia told us stand up. The pastor saw us, and asked us to come up on stage. He asked what we were doing in town. After we told him and everybody else about our adoption plans, he prayed over us and blessed us. This is a pretty big deal, since adoption is just starting to be accepted, even in the church. Becky said it has great meaning when the pastor blesses a couple who are doing this.
After church, we went out to eat. We could have stopped at "Mister Snack", but instead went around the corner to a buffet. We had borsch, chicken Kiev, beets, bread with garlic paste, vareniky (a childhood favorite for Eileen), and NestTea tea. Nadia had kvas. I've had that before, and decided it is a aquired taste. It's a drink that, I was told, tastes like root beer, but it's more like molasses water. Lunch for the two of was was about $10.
Then we travelled to the outdoor market. OK, it's below freezing, light snow is falling, and these people set up stalls every day. No heat, no lights, just small 8x10 stalls. All kinds of goods for sale. Eileen picked up some stuff for our kids, and I got a hat. Becky knows some of the vendors, so we gave them the business (the good kind).
Next we went to a mall. Typical mall. Skating rink, food court, electronics, jewelry, clothes, blah, blah, blah. At one point, it looked like we had stepped back into America. Most writing was in English. "Sale, 50% off." "Lingerie." "Tommy Hilfiger." "Hallmark." "Sbarro." Under the signs was the Ukrainian. (And speaking of English, advertising is here in all its glory. An apartment block is named "Desire." Right.) We stopped iat the equivalent of KMart, to shop for food. When you are buying drinking water, it goes faster than you would imagine.
On the way to the mall was a flea market. This only happens on weekends. It is outdoors, just like the outdoor market. No stalls, just people standing with their goods at their feet. They looked cold.
After the shopping, it was time to eat again. Back to downtown. We tried to eat at O'Brien's, but no wifi (for essential internet connection). So we went to "Planet Sushi". No seating available, but a table was opening soon in the smoking section, so we waited and were seated almost immediately. Again, typical good food, decent prices. As we talked, we found out that Eileen's 2nd cousin is well known in many parts of the Russian speaking world. She has written poetry that has been read over the radio, and her voice was used in a reading of the New Testament. Way to go, V.K.!
We got a new sim card and number for our phone, we are now on "Kiev Star". We'll try to get the new number out soon.
Finally, back to our good old apartment. Last night we got 10 to 11 hours of sleep. It was still hard to get up, but it's almost 10pm now, and we feel good. Maybe we can be completely on Ukrainian time tomorrow.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day 1
Rolan:
The adventure started the night before. A raccoon came back to our house, climbed on the roof, and started digging at the wood shingles. This is not the first time. I got out a long pole I used to paint the house, attached a roller frame, climbed a ladder to the roof of the house, and started poking this raccoon, to make him move. I had to chase him all around the roof, until he finally climbed into a tree that brushes the house. That's all the further he went. I checked out the damage, and found that he had already dug through the wood shingles. One web site suggests using wolf urine to keep him away.
After 24 hours of travel, we are now in our apartment in downtown Kiev. Our flight had two layovers, each lasting 3 hours. A little long, but it let us leave Denver in the morning, and arrive in Kiev in the afternoon. Lufthansa rocks! They served good food, with alcoholic beverage. Trying to sleep while sitting up in a narrow plane seat does not rock. I had ear plugs. As they expanded in my ears, the noise of the jets became less and less, until it was a faint noise. Then the child in the cabin started screaming. If jet engines are 180 db, then this child must be 240 db.
Eileen:
We got our leg room for the overseas flight by getting bulkhead seats but we were right under the movie monitor and next to the bathroom. The former provided an unwelcome bright white light, the later saw almost continuous use during the night. Just a heads up for fellow travelers. I was surprised by the brief night. Yeah, I knew it was going to be short but I didn't know it would be that short. We left Chicago at 4:30 pm and arrived in Germany about midnight, Chicago time. Maybe 1 hour 30 minutes sleep by that point. It was 7:00 am Dusseldorf tme. One would sort of expect some trace of sunlight but I could have sworn someone was playing a joke on us and it was midnight in Dusseldorf too. They wanted us to go to security. Never done that before between flights. I sort of woke up at one point when a female security gaurd started patting me down. I wasn't even awake enough to say, "Hey!"
Rolan:
What we saw of Dusseldorf airport felt like a video game. Many of the walls were glass framed in shiny steel. Lots of halogen lights. There were stairs going down, unreachable behind glass walls. How do you get to them? The only water I could find was from the restroom sink. As Americans going to Ukraine, we were turned away from the boarding gate. "You must have a green stamp on your boarding pass. Downstairs." OK. Once we got someone to look at our passports and boarding passes, we got a green stamp. Back upstairs, everything is ok.
Eileen:
Heidi and Felix let us use their phone. It gave us a security blanket to have a number to call (already in the phone) when we arrived and didn't see our facilitator, Olga. Thanks guys! It was great to go to a grocery store right away and get a bunch of food and pay for it with grivnas. (Thanks Heidi and Felix and Kari!) The bread here is terrific and the butter and we found a good salami to have for dinner. I bought eggs and cheese and chicken too so we don't have to use up our emergency food supply of instant oatmeal and soups. We went to test the gas stove and thought for sure the gas war with Russia was finally taking its toll. Couldn't get the thing to light. Found out there is a valve you have to turn behind the stove (kinda like your gas grill). Managed to light it so we can have cooked eggs in the morning. Our apartment is kind of sparse but has a dynamite view of the square which is lit quite nicely and has special looking buildings downtown. It'll do.
Message to Kari: One extra roll.
Rolan:
Getting through customs in Kiev was no problem. Our driver is Sasha. He drives fast. The speed limit says 90 km/hr, he goes 140.
The adventure started the night before. A raccoon came back to our house, climbed on the roof, and started digging at the wood shingles. This is not the first time. I got out a long pole I used to paint the house, attached a roller frame, climbed a ladder to the roof of the house, and started poking this raccoon, to make him move. I had to chase him all around the roof, until he finally climbed into a tree that brushes the house. That's all the further he went. I checked out the damage, and found that he had already dug through the wood shingles. One web site suggests using wolf urine to keep him away.
After 24 hours of travel, we are now in our apartment in downtown Kiev. Our flight had two layovers, each lasting 3 hours. A little long, but it let us leave Denver in the morning, and arrive in Kiev in the afternoon. Lufthansa rocks! They served good food, with alcoholic beverage. Trying to sleep while sitting up in a narrow plane seat does not rock. I had ear plugs. As they expanded in my ears, the noise of the jets became less and less, until it was a faint noise. Then the child in the cabin started screaming. If jet engines are 180 db, then this child must be 240 db.
Eileen:
We got our leg room for the overseas flight by getting bulkhead seats but we were right under the movie monitor and next to the bathroom. The former provided an unwelcome bright white light, the later saw almost continuous use during the night. Just a heads up for fellow travelers. I was surprised by the brief night. Yeah, I knew it was going to be short but I didn't know it would be that short. We left Chicago at 4:30 pm and arrived in Germany about midnight, Chicago time. Maybe 1 hour 30 minutes sleep by that point. It was 7:00 am Dusseldorf tme. One would sort of expect some trace of sunlight but I could have sworn someone was playing a joke on us and it was midnight in Dusseldorf too. They wanted us to go to security. Never done that before between flights. I sort of woke up at one point when a female security gaurd started patting me down. I wasn't even awake enough to say, "Hey!"
Rolan:
What we saw of Dusseldorf airport felt like a video game. Many of the walls were glass framed in shiny steel. Lots of halogen lights. There were stairs going down, unreachable behind glass walls. How do you get to them? The only water I could find was from the restroom sink. As Americans going to Ukraine, we were turned away from the boarding gate. "You must have a green stamp on your boarding pass. Downstairs." OK. Once we got someone to look at our passports and boarding passes, we got a green stamp. Back upstairs, everything is ok.
Eileen:
Heidi and Felix let us use their phone. It gave us a security blanket to have a number to call (already in the phone) when we arrived and didn't see our facilitator, Olga. Thanks guys! It was great to go to a grocery store right away and get a bunch of food and pay for it with grivnas. (Thanks Heidi and Felix and Kari!) The bread here is terrific and the butter and we found a good salami to have for dinner. I bought eggs and cheese and chicken too so we don't have to use up our emergency food supply of instant oatmeal and soups. We went to test the gas stove and thought for sure the gas war with Russia was finally taking its toll. Couldn't get the thing to light. Found out there is a valve you have to turn behind the stove (kinda like your gas grill). Managed to light it so we can have cooked eggs in the morning. Our apartment is kind of sparse but has a dynamite view of the square which is lit quite nicely and has special looking buildings downtown. It'll do.
Message to Kari: One extra roll.
Rolan:
Getting through customs in Kiev was no problem. Our driver is Sasha. He drives fast. The speed limit says 90 km/hr, he goes 140.
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