10 and 20 - Saturday, Feb. 28th

We got some good news on Friday; the director gave us permission to take Elona out of the orphanage as long as we did not leave Sevastopol. So today was our first day. We picked her up at 2:00 and took the bus back to our city center. Before going back to the apartment, we went to the market; there were a few things that we needed like an onion, eggs and toilet paper. We also needed to pick up some slippers for her to wear at the apartment. The floors are tile and very cold. At first she did not understand, but soon she was trying on the sizes and choosing the color she liked.

Then it was back to the apartment. She was a little timid, like anyone when they enter someone else’s home. We showed her around; she happily noted that we had displayed the Valentine’s Card and the pipe cleaner ‘Elona’ that she had made us. I showed her the gym shoes and boots that I had bought her to wear to America (they fit fine by the way). When we mentioned the shoes for America, she wanted the Russian-English Dictionary and asked me ‘Soon’??? We got out the calendar and explained that the court date was the 10th, then the 10 days and no more orphanage on the 20th. A few more days, then Kiev, three more days and America. I think this really made it real to her, she was all smiles, and she kept repeating “10 and 20”.

We played a computer reading game and put together a wooden seahorse puzzle. Then we snacked on Aunt Cathy’s trail mix and played a couple games of UNO before it was time to take the bus back to the orphanage. As the three of us walked up that trash riddled street to the orphanage, she started repeating again…..”10 and 20”. It is such a great feeling to know that she is as sure about this decision as we are.

Tomorrow we will pick her up again for another visit at the apartment. We are planning to Skype Aunt Robbin and Ben in the morning. It will be exciting to see her reaction to talking live to someone over the computer. And Ben will meet his new sister for the first time.

Now I know what you are thinking, not another photo of the market, (in 10 days I will be able to put in photos of Elona). But these are jars of honey; some are beautifully filled with layers of nuts and honey. I thought it would nice to try some, so I bought the smallest jar layers with almonds and pecans. After we go it home, Roger happens to think that honey is a raw food and maybe we shouldn’t eat it. So I would appreciate thoughts on that subject if anyone has any insight.

Also, we would again like to express our appreciation for all you followers; the emails, your comments and support really makes a difference. Thanks again.

Kelley and Roger

Staying Put - Thursday, Feb. 26th

Believe me, it was not any easy decision, but we have decided to stick it out. Ben is okay with it, thinks we should save the money for better vacation this summer. It is easy for him to say, he’s still sleeping in his own bed!

To celebrate our decision to forgo our vacation to the wonderful United States, we did the next best thing – we had lunch at McDonald’s. Sorry, Renee, but this is only the second time since we arrived in the Sevastopol.

To help pass the time, we are hoping we can make some arrangement to take some day trips around the area. There are Greek ruins and beautiful scenery not that far out of town. If it would just warm up, the trips to the orphanage would be a lot more pleasant.

Another thing I am looking forward to is trying some good Ukrainian food. We will have to get some American’s or Galya and Kostya to go with us. We have looked at some of the menus and we haven’t got a clue, not like Spanish or French, when you can at least figure out if it is fish or chicken.

Well that is all for now, hopefully I will have something interesting to write about soon. The photo is of a church just up the hill from us.

Kelley and Roger

We're Still Here - Wednesday, Feb.25th

Sorry we haven’t written, but there hasn’t been much to tell. We have been going to the orphanage every day, reading, cooking, and watching Soprano’s. And the last time we went to the Potato House, we didn’t meet anyone new. It is still really cold.

We have been waiting for the judge to give us our court date. We had high hopes for a date by the end of February, but we are out of luck. March 10th. We are disappointed, but not surprised; everyone has warned us not to expect things to go as planned. Galya is hoping to talk to the judge tomorrow morning to see if there is any chance of an earlier date. If she can’t, we have to decide whether to stay, knowing that we have at least 4 more weeks here; or spend the money to come home for 7 days. It would not be so bad to stay if we could take Elona out of the orphanage during the day. Hanging out at our apartment and going to the market is a lot more fun. Anyway, we will make our decision after we hear from Galya tomorrow.

There are a few things about Sevastopol that we have not told you about.
Dried fruit is really big here. The photo’s show the beautiful colors at the tables in the market. I have been sampling different cookies each time we go to the market. Most of them have some kind of fruit inside. They also have wonderful coconut macaroons. A lot of the men here carry purses. Not the shoulder-strap man-bags you see in the U.S sometime. These look like miniature doctors bags, but with more buckles.

The fashions here are similar to Kiev, but a lot less black, more color. Still lots of boots. And on warmer days (there have not been many), boy the skirts are short.

You ask any of the English speaking guys what the best thing about the Ukraine is and they will all say ‘the cheap beer’. You can buy it everywhere and anytime. You can drink it walking up the street at 8:00 in the morning and we have been told you can even drink it on the bus, though we have not seen anyone.

There are lots of music videos on TV and they are really bad and really trashy. They have stuff like Animal Planet and Discovery with Russian dubbed in over the top of the English.

One of the funniest things that happened was a day that we were waiting in the government building waiting for some paperwork. A very tall, very blonde woman comes out and asks Galya a question. Galya laughs. It seems that this woman had read our home study and saw that my brother Frank was divorced. She wanted to know if my brother was interested in meeting a nice Ukrainian Girl. So, there you go Frank….let me know if you in the market.

Well that is all for now. Who knows….we might be home this weekend. We will let you know.

Kelley and Roger

Cold weekend - Feb. 21st and 22nd

It has been really cold here this weekend. So aside from going to the orphanage we have been staying in. Fortunately I made a large pot of beef vegetable soup Saturday, so there was no need to go to the market.

During the visit on Saturday we stayed in the music room the whole time. The wind was blowing and the room was really cold. Elona showed us her talent for cart wheels and back bends before we settled into the usual, playing UNO, reviewing a little English, and playing I Spy on the wooden floor. Good-byes and ‘we will see you tomorrow’.

Sunday was not as windy, but just as cold. Roger and I both dressed warmer in preparation of the cold music room. As soon as we got there Elona said ‘Hi, I am Elona Marie Holliday” with a huge smile. Then she immediately wanted to go outside, soon we knew why, she was putting on rollerblades. She put them on in the 2nd floor dorm and proceeded to walk down the concrete steps in them. Outside the sun was shining and it was not as windy. We walked around the building as she skated. She does pretty good, especially considering all the gravel and holes in the surfaces. We walk up around the school. School is still closed for ‘quarantine’, which make her very happy – normal kid.

Back inside, we had brought the laptop with us and a couple beginning learning CD’s that Pam had loaned to us. It only took a little while for her to get the hang on it, with help from us. She really enjoyed it and we did that most of the afternoon before playing a couple quick games. Then it was time to leave for the bus. As usual we exchange lots of hugs and kisses.

Tomorrow we are hoping to find out our court date and for warmer weather.

Kelley and Roger

Singing and Dancing Friday Feb. 20

The day started pretty normal, some laundry, cheese omelets for lunch and a quick run to the market. At 1:15 we Skype with Ben before he heads for school. Then it is reading until it is time to head for the orphanage.

Today Galya and Kostya pick us up; Galya will be visiting with us today. She tells us that we have not received our court date yet, they told her to call back again on Monday, typical. When we get to the orphanage, Galya spots the Doctor and asks about the medical report that we need. It will be ready on Monday, typical. We see the councilor and ask if we will be able to take Elona home to our apartment for the day on the weekend. No, not until after the court hearing. We are disappointed, it is getting hard to fill the time shut in a small room with people that don’t speak the same language. A lot of UNO.

Elona is very happy to see Galya. We go to the library/computer room and sit on the floor. There are three pretty new computers. We ask Elona who uses the computers, she has never seen anyone use them. Elona is talking a mile a minute, telling Galya all the news of the orphanage. We ask about simple things, foods she likes, how many girls are in her dorm, has she ever slept in a room alone. There are eight girls in her dorm, she is the oldest, and the youngest is 4. Two of the girls are going home to their mother in 10 days, we are happy for them.

We tell Elona her new name. Elona Marie Holliday. She thinks that it is good. We have her practice writing her full name and then Galya works with her for a few minutes on the English alphabet. Elona asks if we can go outside. She runs around obviously showing off for us. We don’t stay outside for long because it is cold. Back inside we go to the music room where the music teacher is working with an older student. They finish and we get a special treat. Elona sings for us with the teacher. She has a very nice voice and you can tell she enjoys singing. She has already told us that she will pick chorus in school. Galya tells me how surprised she is that music is such a large part of our school curriculum, not true in Ukrainian schools. Now the choreographer comes in, it is time for dance rehearsal and we get to watch. Elona is attentive and follow directions without disruption, which there is plenty of.

Soon it is dinner time and we say our good-byes and head for the bus. At our stop Galya stays on the bus to go the rest of the way home and we head straight for the Potato House. It is Friday night and very crowded, all the tables are taken, a young couple offer for us to share their table. Sergy and Katrina are young university student and speak pretty good English. We repay their generosity with shots of tequila (it is a western style restaurant after all). Katrina likes a tequila shooter, made with sprite – so when in the Ukraine, do like the Ukrainians. It is fun. Soon they need to leave, they are heading for the cinema, so we exchange emails and say good-bye to new friends. Then it’s back to the apartment for more Sopranos.

Kelley and Roger.

Casual day - Thursday, Feb.19th

Really not a whole lot to talk about tonight. It was a lazy day. Got up late, cooked cheese omelets for lunch, and did some laundry. I started making soup for the dinner tonight. At about 1:00 we Skype with Ben and Aunt Cathy before he heads for school. Ben is not quite awake, but we still get caught up with what has been going on. After that Roger played some games on the computer and I read a while until it was time to leave for the orphanage at 3:30.

When we arrive at the orphanage, as usual Elona’s face beams and she runs up and gives us hugs. Then we head for the office to get keys to a room where they ‘isolate’ us from the other children. The new rule. This is such a shame. It is our understanding that there were no adoptions from this orphanage until only a couple years ago. We are adopting Elona because Pam and Len met her while they were adopting Angella. Pam and Len adopted Angella because another family met her while they were adopting and so on and so on. If we can’t get to know any of the children while we are here, how can we become their advocate?

We ask Elona about school today. She tells us it is closed because so many children are sick. But she is not sick (we pray she stays that way with so much travel and stress ahead). Elona and all the other children at the orphanage attend public school. It is located next door; it is the picture on the left. The picture on the right is the entrance into the orphanage. There is an old filthy tee shirt on the ground to wipe your feet on. The entrance and hallways are night and day from the clean cheery dorm that Elona lives in. Bilka, the house dog, is usually sleeping in the stairwell or coming in when we are leaving. He is filthy also, but we have seen him doing his job keeping other stray dogs off of the compound.

We play Concentration with a deck of cards. Elona is impressed with how well we shuffle the cards and is trying to learn. After a bit we get out the English Russian picture book and practice some English. I am confident that she will do well at learning the language. Six o’clock comes around quickly and it time to go. Sad faces and hugs, and we head for the bus.

Back at the apartment we caught up with Robbin on Skype. We talk about the upcoming travel plans, which we hope to be able to start nailing down tomorrow night. I finish making the soup, I am using the left over roasted chicken, veggies, and a soup spice packet we bought in the market. It turns out great. I am going to buy a bunch of the packets to bring home.

Once I sent this off, Roger and I will watch some more Sopranos. Then tomorrow we will start again all over again. Galya is going with us to the orphanage tomorrow, so we can converse with Elona a little more. She will also ask if we can bring Elona back to our apartment during the day Saturday and Sunday.

Till tomorrow.
Kelley and Roger

Sunny in Sevastopol - Wednesday, Feb.18th.

Last night we went over to our new best friend Kevin’s apartment. As you remember we met him and a couple of other English speaking people at the Potato House the night before. He made us nachos. Kelley had some wine. And everything was great. We asked him where he shopped because everything was just like home and he said at the American PX in Kiev. His apartment is only a couple of blocks from ours and is very nice, nicely furnished and much bigger than ours. We sat in a sun room overlooking the main street. Unfortunately he’s leaving Friday for about 10 days. We’ll see him again because we know we’ll still be here, and besides he lent us a couple of DVDs. He also said there are about 8 gringos (as he calls them) in town and they see each other on a regular basis. Tonight they will be at the Black Cat Bar. We looked for it today, but it didn’t see a picture of a black cat and we couldn’t read the signs, so we’re not sure where it is. We’re gonna miss him. When we left he made us a care package, tortilla chips, Pace Picante sauce, and microwave popcorn. We are really grateful.
Today was a casual day. No meetings, no appointments. So got to walk around a little bit, and see our neighborhood in the sunshine. But first we went to the market. As Pam and Len told us, “Don’t stock up; buy just enough for the day so you have something to do tomorrow.” Good advice. We have gone back to the same vendors a couple of times so they recognize us right away, (who wouldn’t). We have the cheese lady, the soap lady, and the pastry lady. We bought some beef, the first red meat we’ve had since we got here, so Kelley is going to make some soup with it. We were looking at what we thought was bacon but it was cured, and the woman selling it cut off two small pieces to try. We tried to say no, fearing food poisoning. But she kept trying to give it to us. So we ate it, then she offered a different cut and another. Which we also ate. We walked away from there fearing gastric calamity. So far, so good. Just outside the market we saw a vendor selling whole roasted chickens. So we bought one of those. Just like Krogers. We had some of that for lunch and for dinner tonight we grilled cheese with chicken.
At 4:00 we went visit Elona, she had seen the doctor and gotten a couple of shots. And as usual she was very happy to see us. We played UNO and practiced English a little, and talked about flying home. We explained that we will fly four times to get to our house, and she doesn’t seem to be worried about it. Although at this stage to her it’s not that real. Tomorrow we will talk some more.

Gotta catch a train - Tuesday, Feb. 17th.

We were ready to go at 11:30 today when Galya and Kostya picked us up. It has been unusually cold here since we arrived and today there are snow flurries. We first go to the government office for our appointment with the boss of the woman that had interviewed us previously. This was the first man we have seen in this whole process. He asks about our home, income, why we had chosen the Ukraine and was our family supportive of the adoption. He reminded us that there could be difficulties with an adopted child. After, he wished that the remainder of our adoption process would be swift and life with the child would be happy. And he thanked us for taking care of their children. It was very nice.

Now, we have to get the remainder of the paper work to the 1:30 Train to Kiev so that Sveta can file the papers at the Ministry tomorrow between 9-11 AM or she will have to wait until Friday. Sometimes I think that Roger and I are contestants on “The Amazing Race”. We wait in the hall for the very slow printer. Finally we get one copy printed and Galya takes it and runs (she will come back later to get the other copies). Fortunately the train station is not far away and we get there on time. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting at the train station, but Galya runs on to the station platform and right onto the train. She comes out a few minutes later and we take off again.

Galya and Kostya drop us off at the bus stop near the orphanage before they take off to get copies and file more papers, and then probably to work at her many other jobs.

Roger and I buy some chips at the store at the bus stop and head up the hill to the orphanage. We are really early and Elona is still at school. She comes in about an hour later. We work on some English words and look at pictures. After a while she does her homework with the other girls. Her hand writing is very neat. We play some I Spy until she has to leave to go to dinner. We take off for the bus. We will be back tomorrow. At this point most of gathering of things is over. And since we can’t go as early to the orphanage we can look around Sevastopol a little.

We hope to find out what our court day will be on Friday. On our court date the adoption will be final, except for the 10 day waiting period that follows. Then we apply for the Ukrainian passport for Elona, 2-10 days. Then we fly to Kiev to apply for the US Visa at the American Embassy 3 days. And then we can all go home to the United States.

New Friends - Monday, Feb. 16th.

Today we headed out at 10:00 with Galyak and Kostya. Galya has the day planned. We planned ahead and packed snacks…..after all Galya is on a mission (believe me, we are not complaining, we are very grateful to have Galya). We are going to the notary, then to the government office, to pick up an assistant so we can pick up the papers from the orphanage (they won't release them to us) and meet with the supervisor, and to get final approval. That is the plan.

Well, the notary went well. We get to the government office and the orphanage has not submitted their paper work. So we go to the orphanage to get it, but they can not finish because the one computer is tied up.

That is how it goes…..we went to hang out in the main room of Elon'a dorm,thinking she was in school, but to our surprise Elona was there. While Galya stood over the staff to get the paper work finished we spent time with Elona. The group area is a living room with a large rug and comfortable chairs, a TV, and some student desks, there is coat room with individual cubbies, a bedroom with about 10 beds and a bathroom with individual hooks and shelves for towels and tooth brushes. It is all very neat and clean.

Galya comes in and goes over the afternoon. We get moved to a different room and play UNO with Elona while Kostya watches. During this time Galya has Elona write her letter saying that ‘she would not mind being adopted by us’. Later the children need to rehearse for a musical performance to be given to some war veterans (they are celebrating Victory Day), and we get to watch. Unfortunately the orphanage director notices that we are there and we are moved to another room before Elona practices her part (remember, new rule, we are not to see the other children).

Finally Galya returns and we head to the government office to submit the paper work and hopefully meet with the official so that Galya can send the paper work to Sveta in Kiev tomorrow. No luck. But we do get our paper work submitted and schedule an appointment for tomorrow at 12:00. Wait a minute…isn’t that lunch time? Galya believes she can still get everything on the train to Sveta tomorrow and we should get a court date on Friday. Cross your fingers.

Since we had no lunch and the market is closed on Monday, Roger and I head for the Potato House after Kostya drops us off at the apartment. Pizza again. We hear English a couple tables away and after we finish our food. Roger steps in and introduces himself. We are invited to join the small group. In the picture starting on the left, Roger, John from England (on vacation?), Jason from Niagara Falls, Canada (currently living and married in Sevastopol), Gem from Turkey, Natalia, Ukrainian living in Turkey, and Kevin from Boston (currently with the Navy living in Sevastopol). We have beer and talk about many things including politics, Ukrainian red tape and travel. It was good to have a casual conversation that we understood all the words, besides between just us.

Trip to the Market - Sunday, Feb. 15th

Last night after a small dinner of cheese, crackers and pepperoni (we have not really shopped for food yet); we took it easy and watched some Soprano’s - thank you Frank. Then stayed up late to talk to Ben, Cathy, Robbin and Bill on Skype.

This morning we went back to the market to pick up some things for the apartment and to get some food. We needed a couple of knives, dish towels, hand soap and a rug for the front door. The door mat was 24 grivna ($3).

I love the market. I love the vegetables and herbs, I love all the bread and cookie stands, but most of all I love the fresh foods…..the meats and cheeses. This fascinates me. Sunday is a big day at the market, lots of people. I smiled and waved at the woman that gave us cheese samples, she recognized me and smiled back. Best to become familiar I think. We got some pork chops and eggs. There is a station where they are scooping out cottage cheese and another where they are pouring milk into recycled bottles.

The exchange rate here is 8 to 1. Everything is so cheap. The pork chops were only about $1. Bottled water in the liter size bottle is only about 50 cents. Roger is buying Stella Atois in extra large bottles – 60 cents.

Before we leave the market we get some potatoes and an onion. There are a huge selection of cookies and pastries. I get three of something, not sure what it is, to share with Elona. They turn out to be small cream puffs and they are delicious. Don’t worry about my waist line; we are getting plenty of exercise. This is a very hilly city. Just the walk from the bus stop to our apartment is about the same as 5 flights. The walk from the bus stop to the orphanage is up hill all the way also. And we haven’t even started to explore the city yet.

We get to the orphanage at 2:00 and meet Mama Irena. We have heard all about Mama Irena from Pam and Len. She is very good to the girls. With some difficulty, and help from our picture book, she asks if we would like to take Elona to the park. Sure. So off we go. It is cloudy and in the high 30’s as usual. We think the park will be across the street or something. Instead Elona leads us down to the main road and we walk for about a half mile to ‘the park’. It is more like an old kiddie park, with fanciful characters, some created in mosaics. A play ship you climb on and an area with mazes and bridges. There also rides, like swings and a merry-go-round. There is also a trampoline. Nothing seems to be supervised, including the trampoline. There are older kids jumping all over everywhere. Oh yeah, and there is bear. A real, very large brown bear, in a very small cage. This is really sad. Fortunately Elona doesn’t want to go on any of the rides and after a while, we ask her if she would like to go back to the orphanage and play more UNO. Thank goodness she says yes.

On the way home from the orphanage, Roger and I stop to buy beer and orange juice, the necessities. I am having trouble explaining that I want ‘orange’ juice. The last time we tried to buy orange juice we ended up with super sweet orange drink. As usual someone that speaks English steps up and offers to help. We have found this almost everywhere. In the restaurants we ask “English?” and there is usually someone that can help us, of course our restaurant experience so far is limited to McDonalds and the Potato House.

Tomorrow morning Galya will be picking us up and we will begin more paper work. We will go to meet Elona again at 4:30. Tonight we cooked our pork chops and watched more Sopranos’.

Valentine's Day - Saturday, Feb. 14th

Good Luck Ben!!!

A casual morning for a change. Cloudy and rainy as usual. Start a load of laundry, one small load seems to take all day. We head down the main intersection and have McDonalds for lunch.

1:30 we head for the orphanage. This is our first day visiting on our own. Taking the bus is a breeze, there is a bus 109 about every 5 minutes. The bus is $2 grivna (22 cents) for each of us, each way. We arrive at our stop and walk to Orphanage #2. 25 minutes from our door to her door.

Elona comes out all smiles and one of the house mamas takes us to the music room so we can meet alone. This is also a new rule, we must be isolated from the other children.
Elona has made us a Valentine Card with heart and flowers. There is a note in Russian inside and an ‘I love you’ in English. She reads the Russian to us and then we both get hugs. Yeah. We exchange some gifts we brought for her, stumbling over the language barrier. But with the Russian/English picture book I brought and Roger using the Russian phase book we borrowed from Pam and Len, we got it figured out.

We do a few more pages in the I Spy book ( I wish I had brought more than one), it gives her great practice with English words and counting. We can tell she will learn quickly, easily recognizing words when we see them again, counting and doing simple math. We switch to UNO. She didn’t seem to know the game right away, but if she didn’t she picked, it up quickly. Her personality really started to show during the game, very playful and expressive. We took some pictures, but the Ministry frowns on publishing photos of the children before the adoption is final, so you will have to wait.

It is time to go and we get more hugs, BIG HUGS. We look up in the phrase book “we will be back tomorrow”. Roger and I head back to the bus……everything is good.
Tomorrow we will try to take pictures of Sevastopol.

Thanks to all you blog followers. We love to read the comments. You would not believe how much it means to us. Roger and I look everyday to see who is signed on.

Roger and Kelley

Day Two in Sevastopol - Friday, Feb. 13th.

Happy Birthday Cathy – Roger’s sister-in-law Cathy is a life saver, she is staying at the house with Ben while we are away. Thanks again Cathy.

Roger and I had great anxiety over our first introduction with Elona, she looked so frightened. Galya is picking us up at 4:00 and showing us how to take the bus to the orphanage.
In the mean time, I will try out the washer/dryer and we will go walk around Sevastopol for the first time.

Still cloudy and light rain for time to time, Roger is really ready for some sunshine. Again it seems that our new apartment is close to the middle of everything. Last night Kostia and Galya dropped us off at ‘The Potato House’, a place that Pam and Len recommended for pizza. It is located right on the water (the Black Sea) and it was no more than a 5-10 minute walk home.
Today we walked up the main street and to the ferry. From there we could see the sea. It is very nice and the water is clean. There is not the smell like you get in most large ports, no salt air, no fishy smell. We walked back towards our apartment and headed for the market.

The market has everything here in small kiosks all packed together is long rows on both sides. There are plumbing fixtures, cleaning products, boots, clothes, souvenirs and more. Around the corner there is a large building. Inside is the fresh food market. Tables and tables of fresh meat, some tables have chicken and eggs, some pork and others beef, all cuts and sizes. At one table are whole skinned rabbits, we can tell because the fur is still attached on the feet. Along another row are cheeses. One woman is giving samples to taste so I step right up and she gives us 4 different Swiss cheeses to try. They are delicious and we pick sample number 3. Something for Roger to eat with the pepperonis we brought from home. Back outside we walk by all the fresh fruits and vegetable stands. We pick up a few more things and head back to the apartment

Back at the apartment I work on catching up on the blog…..got behind a couple days. You will have to forgive me, but this is as much a journal as a blog. Now we are waiting for Galya. She is late because of traffic. We take off finally about 4:30. The bus stop is less than a 5 minute walk. Galya says is comes by often. We are only there for a few minutes when but 109A arrives and we get on. We have the same traffic problems. Normally it should take about 20 minutes. We get off at the stop – we walk up the hill about 1 block to Orphanage #2. It is after 5:00, we will not have much time.

We are shown into a small cozy room with a sofa and some small school desks. Soon Elona comes in, she is all smiles, she has with her the same white stuffed dog we gave her the first day. She runs back out and comes back with the picture book that we had sent her back in January with pictures of our family, our house, the pets, Grandma, Robbin, Cathy & Steve, Frank and Trevor. We are relieved to know that she received it and was a little familiar. Galya translated a letter from Ben to his new sister. She listens intently and then smiles at the end. Good job Ben. She runs and gets some drawings that she has done, to show us. This is all good, she want to impress us. I brought with us one of Ben’s ‘I Spy’ books and all four of us start to play. This is great; we have a good time laughing together. Then she must go to dinner….she asked if we will wait. Galya says no, we will be back tomorrow at 2:00. She smile and waves good-by.

We feel so much better. We get home – work on the blog and then walk back down to the Potato House for dinner and toast to our new family with beer and orange soda.

New adventure tomorrow – we take the bus alone and we visit Elona without Galya. Yikes!

Sevastopol, what a day - Thursday, Feb. 12th

We are up and ready at 10:00. Roger slept okay; I did not sleep at all.
Galya and Kostia pick us up right on time and we head to the magistrate’s office for our appointment. We get there and no one is allowed up…surprise visit from the Ministry in Kiev, no one available till after 2:00. No one will answer the phone. So we go to Orphanage #1 to see if they have a secret cell phone number Galya can try. There is no one at the orphanage. Galya is so focused; she does not want to waste time. We will go to the notary early.

At the notary the forms we brought have to be re-written, seems the Ukraine is not correct. We find out later from Galya that even though everyone speaks and writes in Russian, all official business has to be done in Ukrainian. Kostia take Roger and I to the grocery while Galya waits at the notary. Galya has called a friend to translate for us, she is not allowed because we are giving her the Power of Attorny for the adoption. Her friend struggles a little with the Ukrainian, but speaks very good English. We finally leave the notary around 1:00.

We head back to Orphanage #1 for some reason, Roger and I wait in the car with Kostia, we are just along for the ride, we know that we are in good hands. Galya returns, she has found out that there is a new office that we can go to meet with a magistrate which is closer to Orphanage #2 where Elona lives. We head there, but it is lunch hour so no one is in. We go to a small store and buy chips, yogurt and a coke – lunch. We eat in the car and watch a pack of about 4 dogs playing and @#&@$ing. We did not mention before, but there are dogs and cats everywhere, this was also true in Kiev.
Finally we go back in and after about 20 minutes we meet with the government representative, a very attractive women. By the way everyone official that we have met with has been a women, not a single man. She asks a couple questions about our jobs, why are we adopting in the Ukraine. The phone rings, she must leave. She will be back 10 minutes.
Galya tells us there is a new rule, now the official must be present at the orphanage when we meet the Orphanage Director and the child. The official returns about a half hour later. It is about 3:30 and we all head for the orphanage only 10 minutes away.

At the orphanage we go to the director’s office. Roger, Galya and I. The director of the orphanage, the councilor, the official of the government and the orphanage doctor. All women. Galya is the only one that speaks English, which is excellent by the way. The director and counselor tell us how wonderful Elona is, smart, talented, she sings, she dances…..they say they will miss her. Then the doctor runs through her medical history. She leaves and counselor begins telling us Elona’s personal history. We are talking with her for about 10 minutes and suddenly the director walks in with Elona.

First we are shocked, we did not expect her. She looks stunned also. I reach out to her, but she pulls away a little. We are introduced, she is so shy, she only flashes glances at us. But she smiles a lot and tells us that she likes to do crafts and that at school she wrote a fairy tale and won first prize. She is beautiful and petite. Big brown eyes, long wavy brown hair and a beautiful smile. About 15 minutes and she is gone. We will see her again tomorrow.

Leaving Kiev - Wed. Feburary 11th

Waiting for a call from Sveta at 12:00. The sun is shining for the first time and we are anxious to get outside. We are all packed per Sveta’s instructions. She calls – ‘be ready to go at 3:30’.
We head out to grab a bite to eat and get some pictures with the sun shining. The location of the apartment is wonderful, there is so much so close. We walked through the park today….we can actually see Kiev on the other side of the river….it goes forever.

3:30 Sveta picks us up and we go to the travel agent to buy airline tickets to Simferopol. The Ministry has promised to have our referral to visit the orphanage ready between 5 and 6 PM. After the travel agent, Igor (Sveta’s husband) takes us back to the apartment while Sveta heads for the Ministry. Igor and another driver (we need two cars to get us and our luggage to the airport) wait for us while we pay for the apartment - $75 per day, and collect our belongings and head down to the street. It takes three trips in the elevator. We head for the Ministry.
The Ministry hallway is packed with couples and their facilitators. There are people speaking Spanish, Italian and other languages we don’t recognize. We wait for about 45 minutes and they finally start calling people in. We figure Sveta went early to get on the list, because we are the second couple called. Ten minutes, we sign a paper and we are out the door.
Sveta is really relieved, I could tell while we were waiting that she was nervous about us getting the referral and making our flight. She says that each time ’this will be my last adoption’. Very stressful, she says not all people are like Roger and I…….calm.
Again we are lucky and the traffic is light and we get to the airport in plenty of time. We have time to chat with Sveta before our flight is called and we go through security.

Hour and 10 min. flight, we arrive in Simferopol. The Baggage claim is outside in a covered area, no building. Gala’s husband Kostia is there to pick us up. I sit in the back seat with some of the luggage and we are off. Kostia sends his regards to Pamela Anderson and Leonardo DiCapperio.

The road to Sevastopol is really bumpy….the whole way. Everything is dark, but we can see white cliffs. After only about an hour, we enter the city. In WWII the city was completely bombed. It was rebuilt in neo-classical style – all white and lots of columns. There are, like Kiev, statues and monuments everywhere.
Our apartment is great. Clean and much larger than we expected. We talk to Galya on the phone. Be ready to go at 10:00AM. The plan is to go to the government, to the orphanage to see Elona, to the notary and then back to the orphanage.

First official meeting - Tuesday Feb. 10 th

Well the meeting with the young pretty women judge was quite brief. We waited out in the stairwell with about 3 other couples and their facilitators for about 45 min. before we were called in. We were surprised that Sveta came into the meeting with us (we thought that we would be alone with a government translator). The judge asked us only one question- Why did you decide to adopt Elona? Next they showed us her file with a small picture - we verified that this was the child that we wished to adopt. We asked a few questions, and we were finished, not more than 10 minutes.

Now all we need is the paperwork/referral to visit the orphanage. Unfortunately, the office was without power all of last week. Sveta tells us that power outages are common in Ukraine, but very rare in Kiev. Anyway, because of the power outage all the appointments scheduled for last week were delayed, and the paperwork for those families that have been waiting all week will get their paper work first.

Sveta will be calling the office tomorrow at 12:00 for an update and will call to let us know when we can expect our referral. Then we be able to make travel arrangements for Sevastopol. Sveta advised us to get our bags packed and be ready to run, just in case.

After our meeting we did a little souvenir shopping, but it is colder today so we headed back to the apartment to put on warmer clothes and then walked to the small bar for pizza. After, we people watched in the mall while I sampled some gelatto (awesome). A young family walks by and we hear English. we keep an eye on them and when they walk by again we get their attention. Can you believe it - they are from Columbus!!!! They are adopting also. Ron and Sara are traveling with their two very young daughters. They are one of the families held up by the power outage and were on their way to their next appointment. We wish them luck. What a small world.

Since we have a little time, thought you might like to hear more about what we are experiencing in Kiev. This is very old country with a very rich history before it was taken over by the USSR, the new Ukraine has only been independent from Soviet Union since 1998. The government is very young and they have a new women prime minister.

Sveta is our adoption facilitator in Kiev. She is taking care of everything for us. She picked us up at the airport, she arranged our apartment, she makes sure we have all the documents that we need and make copies. She will make and get us to our appointments. Then she will arrange for our flight to Simferpol where Galya will take over and arrange our transport to Sevastopol.

Our apartment in Kiev: The sign on the street is Sunflower B & B. We walk though a gate from the street into a parking area to an alcove with a metal door. There is a key code to allow access into the elevator/stairwell. All concrete and dark, an old winding stone staircase wraps around an open elevator shaft protected by metal chain link. We get into the tiny elevator and go to the 5th and top floor,although the buttons in the elevator go to 10. There is a narrow double wood door that we unlock to gain access to a hallway with one dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling, it is full of building supplies, drywall and metal studs. There is a beautiful carved wood on the left. Our door is on the right, it is wrapped in brown snake skin vinyl . We unlock the door to bright apartment with high ceiling and big windows. It is very clean and comfortable. There is small balcony, but not much of a view…the back of other apartment buildings. We use it to keep our many bottles of water chilled (you can not drink, cook or brush your teeth with anything but bottled water). The kitchen has small refrigerator, gas range and washing/drying machine – for clothes. Unlike US, you have to wash very small loads and they wash and dry in the same machine. The bath is also new with sink, toilet, bidet and tub. No stand up shower that we are used to, hand held only. And there is a towel warmer – nice.

Kiev as we have seen it is cold and rainy, grey and dirty. But that is winter everywhere. There are many parks, trees and hills. Our young guide, Natalia told us how beautiful her city is and I believe her. I wish we were visiting in the spring or summer, but I am also happy that we will return to the US early enough for Elona to attend school for several weeks and then have the time over the summer to get more acquainted and have fun.

The architecture and the history are rich and mixture of many worlds. Along with many gold domes, the ironworks are beautiful. Ornate railing and street lights are everywhere. There seem to be large bronze statues on every major street corner. The grey massive structures built by the Soviet Union are a big contrast to the ornate Byzantine churches with the gold domes and bright colors. Most of the domes churches have been rebuilt as replicas of the originals. The Soviets destroyed most either during WWII or just to abolish religion.

Sveta warns us to be careful where we went in Kiev. She says that Ukrainian people are good people, but unemployment here is sky high and has gotten worse over the last several months. There are groups of young people everywhere.

In general, the people here are very attractive and thin. Roger loves the tight jeans. Everyone here seems to dress in black. Black leather with fur collars, short jackets or shiny leather down to the ankles. Black boots go from ankle high to over the knee. Roger thinks I should get a pair, just to wear around the house.
No one smiles, or make eye contact, especially the older people, but this is cultural, not rudeness, true for most of Europe. I have gotten a couple smiles, from the young people. Natalia was full of smiles and so anxious to please us.

More later.....maybe from Sevastopol.

Kelley and Roger

Hello from Kiev

Monday, Feb. 9th

We have arrived safely Saturday morning.

Sveta was the airport waiting...what a relief. The weather - foggy and drizzle - about 35 degrees. After stopping at the supermarket to pick up supplies, we arrived at our apartment in center of Kiev. the apartment is very nice and modern inside...but walking in from the outside old warehouse and up a very old, very old elevator.

Saturday we did nothing, slept most of the day and watched TV (we have 6 english channels, CNN ,BBC and Hallmark). Still foggy and rainy.

Sunday Sveta arranged a guide for us. Natalia is a very young university student, very sweet. She meet us in front of our building and we went to many places, walking and by bus. Tell you more of that later. Foggy and rainy and about 36 degrees.

Today, Monday. Still overcast with some drizzle, but not as foggy and a little warmer. Roger and I ventured out alone, started walking around the city square "Independence Square". There is a huge mall under the square and large intersection of streets (this is common all over the city, but this is the largest one). It is very modern, clothes, sporting goods, restaurants and boots. Lots of boots, all the women where boots...everything from practical to sexy.

We back tracked the route that we had taken with Natalia, to the old city where we had eaten lunch, and found an electronics shop to get the adaptor that we needed to get our computer up and running.....we are very proud of ourselves. We walked 3 1/2 hours - great for stress and Kelley's waist line.

Tomorrow - We are meeting Sveta tomorrow morning to go to our appointment with SDAPRC. Sveta went early today and made copies of all the documents that we need, so soon after the meeting, we should get our letter of referral to visit the orphanage. If all goes as planned we will buy our airline tickets to Simferpol and be on our way to Sevastopol on Wednesday.

We will write more later.
Kelley and Roger.

Leaving Tomorrow - Friday, Feb. 6th, 2009

Well tomorrow is the big day, Roger and I are leaving for New York and then off to Kiev, Ukraine. It is hard to believe this is really happening. We are going to have a new member of the family, a girl. Thank goodness for all the support of our family and friends, we could not have gotten to this point with out them.
Thanks you Robbin, Cathy, Pam and Len.

The hardest part will be leaving Ben behind. Aunt Cathy arrived today, she will be staying at the house with Ben, Alice and Sox. And Aunt Robbin will be around to help.

We will arrive in Kiev on Saturday morning and be there for a few days, have our first "court date" and then head for Sevastopol.

Right now we are going to try to get some sleep. HA. We will try to post more when we get settle in Kiev.

Kelley and Roger.