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.
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.
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.
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