Bringing Elona Home

Okay, I have to tell you - right now Elona is pretending to have an office and is pretending to stamp documents with a deodorant container. She is listening to music on a disc player and organizing and re-organizing papers and objects on her ‘desk’. This is so funny to Roger and me. All three of us have seen a lot of documents stamped over the last two months. Elona was amazed that the Notary had five stamps, and each was bigger than the last.

Anyway. We have Elona’s Visa. George picked up us at the apartment and we hurried to the ‘Metro’. Kiev’s subway must be 10 stories underground, is very crowded and very noisy, which makes it seem like it is going really fast. A short Metro ride, a short bus ride, (practically running in between) we arrived at the U.S. Consulate 20 minutes early. I have to make a correction; our meeting yesterday was also at the Consulate, not the Embassy. We are the only people in the waiting room, which is very clean and new, not at all like any other waiting room we have been in since arriving in Ukraine.

Right at 2:00 we are called up to the window. The very nice American Consulate asked Elona a few questions; we raise our right hands and swore that all the document information is true. Sign the forms. We are finished. 20 minutes later the Visa is ready and we are out the door. I cannot describe how happy this makes us.

Now we are just killing time until the flight tomorrow morning.
For dinner we went to ‘Papa John’s’ (not the same, here Papa John is black). Elona ate 4 large pieces of pizza and a salad. Roger and I are thinking we will not be able to afford to feed her.

That is all from the Ukraine. Tomorrow we will return to our wonderful country and our friends and family. Thank you for joining us on our amazing journey. We will write again when we are home for few days to let you know how Elona’s first days in America go.

Roger, Kelley and Elona.

Photos are the view from our apartment.

We Are In Kiev

Galya picked us up in a cab and we went to the deski dome (orphanage) to say a quick good-bye to Mama Irena. You can tell she really cares about her girls and is so happy when they find loving homes. She gave Elona a box of chocolates and us a bottle of Champaign to share a toast with Pam and Len when we return home.

We got to the airport in Simferopol on Sunday, no problem and said our good-byes to Galya. We hope that she and her family will visit us in the US someday.

Elona was a little nervous about getting on the airplane as we walked towards it, but after we boarded she was fine. She had a little trouble with her ears and a lot of trouble with boredom. She is a typical 11 year old, complains when you are running all over that she is tired, and then complains that she is bored you have to sit and wait for more than 5 minutes. We explained later that the flight to US was a lot longer and that she was going to have to entertain herself better. Roger and I did our best imitations of Elona, sighing and flopping, she got the idea.

We arrived in Kiev about 2:00 and George was there to pick us up. Igor, Sveta’s husband, drove. He and George bicker like an old married couple, and then George turns and smiles at us. We are staying only a few blocks from where we were before. This is the center of the city, shopping, business, restaurants. The apartment is comfortable, but not quit as newly remodeled. We are having trouble getting the internet to work, but are picking up the coffee shop’s wireless from the first floor if we stand at the window. We had dinner at ‘Friday’s’. Roger had steak and was happy. The food was good, but a lot more expensive that eating out in Sevastopol, but about the same as home.

This morning we got up and out the door with George and Igor at 8:15AM. The first stop was the Medical Center where George went and registered and then we waited for about an hour for the doctor. The Doctor was very nice and the exam was over and all the papers signed and stamped by 10:30. We are out the door and on to the U.S. Embassy.

At the Embassy, we walked right past the line of 30 or so Ukrainians waiting outside, finally it pays to be an American. There is special office just for adoptions and we go right up to the window with our documents, most which George has organized, and more which I had spent about 2 hours the night before filling out. Everything is good, I signed a couple of papers and we are told to come back tomorrow to meet with the Consulate and we will receive our visa then. I cannot tell you how relieved were to hear those words. George is amazed; we were only there about 30 minutes.

We are so close now that we can taste it.
Kelley, Roger and Elona.

Leaving Sevastopol

We have the Passport. Yesterday at 4:00 Galya called and said we should meet at the passport office just in case it comes in. So the three of us walked over, it was about a 10 minute walk (we made a wrong turn, so it took us 20) and a beautiful day. There are about 15 other people waiting, all standing around the door. That is how they wait here. There are places to sit, but they all stand around the door. We were only there about 15 minutes when they start calling people in one at a time. Roger and I are not hopeful, we have had so many delays, no way will it be here. But, we are called in, Galya give me this look of ‘I can’t believe it’.

Ten minutes later we are out the door with Elona’s passport and running to the travel agency to buy our airline tickets to Kiev. I think Galya is more relieved than we are, she is all smiles. She called Sveta with the good news. We found out late last week that Sveta is very sick and will not be able to make the arrangements for us in Kiev. Instead George will be taking care of us. He is the guy that helped Pam and Len when they were here, so we are in good hands, but sorry we will not get to see Sveta. We will be leaving Sunday morning for Kiev, it doesn’t seem possible. Then we leave for Cincinnati on Wednesday morning. Can’t wait to be home.

Last night we got together with Jaimee and Andy, their friends Amanda and Jarred, and Galya. Elona was very existed to see Jamiee and Andy, and another friend Tanya that she knew from the orphan summer camp. We also ran into the Canadian, Jason, that we had meet weeks before. It was Friday night and every place was busy and smoky. We finally crowded into a corner at a small pizza place, Fiesta Pizza (wish we had tried it sooner, we liked the pizza better that Potato House, but let atmosphere).

Kevin joined us later with a friend, he was busy keeping track of the US sailors in port, but stopped in for a slice. It gave us a chance to thank him again. While we were there several more sailors stopped in for pizza. Jamiee and Andy had meet Joe the day before and he was making arrangement to donate clothes to their Operation Lazarus.
It was a nice time, and we happy to get to see everyone before we leave. As much as we miss Ben, home and family, we are going to miss Sevastopol and the wonderful people that we have met here.

Kelley and Roger

Oh What A Night

Three nights together and everything is going great. Elona has slept well on the living room sofa, and is waking up hungry and eats all day. The first night she took a long bubble bath and washed her hair. She is a little bored, but is otherwise fine. I would imagine she is used to having other children around all the time so this is a little strange. We gave her the first ‘Harry Potter’ book in Russian and she is enjoying that. Today she helped cook breakfast and now she is dusting the apartment, even though I told her she did not need to.

Our routine has been about the same. Late mornings, we eat breakfast, go to the market, and then Skype Ben before he goes to school. Then depending on the weather, we hang out and play on computer or go for a walk. Wednesday night we played some UNO and watched an American movie (in Russian) that Pam had lent us (thank you Pam, those movies have been a life saver). Today we are going to start packing – yeah.

Just a funny note. Roger had commented to me several times, that there is no place in the city where there has been concrete sidewalk or road repair that does not have a shoe or paw print in it. So last night coming up from meeting Kevin, he came across a patch of wet concrete in the sidewalk. Roger has made his mark in Sevastopol, leaving his hand print.

Yesterday we walked down to the public dock area where a US Navy ship is docked. The USS Klakring is on a diplomatic visit to the Ukraine. It is a ‘small’ ship. Last night we went to a reception there. Kevin invited us, this is a real privilege. The party was under a tent on the helicopter pad. The US Ambassador was there, and Ukrainian Admirals, what the military folks would call “big brass”, and of course the officers and some of crew of the ship. There were about 80 people all together. We really didn’t have the right clothes to wear. We had to go out and buy skirts for Elona and I, and shoes for Elona. Good thing we have our ‘court clothes’, or we would have had to decline. Kevin said it didn’t matter, it is our Navy. Kevin and his boss (an Army Coronel) were there of course. Kevin’s friend Kostya, whom we had meet before at Kevin’s, was working as the interpreter for the Ambassador. Roger had met several of the officers the night before, so they were all coming up and introducing themselves to Elona and me.

When we first arrived Elona was particularly interested in the swan ice sculpture and sterno cans heating the serving dishes. The cheese and veggie tray was also a hit. Later when they started serving food (all very American) she had her first chicken fingers and BBQ meatballs, and then ate two large dinner rolls. She decided the roast beef which Roger was thrilled with.

Many of the American officers spoke Russian and Elona got plenty of attention. In fact, the Army Coronal, who spoke Russian, was very nice spoke with Elona frequently. He arranged for Elona to have a private tour (Roger and I got to tag along) of the bridge and the deck with a Russian speaking US officer. One of Executive Officers had a traveling koala bear (like our Flat Stanley) from his 8 year old daughter’s school project and posed for photos with Elona. As it turns out Elona stepped on her first piece of US soil last night when she went aboard the ship. So as a special gesture, the commander of the ship ordered the Elona be entered into the ships log.

We left after about 2 hours with a cold and tired little girl. It was an exciting night, one I don’t think she will forget for a long time. Roger and I would like to express our appreciation to the US Military for a special night and for their great work around the world. Just another reason we are proud to be Americans.

No More Orphanage

Boy, a lot has happened since Sunday. First, we did not get to take Elona home from the orphanage on Monday like we were supposed to. After going to several offices with Galya and Kostya, we went to the orphanage to pick up and Elona. The representative from the government was there also. They whisk Galya away and ask (tell) us to wait in the library. About 20 minutes later Galya comes in with a very sober look. “It is not happening today.” What??? She repeats the statement and we are shocked. The director will not release Elona without the birth certificate- that we cannot get until tomorrow. Even the government representative is surprised.

But that was yesterday. Today we have Elona with us. She is working on an art project and listening to music as I am writing this.

The day started at 8:30 this morning and we went none stop until 4:30 today when Galya and Kostya dropped us off at the apartment. I will not bore you with all the details, but we went to eleven locations during that time. It was after we got the birth certificate that we picked up the Director at her home (she wasn’t feeling well) and went to the Orphanage for the official transfer. Galya handed over documents and we signed some papers. They gave Elona a nice book of Ukrainian Folk Tales and the Director gave her phone number. Later our little angel says to Galya in Russian “Why the hell did she give me her number, I’m not going to call her”. One neat thing, they brought out a wooden US puzzle with pictures of adopted children glued to it and we placed a mark where Elona would be living in America. Elona’s mark is right next to Angella’s. The Neeley’s from California and the Webb’s from Tennessee were also represented.

The government representative was 40 minutes late…..so after he arrived and signed the papers, it was official; we got our papers, said good-bye. In the hall Galya says….lets run. Roger and I are a little surprised, but we don’t ask question. All four of us take off as fast as we can through the orphanage and out to Kostya waiting in the car. Roger and I are thinking….did we get away with something, are they going to come running after us and take Elona back????? Turns out we are just running behind and Galya is just trying to get us to our next stop before the lunch break at 1:00 starts. We get there in time to get things turned in, but still have to wait for the lunch break. So we had lunch and had a really nice talk with Elona.

Long story short, it took all day but we have applied for Elona’s passport, which should be here in time for us to leave for Kiev on Saturday evening (thanks you Galya and Kostya). We will apply for the U.S. visa on Monday, get it on Tuesday and leave for home on Wednesday. Hallelujah.

Tonight, finally, is our first night together. I have a feeling our adventure is just beginning.

Kelley, Roger and Elona
(The photos are of Elona with some dorm mates, and Kostya and Galya on the day of our outing.)

The Home Stretch

Tomorrow is the first of many ‘big’ days to come in the next week. Galya will pick us up in the morning and we will head out to get the adoption decree. The next step is getting the passport. We will try to get some other things done, but we need Elona’s new birth certificate and of course that office is closed on Monday.

Next we will go to the orphanage and pick up Elona. We will bring her her own clothes, shoes and coat. She will change out of her shared orphanage clothes for the last time. I really mean ‘shared’ clothes. Not only did we see Elona wear the same clothes for many days in a row, but we would also see the other girls in the dorms wearing them also. She will gather up the very few belonging that she has and we will leave for the apartment.

We will not be saying good-by to the orphanage for good yet. We will be returning about 3:30 for a ‘going away party’ and for the official hand off with the director and a government representative. Roger and I will be very thankful to be walking up that hill for the last time (it is steeper that it looks in the photo). Elona picked out small gifts at the market for her dorm mates; she did a great job, very thoughtful and stayed on budget. Did I tell you Elona is a list maker, and she has beautiful penmanship. She made a list of the girls she was buying for and crossed them off as she went.
Elona was also very specific with what we should bring for the party, she made me make a list. We are bringing juice, fruit, chocolate and a cake. She would have invited the whole orphanage if we would have let her.

Before I forget, wanted to ask those of you that have adopted, was your child eating everything in site? Since we have been spending more time at the apartment with Elona and offering her things like popcorn, chips and salsa and even trail mix, as soon as she gets to the apartment, she starts indicating casually that she is hungry. And, she will eat about anything we put in front of her, today it was strawberry yogurt and left over macaroni and cheese. It cracks me up.

Anyway……After the party and the official hand off…. We will, all three, be leaving the orphanage for the last time. Before heading home, we are going to the Potato House for Pizza. Then to the apartment for Elona’s first sleep over. Elona is about jumping out of her skin. She is so excited she can’t contain herself. Today on the way to the bus she was singing “Tomorrow, Tomorrow”. The feeling is mutual.

Almost forgot. Friday night our good friend Kevin hosted a party at his apartment . Roger and I, Galya and Kostya, Jaimee and Andy, and Amanda and Jarred attended. Katie, a past co-worker of Kevin's, also joined us. Kevin is a great host. Sangria, cold cuts, bruschetta, shrimp cocktail, and salad. There were also chips and salsa, potato chip with French onion dip and M & M’s that the Americans went crazy for. It was a really fun night with good conversation, a night that will away bring fond memories. Thank you Kevin.

Kelley and Roger

P.S. 2nd photo is the view of a statue of Lenin as we walk to our apartment everyday.

Thank You

Since not a lot is happening here except for waiting, we will put in a few new pictures of the city and take some time to thanks some people.

Pam and Len: Without the two of you having the courage to do this on your own, Roger and I would not be bringing this wonderful child into our family. It is so hard to imagine how difficult your adoption experience must have been without someone there to hold your hand, the way that Roger and I had the two of you. And a thank you to Angella , who is celebrating one year in America this week, this has all happened because of you.

Next of course would be our family. Without their support we would not have been able to make this journey. Ben was on board with the adoption idea from day one and still is. We all knew that the process could last this long, but we were sure it wouldn’t (we were wrong). The first 5 weeks away from Mom and Dad, wasn’t so bad, but we are all ready to get our lives back to normal and Ben is no exception. So we thank him for being patient and we can’t wait to see him.

Cathy has left her home for what will be 8 weeks by the time it is all over. She came to Cincinnati to take care of Ben, a young teenage boy (need we say more), the dog, the cat, the fish and the toad. She has run errands, paid bills, gone to dentist appointments and gone to martial arts more times than we can count. Having one person commit that much time and take on all that responsibility is uncommon and we will be forever thankful. And let’s not forget Steve. While Cathy is in Cincinnati for these 8 weeks, Steve has been home alone. A couple weeks is one thing, we married folk might even consider that a good thing, but both Cathy and Steve have disrupted their lives so that we could be here.

We can’t say enough about Robbin. She too was on board from the very beginning and we don’t know what we would do without her. She helps in too many ways to mention, but has been especially supportive with Ben since we have been gone. She has been there to give Cathy well deserved breaks, she has helped Ben with school projects and been there when he needed her. We Skype with Robbin almost every work day and that bit of normalcy does wonders for our morale. We should also mention that Bill has also been very supportive, he and Ben are close and I am sure that having Bill at the black belt testing really helped.

Thank you to all the friends that have taken Ben for a day of play or for sleepovers. This has really helped the time pass for him and we really appreciate it.

There are people back in Iowa that I would like to thanks. Aunt Trula and Aunt Mildred are nursing my mother after a minor surgery. And Bev and Dick take a lot of time out of their busy lives to help with her medical care. Hi Mom, hope you are feeling better.

Finally, thanks to all of you out there who are following the blog, writing comments and sending emails. You have helped Roger and I get through the each day and put smiles on our faces.

Hope to see you all soon.
Kelley and Roger

Rain, Rain Go Away

We have started to count down the days. Next Monday the 23rd is the day that Elona will leave the orphanage for good and come to live with us. We will have a small celebration, just the three of us, on what will be both a wonderful and strange night.

We got a small break yesterday, but not from the weather, which Galya has told us has been unusually rainy this year (no kidding). Kostya and Galya picked us up in the morning, it had rained all night, but the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 40’s. We headed out of the city past one drab soviet type apartment building after another. These were all built after WWII, at the end of the war there were only 8 buildings left standing in Sevastopol.

We are heading towards Yalta. Once we are out of the city we drive through rolling hills covered with vineyards. There are low mountains in the distance, one is snow capped. Through a pass, and there is the Black Sea along a rocky coastline. Along the hilly highway we saw probably a hundred cyclists in racing attire. This is a big summer vacation area, for mostly Russian tourist. Spread out along the coast there are resorts and spas, some existing, and some being constructed, and many large homes that are rented out during the busy season.

Our sunny day is quickly becoming grey and cloudy and by the time we pull into our first destination it is raining. The palace was built in the early 1800’s by one of the princes. It was used as the set for several movies including ‘The Three Musketeers’ – don’t know which one. As we get out of the car it is really starting to rain and we have no umbrella (stupid us). At least we are wearing rain coats with hoods, but poor Galya is not….so she puts the nylon shopping bag we carry with us on her head. What a trooper. Kostya chose to wait in the car. Of course the whole point of the palace is to enjoy the grounds and architecture. So we walk in the rain through beautiful gardens and around the building, before hurrying back to the car, all of us soaked.

We decide to head back towards Sevastopol rather than go on to Yalta. On the way we stop at a small church perched up on a cliff overlooking the sea. It has stopped raining briefly so we can get out.

Back in Sevastopol we all have lunch in a place that we have walked by almost every day called “The Three Fishes”. They had an English menu. We had a nice time and the food was really good. Salads are very big here, but they are not leafy green salads like at home, they are mostly mayonnaise salads, like eggs salad with a bunch of other things added. Roger had a piece of chicken with a piece of fried ham wrapped around it, with French fries and I had a breaded chicken breast with melted cheese over it, with rice. Pretty safe huh! We will go back again and I will try something more adventuresome. We finished with lunch just in time to grab the bus and head to the orphanage. Despite the rain and our trip being cut short, it was really nice to get of the city and see what the country was like.

Last night we celebrated St. Patrick’s with our Irish-American friend Kevin at the ‘Black Kat Bar’. His friend Kostya also joined us. We toasted Ireland, the Navy and a dozen other things. It was a nice time. There we had chicken wings and French fries……just like home.

Congratulations Ben

Yesterday Ben received his black belt in the martial art, Maududo. And we are very proud and happy for his success yesterday in testing, which included breaking 3 boards in three different ways. Our trip to the Ukraine has been hardest on Ben, and we are so proud that he has kept his grades up at school and now we want to congratulate him for sticking with Maududo and meeting his goal. We love you Ben and we wish we could have been there.

Still not much to report here, it has been rainy so we have been hanging around the apartment. The funniest thing that happened was yesterday on Elona’s visit to the apartment. We made microwave popcorn. I don’t think that Elona has ever had popcorn before, even though we have seen single packets sold at some of the kwikie marts, which are everywhere by the way. At all of the major bus stops there is a little market, most you don’t enter, just pay through a window. You can get anything there; cigarettes, beer and liquor, milk, water, candy, loaves of bread, etc. Some even sell fresh baked pastries filled will things like onions, cabbage and even meat and potatoes. We mostly buy water to get smaller bills for the bus.

Anyway, I showed Elona the microwave popcorn package….okay. But she is shocked when I put the whole bag into the microwave. She was fascinated and did not take her eyes of the bag, pointing and making us look as the bag got larger and larger. And of course she liked it, who doesn’t.

Kelley & Roger

Killing Time, and Not Each Other

We are settling in to wait. Now that we have official (if not physically) been awarded Elona’s adoption, we can pick her up every day and take her out of the orphanage. She is still attending school, so on week days we pick her up at 4:00 and return her by 6:30 so she can eat at the orphanage, yum. That is not a lot of time, but on average the trip takes 20 minutes each way, so it is really worth it to bring her back to the apartment instead of sitting in a room at the orphanage. We play cards, do educational computer games and eat snacks. She loves trail mix and Wednesday we introduced her to nachos. We used up the last of the tortilla chips and salsa that Kevin had given us. We melted some cheese over the chips in the microwave and served them with the Pace medium salsa. I explained that this was Mexican food and got the point across by singing the ‘La Coocaratia’ song, which she recognized immediately. Elona was eager to try. Her eyes widened and she waved her hand in front of her mouth, indicated that the salsa was hot. She did this the entire time, but it did not stop her from dipping each chip in the salsa and finished off every last tiny piece.

I thought we should tell you a little more about how we are surviving here in Sevastopol. We would like to encourage anyone that is considering adoption to consider the Ukraine. Even though we have had limited contact with the other children, we have seen enough to know that there are wonderful children here that need homes, we have picture of some we will gladly share when we return. Most important there are people here that you can trust to help you identify children that will fit into your family. These are people like Sveta and Galya. Galya has already told us to ask if anyone would be interested in adopting a 13 year old boy. We have seen him briefly and he is very handsome. She has known him for a long time and says he is a great kid. They cannot understand why he has not been adopted before. They would love to find him a loving home.

As for this whole process, obviously it is the amount of time you most spend her that is the real issue. But living in Sevastopol is very easy. The apartment is very comfortable and being close to the city center makes it very convenient. We are close to the market, restaurants, shopping and the bus. The first photo shows our apartment building at the top of the hill, then the back of the building (all entrances and parking for tenants). The last photo shows the entrance to the stairwell leading to our apartment. They are all like this, very sterile, gloomy and with key code access. Our apartment is on the first floor. The door to our apartment is very new and secure, the key turns deadbolts on all four sides of the door and all the windows have bars.

The key to our sanity has got to be our lap top. This is by far the most important thing that we brought with us and the unlimited internet is worth the 100 greivna ($10) a month that we spend. With this we can talk to family, send and receive emails. We use it to communicate with our facilitators and the US Embassy. Sveta handed us a Ukrainian cell phone almost the minute we got off the plane, but we use it very little.

Our lap top is also invaluable in filling the time we spend waiting to go to the orphanage. It keeps us up on what is going on back in the States. We listen to WVXU ever morning. First the BBC and then Morning Addition. We watch the Evening News everyday (the next day) and we can also read the Enquire. But entertainment is also important. Last week we watched our last Soprano’s episode. We have looked for TV episodes on the web, but have discovered that all network shows are blocked out from the US. Thankfully we have Comedy Central. Now every evening after dinner, we sit down in front of the computer and watch “The Daily Show” and “the Colbert Report”. Good thing or we may have returned from Ukraine not know what “twittering “was.

So that I don’t bore you completely, I will break up ‘What it is Like to Live Here’ into different blogs. Tomorrow…..what we eat. How exciting

Book Club - Wednesday, Mar. 11th.

Since can’t make it to Book Club tonight, I thought I had better make my report here.

I have had plenty of time for reading. First, I read a small book that Ben had to read for 7th grade. ‘Ties That Bind – Ties That Break’ by Lensey Namioka. Short historical novel about Chinese society in the early 1900s, more specifically the practice of foot binding. I enjoyed it, Ben didn’t.

Next, before we left, Jenny recommended ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett. A very thick historical novel set in England in mid 1100’s, about the construction of a cathedral and the lives surrounding it. It spans over 40 year and is a real page turner. A good story and an easy read, I would recommend it, and I plan to read the sequel. But I thought it lacked real historical detail, like you find in the ‘Outlander’ series and was defiantly not as closely tied to real history as the Phillippa Gregory novels (like ‘the Other Boleyn Girl’).

Currently I am reading Leo Tolstoy which is a challenge. Turns out Leo fought in the Crimean War and wrote his first recognized works while he was serving. ‘The Sevastopol Stories’ we found in a collection of Tolstoy here in the apartment. I started with ‘Sevastopol in December’; I lasted on evening -description of an officer walking though a hospital tent. ‘Sevastopol in May’; I lasted one evening – description of a young officer’s insecurities regarding his patriotism and his social status. There was probably more to it, but too bored to continue. ‘Sevastopol in August- 1855’; I have lasted a few days, think I can make it, it’s not that long. Story of two brothers, one much older and an experienced officer returning to the front after an injury. The other just arriving at the war and finds out it is not as glamorous and he is not as brave as he expected (do you see a theme here??). I am sure it will have a tragic ending.

Unfortunately I will have time to finish Tolstoy and still have time to read something else. Next is ‘The Moor’s Last Sigh’ by Salman Rushdie.

So that is my report……I am sorry I will miss Book Club. Have nice glass of red for me.
The photo is of the main street in Sevastopol, very near to where we live.

Kelley

It's Official - Tuesday, Mar.10th

Well it is official. The Sevastopol Court has accepted our petition to adopt Elona and change her name to Elona Marie. Ben, you have a sister. Now there is a 10 day waiting period (which will be more like 12 because of the weekend), we will get the offical court decree, and she will come to live with us. Then all is left is process of coming home to the United States, which is not small thing.

We arrived at court today about 10:00 AM after picking Elona up at the orphanage. She was wearing a black pant suit with a white blouse and white bow in her hair. The exterior of building housing the court is a dump. The neighborhood surrounding the building is made up of abandoned buildings and apartment buildings that look like section 8 housing. Inside the building is just as bad. Peeling paint, iron pipe railings and concrete steps. The lighting in the narrow corridor where people are lined up on benches waiting are vertically hung exposed 24” fluorescent fixtures. The lamps are blue; Roger says it reminds him of the movie “Brazil”. Would have liked to take pictures, but that would have been un-cool.

We only have to wait for about a half hour and we are called into the Judge’s chambers. Inside the room is quiet comfortable with a large desk with a conference table placed against the front with seating for up to 10 people. The Judge is much younger that we expected and handsome. There are ten people present, ourselves, Galya, Elona, the orphanage representative, the government representative, the Judge, his secretary and two other women (not sure who they were). The Judge’s reviews the paperwork and asks if we agree with the petition to adopt Elona, we say “da”. He asks us some questions about employment, our home, and schooling. He asks Elona if she would like to be adopted by us and if she understands that she will be leaving the Ukraine and that we will not speak Russian. She answers “da” to both questions. The judge review some more papers, speaks to the other people in the room. The whole thing lasts about 20 minutes and he announces that he will accept out petition to adopt Elona. It is over. We all say thank you and leave the room. This is when Mama starts to cry and almost brings Papa with her. She is ours.

Kostya and Galya accompanied the three of us to ‘The Greenwich’ for lunch. We found that Elona likes black tea, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and grilled chicken. She doesn’t like black or green olives, or feta cheese. Galya told Elona all about what is coming up after the 10 day waiting, the frantic work to get the passport, the trip to Kiev for the visa, and the 8 hour flight to the United States. It is exhausting just thinking about it. After lunch we take Elona back to the orphanage. From now on will be able to take Elona out of the orphanage every evening from 4-6:30 and longer on weekends.

It was a beautiful day, so after shopping briefly at the market we walked down by the water and took that long way home. The trees are starting to bud, and areas of the main street are very beautiful.

Kelley and Roger

Taking It Easy - Monday, Mar. 9th

Just a short message tonight.
We have had Elona with us during the day Sunday and Monday (no school for Women’s Day). We took it pretty easy. Sunday was bright and sunny, but breezy and not as warm as Saturday. There were all kinds of people at the city center because of the holiday. We stop at McDonald’s on the way home from the orphanage for ice cream and french fries, which we ate outside. She really enjoyed the french fries with ketchup, a real American already.

Back at the apartment she played an educational computer game with our help for a while. Later we tried to Skype with Pam and Angella. There were some problems, so it took quite a while before we finally settled for talking with no video. Shy Elona emerged again, but Angella did plenty of the talking and I am sure next time she will be more outgoing. It was fun to talk to Pam and Len.

For some of you that are not familiar with Skype – you need high speed internet, at least a microphone on your computer, web cam (for video), download the free Skype program and poof….you can talk to each other for free. We have been talking to (and seeing) Ben and Aunt Cathy four or five times a week, and talk to Robbin almost every day. And now we can talk to Pam and family.

Well tomorrow is the big day - Court. As we understand it, we will go with Galya (she bring all the paper work), and either we will pick up Elona, or the director will bring her. The local adoptions will go first and then the international. The Judge will ask us a few question and we will answer “da” (yes). He will ask Elona if she wants to be adopted by us and is she understands that she will be moving to where they don’t speak English. She says “da”. The Judge leaves the room for a half hour or so and comes out and gives his decision. I think it is all designed to stress you out. Then we wait ten more days for the final adoption decree.

I will report in tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Kelley and Roger

the Panorama - Saturday, Mar. 7th.

We picked up Elona today and came back to the city center, changed buses and rode up the hill to a park. It is the warmest day that we have had, no coats and our sweat shirts tied around our waists. We are on our way to see the ‘Panorama’, a 360 degree painting recreating the battle scene from the Crimean War

The Crimean War took place in Sevastopol between Russian and the Allies (primarily England and French) and lasted only about a year, 1854-1855. I read that in that one year around 100,000 people died on each side. The Panorama, originally created by Franz Rubo, was complete in 1906 and installed in the round building designed and built by the Russian Military. The building housing the artwork was destroyed during WWII along with most of the painting. During the bombing soldiers cut down and saved what they could of the painting and it was smuggled out of the country. The painting could not be restored, but the pieces were used to recreate it. In 6 months 17 artists recreated the artwork and in 1954 the restored building reopened with the new artwork.

Before entering the main room there are displays of beautiful original sketches (I would call them paintings) that Rubo did as studies for the final work and there is one small section of the original art. Then you go up to the rotunda. I must say it is breathtaking. The Panorama is huge for one thing. It depicts thousands of soldiers in the heat of battle. You stand on an elevated round stage in the center with the painting all around you. The figures in the foreground of the painting are life size and between you and the painting the floor is staged in an incredible lifelike diorama of bunkers, tools and war debris. The battle scene goes on forever to distant small ships out on the Black Sea and only puffs of smoke off in the distance. The whole thing together looks so real, so 3 dimensional. You could sit for hours and discover something new.

After viewing the Panorama we walked around the park. There were two young women there with two nice looking horses (we had seen one cantering though the park earlier with a young colt following along behind). They are selling rides and I did not see any release forms. There is a small area with gift tents and carnival rides including a slow moving ferris wheel. We take a ride hoping to get a good view of the city. The view is okay, it is warm but very hazy and photos are disappointing. I was happy to get off the ride.

We walked back down the hill to our apartment and Ben ‘skypes’ us from Cincinnati. We had not told Elona about the call – hard to explain that we are going to see and talk to people half way around the world on our computer. Ben was great and says good morning in Russian and tells Elona how excited he is to meet her. For the first time in weeks we saw the ‘shy’ Elona again, we had almost forgotten that she existed. Of course Ben and I were jabbering in English and she could only pick up a word here and there, I am sure next time she will loosen up. She got to meet Aunt Cathy . She also got to meet Alice the dog and Sox the cat. Sunday we will try to Skype Angella. We told her and she asks “Angella Russian?” I say yes and she gives a sign of relief.

Kelley and Roger

Women's Day - Friday, Mar. 6th

This coming Sunday is ‘Women’s Day’ here in the Ukraine. Turns out this is a pretty big holiday and it is celebrated all weekend. So this was the big event that Elona and the other children in the orphanage have been practicing for and we got to attend the performance today in the Music Room.

We arrived a little early, so went into the library to wait. Elona came in. She is all dressed up with a big bow in her hair and pretty little flowered dress with full skirt and puffed sleeves. It was a little small for her and something that would have been more stylish when I was her age, but she looked adorable. We took pictures and then one of her friends, Janna came in dress very similar and Elona asked that we take their picture, then the rest of her dorm came in and we took pictures of all of them together. There are 9 girls total, Elona is the oldest, most are 7 or 8 and a few younger. I said to the girls ‘you all look very beautiful’ and Elona translated. She is already picking up bits English. She was so proud of herself, more that once she said “Mama say in English, Elona say in Russian”.

The performance was for the employees and some of the older children were there. Seven girls from Elona’s dorm and the same number of boys in the same age group preformed. There were a couple boys that spoke several times and sang. Then the girls performed in small groups. Elona sang a song with four other girls and then later did a dance with 9 other boys and girls. Two other older girls sang also, we could tell they were thrilled. Following the performance they awarded the Director and the counselor with card and flowers and then a woman that we had never seen before, made a short speech and handed out small gifts to the women and girls of the orphanage.

After the performance, Elona changed clothes and we went outside. A bunch of other children were out, so we mostly watched Elona interact with the other children until it was time for us to leave.

We cooked dinner at home and then planned to meet our new friend Kevin somewhere. He invited us up to his apartment, with the ‘Women’s Day’ celebration he said everywhere would be packed. He also had another friend Kostya, who is with the Ukrainian Navy and has been to school in the US. They are both very nice, interesting guys and we enjoyed lively conversation. It got late, so we Skyped Ben from Kevin’s computer…..good job - Ben would not start up his video until he knew who was calling.

Saturday we have Elona for the afternoon. I’ll report in tomorrow.

Kelley and Roger

Site Seeing - Thursday, Mar.5th

It is a beautiful day in Sevastopol, the first we have seen for quite a while. The sun is shining and it a comfortable 40 degrees. Today Galya picked us up at 11:00 and we caught a bus going south. We ride for only about 10 minutes and then got out and walked for about a half a mile through residential neighbor hoods. We are on our way to Chersoneses.

Chersoneses is an ancient Greek city that was inhabited from 400BC to the 12th century, nearly 16 centuries. This site is listed with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization). It is said that the disciple Andrew visited Chersoneses. The ruins are located along the edge of the Black Sea and the white stone walls are quite beautiful against the blue water and sky. There is no restrictions and you can walk all over the ruins. I would guess that the ruins today cover about 20 acres in total.

Also located on the site is St. Vladimir Cathedral built in the late 1800’s to celebrate the baptism of St. Vladimir on this site in 992 AD. This site is said to be where Christianity was brought to Russia. The Cathedral was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in the 1990’s.

It was great to get out in the sunshine, go down by the water and see something new (or old). And we got back in plenty of time for me to write this blog before we head of to visit Elona at the Orphanage. Our visits this week have been pleasant but short. We have a small calendar and Elona is crossing off the days at each visit. Yesterday we gave her a disposable camera so that she could start taking pictures of her friends and caregivers to have when she get to the United States.

Kelley and Roger

More Americans - Monday, Feb.2nd.

Not a lot to report regarding Elona, we did not get to bring her home yesterday, she had to stay to be in another performance of some kind. So we hung out at the orphanage. The disappointment was that we had planned to Skype with Ben and Robbin….their first live meeting. We will try again next weekend. School is finally out of quarantine, so during the week we will not be going to the orphanage until 4:00.

Last night we meet up with some Americans that Pam and Len had connected us up with. They are also friends the Mike and Gail (blog followers who have 4 adopted children from Sevastopol). Jaimee and Andy are a young couple from California but live here in Sevastopol. They had just returned from the States where they we raising funds for their charitable organization. Operation Lazarus helps kids that have graduated from the orphanages and are out on their own with no jobs and no income. Jamiee and Andy brought two friends with them, Amanda and Jarrod, that will be staying for the next year (possibly longer) to help them with their projects. Jarrod was a juvenile probation officer in CA, before coming here. Jaimee and Andy know many of the orphans before they graduate from working each summer at the summer camp that the orphans attend. Right now they help the kids as much as possible in a multitude of ways; food, medicine, friendship etc. Their long term goal is to raise enough money to open a temporary housing center. It turns out that the government will give orphans free housing when they graduate, but the paper work can take up to a year (imagine that). Their facility would give kids a place to go while they are waiting for their place and also a recreational type facility to give kids a place to come for holidays and special occasions. We commend them for their great work.

The six of us went to a nice café the ‘the Greenwich” for dinner. They have two English menus – yeah. I had pancakes (which are crepes) with chicken and cheese and Roger had grilled chicken with broccoli. The next time we go, I am getting the desert pancakes with peaches, they looked delicious. We had a great time and look forward to meeting up with them again soon. When we left they showed us where the flower market is – Pam and Len, we will be heading there if this weather ever warms up.

Kelley and Roger