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