Back in Life's Loop

Having worked in Product Development within the technology sector for most of my career, I knew that the “networked” aspect of my life was important to me. Apparently, being “connected” is even more important to me then I knew. Traveling half way across the world to a country where I did not speak the language and did not know how to navigate its cultural or technology highway left me feeling stranded, alone, bereft of the comfortable mantle of connectivity which envelopes the conscious moments of my day. Randy and I were stranded in a strange apartment, in a strange city, without food or water beyond that which we had packed, without a map, without instructions, without local money beyond the few grivna’s we had gathered before leaving the United States. And the result, in retrospect was predictable, I had a meltdown. A total, loud and tearful meltdown where I refused to see anything positive in the country, city or apartment that we were in.

After spending the last 30 hours in pursuit of connectivity, Randy now has a working cell phone and I have a computer connected to the internet upon which we can both access our email. We also have one broken Blackberry and one non-working Blackberry. We have spent a ton of money but we feel better because the world, our friends and information is now accessible to us.

The apartment which looked horrible yesterday is actually quite nice. It has an entry hall with a wardrobe on which we can hang our huge down coats and place our boots. There is a large living room with a picture window, a TV, a telephone, a desk and chair and a dining table. The bedroom has a wardrobe, 3 small chests with drawers and a full-queen bed. The kitchen has a modern refrigerator and freezer, microwave, stove and small white box which I think may be a washing machine although I have no plans to actually chance using it as I have used up my “patience” reserve on “trying to make things work.” The bath has a tub with shower, mirror with attached shelf and a separate toilet all of which is tiled in very nice ceramic tiles. All in all, it is clean and comfortable, providing what one needs. Now that I can access my email, I think the apartment is quite cozy in its own black and pink velvet swirled sofa which doesn’t match the orange intricately flowered carpet sort of way.

The apartment is located in a busy area of Kiev near the Circus. Just down the street is a market called “24”, which I assume is open all day and all night. It has what one needs in the way of food and drink. We have purchased bread, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, snack mix, water and diet coke. We may get more adventuresome in terms of actual meals once we get further settled. We are grateful for the energy bars that we packed in our suitcase.

Our flights to get here were great. Delta was on time and the flight passed quickly. Upon arrival at JFK, we quickly met up with Laura and Jerry and Sue and Brad. We all ate at the JFK food court and then boarded our flight to Kiev on Aerosvit. Randy and I flew business class and it was really pleasant. The attendants were very nice and the food was excellent. We ate a dinner with appetizer - shrimp and scallops preceded a salad. After this course Randy had a filet and potatoes and I had cheese pasta in marinara. Desert was cheesecake. Half way through the flight we were served bread, cheese and fruit, all of which tasted great. Prior to landing we were served a breakfast of eggs, sausage and bread. I did not suffer hunger during the flight.

What I did suffer from was metal brace wire supports poking into the inner portion of my mouth. In between meals I would load up my mouth with dental “gum” trying to cover the number of sharp metallic wires that rubbed most of the inside of my mouth raw and brought me to tears on more than one occasion over the past few days. I finally made a permanent fix last night. Randy and I spent two hours where he held a flashlight and 10X magnifying mirror and I used a pair of tweezers to crimp and uncrimp the offending 16 wires until I finally was able to pull all of them off. I’m sure it will set my orthodontia plan back by a few months but I was beyond caring. Stopping the pain was my foremost concern. All else was secondary and could be dealt with as needed.

Since getting settled into our apartment we haven’t met up with the other couples who are here with us. We were too focused on ensuring Randy could continue to attend to his work by receiving his phone calls and emails. I spent some of today sleeping while Randy ran around getting new communication devices, internet calling cards, internet callback cards, international dialing codes, international dialing cards and other assorted communication odds and ends. We are now able to send and receive phone calls, send and receive emails, access the internet on our notebook computer and access the internet on Randy’s HP Pocket PC device. My cell phone (770) 842 1608 is NOT working, so any calls should be directed to Randy’s number at (770) 842 1561.

We will meet with the National Adoption Center (NAC) tomorrow. We should receive a call from our translator, Dima, to tell us what time our appointment will be. The NAC will issue the letter allowing us to travel to Odesa. Randy and Dima purchased the airfare tickets for our travel between Kiev and Odesa today. We will leave Thursday evening at 8:30PM (1:30PM EST). It is 300 or so miles to Kiev so the flight should be fairly short. The other couples are going to take the overnight trail which leaves Thursday evening and then arrives Friday morning.

We are looking so forward to seeing Alex. It is hard to even describe our emotions as we navigate through the steps required to bring him home.

We really hope that when we return to Kiev we will have a little bit of time to see some of the city. It is a fascinating environment. Cars seem to buzz everywhere. People walking on foot move down the sidewalks at an astounding pace, seeming to know exactly how to navigate through the pockets of ice and snow. Women wear gorgeous fur coats that drape elegantly down to their ankles and everyone has suede, fur or leather boots. All the young men wear ski caps and huge down coats, creating a European “look” that we are just not able to match. Randy’s height draws attentive stares wherever we go. I’m just trying to stay upright which most likely screams “American” to all who pass me.

This is just the beginning of what we know will be quite an adventure. Now that I’ve slept, pulled the wires out of my mouth and calmed down I know I will enjoy it. We will continue to send updates as our telecommunications devices and access cards allow. Much love, Cynthia