Slowing Our Pace

We are now in Odessa and settled in to our Odessa apartment. Our last day (for this portion of the process) in Kiev was Thursday. After our meeting at the NAC on Wednesday we had lunch with three other couples that are here with Oleg's team and then went to the Kiev mall. After walking the mall we wandered our way back to our apartment in Kiev. Thursday we had an appointment at the NAC at 3:45 to pick up our referral letter. We walked to the NAC and met our translator and two of the couples and then we all waited along with about 20 other people. All of us were waiting in the vestibule of the NAC, lined up in the little lobby and trailing down the stairs. Randy was standing right below the yellow sunflower while I perched on a 4 inch ledge. The lights were all off. It looked as though most of the people there were Ukranian - perhaps they were facilitators. After a little while the lights all came on in the lobby and the stairwell and shortly there after our translator, Nastya, called for us. We were one of the first groups to go in. Our team was handling 4 families and all of us were called in by Nastya. Three American couples and 1 Spanish couple. We all trooped into the "NAC hallway" and sat in the chairs along the hall wall. Official looking people went in and out of the doors that led off the hallway. They would exit one door, walk to the next door and enter it. They looked like they knew exactly what they were doing, even if we didn't have a clue as to what was happening. Nastya called the Spanish couple and they all went in one of the doors. About ten minutes later they all exited. The couple looked happy and had a document in their hand. They left and Randy and I were called in. Nastya took us into an office where a young woman was sitting. They showed us the paperwork we had located the day brefore with Alex's picture on it and said "is this the boy?" We said "yes". We then placed our signatures in several places. We were handed a packet and Nastya indicated we were done. Just like the Spanish couple before us, we exited the office smiling, waved at the other couples and left the NAC.

At 6PM Nastya and Aleskey picked us up in their car and drove us to Borispol Airport. Aleskey heelped us get our luggage into the airport and walked with us through the line to get checked in. We were able to check our luggage. However, we packed too much and were over the limit which meant we had to pay $50 grivna. We were then given our tickets. Apparently, unknown to us, when Randy bought the tickets, he had purchased "Business Class". So when Aleskey saw the tickets he told us to follow him. He took off at the typical Ukrainian "leisure stroll" pace. We ran after him. We ran up some steps and under a sign that said "Business Lounge". I was so intent on trying to catch up with him that I didn't notice the floor was 3 inches higher on the other side of the door. As I zoomed through the doorway, eyes on Aleskey's vanishing back, I felt myself falling over as my tote back crashed to the floor. I ended up face down, flat on the floor, which is a heck of a way to make an entrance. I tried to jump up and brush myself off as I embarrasingly mumbled "I'm fine, just fine, no problem", meanwhile my knee started throbbing and my foot felt sprained and my ego was crushed. Any thoughts I had about "looking Ukrainian and fitting in" have been well ground to bits at this point. I'm beginning to think my goal should be to just live through the adventure without major mishap!!!

Aleskey left us, I found the good chocolate and we sat until we heard the word Odessa on the loudspeaker. We stood in line until we went through security and then we were instructed to enter a bus. The bus took all of us out to the tarmac where the airplane was sitting. I asked Randy where the rest of the plane was as it looked like it was "not all there." He said it was the entire plane. I wasn't sure how all the people on the bus where going to fit into the plane. As we entered the plane we saw that the first two rows of seats on both sides were facing each other with a table in between. This was Business Class and we sat in our two assigned seats. Beyond these rows was a wall and then the rest of the plane with the seats all facing one direction. Two very interesting men sat across from us. One looked like a young business guy, dressed very nicely in a well cut suit and red striped tie. The other looked like a young hip guy, dressed in an all beige outfit that looked European. They both talked on their cell phones until the plane took off. Then they both looked at their notebook computers. They did not speak to us or each other. We were given a box which had shrimp, scallops, bread and cheese. It was good. We landed an hour later.

Dima and Larisa Papay met us at the airport. It was wonderful to see Dima's familar face. Larisa also seemed immediately familar from the picture I have of her and Alex framed in Alex's room at home, as well as the conversations I've had with her on the plane. I hugged them about 20 times and just smiled happily.

We took two taxi's to a location about 20 minutes from the airport. Dima pointed out a long dark road that he said led to Alex's Internat. Suddenly we came upon a number of high rise apartments and Dima said we had arrived. Our facilitation team had given Dima and Larisa the address and the owner of the flat was waiting for us with the keys. Unfortunately the flat is on the 4th floor and the elevator doesn't work. The flat is very similar to the one in Kiev. You enter into a hall that has a coat rack and wardrobe. To the immediate right is a door with a kitchen. The kitchen is just big enough to have a small table and chairs. There is a refrigerator, microwave, stovetop, oven and sink. A window looks out from the kitchen into the courtyard created by the 4 highrises that are squared around it. Further down the hall is a double door with a living room. It has a sofa, chair and shelving which has a TV and small stereo. The hall ends with another hall crossing it. On the left is a bedroom with double bed, on the right is a bedroom with single bed and in the middle is a bathroom with a small washer/dryer.

There isn't a thermostat, so the heat is controlled elsewhere. The apartment is warm enough though. The water pressure is not too strong, but the water is hot. All in all we have what we need. There is a food store in the complex which sells food, pharmecy items, perfume, books, makeup and beverages. We are eating a diet composed of bread, cheese, apples, cereal, water, coca cola light and chocolate. Metamucil would have been a good thing to have brought with us!

Our electronics sometimes work and sometimes don't. The phones cut in and out. Apparently one of the cell phones requires us to buy minutes. The phone in the flat just gives us a message in Russian or Ukranian, neither of which we understand. We've given up trying to communicate. If a service works we try to use it. If it doesn't we read or sleep. I'm midway through my second book and am feeling grateful that I brought several. We were enthused about the DVD player we brought along with a stack of movies, but today we plugged it in and forgot to use the converter first. Dead DVD. Anyone know where in Ukraine we can find a DVD charger that fits a Walmart DVD?

The most exciting thing is that we were able to see Alex today for about 3 hours. Our facilitator picked him up from the Internat and brought him over. He looked great and still has his shy but glowing grin. I gave him a first grade reader (English) called "Nemo Finds His Dad" and he read it out loud in English to us!!! He did really well reading it. We played around, watched a movie (and blew up the charger) and then threw snowballs at each other outside. It was wonderful to see him. He has a bad cough that I'm a bit concerned about, so taking him in to have that checked will be high on my list if it doesn't get better before we leave.

However, we won't be leaving for awhile. Our translator has papers to fill out to request a court date, then we will go to court, then we will wait for 10 days (let's all pray this gets waived even though the translator says it never gets waived), then all three of us go to Kiev and then home. So we are weeks away. But we saw Alex - and that's the most important thing at this point. He knows we are really here - that we really have come for him - that he really has a family - that we really will take care of him and love him and make him one of our own. For that I am grateful.

I am truly trying to "go with the flow" here, slow my pace, let things unfold, trust the process, believe in God's timing, give up control. It's not easy. But I'm trying. Love, Cynthia