#5 - Rainy Days and Random Thoughts

Dear Family and Friends,

Good news on the Max front.  He is better according to the wonderful Dr. Anya.  She said that she had been very, very worried about him and was happy that he was responding well to the antibiotics.  I am thankful for modern medicine and all of the prayers.  Please keep up the prayers as he still has bronchitis.

We had hoped that this past Friday would see us in court, but it did not happen.  Instead, we are hoping for Monday. The delay was due to, as Dima put it, a piece of paper that needed to make its way between Kyiv and Gorodyna. We are hoping that the piece of paper will find its way, so that we can move forward.

Meanwhile, we wait.  Yesterday we bid farewell to the Z. clan.  It was wonderful having them here, and feel as if we have some new friends. 

Also, John and I have been considering the Kyiv sights we would like to visit and there are quite a few.   

 John would love to have a look at the WW II Memorial with Russian tanks and the like on display.  He is a great WW II buff and to him it sounds like heaven to be able to check out tanks and other weaponry first hand.  There are a number of religious sites I’d like to visit – naturally.  The place we most want to visit is an outdoor folk museum comprised of ancient buildings – the type one would see in a village.  It has churches, homes, huts and farm buildings which one can see either by horse cart (driven by a genuine Cossack, mind you) or by foot.  I believe it has significant acreage, so the horse cart option sounds good to us.  We are hoping for a sunny day.  This, according to the weather predictions, should come somewhere around next Wednesday or Thursday.

Hopefully, we will actually get to visit Kyiv on this trip.  I have considered the possibility, though, that the main purpose of this journey has been to find our new family members and that, while tourism is great, we should not lose focus.  Perhaps it will be a good incentive for a return trip at some point in the future.

As those of you who have been following this journal know, we have had an incredibly smooth experience so far. Being able, for instance, to have temporary custody of the children in Kyiv was a great and happy surprise.  It makes good sense, though,as these three have not lived together as a family for some time, and it has also given us some great time to bond with them.  We have been lavishing as much food and attention on them as is humanly possible, while trying to set reasonable limits at the same time.  For instance, staying at the table while the rest of the family finishes eating is something we’re working on.  At home, mealtime is when we have primary visiting time.  We ask questions like, “What was not so good that happened to you today?” and “What good thing happened for you today?”.  The problem here is that we can’t ask those questions – well, we could but they wouldn’t get it- because their English and our Russian aren’t so hot. 

 A few glitches are showing up now.  The court date being put off was one.  The second is that Aeorsvit does not have return tickets available for 3 kids until the end of October (!).  What they do have are waiting lists of 20-40 people for each flight.  So, this means we will be purchasing unanticipated one way tickets for John and myself  for the return along with the tickets for the kids (anticipated). While the price was right on the Aeorsvit flight and the flight itself was tolerable (although the seats were pretty tight), because of this lack of seat availability, I will not be able to recommend them in the future.  Dima says he can’t stand them (Aerosvit) and, when I asked about his recommendation, it was Austrian Air.  Any glitch pales, though, in comparison to our worry about Maxim.  We are thanking God that he is improving and will be fine.  The thought of losing him when we had just found him was pretty unbearable.  If he had gotten pneumonia, there is a good chance that he might not have survived it as pneumonia can be a lethal disease in Ukraine (esp. in the orphanages). So these other glitches feel like “slight momentary afflictions.”

Change of topic.  It’s interesting.  So many folks have remarked that the younger two will have an easier time picking up English and this probably is true.  However, Ruslan is much more motivated at this point.  He’s writing out his letters and wants to know the names of everything in English.  My Polish husband is dredging up the Polish of his childhood and finding that the kids understand some of it.  This is because Ukrainian bears a closer resemblance to Polish than it does to Russian.

 So, we are passing the time and staying mostly indoors because of rainy days and keeping Max slowed down a bit so that he can get well.  I have finished two novels.  John has finished a book on Napoleon and now is working his way through one on the Greeks.  I think we have finally figured out the Russian directions on the washing machine.

 Also, for all of you future travelers, we ventured out to try to cash traveler’s checks (American Express).  The only place nearby we can cash a significant amount (more than $1000 at a time) was the Myria Bank.  They require the receipt from the purchase, passport, the customs declarations (Ukrainian), a 10-15 phone call to Moscow, and a 2% service charge.  Decided to wait until next week to make this exchange.

If all goes well, we should have court on Monday, be in the region getting birth certifs., etc. on Tues, Embassy on Wed or Thurs and taking off for home on Friday.  This would be great as we are really missing our kids and all the familiar  people, places, sounds, and food of home.  Here are few more pictures (John and Ana we really miss you!)

How to pass time on a rainy day? Make hats out of the plastic water bottle of course!

  How about cooking and eating? 

Lots of love to you all,   John and Jennie