Just some thoughts...

In response to some of the comments to my bus trip, there weren't any chickens on the bus. I believe the bus is privately owned. It's kept pretty clean, just not very comfortable. The seats recline, but if you recline them all the way, your head is in the lap of the person behind you. It makes it difficult to get out of your seat. If all goes well, the kids and I should be on an early morning flight back to the US on the 26th. Today is day 7 of my 10 day wait. On the 11th day, Victor will be able to have the birth certificates and passports done. They will officially be ours on the 22nd.

I spent yesterday afternoon with Dasha, Natasha and some of their friends. Natasha was in some sewing class so we waited for her. I brought a large bag of peanut M&Ms. I figured the way to a woman's heart is through CHOCOLATE. :) The bag lasted less than 10 minutes. After that we walked down to the sea. Some of the guys decided to go for a swim. The water was still pretty cold. Dasha still won't try to speak to me in English. She asked one of the boys who knows some English to ask me a few questions. I then slapped her with some reality when I told her in just over seven days she would be going to a country where they speak only English.

Today Sharon will drive to Charlotte to get her fingerprints redone. Since nothing has gone as expected, this is a precautionary measure. Our appointment at the embassy should be on the 24th and we should get the visas for the kids either on the 24th or 25th. Please note the use of the word "should". If something happens that causes a delay on getting the visas, Sharon's fingerprints will expire and I will be stuck here for another week to ten days. Therefore, to be sure that we get the visas in time, I've asked Sharon to make the trip for fingerprinting. At least when she goes to the US CIS office they'll speak English! I'm also looking at this as step one in our adoption of Natasha.

Not sure what the girls and I will do today. I keep wondering how Michael is doing and if he's getting excited. After our court date, Victor was talking to the Molochansk inspector and lawyer about the possibility of getting a group from Molochansk to travel to the US. They were pretty positive on the idea. Hopefully, we'll be able to do this if not through our church then maybe through some of the churches in our area. Many of these kids don't belong in this orphanage. Others have some disabilities, but they don't deserve to be forgotten either. That what I consider Molochansk to be, a place to go to be forgotten. Forgotten by orphanages who sent them there and forgotten by their own country. Our prison system has more than some of the Molochansk type orphanages have. Hopefully the Lord will allow Sharon and I to be advocates for these kids and find them families in which the will no longer be forgotten. I don't think you can go to such an orphanage and not be changed.

Sharon, I love you and miss you. Have a burger for me and get one ready for when we step foot on NC soil. God my mouth is watering at just the thought of that.

Wow!

Well I'm back in Berdyansk! From 4 pm Tuesday to 7 am Thursday, I've been on the road. I was on a bus 28 of the total 39 hours I was out of town. It's cheap, but very very (did I mention very?) long. The last real meal I had was on Tuesday morning and this morning's breakfast I only kinda remember since it was gone just as soon as the plate hit the table.

So today is gonna be boring compared to the last two. I'll go visit the girls today around 2 pm. My mind is close to mush, so I'll need to catch up on the sleep I missed.

God Bless America!!

Well, I made it home late last night (early this morning) after almost 23 hours of traveling. That trip really stinks! And to top it off I found out about the fingerprints when I got home (see yesterday's post). I made a couple phone calls today and sent an email to the USCIS office in Charlotte, but haven't gotten a response yet. The thought of driving 3 hours to Charlotte is not appealing to me, but I don't know that I have a choice. It's not like I had my hands amputated and replaced with others that would have different fingerprints. I can understand them running another check to update the status, but the need for new prints baffles me.

Nic was very excited this morning when he realized that I was really home and he was not just dreaming when I went in to see him last night. However, we are only 13 hours in and he already isn't listening! It's good to be home! (ha, ha) Primo Jr. has been updating me on things that have gone on at school and I think he's pretty happy to have mom home too. He even told me tonight that he loves me....a belated Mother's Day gift!! :)

Today was mostly a "recovery" day, but I will have to get caught up on things that need my attention (like the stack of mail). This weekend I am planning to be in Greensboro with Primo Jr. at the State Cup Finals.

That's the update from this side of the ocean. Primo is on the bus back to Berdyansk and will probably post once he gets back. Thanks to you all for your kind words of support, prayers and help at home while I was gone!

Sharon

Days 4 & 5

I went to the orphanage by myself on Tuesday to see the girls. They were both there!!! However, shortly after I arrived, I received a phone call. The fingerprints we had taken when we started this process are due to expire on the 24th and 25th. I was to take the overnight bus from Berdyansk to Kiev so that I could go to the US Embassy to have my fingerprints redone. I had to go back to the hotel, gather all my stuff and leave in less than 30 minutes. I boarded the bus at 5 pm Tuesday and arrived in Kiev at 7:15 Wednesday morning. Tonight I'm making the return trip. It may not be the most pleasant mode of transportation, but it's cheap. It cost $24 which is much cheaper than the train. In addition, the train doesn't go into Berdyansk so you have to take an expensive 2 1/2 hour taxi ride from Zaporizhye to Berdyansk.

I can't say that this has been a smooth adoption process. I know others have had issues, but it seems every time we think nothing else can go wrong, it does. This morning I was told that Sharon will also need to get her fingerprints redone. That will mean that she has to travel to Charlotte. I'll hopefully find out more about this when I go to the embassy this afternoon.

I love Natasha, but right now I'm having a hard time knowing that we have to go through this entire process again in less than a year. The reason I'm travelling back today is solely for her. For what time I had to spend with them yesterday, she pretty much stayed by my side. Dasha had another attitude flare-up, but I think some of that comes from her desire to leave NOW.

Well, I'm going to get a little something to eat and perhaps sleep before I have to go to the embassy.

Day 3 and counting (Updated)

Not much happened yesterday. When I asked Dasha on Saturday if she wanted to see me on Sunday, she shrugged her shoulders and didn't seem too enthused. So I decided not to go to the orphanage on Sunday morning with the Benson family. Instead I went to the markets with Rhondi and her two children. Last night all of the American parents got together for dinner. That's when I found out that Dasha ran out to the taxi the Benson's were in and was looking for me. I guess this is lesson number one. If you say I don't care, don't expect something to happen. We'll see what her response is today when I go to see her today.

Sharon had her appointment at the US Embassy today. She said that it was nice to see Americans again. Everything went well and the papers are now waiting for me to sign. Sharon's very anxious to return to the US.

My new room, back up on the 11th floor, is 1000% better than what I was staying in. I'm actually able to use the wireless connection in the room!!! Whooo! I've only got the room for another 4 days, but it's better than were I was. Taking a real shower today was SWEET!

I'll update this posting later tonight with any updates from the day.

==== Update ====

Well I went to the orphanage with Rhondi at 3 pm and neither Dasha nor Natasha were around. It seemed that the staff didn't know where they were either. I sat with the Director for about an hour. I was then let into the library where after another 10 minutes Dasha appeared. We went out to the volleyball court and started playing. Natasha showed up a few minutes later, gave me a hug and went to change her clothes. When she came back out she hugged me again and started playing with us. Then one of Dasha's "friends", a boy, said something to her and off she went. By the time she came back it was time for me to leave. I got the pouty face and I tried to explain to her that I waited over an hour and then she left for at least 20 minutes. I asked Rhondi's daughter to translate for me that if she wanted me to come up to see her she had better be there.

Sharon and I both agree that this girl is going to have quite a surprise in store for her when we get to America.

So, I'm on for a visit tomorrow. Let's see who's waiting for dad to show....

Closing in on day 1 of 10

Well, the first day of my ten day wait is drawing to a close. I woke up at 5:30 this morning. The room gets pretty bright in the morning. The water in the hotel was out temporarily. Apparently they have an alternative water source for the hotel, so why the city was without water the hotel wasn't. That was good, but the cold water was rather brown.

Showering was interesting this morning. The floor in the bathroom doesn't slant toward that hole in the floor. Well I got clean and that's probably more than most people here could say today.

I spoke with Sharon at breakfast. She had arrived at the Sense office, but she was the only one there. She was somewhat hungry as her last meal was lunch after our court date. She had to hang out at the office until noon. The a driver came to take her to her apartment. She got some food at a small grocery store and stayed in all day. When I spoke to her tonight, she said she was very bored. She's watched two movies and three episodes of The Closer. She's thinking that she'll have to venture out tomorrow to save her sanity.

I too was bored today. I walked to the market to browse for a bit. I then stopped at the grocery store and got some lunch. I was about to head out for another walk when I met up with the Bensons. They were going to go to the orphanage, so I asked if I could tag along. As we were approaching the school, I saw Dasha and two friends walking down the street. I didn't think I'd get to see her, but she returned before we left.

All eight of us then headed for the zoo. Victor bought some dried fish for his daughters and I bought Dasha six Granny Smith apples. Two of them disappeared before we could make it to the hotel. The rest she ate while we were in the Benson's room. Oh and she had a couple of fish too. Victor got some tape of the peel and eat fish.

I'm posting some pictures of Dasha and Victor (our facilitator) eating the dried fish and the aftermath.

Well we see what new adventure tomorrow brings...

Here comes the judge....

For those who know where that comes from you're at least as old as I am.

We had court today at 11:30. I got to field most of the questions from the judge. How did we meet the kids, why do we want them, can we afford them and of course my name, rank and serial number. When we finished answering the questions, they asked the kids to come in one at a time. They were asked to give their names and ages. Dasha gave her full name and age. They asked her if she wanted to be part of our family and if she agreed with the adoption....she said "YES". Then her brother came in. When they asked him his name, he said "Michael". We all laughed. That's apparently his letting everyone know that he definitely agrees with the adoption. So he then gave his current name and age and agreed with the adoption. We were then asked to step outside while the judge was making her decision. Thirty seconds later we were going back in...the adoption was a go!!!

Tomorrow begins day one of my ten day wait. The kids went back to their respective orphanages. Sharon and Victor, our facilitator, are currently on the train to Kiev. Sharon will go to the US Embassy on Monday to sign and hand in the necessary papers and then will leave for home on Tuesday. I can't tell you how happy she is to be going home. I'm left here with two other American families so I'm not totally alone. I downgraded rooms from a double to a single. Our original room was okay, but now that I'm in my new room the old one looks like a suite at the Hilton. I've just been informed that there is some problem with the water in the city and it will be out for at least 24 hours!!!! I guess I really am camping now!

Well I'll see what tomorrow brings....