Kiev

Took me a while to figure out how to update my blog since the tool bar is written in Russian, not sure why or how to change it.
We flew out of Pittsburgh Monday at 6:00 PM switched planes in Paris then on to Kiev. We arrived here Tuesday afternoon. I never took so long to pack to come somewhere as here to the Ukraine. We were told pack light either one suit case or a few small soft suitcases that will be easy to travel in the small Ukrainian cars once we arrived. So I packed and unpacked, eliminating everything possible. So we are here with minimal clothing for our 18 day stay (washing everything by hand and line drying so we don't run out of clean clothes).
When we arrived in Kiev customs was easy. I was very surprised there was no checking of luggage or anything we brought with us. Just a look at our passports then on our way.
Our driver was waiting for us as soon as we walked through customs with a sign saying WALK, so he was easy to spot. He did not speak any English so we just dutifully followed him after letting him know with handshakes and pointing to the sign that we were indeed who he was waiting for. He took us to the market to exchange money and get some food supplies. The market was somewhat like Reese's market in Tyrone, only a few less choices and replace the meat counter with various kinds of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.
He drove us to the apartment which will be our new home for the next few days while here in Kiev. It is modest, clean and decorated in what I would compare to a 50's stlye USA decor. It is evident that they have tried to provide a comfortable and safe place to stay.
One of the things we noticed is that everything here in the Ukraine seems to be smaller than in the USA (no over weight people, smaller quantities of everything at the market, portions are smaller, rooms etc).
On arrival day we rested. Sasha (the man who is assisting with our adoption here), phoned us on the apartment phone to check in with us. He speaks fluent English, so we were able to ask any questions we had. He informed us we would be picked up by a driver and an interpretor at 7:30 AM Wednesday for our SDA appointment.
Melatonin didn't do the trick for resetting our internal clocks (time here is 7 hours later than in PA). We were wide awake at 2:00 AM unable to go back to sleep. So at 4:00 AM I was texting Dave & Denise Fusco to try to get our Skype up and working. Thanks Dave you are a life saver when it comes to technology. We couldn't get Internet access, so I was unable to test it last night.
Today however the driver showed us where the Internet cables are, so I was able to get the Internet working. After you all get awake in PA I will try the Skype phone connection out to be sure it is working now. Anyone traveling after us I highly recommend getting Skype set up to use: not only can you talk to someone on their computer, but you can also call land lines free of charge and cell phone numbers for 2 cents per minute. We also brought a global phone which verizon provided free of charge (they turned my cell phone off and replaced my number on the global phone for the next 30 days.) Texting on the global phone is 5 cents incoming, 50 cents to send and $2.85 per minute to talk, so skype is the less expensive way to go. The global phone does provide free email access so family is able to reach you even if you are not at your computer, so far I have been unable to access the emails from my phone since arriving in Kiev.
Today as promised the driver and interpretor, Kristine, arrived to take us to our SDA appointment. Kristine was bubbly, friendly and a breath of fresh air. She was helpful, encouraging and kind. Most of the people here seem very serious, she was fun loving and great to work with. She was however very concerned that I was wearing sandals and a short sleeved sweater. So ladies bring shoes not sandals and long sleeves. She kept thinking I would be cold, though I was quite comfortable, but felt perhaps I was inappropriately dressed by their standards. Just a side note: guys bring dark dress pants and jacket for meetings, Russ had light brown pants and jacket unlike everyone else we saw who wore predominately dark colors. We looked like we didn't know how to dress properly (here I was pondering before I came not to bring so much black to wear, because I have alot in my wardrobe at home, but my colors fit right in just needed more cover. lol) Tomorrow I will wear my boots and long sleeves lol. Not that I am at all worried ever about fashion, but we want to be presentable and appropriate by Ukrainian standards.
The SDA appointment went very smoothly. We were the first appointment of the morning, so when we arrived we waited for them to open then went right in. (There are alot of traffic jams here, so they leave early for appointments to give time. There are no road marks and 7 lanes of traffic can become 2 quickly and cars drive in any direction. Without a driver we would be a hazard on the road.) At the SDA appointment we needed only to show our passports then answer her questions. Our interpretor was with us. We were ask: How did we know we wanted to adopt Anastasiya since we did not host her? How did we know she would want to go with us or be adopted by us? They showed us a picture of her from 2006 when she became eligible for adoption and ask if it was a picture of her. Everywhere we go and all we do I pray God goes before us. I know He chose Anastasiya for us and trust He will be with us throughout the process. So far everything has gone smoothly.
After the appointment Kristine copied our documents to the SDA then took us to a coffee shop for some lunch. Russ said the coffee was the best he has ever had.
Then our driver brought us back to the apartment to await Sasha's call. He is to call us to let us know details for tomorrow. Kristine said we would probably be going back to the SDA tomorrow afternoon to pick up our approval documents then make plans to travel to the region where the orphanage is located. (Which is about 250 miles south of here).
Russ is napping he fell alseep reading a book. For those of you who know him, I am sure you are chuckling about the book part lol.
We will write more tomorrow. For now we anxiously await the time when we will get to meet Anastasiya. Sasha said she was told we are adopting her, so we are praying she is anxious to meet us. Our prayer has been that God will open her heart to us and that she will accept us and love us as her new family. We came here to make a difference in the life of this child and already we are finding that it is our life that will be the most positively affected!!
One last thought: The name Anastasiya means reborn. We were to select a middle name for her for when we go to court since she does not have one of her own. We gave Heather the choice of naming her, she chose Elisa for a middle name which means consecrated, dedicated to God. What a beautiful meaning her name will have: reborn, consecrated and dedicated to God.