This blog is not only for people who are following our journey but for our own journal. I found a website that can turn a blog into a book! I have posted some random pictures on this post as well. The first one is us all leaving the orphanage and waving good bye. The next couple are the kids on one of those inflatable slides. Every day Tetyana wants to go on this. The last picture is the view from our apartment. It is a busy place!
So these are some random things I didn’t want to forget about our trip….
Yesterday, I gave Luke and Tetyana 2 pieces of candy. Tetyana finished both of hers before Luke finished one. She noticed he still had one left and looked at Luke and asked him for it. He said “no” and then she said “I looove yoooo Luke” and stuck out her hand!! It was so funny we all couldn’t stop laughing!
At the park the other day there was a boy with a BB gun!! The playground was full of people and little kids!! This father and mother were showing the boy how to target shoot right in the middle of the playground! We couldn’t believe it.
Also at the park (can you tell what we do all day?), Tetyana was playing with a little kid and the mother started talking to her. She asked Tetyana where her parents were and then started talking to us in Ukrainian. We told her we spoke English only and she was totally confused! How could she just have been speaking with our daughter who was Ukrainian but her parents clearly were not from Ukraine. She was inviting us to the zoo with her family. So we explained to her that we had just adopted Tetyana. She couldn’t believe it. She asked me “you are going to take her back to America to live with you?” Another family we came across couldn’t believe it either. Maybe Ukrainians don’t adopt older children very much.
Today we went over to the American embassy to get the paperwork we needed to get Tetyana’s visa since we are praying they can get it done on Friday. We will know Friday night if we can come home on Sunday or if we will have to wait until next Tuesday. When we were walking in, there is a sign that says ‘Adoptions’ in English and Ukrainian. Tetyana read the sign and said “Mom!!” and pointed to the sign and then pointed to herself. It was so cool she knew.
She says “mom” about a thousand times a day! I am thinking it is because she is happy she has one.
So these are some random things I didn’t want to forget about our trip….
Yesterday, I gave Luke and Tetyana 2 pieces of candy. Tetyana finished both of hers before Luke finished one. She noticed he still had one left and looked at Luke and asked him for it. He said “no” and then she said “I looove yoooo Luke” and stuck out her hand!! It was so funny we all couldn’t stop laughing!
At the park the other day there was a boy with a BB gun!! The playground was full of people and little kids!! This father and mother were showing the boy how to target shoot right in the middle of the playground! We couldn’t believe it.
Also at the park (can you tell what we do all day?), Tetyana was playing with a little kid and the mother started talking to her. She asked Tetyana where her parents were and then started talking to us in Ukrainian. We told her we spoke English only and she was totally confused! How could she just have been speaking with our daughter who was Ukrainian but her parents clearly were not from Ukraine. She was inviting us to the zoo with her family. So we explained to her that we had just adopted Tetyana. She couldn’t believe it. She asked me “you are going to take her back to America to live with you?” Another family we came across couldn’t believe it either. Maybe Ukrainians don’t adopt older children very much.
Today we went over to the American embassy to get the paperwork we needed to get Tetyana’s visa since we are praying they can get it done on Friday. We will know Friday night if we can come home on Sunday or if we will have to wait until next Tuesday. When we were walking in, there is a sign that says ‘Adoptions’ in English and Ukrainian. Tetyana read the sign and said “Mom!!” and pointed to the sign and then pointed to herself. It was so cool she knew.
She says “mom” about a thousand times a day! I am thinking it is because she is happy she has one.
We were at the mall and we needed to go upstairs. We just started walking towards the escalator and she stopped and looked at it and we said "it's okay, go" and she was so thrilled. She had never seen an escalator before! She smiled and giggled the whole way up!
Today we took the kids to the zoo here. What a depressing place. The animals are not taken care of and there were hardly any. We did see a camel that just gave birth. The did not do anything to prepare for the birth, like put her in a barn or something. She just popped it out right in the viewing area!
We let the kids go into the petting area and afterward we wanted to wash their hands again and looked for a bathroom. We found it! The first hole in the ground toilets we have seen and smelled! It was so gross!! A bit later Tetyana told us she needed to use the bathroom and I pointed out the bathroom and told her “no” and made a yucky face. She agreed but said she really needed to go. We were walking by some bushes and I noticed there was a hole in them that she could squeeze into and squat. I have a really long down jacket and knew I could cover her. There wasn’t anyone around so I pointed to it and said “toilet?” and she said “dah, dah!!”. She went right there! We were all cracking up but it was better than the disgusting bathroom!
Today we took the kids to the zoo here. What a depressing place. The animals are not taken care of and there were hardly any. We did see a camel that just gave birth. The did not do anything to prepare for the birth, like put her in a barn or something. She just popped it out right in the viewing area!
We let the kids go into the petting area and afterward we wanted to wash their hands again and looked for a bathroom. We found it! The first hole in the ground toilets we have seen and smelled! It was so gross!! A bit later Tetyana told us she needed to use the bathroom and I pointed out the bathroom and told her “no” and made a yucky face. She agreed but said she really needed to go. We were walking by some bushes and I noticed there was a hole in them that she could squeeze into and squat. I have a really long down jacket and knew I could cover her. There wasn’t anyone around so I pointed to it and said “toilet?” and she said “dah, dah!!”. She went right there! We were all cracking up but it was better than the disgusting bathroom!
We are hoping we get the visa on Friday. I think I will cry right there on the spot if they tell us they can not complete it. We are dropping off every piece of paperwork we can Thursday and Yana is going to fax a copy of the passport from Cherkasy once she picks it up on Thursday. Julie, our friend that is here now also, got hers done today in a couple of hours! There is hope. If we can't get out on Sunday, then we will have to wait until Tuesday.
Have I mentioned we are NOT bringing back any of the clothes we brought here? We are so sick of wearing the same thing over and over!!!
4 comments:
Hi Michelle and family!
We went to the zoo as well - it was a few years ago - and it sounds like things have not changed! Glad to hear that you are almost out of there!
I will email you - but could you try and get Yana's email and mailing address for us? We would like to send her some photos!
Take care!
Amy
It sounds like your family is getting along great in Kiev.
We'll be praying for good news for you on Friday.
I laughed as I read your post about leaving your clothes there. It's so true...you get so sick of the same stuff!
Hang in there, the end of your trip is coming soon!!!
We enjoyed the zoo. We fed the animals and froze ourselves to death!
Getting the visas was like a breath of fresh air for us! The American embassy treated us like we were special and we didn't have to "tip" anyone! All the English was refreshing as well as the general things like cleanliness and lights! Not only all of that, but they actually were so accommodating that they took our paperwork and got us our visas in a few hours! We were able to fly home the next morning!!
Melissa E.
We enjoyed the zoo. We fed the animals and froze ourselves to death!
Getting the visas was like a breath of fresh air for us! The American embassy treated us like we were special and we didn't have to "tip" anyone! All the English was refreshing as well as the general things like cleanliness and lights! Not only all of that, but they actually were so accommodating that they took our paperwork and got us our visas in a few hours! We were able to fly home the next morning!!
Melissa E.
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