Appointment Results

We left the apartment this morning a little after 8:00 am to join the rush hour crowd of people streaming into the downtown area. We squeezed into a bus and then transfered to the metro where we were packed in so tight you nearly didn't have to worry about holding on to anything - there was no way you could have fallen down. The last leg of our trip was the most pleasant. We took the funicular (think cable car on a railway) up a wooded hill right in the middle of the city.

We met our facilitator at the State Department for Adoption office. After a relatively short wait, we were ushered in for our appointment. We started by looking at children under age 8, but every file we were shown had children who had serious, uncorrectable medical conditions. We pulled out our paperwork to extend the age up to 11 years old which opened up a few more options. We found ourselves trying to decide between a group of 2 brothers with a sister and a group of 3 sisters. The psychologist who was working with us contacted the orphanage where the first group was located and spoke with the oldest brother as well as the director of the orphanage. At best the boy seemed to have mixed feelings about being adopted. Based on that information as well as some good feedback from another facilitator who had met the three sisters, we decided to request a referral for the second group. The girls are ages 10, 9, and 7.

We will pick up paperwork tomorrow and hope to get a train ticket to travel on Thursday. We'll be heading west over the mountains to the Transcarpathian region. This region borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. We couldn't get much farther away than where we were last time and still be in Ukraine! Our facilitator tells us this is the busiest time to travel in that direction as it's the middle of skiing season. Getting our train tickets may prove to be a challenge.

We are excited to meet these girls but glad to have a day or two more to recover from jet lag before we take the overnight train to their region.

Model of the funicular

Funicular car descending into the station

Snowy day at the SDA

Appointment Time

We spoke with our facilitator on the phone today and learned that our appointment will be at 10:00 am tomorrow morning (7 hours difference from Indiana time = 3:00 am). We'll be taking a bus and the metro to meet him at the SDA office tomorrow.
Our first full day here has slipped by quickly. Stan has been able to put in a full day's work. I've kept busy getting our clothes ready for our appointment tomorrow, sewing on a few buttons, fixing lunch, and doing some Russian study.
This afternoon it started snowing enough to accumulate. It left me wondering when was the last day when I didn't see snow. . . Edmonton, Indiana, Ukraine - I must be going to the wrong places. I guess I need a visit to Hawaii, right, Kris?

Safe and warm in Kiev

Everything went smoother than I could have hoped after we got to Chicago. I even was able to get a cheap flu shot at the airport clinic, which I had not made time to do earlier. The last two flights were with Lufthansa, which is the best airline I know, punctual (they arrived early, in fact), with sumptuous and friendly service and comfortable and spacious seats. (This is in contrast to United, which in my experience is making a habit of delays and cancellations even when other airlines are OK, grouchy and stingy service, and unreasonably cramped legroom.)

It feels great to be in Europe again. The first thing we did on our Dusseldorf layover was get big cups of cafe au lait.

Our friends that were gone in the summer are also gone now, just for a short time, but they left
keys with someone who even met us at the airport, so here we are in their lovely apartment with wireless internet and a comfortable place to sleep. After no more than 4 hours of sleep in each of the last 2 nights, I'm ready to hit the pillow hard. It's a good way to deal with jetlag, though. Instead of going to sleep at 4 pm, we went exploring in this neighborhood and found a good pizzeria for supper, confirmed that our ATM cards work OK, and bought some groceries for breakfast tomorrow.

-Stan

. . .and we're off!

We are now enroute to our appointment in Kiev on our second trip to Ukraine. We are sitting in the South Bend airport terminal waiting for the first leg of our flight to Kiev. My sister, Beth, and her husband Pete just drove us through the cold and the snow to drop us off for our flight. I'm watching snow plows scurry around clearing the landing strip. It's been chilly for northern Indiana with lows for tonight predicted at -5 F (-20 C). Lows for Kiev are in the lower +20's F (around -4 C). Although it will be warmer initially when we arrive, temperatures in Kiev will probably be similar to northern Indiana. One difference is we will be spending more time outside as we'll be walking and using public transportation more. Before I write more about our current travels, let me catch you up on what's been going on the past couple of weeks.
On Monday, January 7th we drove to Michigan City to get our fingerprints taken to update our U.S. paperwork. Out of all the government offices we've interfaced with in the past 3 1/2 years, I have to give this office in Michigan City the top honors. All of the staff members are pleasant and professional and they get us in and out of the office so quickly. Runner up for the best interface with bureaucracy is the Tetouan Wilaya, the provincial government office in the last town we lived in during our four years on Morocco. Every time we went there for documentation, they were also pleasant, professional and efficient.
On January 12th, just ten days ago, we were sitting in this same terminal waiting to start our trip to Edmonton - together this time. We were delayed by 24 hours due to snow so, as we're watching the snow fall today and our scheduled departure pushed later, we are praying that this won't keep us from getting into Kiev in time for our Tuesday appointment.
Our trip to Edmonton last week was a wonderful chance to connect with friends from our time there and as well as our time in Morocco. It gave us practice for packing for this trip and made the last couple weeks of waiting go by in a blink.
When my brother-in-law dropped us off at the airport, he asked us what we thought our greatest fear was for this trip. Stan said it was the process of meeting the next set of children. I fear the emotional strain if we end up doing more than one appointment again. On our last trip I would have said that I feared the appointment process (one hour to review files and choose children to adopt). In all three of our appointments during the last trip, God gave us peace and clear direction as well as unity. Through the process we have grown in our trust that he can lead us in these big decisions, even when we don't have all the information we think we need.
Although we discussed our fears, I've been feeling at peace even in that flurry of the last minute tasks that are inevitable before an extended trip. It's a special grace that God extends to me through your prayers.
Our airplane just arrived at the gate so I'll sign off for the last time in Indiana for a while.
Quick update: Our plane made it through the South Bend snow with only a short delay and we are now in Chicago with a 3+ hour layover.

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Thanks for your prayers!

Trip plans coming together

We have tickets to Ukraine on Jan 22, which is coming up very fast, especially since we will both be in Canada for almost a week starting Jan 11 and are scrambling to catch up with some things that got put on hold during the busy holiday season. We had a lot of events with immediate family, extended family, and friends. We also ran the Frigid 5K on Saturday with temps hovering around freezing and a stiff wind off Winona Lake, but it felt awesome to accomplish it and both beat our time goals; I don't think we'll do much running in Ukraine, though.

We are looking forward to being picked up at the airport and spending our time in Kiev with good Hoosier friends in Kiev. They were traveling last time we were there.

Our facilitator is very optimistic about this trip; he is a positive guy in general, which is good in his profession. The last big detail for the trip is that we have fingerprint renewals finally scheduled with USCIS for Jan 7 (this Friday), which is great timing. PTL!

In Edmonton on Business

I guess not all travels are for adoption. I am in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for 2.5 weeks on a business trip. It's longer than I like to be away from home, but I am seeing lots of friends from when we lived here and very happy to be here. My employer is putting me up in a bed and breakfast that is actually no more expensive than nearby hotels; Julie and I decided a long time ago that B&Bs offer great value. The cold weather is definitely toughening me up for Ukraine; it's supposed to hit -23 degrees C tonight!

If you're going to work in the dark and cold, it's great to start your day with great coffee and a gourmet breakfast of eggs Benedict on smoked salmon with capers.




Some fun indoor things to do in Edmonton:

very professional Glo-puppet (puppets and dancers' costumes are illuminated by black light) outreach performance put on by friends' daughter and other teenagers,

or hang out at the Christmasy West Ed Mall (the largest mall west of Dubai, enclosing a water park, an amusement park, this pool of submarines and full-size replica of Columbus's Santa Maria, and many other attractions and stores)

There is some adoption news, too. After some bureaucracy as bizarre as any we've seen anywhere, we got an appointment today from the Department of Homeland Security to update our fingerprints, which will expire while we are in Ukraine but well before we will solicit U.S. visas; the problem is that the appointment is scheduled for a few hours before I land back in Indiana, so I at least will need to reschedule.