It Didn't Work Out

For the day of Friday, March 27th, we loaded up with apprehensive minds into our translator's van. Our specified translator for this trip was different than our facilitator. Her driver, George, spoke a smidgen of English and was very polite. Alla was our translator, and she proved to be an invaluable aid. They picked us up from our apartment, along with all twelve pieces of luggage, at 2:00 in the morning. Let's just say that the van we were in was fine for about a third of what we crammed into it. The seating arrangements consisted of Ethan, the driver George, and Alla sitting in the front seat, Sheila and Herbert placed in the captain's chairs surrounded by luggage, and finally, Drew, Gabrielle, and Connor in the very back. A seven-hour drive in these conditions cannot be very good for the joints. We arrived at our destination groggy and eager to leave the cramped vehicle. In the city who's name leaves the writer's mind at the moment the family embarked for the orphanage in which a prospective child awaited them. We entered the building, were shown around, eagerly went to the bathroom (we did not receive many breaks on our voyage), and then sat in the psychology room. We met with the person in charge of the orphanage, which consisted of extremely short conversation, and then the child along with the orphanage's doctor and psychologist entered the room. The girl, Anastasia, was a ball of energy, never scared of us and never shy. Alla was busy translating the words of the girl, doctor, and more as we listened and watched eagerly. We gave Anastasia a banana and a doll that we bought her, and her face immediately lit up. She was witty for a four-year-old, but as things progressed, the family viewed her as not the right choice. It was never the little girl's fault. A spot of misinformation caused the decisions to turn downhill. In the end, it did not work out with Anastasia, so we left and drove all the way back to Kiev that afternoon. Our future consists of another referral, we hope. Until then we take our time doing things in Kiev.

Pictures and Possibly VIdeo To Come!

Due to the forgetting of our devices that capture the souls of it's victims(He he... A camera) we haven't been able to post any pictures. If the opportunity presents itself, Ethan will use his technological prowess, or lack of, rather, to post whatever he deems important. This will most likely include pictures of Ethan by landmarks, videos of Ethan, Ethan's voice, and Ethan himself. We hope to get you this important content soon! But, it's alright. If he cannot manage such a feat he will just return home soon and present himself in person! I would be ecstatic also!

Our First Visit (State Department of Adoption)

To begin with, the times on this site are not posted from EST. So do not assume the days are times are what they claim to be. This entry is to chronicle our first arranged visit with the SDA (see title) on Thursday, March 26th. Donning our finest outfits, consisting of a suit for Herbert, a nice outfit for Sheila (she has to stay in style, even in a foreign country), khakis and a long-sleeve for Ethan, and dress for Gabrielle. Drew and Connor were in cargo pants and jeans respectively. Silly unprofessional fashions. Just kidding. Anyway, I digress. We met with Konstantine, our facilitator, (sounds epic right?), who managed to squeeze our giant family into his Forerunner. We hit some bumpy roads and passed some nice buildings that we later took pictures of. At the agency we were presented with some information on prospective children. Three healthy boys were turned down due to the fact that they were siblings. Sheila really was interested in getting a girl, so we were given info on two girls. One was healthy despited a cyst on her lung. She became our first choice to visit, but due to complications with her scheduled surgery we moved on to our second choice. A four-year-old about 350 miles away fromn Kiev. That's tomorrow's adventure. Well, this morning's, considering we leave at 2:00 AM Ukrainian time.

Stumbling around Kiev

After sleeping the entire Ukrainian morning away we matted down our bed heads and strapped up our jackets to try to face the foreign urban jungle that is Kiev. If you don't take into account the strange conversations of passers-by on the sidewalk or the lack of English signs, you get a scene parallel to New York City. Many people walk in this country, but this leg-employing group does not make up the entire populace in terms of transportation. To put it bluntly, the drivers are crazy. Horns blaring, engines raring, and speedometers and tempers flaring, the roads are not a safe place for pedestrians when the crosswalk light blinks a no-walk warning. Our activities of the afternoon left an appetite in our bellies. After perusing the many restaurants that were completely unreadable we managed to enter a pizzeria. They did not speak English. At all. Luckily for us, Coca-Cola is Universal. Apparently so is pizza. Pepperoni, however, is not. So we ended up eating a pepper pizza instead. It was not bad by any stretch. It was food and it was in our bellies. We commend our brave waitress for her efforts in serving those silly Americans. Note: Always take Russian dictionary.

On Arrival

Our plane landed in Kiev, Ukraine at around 3:00 AM EST. In the Ukraine that translates to about 9:00 in the morning. Needless to say we were pretty lagged. Our two drivers helped get our twelve pieces of luggage into two Toyotas. We managed to carry our bags up, with the help of our driver, up to our seventh floor apartment. We crashed in our nicely furnished apartment and had extremely erratic sleeping patterns due to the jet lag of our nine-hour flight.

At the airport

The whole family, Herbert,Sheila, Ethan, Drew, Gabrielle and Connor(nephew & cousin) left for the airport at 5:30 am today, Monday morning. We are getting ready to board the airplane. We are scheduled to arrive in Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday morning at 9:26 am Ukrainian time. This is 1:30 am EST.

Leaving for the Ukraine

Test: We will be leaving Monday, March 23 for Kiev, Ukraine.