Day 10 – You have absolutely NO IDEA what they are saying! (aka Court Date Assigned!)

Our coordinator come back down on the train last night from Kiev and continued the paperwork chase while we ‘lounged’ at the flat. We didn’t even see her until a little after 1:00 p.m. when she rang the doorbell to be let in. We assumed she was back in town but we did not know for sure.  She said that she had been to visit the orphanage as well as the local inspector and she has all the paperwork we were waiting for. We were to be picked up at 3:00 p.m. by our driver to go to the orphanage to sign some papers and then we needed to meet with the lawyer after that.

When we got to the orphanage, we were taken way back through the orphanage to the orphanage doctor’s office; into a different building even and past this large kitchen. We had been only allowed in the front 2 rooms and the orphanage director’s office (also in the very front of the orhpanage) prior to this. We were quickly shown back to the front and into the first of the reception rooms. The doctor then came there a few minutes later to talk with us again. She asked us if we had any further questions on V’s medical status and we were able to ask additional questions. She answered all of our questions and provided copies of medical records. In Russian of course but they will be translated for us.

We signed a few documents and then it was off to see the lawyer. The lawyer’s office was in the same office as the notary. In the previous blog about the notary, I mentioned the office off to the left when we went in the front door. There was a door off to the right as well but it was closed so I really didn't notice it. That is the lawyer’s office. We waited in the central room for about 5 minutes or so and then a gentleman came in, briefly talked with our coordinator and we were ushered in to that office.

The lawyer pulled out a stack of paperwork; it was immediately recognizable as the font page was a Minnesota appostille.  He started asking questions to our coordinator about our son and made a statement that Alex was barely mentioned in the home study. My stomach sank. What did that mean exactly?  Did that mean there was a problem? After much discussion between the coordinator and the lawyer, they asked us about the house. Seems there was a discrepancy regarding the description of the house between the home study and one other required document in the dossier. The home study asked about total square footage and number/purpose of rooms, etc. while the other document wanted square footage of just bedrooms. Of course they wouldn’t match! Needless to say, my stomach sank again. Another problem? And by the way, did we solve the first problem of not mentioning our son enough in the home study yet? Did I need to get an amendment to the home study? I was a little tense to say the least.  You have absolutely NO IDEA what they are saying!  After another discussion between the lawyer and our coordinator, the lawyer sat at the computer and printed out a four page document. Our coordinator then translated each paragraph for us. It was the petition to the court to adopt V.

We found one error; our date of marriage was listed as the date that it was filed at the court house. It was listed as January of the following year rather than the actual date we were married in December. Our coordinator asked him to change that.  He looked at the dossier for several minutes and another lengthy discussion ensued.  You have absolutely NO IDEA what they are saying!  They asked us again about the dates. In Ukraine there are different rules and they wanted to make sure they had the correct date where it became legal. We assured them that our marriage was legal in December when the ceremony took place not when it was filed at the court house. He made the change and we signed the document, all 5 copies.

The lawyer then had a lengthy discussion with our coordinator. Again, you have absolutely NO IDEA what they are saying! He took out a piece of paper that had 2 columns printed on it, the paper was printed landscape. He cut it in half and started filling out the 2 sides. Robert was asked to initial in several spots on each half and then the lawyer gave those 2 half sheets to our coordinator. We found out later that those were the court fees. We were done. As we exited the building and headed towards the car, our coordinator said to me “Court is Monday.” That was it; a court date has been assigned. Yeah!  Did I forget to mention you have absolutely NO IDEA what they are saying?

We made a quick run to the train station to drop off our coordinator who is back on the train again headed overnight again to Kiev. Poor thing! She wasn’t even here 10 hours! Not sure she was even here 8 hours. She will file the paperwork from the orphanage, the local inspector’s office and the lawyer with the State Department of Adoption in Kiev tomorrow. From what I have heard from other families, the SDA has to approve all of the paperwork and provide another document before our case can actually be heard in court but I understand the assignments of the court date (at least in this region) can occur concurrently. It can take up to 5 days for them to approve so please pray that all goes smoothly and we have no surprises in Kiev! 

Once we dropped off our coordinator, we went to the orphanage for our visit with V. We used the on-line translator again to talk with him. Very handy, Thank You R.! We brought him another apple, a juice box and a small sucker. He was happy as can be. We told him we had been at the orphanage earlier and asked him if he knew that (when we left to meet with the lawyer, I saw 2 little boys peeking out the window upstairs, I thought one of them might have been V). He was surprised and said no, he did not know. We told him we signed some papers and then met with the lawyer. We also told him that court was scheduled for Monday but that it was not yet official. He was very excited. We chatted for another 15 minutes or so and then we asked him about the young lady (L.) whose family is coming in the next 6 weeks or so. He said he could go get her so that we could deliver the presents we brought with us from her new family.  

Very quickly, he was back with her. Since we had dropped our coordinator off at the train station , there was no one to translate. We used the online translator again for a very basic communication. I took pictures of L. as she shyly opened her gifts. It’s my understanding that in this culture, they don’t open presents in front of you but later in private. We told her to open the present so we could snap photo’s (I will send them via email R. in a few minutes). She was very happy with her gifts and looked at the pictures that were sent. I showed her that there were things written on the back of most of the photos. She very quickly went through the stack again and read the back. She is a very happy girl, is healthy and seems to be doing well. 

We then broke out the Uno game again. L. played with us as well. V won both games. As the orphanage doctor was leaving for the evening, she stopped in to talk with V and L and was laughing about the Uno game. Seems to be a favorite; it’s a big hit over here!

All too soon it was past dark and we needed to get back to the flat. V does not have school tomorrow so we are visiting at 10:00 a.m. and at 3:00 p.m. I am trying to figure out if he has been pulled from school now that he is leaving or what the situation is. Can’t quite figure it out yet...any words of wisdom from previous families? Did you guys experience anything similar?

So, Day 10 is just about over. It’s after 8:00 p.m. and we are tucked in at the flat, all set to watch more Olympics. If I have blog space tomorrow (translation – if I don’t get too long winded), I will blog about the traffic and the parking. It’s amazing, simply amazing. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Poka!