Day 30 – Are we there yet?

We finally made it to V’s town. And it only took from Friday around noon until 9:30 Sunday morning! My gosh what a trip! Let’s just say there will be no pictures posted and we all needed our teeth brushed and a good hot shower.

The train pulled into V’s town about 9:30 a.m. We were met at the train station by the same driver we had on trip one, another familiar face. Yeah! I have to keep reminding Alex that it’s now Sunday...seriously...it really is!

From the train station, the plan was to go to our old flat for a quick minute and then to start the tasks that could be completed on a Sunday. Our coordinator rang the bell to the flat and low and behold, nothing happened. She made a few calls and we waited about 15 minutes. A lady then appeared; we found out later she was the landlady. Seems there was a mix up and our flat was not available. She showed us to another flat in the same building complex. The way the building is built we are actually around the corner about ½ a block from where we were before. This flat is much smaller and as such, our coordinator is now lodging across the street in a hotel. The flat is not big enough for all of us, especially when you consider we are adding one more to the mix tomorrow.

We dropped off our luggage in the flat, had 5 minutes to brush our teeth, transfer the 35 lbs of clothes from the duffle bag to the 2 large plastic garbage bags I packed and then we were off. One piece and 35 lbs of luggage gone! (R – I’m gonna tell you again, travel light!!! And put the orphanage clothes in duffels that can be stashed or stowed somewhere. Unless you want to leave the luggage behind with the clothes. The cars are small here and ½ of the trunk is filled with a propane gas tank. Get it yet???) 

We went to the orphanage first. When Alex met the coordinator for the first time, he only asked one question: “When can we see V?” He is going to be the best big brother! Alex is really looking forward to seeing him. Since it was Sunday, the only staff in the orphanage except for the security guard was the doctor. Our coordinator had a few things to discuss regarding Monday’s plan so she left us in the front lobby. V appeared shortly with a hat and coat. He was happy to see us there were hugs all around. As we were waiting for our coordinator, several girls walked through the lobby. One was L, the girl we brought presents for on trip one! She gave me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug. (L is going to be adopted very shortly as I understand her new momma and papa got their travel dates last week and they are right around the corner!! R – I have a photo, I will send as soon as I can get it uploaded, it might have to be when I get back to Kiev.)

Funny thing about this pack of girls. Two of them came back through the lobby just a minute later. One was L. They talked to V and among other things, the other girl asked what Alex’s name was. V told her "Alex" and she smiled a big smile, waved and said “Hello Alex.” Not “Hello V’s mom.” or “Hello V’s dad.” but “Hello Alex.”. Off they went, giggling...hhhhmmmm....needless to say Alex got a big tease from us on that one.

We took V to lunch as our first stop. V was rather quiet at first and through our coordinator we asked him if he was nervous. He said he was a little nervous. We are for the first time seeing what a lot of other families have reported seeing as the time progresses. He understandably has hesitations, questions, etc. about leaving his home, his language and his friends. I am sure he will adjust just fine once we are home. I had read about other families experiencing this so we were watching for it. All I can say is that he is one brave little boy. I brought him another disposable camera for tonight/tomorrow morning and I also brought him 4 copies of each photo from the first disposable camera. He said some of the photos will come home with him and others he will give out to his friends. At least he can take some additional photos of things he wants to remember.

Next we went to get V’s photo taken for his new passport. He and Alex were goofing off as they were climbing the steps; they each had their arm on the shoulder of the other one and were timing each step perfectly in synch with the other. It was over the top cute! That is a big factor in why we are doing this!

From there we spent a little over an hour with V at the flat as our coordinator went to the market to buy fruit and juice for V’s party at the orphanage tomorrow. We couldn’t get all of us and all the required fruit/juice in the car at the same time. That must be a LOT of fruit and juice! Alex gave him his new gameboy and they played for a while. Then we played some SpongeBob Uno. Alex and V were wrestling around, very cute!

All too soon, our coordinator was back and we drove V back to the orphanage. With a couple of hugs, off he went. Remember the van Robert (and several of you) were so enthralled with?  Yes, Alex too.  I was told I HAD to get a photo of them by the van.

We went to the market for water and few things for dinner on the way back to the flat.  Robert, Alex and I are now safely tucked in for the evening.  Still jet lagged and therefore ready for a long nap.
The plan as I know it for the next 36-48 hours is that our coordinator will pick up the final court decree at 8:30 a.m., we'll get V’s new birth certificate and then we'll have the party at the orphanage. From there, V will come with us and will not see the orphanage again.  Then we will drive 2.5 hours to another city to get a new passport and then drive back again. Tuesday morning we will take the train another 13-14 hours back to Kiev.   At that point, we will be on the down hill slide.  Continue to pray that all goes smoothly for us.  We are all ready to get this little boy home!