I started this blog in the airport on the iphone, as we had 24 hours between landing in Dulles and catching the flight to State College. Yes, from the time we left Kiev to the time we walked into our Port Matilda home, it was 44.5 hours. We were 42 consecutive days away from home, and I had drafted a rather "here's the real whine" of a blog entry when everything did a 360-degree turnaround. Last night, we were dragging to the shuttle to get to the Holiday Inn Express, and Mama held her hand and said, "Oh Baby, I am so sorry, I didn't want your first day in America to be like this." Karina said, "Me, I know understand, Mama." What an Angel.
Yes, it is true that Karina did not close her eyes once for even a mini catnap on the airplanes. And, our trooper had a fever, low appetite, a cold and a headache. She never whined, refused to let Mama carry her backpack, and could pull a smile at a joke. Absolutely amazing. We were all snotty, worn to the bone and done with travel. We got a hotel room late last night, and Karina slept in Papa's shirt (he wears two). We slept in our clothes. The beds were soft, oh so soft! The showers were warm - and full! Luxury! The towels were think and awesome! The breakfast variety was amazing - bananas, breads, cereals, pancakes, eggs, yogurt, coffee, etc. And, Karina got to watch Sponge Bob in bed! We watched the news, and talked about the storm. After breakfast, we Skyped her Mariupol home so we could fulfill promises and she got to speak to those she loves. Then, we shuttled to the airport at 10 for a 6 hour wait till our flight finally left at 4 today. It was a 30 minute flight, and she said "so small for so big wait?" Yep, that's it. It is 7 now, and I just have to share one thing.
We were in the car doming from the airport about an hour ago, and as we entered the neighborhood, she recognized where we were. She had been here in August for camp where we hosted her. She started to shake. A tear started to roll down her cheek. Her lips quivered. And she saw our house. She said in Russian, Home Our Home and then bursted with joy! She couldn't wait to go inside and see that cats! Our friends had lovingly surprised us all with a decorated house and she was in awe! She jumped and hugged us and couldn't believe her eyes! She looked at the balloons and we took her picture with them! She went up stairs and there were flowers in her room! She opened her presents that various people had given her - soaps, house slippers, a snuggie, tea, chocolate kisses, a fuzzy blanket, a teddy bear, a journal to write in and a pen! She also had a stuffed unicorn and books! Then she opened her closet and cried! Friends had filled her closet with clothes from their kids and she said, "Mama! I am Hannah Montana!" Oh My Gosh, Oh My Gosh! She wanted to wear everything! She picked out an outfit and it was all pink. She and Papa went to Way Fruit Farm to get some dinner. She said as they just walked out the door, "Mama, Paka - Home Our Home, Mama!"
I love you!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Not home yet
Caught in Dulles airport. Hoping for flight at 2 pm now. Many delays due to storms. Karina asked for coffee. Need we say more? She helped mama with one cup. The initiation process always seems to come with a final airline adventure. Need we say more?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Flying Soon!
Don't worry about us - we will be flying soon and then offline for a while to take care of bills, etc. We will be back in touch with a follow up after we get our world back in order. We would dearly like to thank all of our friends and family who have been keeping up with Karina and our Ukrainian adventures. We are so grateful for your support and love, and well-wishes. It was truly a blessing that you were with us and connected, as we have felt it, for sure.
We are full of love tonight! We have a very excited daughter, Stuart is packing us efficiently, and Mama is making sure we leave everything in good order. We can't wait to see everyone in person soon! Much love to you all and many, many hugs! We'll add a few funny photos from the past couple of days.
25 years ago today was the explosion at Chernobyl. The country is mourning the loss and recognizing that catastrophe today in memorial. We are mindful of the loss and hope that those who we know who have loved ones who were harmed are able to find peace and reconciliation. Cultures may differ, but all people all share feelings of compassion, sorrow, love, and understanding regardless of where they live.
We are full of love tonight! We have a very excited daughter, Stuart is packing us efficiently, and Mama is making sure we leave everything in good order. We can't wait to see everyone in person soon! Much love to you all and many, many hugs! We'll add a few funny photos from the past couple of days.
What? You finished off all of the Tic Tacs?
Some house slippers found in the apt. Karina thought Papa was funny wearing white slippers!
The important thing is that she looks great!
Monkey-girl!
25 years ago today was the explosion at Chernobyl. The country is mourning the loss and recognizing that catastrophe today in memorial. We are mindful of the loss and hope that those who we know who have loved ones who were harmed are able to find peace and reconciliation. Cultures may differ, but all people all share feelings of compassion, sorrow, love, and understanding regardless of where they live.
Hallelujah!!
All processes are completed and we are catching our ride at 4AM tomorrow! We fly out of Kiev to Munich, then to Dulles for a 7 hour layover to State College. Yeah!! Karina had to get a Hepititis B shot as we were fortunate (being sarcastic) to have Doctor ChiponHer Shoulder as the physician this morning, but otherwise the medical exam and embassy work went smoothly. The video in the embassy waiting room played "America the Beautiful" and people kept saying the phrase "I am America" on tape. Karina picked this up, and keeps saying it. She is fully adrenalized now and getting her energy out in the park, swinging in the hot sunshine in a padded winter vest (go figure - it is hot pink and shiny and says Hannah Montana on it, so that explains it - thanks to Goodwill for a fabulous purchase on this item!) with Papa sitting on the bench outside, while Mama waves from the 3rd story apt. window to them. We have 210 grivnas left. This should get us dinner and maybe some tic-tacs (or a little candy of some sort) for the long trip tomorrow. Fortunately, she loves airplanes and is looking very much forward to the trip. I hope she can fall asleep tonight for a few hours at least, as "Dr. Shoulder" poked her upper arm good and told us not to bathe Karina for 2 days, don't let her scratch her arm, and watch out for fever and a loss of appetite. Just what we want - a cranky achy kid - but hey, there are no complaints because we are coming home! Yippie!!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Dream Town
Yuk! No dream for us.
We slept in, primarily because we know Karina has had a lot of new things to deal with and sleeping helps to process them. Also, she likes to read, and did not go to bed until 10pm, even though she settled in at 9. That is OK - she started a detective/love book, which is a step up from the Winx Club. We ate our French toast and scrambled eggs, which she liked, and walked 20 minutes to "Dream Town" - a 3 story, monster mall where commercialism prevails and kids can ice skate, roller blade, bowl, do arcades, bungee jump, play bumper cars, etc. She bungee jumped and tried to do bumper cars with Papa, but she had no clue how to make her car work, so that was not much fun. We walked around the huge mall for about 3 hours and even took her into a toy store and she did not ask for a thing. She knew this was not our bag. She and Papa ate pizza for lunch, and Mama had a baked potato. She and Mama then scheduled nail appointments in the mall because Mama needed it by now, and although she had hers done 4 days ago, her hands were still pretty awful. (The lady at the nail place gave Ann the what-for because her daughter's nails were in such bad shape.) It will take a while to get those hands in decent shape. The nail-lady was caring and diligent and worked for an hour on Karina's hands. She discussed the use of hand lotion with Karina, and we will add that into our nightly routine. Karina chose hot pink for polish. Oh well! she is quite proud of the color: her favorite!
Anyway, this dream town is no dream for us. The materialism wore us out. Fur coats (something we don't agree with at all), ocean creatures killed and stuffed and used as displays (no way to treat creatures), and enough jewelry, clothes and shoes for the entire city all packed into the gimongus mall. We have not been to Mall of America, but think this may be something similar. We offered Karina a choice of bumper cars (sharing a car with Papa this time) or a candy heart filled with about 10 jelly beans. She had asked for both. She chose the heart because it had her Winx idol, Bloom, on the front of it. Other than this, dream town made us miss nature, flora and fauna alike, and helped us realize that people who live in the city and do not experience the natural environment don't really get how over-consumption is destroying our earth's precious natural resources.
We had some quiet time after the walk back to the apartment. We had to work on some admin stuff, and she needed to process without us. After about an hour, she and Mama made dinner together (which for all 3 of us included an orange-pepper, a cucumber, 2 tomatoes, a pear which she loved!, some summer sausage, bread, butter, an eclair, cheese for Papa and juice for all - oh, and the remaining crab potato chips!) It was delicious! She thought it was the best supper!
After dinner, she and Mama went to the park and she swang. She swang for an hour, this time without Mama pushing her as much. We saw a man who was there yesterday and Ann spoke to him in Russian and he spoke to her in English! They had a very nice conversation. He was very nice. Another Dad was swinging his little daughter and picking up trash from the park. He was also very nice. Then, when we were unlocking the door to enter the apartment after swinging, the couple in the next door apartment gave us best wishes and 4 decorated hard boiled eggs - in Ukrainian decorations! How sweet! What nice people live around us!
Stuart has some observations from today. He saw a Ukrainian driver back up a car at 20 mph with pinpoint accuracy in a parking lot. Every age group was engaged in the park tonight - the toddlers and their parents on the play equipment, the young boys running and chasing each other, the teenagers hanging out and/or playing soccer, the middle-aged guys on their porches smoking a cigarette and having a vodka, and the grandparents pushing their grandkids in strollers. People care about this place. One man picked up trash, one man carried water from his house in 5 gal. buckets to the little sapling trees, and one person planted a flower bed.
Another nice thing about today was Karina's visit to the little store in the parking lot. We give her our coins every time we get some from a transaction. She collects them. She wanted sok (juice) at the little parking lot store, so Mama had her count her coins. She had 2.40 grivna (about 15 coins that equaled about 30 cents). The apple juicepack was 2.60, but the lady let her have it for 2.40. That was really sweet of her.
We settled on airplane tickets to be issued for Wednesday. Please send your best that tomorrow's embassy work in the afternoon and medical exam go well. If all goes well, we will fly out early, early Wed. AM and arrive in SC around midnight. Speechless. Absolutely, speechless if we can pull that off. Tomorrow is day 40 in Ukraine.
We slept in, primarily because we know Karina has had a lot of new things to deal with and sleeping helps to process them. Also, she likes to read, and did not go to bed until 10pm, even though she settled in at 9. That is OK - she started a detective/love book, which is a step up from the Winx Club. We ate our French toast and scrambled eggs, which she liked, and walked 20 minutes to "Dream Town" - a 3 story, monster mall where commercialism prevails and kids can ice skate, roller blade, bowl, do arcades, bungee jump, play bumper cars, etc. She bungee jumped and tried to do bumper cars with Papa, but she had no clue how to make her car work, so that was not much fun. We walked around the huge mall for about 3 hours and even took her into a toy store and she did not ask for a thing. She knew this was not our bag. She and Papa ate pizza for lunch, and Mama had a baked potato. She and Mama then scheduled nail appointments in the mall because Mama needed it by now, and although she had hers done 4 days ago, her hands were still pretty awful. (The lady at the nail place gave Ann the what-for because her daughter's nails were in such bad shape.) It will take a while to get those hands in decent shape. The nail-lady was caring and diligent and worked for an hour on Karina's hands. She discussed the use of hand lotion with Karina, and we will add that into our nightly routine. Karina chose hot pink for polish. Oh well! she is quite proud of the color: her favorite!
Anyway, this dream town is no dream for us. The materialism wore us out. Fur coats (something we don't agree with at all), ocean creatures killed and stuffed and used as displays (no way to treat creatures), and enough jewelry, clothes and shoes for the entire city all packed into the gimongus mall. We have not been to Mall of America, but think this may be something similar. We offered Karina a choice of bumper cars (sharing a car with Papa this time) or a candy heart filled with about 10 jelly beans. She had asked for both. She chose the heart because it had her Winx idol, Bloom, on the front of it. Other than this, dream town made us miss nature, flora and fauna alike, and helped us realize that people who live in the city and do not experience the natural environment don't really get how over-consumption is destroying our earth's precious natural resources.
We had some quiet time after the walk back to the apartment. We had to work on some admin stuff, and she needed to process without us. After about an hour, she and Mama made dinner together (which for all 3 of us included an orange-pepper, a cucumber, 2 tomatoes, a pear which she loved!, some summer sausage, bread, butter, an eclair, cheese for Papa and juice for all - oh, and the remaining crab potato chips!) It was delicious! She thought it was the best supper!
After dinner, she and Mama went to the park and she swang. She swang for an hour, this time without Mama pushing her as much. We saw a man who was there yesterday and Ann spoke to him in Russian and he spoke to her in English! They had a very nice conversation. He was very nice. Another Dad was swinging his little daughter and picking up trash from the park. He was also very nice. Then, when we were unlocking the door to enter the apartment after swinging, the couple in the next door apartment gave us best wishes and 4 decorated hard boiled eggs - in Ukrainian decorations! How sweet! What nice people live around us!
Stuart has some observations from today. He saw a Ukrainian driver back up a car at 20 mph with pinpoint accuracy in a parking lot. Every age group was engaged in the park tonight - the toddlers and their parents on the play equipment, the young boys running and chasing each other, the teenagers hanging out and/or playing soccer, the middle-aged guys on their porches smoking a cigarette and having a vodka, and the grandparents pushing their grandkids in strollers. People care about this place. One man picked up trash, one man carried water from his house in 5 gal. buckets to the little sapling trees, and one person planted a flower bed.
Another nice thing about today was Karina's visit to the little store in the parking lot. We give her our coins every time we get some from a transaction. She collects them. She wanted sok (juice) at the little parking lot store, so Mama had her count her coins. She had 2.40 grivna (about 15 coins that equaled about 30 cents). The apple juicepack was 2.60, but the lady let her have it for 2.40. That was really sweet of her.
We settled on airplane tickets to be issued for Wednesday. Please send your best that tomorrow's embassy work in the afternoon and medical exam go well. If all goes well, we will fly out early, early Wed. AM and arrive in SC around midnight. Speechless. Absolutely, speechless if we can pull that off. Tomorrow is day 40 in Ukraine.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Princess
p.s., The Little Princess (inside story based on a singing Valentine card we sent her that told her she was a princess and played Beauty and the Beast, which is why she sees herself as the Beauty as well) loves bubble baths! As a bonding experience, Mama decided that since we had a tub in our last apt., she would play "spa night" and do girls tub-time. For bubbles, she used the dishwashing liquid (our best option). It was Karina's first bubble bath. We pretended like we had glasses of champagne and chocolate (even though we didn't have either and glass is not allowed in the bathroom by Mama's standards). Pretending was fun. Well, tonight, Mama asked if she wanted a bubble bath on her own, and she got so excited, it was more fun for us than her, I think! Papa told her she was a princess and Mama let her use her lotion. She is having a blast. We did go to swing in the little park outside of our new apt. and the kids there were curious because we spoke English. She told them she lived in America. We know enough Russian to talk to 5 year olds, and they kept asking, are your parents Ukrainian and English? It was funny. She can't wait for Anastasia to be adopted, and for Ivanna to be adopted, and for Nikita to be adopted so she can see them again (this came out at the park today; surprise!) We think she has a little crush on Ivanna, and agree, he is awfully cute! (This blog has to disappear before she is able to read it! She is very shy about him.)
On beauty lotion and transliterating Russian: if you know the Russian alphabet and how the letters sound, you can play "code-decipher" games and figure out how many words, once you sound them out, sound the same or very similar to their English counterparts. Here is an example: стоп = stop. Pretty straightforward. Well, we kept seeing a nondescript building with a big sign outfront that read Oriflame. Ann, being from Texas where natural gas was the way people cooked, and knowing that Ukrainian neighborhoods are laced with yellow pipelines above ground where natural gas is piped from home to home, she assumed that Oriflame was like Lone Star Gas - a place where people got gas service, bought gas appliances, and learned how to cook with gas. Surprise! Oriflame is a beauty company selling lotions and cosmetics! How funny!
On beauty lotion and transliterating Russian: if you know the Russian alphabet and how the letters sound, you can play "code-decipher" games and figure out how many words, once you sound them out, sound the same or very similar to their English counterparts. Here is an example: стоп = stop. Pretty straightforward. Well, we kept seeing a nondescript building with a big sign outfront that read Oriflame. Ann, being from Texas where natural gas was the way people cooked, and knowing that Ukrainian neighborhoods are laced with yellow pipelines above ground where natural gas is piped from home to home, she assumed that Oriflame was like Lone Star Gas - a place where people got gas service, bought gas appliances, and learned how to cook with gas. Surprise! Oriflame is a beauty company selling lotions and cosmetics! How funny!
Hoppy Easter
Happy Hoppy Easter to everyone, and to our bunnies at home - Cuddles and Patches. We hope to fly home on Wednesday! It will be 6 weeks here and we are more than ready to be home. We can't wait! We hope with all our hearts that this schedule will work.
Yesterday, we took it pretty easy. We went to swing in the park, ate dinner at a Subway-type of place, spent the afternoon on English lessons and Karina (who doesn't like the nickname Little Chix we learned, afterall) worked on about 10 pages of her Russian "How to Learn English" workbook. Papa returned to Read City while Karina and Mama had an English lesson with Lilya and came home with 9 workbooks in Russian to help Karina learn English! He discovered that the third floor of Read City is loaded with textbooks, and he purchased 9 workbooks of various levels written in Russian to help kids learn English. Karina loved them, and was self-motivated to do the exercises while Mama cheered her on. She found success in accomplishing them, and that gave her confidence. Liliya's weblinks also were fun for her, and she had a blast playing with them last night. We all laughed, because she was having a good time. It is amazing that we can carry 6 weeks worth of clothes, all bathroom supplies, 2 days worth of food, 39 books, CDs and games, coats, computers and paperwork and be so transportable as today at noon, we moved to a different apartment in the suburbs, which is very French-souvenirish and very interesting for Karina. She is taking it easy today because she has a cold and is watching Nichelodean and MTV. Kids do not use kleenex, because paper is a luxury for them, so we are teaching her how to blow her nose. They are also used to not flushing toilet paper (it goes in the trash can), but we have that under control. There is a park outside of the kitchen window and we will go there and swing later tonight. Mama cooked chicken breasts in butter and garlic and salt for lunch with sliced carrots. Papa liked it a lot and Karina didn't, but she ate two servings of salad (red pepper, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes). We stopped by the supermarket on the way to the new apt., and Mama tried to sneak a chocolate "Hello Kitty" Easter eggs into the purchase, but Ms.Cat-Eyes (Karina) saw it and so it was no surprise, but she jumped up and down and was excited about the chocolate egg, and Mama got a big hug in return! There was a little-bitty Hello Kitty toy inside the little chocolate egg, and she kissed Mama for that. The simple things are so rich for the children! She likes potato chips (and we tease her about chips versus Chip, the little cracked cup on Beauty and the Beast - she gets it!). Here, they have interesting flavors of chips, like crab, bacon, squid and of course, the traditional sour cream. She chose a bag of crab (краб) chips.
We did go to a short service on Good Friday at St. Andrews cathedral. The priests were chanting and swinging incense and she recognized the seriousness of the occasion. Today, we were going to do an Easter-egg hunt with the Ukrainian eggs that we bought, but honestly, there are so many souvenir eggs already here in our apt. that look like ours, we decided against it, because ours may get blended in to the mix and lost for good, and so we'll wait till next year to talk about Easter.
Tomorrow morning, Mama plans to cook French toast (as we are feeling French in this new French-style apt!), including juice and scrambled eggs. Then we will venture to the "dream" place where kids can go ice skating, bowling, eat pizza, etc. We have heard from other families that it is a fun place and only a 20 minute walk. That will be our day tomorrow. On Tuesday, we are banking on a successful day at the embassy and a good medical exam. We're keeping our hopes up for Tuesday, so that we can fly out on Wed.
A note to families traveling after us: when you make flight arrangements, please check on your airline's policy for rescheduling. We were told it would be one price, and agreed to that, but just found out that our airline (United Air/Lufthansa) is not in compliance with a certain policy, so we are having to pay a mountain-load to fly home unless we stay 7 more days after today. Honestly, if we had known, we could have managed the situation. We are not given the opportunity to manage much, and as such must trust a lot, so in offering advice for being pro-active: know the airline policies, dates and timing of when you can do what so it can be put on someone's radar. Hoping for a good week ahead - more as we know more. Happy Hoppy Easter to all!
Yesterday, we took it pretty easy. We went to swing in the park, ate dinner at a Subway-type of place, spent the afternoon on English lessons and Karina (who doesn't like the nickname Little Chix we learned, afterall) worked on about 10 pages of her Russian "How to Learn English" workbook. Papa returned to Read City while Karina and Mama had an English lesson with Lilya and came home with 9 workbooks in Russian to help Karina learn English! He discovered that the third floor of Read City is loaded with textbooks, and he purchased 9 workbooks of various levels written in Russian to help kids learn English. Karina loved them, and was self-motivated to do the exercises while Mama cheered her on. She found success in accomplishing them, and that gave her confidence. Liliya's weblinks also were fun for her, and she had a blast playing with them last night. We all laughed, because she was having a good time. It is amazing that we can carry 6 weeks worth of clothes, all bathroom supplies, 2 days worth of food, 39 books, CDs and games, coats, computers and paperwork and be so transportable as today at noon, we moved to a different apartment in the suburbs, which is very French-souvenirish and very interesting for Karina. She is taking it easy today because she has a cold and is watching Nichelodean and MTV. Kids do not use kleenex, because paper is a luxury for them, so we are teaching her how to blow her nose. They are also used to not flushing toilet paper (it goes in the trash can), but we have that under control. There is a park outside of the kitchen window and we will go there and swing later tonight. Mama cooked chicken breasts in butter and garlic and salt for lunch with sliced carrots. Papa liked it a lot and Karina didn't, but she ate two servings of salad (red pepper, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes). We stopped by the supermarket on the way to the new apt., and Mama tried to sneak a chocolate "Hello Kitty" Easter eggs into the purchase, but Ms.Cat-Eyes (Karina) saw it and so it was no surprise, but she jumped up and down and was excited about the chocolate egg, and Mama got a big hug in return! There was a little-bitty Hello Kitty toy inside the little chocolate egg, and she kissed Mama for that. The simple things are so rich for the children! She likes potato chips (and we tease her about chips versus Chip, the little cracked cup on Beauty and the Beast - she gets it!). Here, they have interesting flavors of chips, like crab, bacon, squid and of course, the traditional sour cream. She chose a bag of crab (краб) chips.
We did go to a short service on Good Friday at St. Andrews cathedral. The priests were chanting and swinging incense and she recognized the seriousness of the occasion. Today, we were going to do an Easter-egg hunt with the Ukrainian eggs that we bought, but honestly, there are so many souvenir eggs already here in our apt. that look like ours, we decided against it, because ours may get blended in to the mix and lost for good, and so we'll wait till next year to talk about Easter.
Tomorrow morning, Mama plans to cook French toast (as we are feeling French in this new French-style apt!), including juice and scrambled eggs. Then we will venture to the "dream" place where kids can go ice skating, bowling, eat pizza, etc. We have heard from other families that it is a fun place and only a 20 minute walk. That will be our day tomorrow. On Tuesday, we are banking on a successful day at the embassy and a good medical exam. We're keeping our hopes up for Tuesday, so that we can fly out on Wed.
A note to families traveling after us: when you make flight arrangements, please check on your airline's policy for rescheduling. We were told it would be one price, and agreed to that, but just found out that our airline (United Air/Lufthansa) is not in compliance with a certain policy, so we are having to pay a mountain-load to fly home unless we stay 7 more days after today. Honestly, if we had known, we could have managed the situation. We are not given the opportunity to manage much, and as such must trust a lot, so in offering advice for being pro-active: know the airline policies, dates and timing of when you can do what so it can be put on someone's radar. Hoping for a good week ahead - more as we know more. Happy Hoppy Easter to all!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Fairy Tales
We ate at McDonalds for lunch, because Karina wanted to go there. She had a Big Mac and fries and Coke and fortunately, didn't like it except for the fries. That is good for us! We were hoping this would be the case as we highly discourage Coka Cola. She does like sour cream and chives chips, though - in a big way.
We then walked to a bigger bookstore called Read City. For families coming to Ukraine after us, you may really like this bookstore because books are in Russian, and it takes Mastercard. And, the selection is the biggest we have seen yet. (Typically, bookstore are little boutiques. This one is like half the size of a Barnes & Nobles Store! Wow! And has a whole floor of kids books.) To find it, here is a map: http://www.localyte.com/attraction/38111--Book-Store-Read-City--Ukraine--Kiev--Kiev The only Russian bookstore we have found in America, is in Brooklyn. And, books here average about $8 each USD, so as long as we can get them back, we're good for her summer reading. Karina migrates to books for 7-8 year olds. Her favorite is a book of fairy tales from the Winx fairies. Here is the wonderworld she has created from the characters now:
стелла анна мария
муза рада
блум карина
лейла анастасия
флора мама
текна инесса
...это клуб винк
Stella is Anna Maria (her good friend)
Musa is Rada (her good friend)
Bloom is Karina
Leila is Anastasia (her good friend)
Flora is Mama (Wow, I made the list!)
Techna is Inessa (her good friend)
...this is club Vink (Winx)
At Read City, we got the first Harry Potter book in the series, the first Chronicles of Narnia book in the series, she selected Winnie the Pooh, some more fairy tale books, and then one of us selected some books about loving animals and caring for people (who selected that? [wink!]). Our morning was spent watching Beauty and the Beast on Russian TV (which she also watched last night on TV with Papa, but thankfully she had to show it to Mama, so it gave us something to do for the morning which was good). She is the "Beauty," she said. A fairy tale life is her dream. The weather is sunny, so we will venture to St. Andrews church in a minute. It is pretty inside. Hopefully, she will like it. Like a fairy tale.
We then walked to a bigger bookstore called Read City. For families coming to Ukraine after us, you may really like this bookstore because books are in Russian, and it takes Mastercard. And, the selection is the biggest we have seen yet. (Typically, bookstore are little boutiques. This one is like half the size of a Barnes & Nobles Store! Wow! And has a whole floor of kids books.) To find it, here is a map: http://www.localyte.com/attraction/38111--Book-Store-Read-City--Ukraine--Kiev--Kiev The only Russian bookstore we have found in America, is in Brooklyn. And, books here average about $8 each USD, so as long as we can get them back, we're good for her summer reading. Karina migrates to books for 7-8 year olds. Her favorite is a book of fairy tales from the Winx fairies. Here is the wonderworld she has created from the characters now:
стелла анна мария
муза рада
блум карина
лейла анастасия
флора мама
текна инесса
...это клуб винк
Stella is Anna Maria (her good friend)
Musa is Rada (her good friend)
Bloom is Karina
Leila is Anastasia (her good friend)
Flora is Mama (Wow, I made the list!)
Techna is Inessa (her good friend)
...this is club Vink (Winx)
At Read City, we got the first Harry Potter book in the series, the first Chronicles of Narnia book in the series, she selected Winnie the Pooh, some more fairy tale books, and then one of us selected some books about loving animals and caring for people (who selected that? [wink!]). Our morning was spent watching Beauty and the Beast on Russian TV (which she also watched last night on TV with Papa, but thankfully she had to show it to Mama, so it gave us something to do for the morning which was good). She is the "Beauty," she said. A fairy tale life is her dream. The weather is sunny, so we will venture to St. Andrews church in a minute. It is pretty inside. Hopefully, she will like it. Like a fairy tale.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Didn't Make It
Well, we just got the news. The passport did not arrive, so at this point, we are here till sometime next week, probably Thursday, but not sure yet. The government is closed on Monday for the Easter holiday, so the earliest we can go to the embassy is Wed., if the passport arrives Tuesday. We will wait and see. Maybe if it comes tomorrow, we can travel on Wednesday and have the medical and second interview on Tuesday. Changing plane tickets and staying longer is a big expense. Oh well - one thing we have learned is that being flexible, always ready just in case, and understanding that few things can ever be planned in advance here is the way it works. Go with the flow is the motto. Also, keep your eye on the prize. It is a mindset that we may never have again in America, because we can control our lives and plan and get what we want done there. Here, we are dependent. So, may as well just enjoy the feeling. It is the best one can do. And, it is important for Karina to not see us bummed out about it. We told her, and she is like "Oh well - stuff happens." We are just running out of things to do in Kiev. We may have the opportunity on Sunday to move to an apt. in the suburbs where they may have things for kids to do, we hope. Will wait and see what transpires. Mama doesn't want to miss watching the Royal Wedding on Friday, so we need to be home by then. Did you see this on CNN? - Looks fun!
"CNN Presents: The Women Who Would Be Queen," a special documentary on Kate Middleton, Prince William's wife-to-be and his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales airs at the following times: Saturday 23 April: 1100, 1900, 1200, Saturday 30 April: 1300, 2000, Sunday 1 May: 0900 (all times GMT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/20/uk.william.kate.university/index.html?hpt=C2
"CNN Presents: The Women Who Would Be Queen," a special documentary on Kate Middleton, Prince William's wife-to-be and his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales airs at the following times: Saturday 23 April: 1100, 1900, 1200, Saturday 30 April: 1300, 2000, Sunday 1 May: 0900 (all times GMT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/20/uk.william.kate.university/index.html?hpt=C2
First Embassy Visit
Church in Karina's birth town.
April 18th - our first day as a family - waiting for paperwork in the car.
Today, Mama found a wine glass in the apt. that she uses for her water. She and Karina were playing "fancy dinner party" together with the water/wine!
Papa is sick in bed, and Karina brings him water and hugs (in the wine glass, of course!)
Papa and Karina watching Hannah this afternoon in the apt.
Mama! Are you taking our picture?
We very much hope that tomorrow we can have the passport in time to get her medical exam and second embassy interview. We'd really love to fly home Sunday!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
More Adventures!
Yesterday afternoon, after bathing and eating a nice meal and buying a few snacks and water for the train (Americans drink way more water and use the toilet way more often than Ukrainians), we boarded the train.
Second class is good in terms of being neat and accessible. It was half the price of first class. However, there are 2x more people in a car, so the bathrooms are harder to use (lines are longer because they are used more), and the beds are not as soft as first class. The beds also smell worse than first class, as do the pillows. The feather pillows and wool blankets are the same for everyone, just add the sheets and a pillow case to cover them. So, perhaps we saved money but was it worth it? Having 4 in our car was nice, really nice, given we all knew each other and got along well. So, it was well worth being together and that is really what was most valuable. Karina was sad as went said goodbye to Mariupol. We tucked into our bunks at different times, and Karina and Mama stayed up the latest, sitting in the same top bunk replaying dancing videos on the iphone and remembering her friends till 10:30PM, when finally Mama went to bed. Karina turned her lights out soon after and she slept like a log. None of the adults slept. The train was too cold, because they turn the heat off in April. So, although second class has its cost-saving advantages, all in all, it was an adventure that we paid for in non-monetary ways (like loss of sleep). Adventures are good, though. They give us perspective.
We arrived in Kiev around 9AM today, and drove downtown. We had about 90 minutes of free time before going to our apt. We walked around and held hands. We learned how to communicate the need to go the the toilet and the need for a hat. Got both accomplished! Our new apt. here is nice. We are directly across the street from the big Gate built around the year 1000 (rebuilt since, but a national icon, to say the least). We took naps, ate dinner mid-afternoon, bought books in Russian (a REAL hit! Tough to carry, but wonderful activity!) - Karina picked them out. Papa was worn out from hauling them all. Then, went looking for groceries with no avail. We discussed shoes which are too big and give her blisters (the down side of having a Trooper is that you have to assume things based on observation and ask about what you think is going on, because she can endure what most can't), we discussed her books, and our thoughts and feelings (thank goodness for Google translate!). We had some deep conversations (more than pointing and naming things, but describing feelings and reasons, which opened a new relationship for us all). We gave her our coins (lose change) and she counted them. There must be 40 coins of 5 different denominations that together equal about 50 cents in US terms. But that is enough for Orbit gum, and she wants some Orbit gum, so tomorrow she can use her coins if she wants. She is thrilled! We let her explain her books to us and she loved doing that! It is a glimpse of her world. She took a rather cold shower (heat is off), is using a hair dryer and enjoying the hair dryer a lot (what a treat!), and is allowed to watch a couple of Hannah Montana episodes on the computer before bed. It is good to let her know what to expect each day, and we try our best to keep her in the loop and explain what is going on. She is laughing as she dries her hair right now - it is really fun for her.
What a good adventure today! And, we may get to come home as planned on Sunday! Everyone is working very hard for this to happen, so we hope the Embassy is on our side tomorrow when we find out more.
Papa is sick tonight, so please think about him and we hope he feels better soon - was a rough last 48 hours for him, especially. Will keep him in our thoughts for good health tomorrow.
p.s., and tweens like a book series called the Winx Club. Karina explained the characters to us in detail. It seems like a combo of Anime and Pokemon for young girls with a little bit of Harry Potter themes (good and evil merlin-types) thrown in. Here's how Karina explains the 6 characters:
блум магия драконый огонь
стелла магия солнца
флора магия природы
муза магия музыки
текна магия техналогии
лейла магия пузыря
Bloom - magic dragon fire
Stella - magic of the sun
Flora - magic of nature
Muse - magic music
Techno - magic tehnalogii
Leila - magic bubble
Second class is good in terms of being neat and accessible. It was half the price of first class. However, there are 2x more people in a car, so the bathrooms are harder to use (lines are longer because they are used more), and the beds are not as soft as first class. The beds also smell worse than first class, as do the pillows. The feather pillows and wool blankets are the same for everyone, just add the sheets and a pillow case to cover them. So, perhaps we saved money but was it worth it? Having 4 in our car was nice, really nice, given we all knew each other and got along well. So, it was well worth being together and that is really what was most valuable. Karina was sad as went said goodbye to Mariupol. We tucked into our bunks at different times, and Karina and Mama stayed up the latest, sitting in the same top bunk replaying dancing videos on the iphone and remembering her friends till 10:30PM, when finally Mama went to bed. Karina turned her lights out soon after and she slept like a log. None of the adults slept. The train was too cold, because they turn the heat off in April. So, although second class has its cost-saving advantages, all in all, it was an adventure that we paid for in non-monetary ways (like loss of sleep). Adventures are good, though. They give us perspective.
We arrived in Kiev around 9AM today, and drove downtown. We had about 90 minutes of free time before going to our apt. We walked around and held hands. We learned how to communicate the need to go the the toilet and the need for a hat. Got both accomplished! Our new apt. here is nice. We are directly across the street from the big Gate built around the year 1000 (rebuilt since, but a national icon, to say the least). We took naps, ate dinner mid-afternoon, bought books in Russian (a REAL hit! Tough to carry, but wonderful activity!) - Karina picked them out. Papa was worn out from hauling them all. Then, went looking for groceries with no avail. We discussed shoes which are too big and give her blisters (the down side of having a Trooper is that you have to assume things based on observation and ask about what you think is going on, because she can endure what most can't), we discussed her books, and our thoughts and feelings (thank goodness for Google translate!). We had some deep conversations (more than pointing and naming things, but describing feelings and reasons, which opened a new relationship for us all). We gave her our coins (lose change) and she counted them. There must be 40 coins of 5 different denominations that together equal about 50 cents in US terms. But that is enough for Orbit gum, and she wants some Orbit gum, so tomorrow she can use her coins if she wants. She is thrilled! We let her explain her books to us and she loved doing that! It is a glimpse of her world. She took a rather cold shower (heat is off), is using a hair dryer and enjoying the hair dryer a lot (what a treat!), and is allowed to watch a couple of Hannah Montana episodes on the computer before bed. It is good to let her know what to expect each day, and we try our best to keep her in the loop and explain what is going on. She is laughing as she dries her hair right now - it is really fun for her.
What a good adventure today! And, we may get to come home as planned on Sunday! Everyone is working very hard for this to happen, so we hope the Embassy is on our side tomorrow when we find out more.
Papa is sick tonight, so please think about him and we hope he feels better soon - was a rough last 48 hours for him, especially. Will keep him in our thoughts for good health tomorrow.
p.s., and tweens like a book series called the Winx Club. Karina explained the characters to us in detail. It seems like a combo of Anime and Pokemon for young girls with a little bit of Harry Potter themes (good and evil merlin-types) thrown in. Here's how Karina explains the 6 characters:
блум магия драконый огонь
стелла магия солнца
флора магия природы
муза магия музыки
текна магия техналогии
лейла магия пузыря
Bloom - magic dragon fire
Stella - magic of the sun
Flora - magic of nature
Muse - magic music
Techno - magic tehnalogii
Leila - magic bubble
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
What a Trooper!
Since last posting, we arrived at the Children's Home, and signed some forms, then Little Chix changed into her clothes that we brought for her, said goodbye, and grabbed her belongings (which consisted of a plastic bag containing a little cloth bag as a gift from Olena, a little toy from Anna Maria, a photo album and a few pieces of paper - this was all she had of her own). We hopped into the car and ended up driving to Donesk as well as the town where she was born to get her birth certificate, then back to Donesk, for a 6+ hour car adventure. We arrived in Mariupol at 5 till 7 for the ballet (Swan Lake), purchased a candy bar, pineapple juice and water (her only meal since breakfast at 7AM) and watched the ballet till 9:30. What a trooper! She smiled all day and went without food and drink (in Ukraine, toilets and food are not assumed). Then, we ate pizza after the ballet and had a time getting a taxi back to the apartment which is in the suburbs now. We got to bed close to midnight. She was all smiles. Apparently, she didn't believe we would actually come back and get her (long story, not here though).
This morning, we awoke around 6ish, ate breakfast in the apt. (chai, kashi, dried apricots, moloko - milk) and drove to the Children's Home around 8 to sign more papers. We took a few clothes that didn't fit and some games to the home for the other children (also to lighten our load). We then bought train tickets for the overnight train to Kiev tonight and saw some of the kids from the Children's Home boarding the train for a dance competition in Kiev! It was cool for Little Chix to see her friends and say paka once more (and, our agency is wonderful, by the way - very professional, and able to get things done here that are not easily accomplished - transactions in Ukraine are not as easy as they are in America - the busy train for example, with high demand because of Easter holidays - they can do it whereas others may not be able to. They know the ropes for sure and we are quite grateful for that.) We stopped at McDonalds (Little Chix wanted to!) and had 11sies (AKA "Lord of the Rings" - that would be a second breakfast). We walked next door and bought a new belt for Little Chix, because the one we bought a couple of weeks ago was too small, and a shirt/dress since one of her shirts was also too small that we brought with us, and then had lattes and chai. We are now back at the apartment to take showers, pack, and rest. Mid-afternoon today, we will go back into town and get dinner (no supper tonight as the train leaves at 5), and we are being adventurous - we are all traveling (4 of us) second class, so it will be fun to compare that to our first class experience.) We are very well taken care of and can't say enough about how good our agency has been to us. They are awesome! More when we arrive in Kiev tomorrow! Little Chix is such a trooper - honestly! She is positive, helpful, and has high stamina. What an awesome daughter!
This morning, we awoke around 6ish, ate breakfast in the apt. (chai, kashi, dried apricots, moloko - milk) and drove to the Children's Home around 8 to sign more papers. We took a few clothes that didn't fit and some games to the home for the other children (also to lighten our load). We then bought train tickets for the overnight train to Kiev tonight and saw some of the kids from the Children's Home boarding the train for a dance competition in Kiev! It was cool for Little Chix to see her friends and say paka once more (and, our agency is wonderful, by the way - very professional, and able to get things done here that are not easily accomplished - transactions in Ukraine are not as easy as they are in America - the busy train for example, with high demand because of Easter holidays - they can do it whereas others may not be able to. They know the ropes for sure and we are quite grateful for that.) We stopped at McDonalds (Little Chix wanted to!) and had 11sies (AKA "Lord of the Rings" - that would be a second breakfast). We walked next door and bought a new belt for Little Chix, because the one we bought a couple of weeks ago was too small, and a shirt/dress since one of her shirts was also too small that we brought with us, and then had lattes and chai. We are now back at the apartment to take showers, pack, and rest. Mid-afternoon today, we will go back into town and get dinner (no supper tonight as the train leaves at 5), and we are being adventurous - we are all traveling (4 of us) second class, so it will be fun to compare that to our first class experience.) We are very well taken care of and can't say enough about how good our agency has been to us. They are awesome! More when we arrive in Kiev tomorrow! Little Chix is such a trooper - honestly! She is positive, helpful, and has high stamina. What an awesome daughter!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Remember/Reflect
There are many things that we like about Ukraine. As we start our next chapter in our journey today, we reflect and document to remember some of the things we think are cool. Here are some of those thoughts, gathered randomly while we listen to Атмaсфера on CD - fun music.
1. Passion and love of life are important here - being honest with oneself and others is also very important.
2. Family is important as is church.
3. Ukraine is somewhat divided still in terms of the west (Pro-Ukraine and many followers of Стефана Бандеры (Stefan Bandera)) and east (still pro-Russia), so mentalities and expectations of how the economy should operate and what the role of government is differs across the nation.
10. Food is typically organically (no chemicals) grown by independent farmers.
11. Insides matter more than outsides many times. Do not judge by the exterior. For example, our apt. that we are not in doesn't look so impressive based on US standards from the outside, but the insides of where we are is quite impressive.
12. Philosophy and literature are important. Many faces printed on the currency (The hryvnia, sometimes hryvnya or grivna; sign: ₴, code: (UAH), has been the national currency of Ukraine since September 2, 1996) are not just national leaders (like the US Presidents on our bills) but people of great literary contributions. UAH even has a women on a bill. Most countries do, except the US (sad).
13. Roads are not like "glass" as they are in the US (so smooth). Thus, driving is much different here. Driving is similar to the way it is in China and Mexico. Actually, it is much calmer than it is in China because one does not dodge pigs and bicycles, etc. while driving here.
14. Pack a swiss army knife in your suitcase (for the knife and scissors).
15. Pack less, and stuff that dries quickly.
16. Pack like 6 small "hotel" bars of soap.
17. Dark clothing not jeans that can handle dirt. Wool is preferable to cotton. Hat and scarf have been very valuable. Also, bring slippers - people take their shoes off at the door of the apts.
18. Pack layers that you can wear again and again without concern.
19. Don't forget the power adaptor (shown in previous blog).
20. Baby wipes or hand sanitizer for train trips.
21. Sweetner for coffee, little camping salt and pepper shakers, plastic coffee press/tea bags, empty ziploc bags for just-in-case stuff.
23. 2 identical pairs of slacks can get you through the whole trip. Plus, one dress shirt, one sport coat, and casual shirts.
24. Mini umbrella and fold up rain poncho.
25. If you are allergic to feathers and/or wool, bring your own pillow and blanket or a work-around.
26. baskets in the sink are god for drying dishes. Nice use of space!
And, last but not least by far - patience and tolerance for your spouse! A curiosity to learn about others and a respect for various ways of life. A desire to learn to read Russian, if even rudimentary (like just learning the alphabet so you can sound out words), and a desire not to be in control. We try to leave places better than they were when we came (Girl Scout rule) or at least not worse off.
OK - on to our final leg of the trip! Time to gather the day's items together and smile big for our first family reunion! Yippie! We just got our call - it is 11:30AM here - time to go! Horray!
1. Passion and love of life are important here - being honest with oneself and others is also very important.
2. Family is important as is church.
3. Ukraine is somewhat divided still in terms of the west (Pro-Ukraine and many followers of Стефана Бандеры (Stefan Bandera)) and east (still pro-Russia), so mentalities and expectations of how the economy should operate and what the role of government is differs across the nation.
4. plastic protector under the dishrack is a good idea. A set of 4 dishes is a lot of dishes for the typical family here. People have maybe 5% on a good day of the amount of stuff Americans have. Being here reminds us how over stuff-i-cized we are.
5. pot that boils water instantly - nice. (Here they operate on 220, not on 110 like in the States)
6. Clothes drying rack.
7. Hot Water pipe in bathroom used as a towel rack so towels are warm when you shower (use hot water).
These are common in Germany and in other eastern European countries.
8. Washing machine with extractor. Takes up about 2 feet by 2.5 feet of space and is about 3 feet tall.
A full load fits in and it is practically dry when it comes out. Very efficient. Ask for instructions on how to use these. We looked up instructions online (http://www.indesit.co.uk/_pdf/booklets/02/40/19507883500_UK.pdf) but the issue was that the water needed to be turned on! They are not intuitive, or lets say, they do not have the same buttons and knobs as US machines.
9. Magnetic knife holder in the kitchen
11. Insides matter more than outsides many times. Do not judge by the exterior. For example, our apt. that we are not in doesn't look so impressive based on US standards from the outside, but the insides of where we are is quite impressive.
12. Philosophy and literature are important. Many faces printed on the currency (The hryvnia, sometimes hryvnya or grivna; sign: ₴, code: (UAH), has been the national currency of Ukraine since September 2, 1996) are not just national leaders (like the US Presidents on our bills) but people of great literary contributions. UAH even has a women on a bill. Most countries do, except the US (sad).
13. Roads are not like "glass" as they are in the US (so smooth). Thus, driving is much different here. Driving is similar to the way it is in China and Mexico. Actually, it is much calmer than it is in China because one does not dodge pigs and bicycles, etc. while driving here.
14. Pack a swiss army knife in your suitcase (for the knife and scissors).
15. Pack less, and stuff that dries quickly.
16. Pack like 6 small "hotel" bars of soap.
17. Dark clothing not jeans that can handle dirt. Wool is preferable to cotton. Hat and scarf have been very valuable. Also, bring slippers - people take their shoes off at the door of the apts.
18. Pack layers that you can wear again and again without concern.
19. Don't forget the power adaptor (shown in previous blog).
20. Baby wipes or hand sanitizer for train trips.
21. Sweetner for coffee, little camping salt and pepper shakers, plastic coffee press/tea bags, empty ziploc bags for just-in-case stuff.
23. 2 identical pairs of slacks can get you through the whole trip. Plus, one dress shirt, one sport coat, and casual shirts.
24. Mini umbrella and fold up rain poncho.
25. If you are allergic to feathers and/or wool, bring your own pillow and blanket or a work-around.
And, last but not least by far - patience and tolerance for your spouse! A curiosity to learn about others and a respect for various ways of life. A desire to learn to read Russian, if even rudimentary (like just learning the alphabet so you can sound out words), and a desire not to be in control. We try to leave places better than they were when we came (Girl Scout rule) or at least not worse off.
OK - on to our final leg of the trip! Time to gather the day's items together and smile big for our first family reunion! Yippie! We just got our call - it is 11:30AM here - time to go! Horray!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Day 10 of 10
We're home to familiar Mariupol! We have a different apartment this time, but very, very nice. It is not downtown, so we cannot walk to the coffee shop or small market but we are safe, warm, in a very pretty home, have internet and nice beds and a cool kitchen. We have been very well taken care of by our agency, we have to say. We will go with the flow tomorrow, something we are good at doing, and see what the day brings. The best thing it will bring is Karina!! Just think - this is her last night at the Tsentr Opiky. What do you think she is saying to her friends tonight? Tomorrow, we doubt if she will go to school - Friday was probably her last day at school. Wow - is she excited? Is she scared? What is going through her mind? We have her clothes and shoes ready for her. Tomorrow is our first day as a threesome! Stuart is way ready to come home. His patience is on the fringe right now. The thought of 2 more weeks, potentially is driving him a bit nuts. On a positive note, he drank the best beer he has had in 6 months last night at dinner! He is all about that beer. Too bad he can't have one tonight - he could use it after the 25 hour bumpty-bump-bump train ride. Oh well - it's all about perspective. And being grateful for all the goodness we have, which are magnificent. This apartment, for example, is very pretty and clean and the light fixture in the living room is awesome! Karina will love it - totally sparkly! Even the wall paper is sparkly! And, we are able to wash clothes. We wear the same clothes everyday, and they don't really get as dirty as they do in America. It is interesting, but I see a similarity to dog food. That is, once we fed our dogs canned dog food from Sam's club/Walmart for about 6 months in a row. I know... it was about 8 years ago. Then, Ann switched them to a raw food/homemade diet, where they only got natural foods. Suddenly, like within a week, all of the dogs smelled better, their breath was better and their coats looked better. Well, here we do not eat foods with preservatives and lots of chemicals (like canned dog food has in it). I think we are healthier and that is why it is not the end of the world if you don't wash as often. Just a thought....
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Day 9 of 10
Almost there - "there" being to pick up Karina on Monday. This is a long trip. We still do not know when our flight home will be. Passport timing changes (takes lot a longer now), birth certificate regulations also changed for the worst in terms of time required, holidays (Easter - closed Monday the 25th, then Labor Days here closed the first week of May basically) all equals high uncertainty for us in terms of how much time remains to finish our business here and settle back at home with our new family. More as we know more. (sigh). International adoption is not for the impatient, for sure.
On a positive note, which we are staying, we awoke to the "IKC фактор" outdoors in Lviv's city center brought in by the StarWagon, UA. This equates to American Idol in Ukraine. Yes, we walked over this morning and watched performers and outdoor crowds cheering, clapping, singing and waving flags! The translation is eeeeeks fact-tur! That would be X-Factor in English. We practice our Russian alphabet everyday so we can actually read many words that are similar to English words once you sound them out. Letters just require a bit of thought sometimes. Like, P is R, and B is V, and C is S, ф is F, etc. The crowds are yelling as I type in the hotel room - eeeks fact-tur! eeeks fact-tur! And performers are doing their gigs.
Today, we will board the train later this evening for the 25 hour ride back to Mariupol arriving Sunday night. Then, sometime on Monday the 18th we will be able to pick Karina up from the Children's Home where she has lived for the past 7 years taking her from the best life she has known and start our life as a threesome. We have been in Ukraine for so long sometimes things feel a bit out of context and also like "wow - really? she is our daughter to stay with us now? can it be true? finally!" We will post when we have a chance but it may not be for a while after today given that one never knows what the train may offer.
Here are some more miscellaneous photos from the past week (again). Right now, the "Idols" are singing the words "We will rock you" (Stuart says it sounds like Smurfs are singing it) - hilarious! We look forward to a terrific day ahead. Bright smiles and happiness abound as the sun is shining, people are singing outside, and there is much to be grateful about - lots and lots of gratefulness. Staying positive.
On a positive note, which we are staying, we awoke to the "IKC фактор" outdoors in Lviv's city center brought in by the StarWagon, UA. This equates to American Idol in Ukraine. Yes, we walked over this morning and watched performers and outdoor crowds cheering, clapping, singing and waving flags! The translation is eeeeeks fact-tur! That would be X-Factor in English. We practice our Russian alphabet everyday so we can actually read many words that are similar to English words once you sound them out. Letters just require a bit of thought sometimes. Like, P is R, and B is V, and C is S, ф is F, etc. The crowds are yelling as I type in the hotel room - eeeks fact-tur! eeeks fact-tur! And performers are doing their gigs.
Today, we will board the train later this evening for the 25 hour ride back to Mariupol arriving Sunday night. Then, sometime on Monday the 18th we will be able to pick Karina up from the Children's Home where she has lived for the past 7 years taking her from the best life she has known and start our life as a threesome. We have been in Ukraine for so long sometimes things feel a bit out of context and also like "wow - really? she is our daughter to stay with us now? can it be true? finally!" We will post when we have a chance but it may not be for a while after today given that one never knows what the train may offer.
Here are some more miscellaneous photos from the past week (again). Right now, the "Idols" are singing the words "We will rock you" (Stuart says it sounds like Smurfs are singing it) - hilarious! We look forward to a terrific day ahead. Bright smiles and happiness abound as the sun is shining, people are singing outside, and there is much to be grateful about - lots and lots of gratefulness. Staying positive.
Memorial to war heroes in a rural Carpathian town, paid for by the local residents, not by the government.
Petting stray dogs at the market.
Atmasfera band playing.
Trying on pretty hats.
Carpathian Resort town - the neighborhood where we stayed.
Friday, April 15, 2011
More from Lviv
Here are a few more photos from Lviv today.
Used books are sold at the feet of the most famous book publisher in Ukraine.
Outside of the coffee shop (of course!) next to our hotel.
Downtown Lviv.
Goddess Diana and dogs.
St. Andrews Church above and a chapel from the 1500s below.
Concert Hall.
A Ukrainian HotDog
(Polish sausage, wonderful bread roll, pickled carrots, onions, corn, chives, and mayonaise)
Back to the Carpathians
Here are a few more photos from earlier in the week, when we were in the Carpathian region of Ukraine.
Nafania
People take artificial flowers (because they last a long time) to the graves of loved ones at Easter.
Cemetaries are very decorated this time of year.
Houses are painted pretty colors. Yellow is also a popular color.
Day 8 of 10
In Lviv today - perfect weather! A little chilly, but sunny and dry. We had a fun tour of the town today with Liliya. Lviv is her hometown. For a wonderful time touring Ukraine, with rich history, fun places to see, and happy stories - contact Liliya Valihun. She is the perfect person to tour with! These are some photos from today - Enjoy! More forthcoming when we have a chance.
Liliya and our Lviv tour guide.
Ann & tour guide.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Some Highlights
Wow - The western half of Ukraine is beautiful! This website covers the area perfectly!: http://www.travelwestukraine.net/ The Carpathian mountains have a rich, rich history and a rural lifestyle of farming, pottery, wool crafts, wood carving, pasanka (egg painting), embroidery and tradition. It is full of stories, folk music and natural mineral springs. We ate LOTS of authentic Ukrainian food as well! Yum! Here is where we were (see area shaded in green):
On Monday of this week, we were at the Centre of Europe! In 1887, geographers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire set up a historical marker and a large stone in what is today a part of Ukraine, believed to mark the geographic centre of Europe. The monument at the center is below.
We cruised the lovely countryside and rural farms. We went to a popular ski resort to ride the lift and get a high-view of the mountains. It was cold and beautiful!
We got water from natural springs and took it home to drink.We learned lots about history - the Hutsuls, Ivan Franko (whose painting was above the piano in the parrot room at the Children's Home), and culture of the area. We toured Franko's home - now a museum. And saw many lovely churches, some as old as the 16th century!
On Tuesday, we went to a ski jump built in 1929 after eating a fabulous breakfast, then to an old church, then to hear a native Hutsul musician (Roman Kumlyk from the Verkhovyna) play many native instruments, sing and tell fun stories (where he let Miss_A play a Hurdy-Gurdy!), stopped at a beautiful private roadside chapel (they are everywhere) and lite candles and said prayers, saw many traditional mountain homes, tasted more natural spring water, had a terrific Ukrainian meal, and went to the Ukrainian Pasanka Museum (the only egg-shaped museum in the world!). (Sorry, we can't figure out how to get the pics taken with the iphone to align right, even after saving them post-rotation).
On Wednesday, there was a horse ride through the woods on Dasha (Ann's horse) and Yura (Liliya's horse).
Who took us to a waterfall called girl's tears.
And, a glimpse at Carpathian Deer and Boars (who gave us a little "pig porn" show - oops!)
(Hope this doesn't offend folks - it is nature). We laughed - it made for a fun story as you may imagine the puns, etc.!
We also shopped at the market and purchased Karina's Easter decorations - Ukrainian eggs as our new family tradition. We ate more good food, told good stories, and got to know some terrific people!
Tonight, in Lviv (also known as L'viv, Lvov, Lwow) we had an awesome evening! Fantasic! We heard a fabulous band play tonight called Atmasfera and wish we could follow them.We loved their music and bought two of their CDs. Little Chix would be all about it. They are a really fun band!
If you have a chance to go to Lviv, do so. We look forward to seeing more of the city tomorrow. So far, it is our all-time favorite city in Ukraine!
On Monday of this week, we were at the Centre of Europe! In 1887, geographers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire set up a historical marker and a large stone in what is today a part of Ukraine, believed to mark the geographic centre of Europe. The monument at the center is below.
We cruised the lovely countryside and rural farms. We went to a popular ski resort to ride the lift and get a high-view of the mountains. It was cold and beautiful!
We got water from natural springs and took it home to drink.We learned lots about history - the Hutsuls, Ivan Franko (whose painting was above the piano in the parrot room at the Children's Home), and culture of the area. We toured Franko's home - now a museum. And saw many lovely churches, some as old as the 16th century!
On Tuesday, we went to a ski jump built in 1929 after eating a fabulous breakfast, then to an old church, then to hear a native Hutsul musician (Roman Kumlyk from the Verkhovyna) play many native instruments, sing and tell fun stories (where he let Miss_A play a Hurdy-Gurdy!), stopped at a beautiful private roadside chapel (they are everywhere) and lite candles and said prayers, saw many traditional mountain homes, tasted more natural spring water, had a terrific Ukrainian meal, and went to the Ukrainian Pasanka Museum (the only egg-shaped museum in the world!). (Sorry, we can't figure out how to get the pics taken with the iphone to align right, even after saving them post-rotation).
On Wednesday, there was a horse ride through the woods on Dasha (Ann's horse) and Yura (Liliya's horse).
Who took us to a waterfall called girl's tears.
And, a glimpse at Carpathian Deer and Boars (who gave us a little "pig porn" show - oops!)
(Hope this doesn't offend folks - it is nature). We laughed - it made for a fun story as you may imagine the puns, etc.!
We also shopped at the market and purchased Karina's Easter decorations - Ukrainian eggs as our new family tradition. We ate more good food, told good stories, and got to know some terrific people!
Tonight, in Lviv (also known as L'viv, Lvov, Lwow) we had an awesome evening! Fantasic! We heard a fabulous band play tonight called Atmasfera and wish we could follow them.We loved their music and bought two of their CDs. Little Chix would be all about it. They are a really fun band!
If you have a chance to go to Lviv, do so. We look forward to seeing more of the city tomorrow. So far, it is our all-time favorite city in Ukraine!
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