Remember, when Burt said that on the movie, 'Mary Poppins'? It signaled that something was about to happen. I probably know most of that movie by heart, because when our daughter was 3 years old, (now she's 24) she couldn't get enough of watching that movie. It drove my mother-in-law crazy!
Well, the wind is changing in our lives. God IS moving!
Stay Tuned:)
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Miscellaneous
We still have no news about when we can go back for our daughter. All we can do right now is pray that it will be soon.
Now that we are home and have access to DSL, I wanted to post some things that I would like to remember, but didn't have time to post while in Ukraine. They do keep you fairly busy there with all the adoption stuff. Just some miscellaneous things that hopefully will be helpful to someone along the way.
1. McDonald's is just as expensive in Kiev as here. To be fair, we did only visit the Independence Square one.
2. Computer keyboards are the same as here. They just add small Cyrillic letters onto the keys. I think that would make it harder for those who use the Cyrillic alphabet.
3. Downy Wrinkle Release was a lifesaver for us. We used it for our SDA and court clothes. Which did happen to be the same;)
4. The Kiev sites seen on blogs are even more beautiful in person!
5. In the Independence Square underground mall (go down the entrance close to McDonald's) we saw a phone store that sold a Kievstar phone for 69rph (greevna) which comes to around $14USD. SIM and minutes are extra. This was in December 2007/January 2008.
6. This applies to a Kievstar cell phone (but may also apply to all phones): to call the US, dial 815 then 1 plus area code and number, just like dialing long distance here.
7. Everyone brings their own bags for shopping. This includes the grocery store, bakery, etc. Except maybe the mall. We didn't buy anything but food there.
8. We used bungie cords for drying our hand-washed clothes. Very sturdy. We bought one of those Lewis and Clark clotheslines with the suction cups and clips. If you have somewhere to clip the line, it might work okay, but it is still not sturdy enough for very heavy clothes. The suction cups don't work on tile.
9. We were not given washrags in the apartments we stayed in, just hand towels and bath towels. Most were thin, so if you like fluffy, thick towels and washrags, bring your own. Though they won't be so fluffy after hand washing and air drying.
10. For some reason, we were stared at a lot. My husband said it was my cream colored scarf. (see video)
Now that we are home and have access to DSL, I wanted to post some things that I would like to remember, but didn't have time to post while in Ukraine. They do keep you fairly busy there with all the adoption stuff. Just some miscellaneous things that hopefully will be helpful to someone along the way.
1. McDonald's is just as expensive in Kiev as here. To be fair, we did only visit the Independence Square one.
2. Computer keyboards are the same as here. They just add small Cyrillic letters onto the keys. I think that would make it harder for those who use the Cyrillic alphabet.
3. Downy Wrinkle Release was a lifesaver for us. We used it for our SDA and court clothes. Which did happen to be the same;)
4. The Kiev sites seen on blogs are even more beautiful in person!
5. In the Independence Square underground mall (go down the entrance close to McDonald's) we saw a phone store that sold a Kievstar phone for 69rph (greevna) which comes to around $14USD. SIM and minutes are extra. This was in December 2007/January 2008.
6. This applies to a Kievstar cell phone (but may also apply to all phones): to call the US, dial 815 then 1 plus area code and number, just like dialing long distance here.
7. Everyone brings their own bags for shopping. This includes the grocery store, bakery, etc. Except maybe the mall. We didn't buy anything but food there.
8. We used bungie cords for drying our hand-washed clothes. Very sturdy. We bought one of those Lewis and Clark clotheslines with the suction cups and clips. If you have somewhere to clip the line, it might work okay, but it is still not sturdy enough for very heavy clothes. The suction cups don't work on tile.
9. We were not given washrags in the apartments we stayed in, just hand towels and bath towels. Most were thin, so if you like fluffy, thick towels and washrags, bring your own. Though they won't be so fluffy after hand washing and air drying.
10. For some reason, we were stared at a lot. My husband said it was my cream colored scarf. (see video)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Waiting and Waiting
We wait and then we wait some more. All we can do is study Russian and harass our facilitator by email and by phone. We made phone contact today. I like the guy, but I think we should contact him on a regular basis. We have been able to talk to Karina via S&T who are visiting there now. It is good to hear my daughter's voice and know she is safe but we are anxious to bring her home.
Faith and Trust.
DRB
Faith and Trust.
DRB
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Holding Pattern
We arrived back home three weeks ago. We all took turns being sick, but I think we are all well now.
Our facilitator told us that he was going to Moscow last Monday to get our daughter's birth certificate. He is supposed to contact us when he gets back to Ukraine. We haven't heard anything yet, so we are assuming he is still waiting on the birth certificate. Apparently, this is a very unusual thing for an adopted child in Ukraine to have a birth certificate from another country. It seems to be complicated even though Ukraine used to be part of Russia. Ukraine was it's own country when our daughter was born, though. We have been told that Moscow is a difficult region, so they were not sure how long this would take or how many 'officials' the birth certificate would have to go through. We are hoping that the original birth certificate with her new adopted name can be issued quickly, like in a day or two or three and taken to the town where she is. But then again, are things really that simple in Ukraine? The judge has already agreed to change her birthplace, but he wanted an original Moscow birth certificate since that is the way they do things in Moscow. In Ukraine, they just change the birth certificate and it usually takes only a day.
We're not sure about all of the specifics, but our facilitators told us that since our daughter has been in the custody of Ukraine, that she is a citizen of Ukraine, even though she was born in Moscow. There is supposed to be an understanding between Russia and Ukraine, that Russia will honor the legal documents of Ukraine that have declared us to be her parents.
We don't quite understand how she is a citizen of Ukraine when she was born in Moscow. It could be that she is a citizen of Ukraine because her mother is/was actually a citizen of Ukraine. I guess it's not like the US. From what I understand, all you have to do is to be born in the US to be a citizen. I thought it was that way everywhere. Then again, I remember reading about Ukraine citizens going to another country to work, having a child and abandoning it. The child ends up in the orphanage of that country, but is still a Ukrainian citizen. This child was stuck in this system unable to be adopted in this country or returned to Ukraine.
Anyhow, we are praying to hear that all this is cleared up soon and would appreciate others praying with us. This is really a very difficult situation to be in. We have a daughter that is stuck in another country and have no idea when we can go get her. She is very anxious to come home to us and we are just as anxious to have her here.
Our facilitator told us that he was going to Moscow last Monday to get our daughter's birth certificate. He is supposed to contact us when he gets back to Ukraine. We haven't heard anything yet, so we are assuming he is still waiting on the birth certificate. Apparently, this is a very unusual thing for an adopted child in Ukraine to have a birth certificate from another country. It seems to be complicated even though Ukraine used to be part of Russia. Ukraine was it's own country when our daughter was born, though. We have been told that Moscow is a difficult region, so they were not sure how long this would take or how many 'officials' the birth certificate would have to go through. We are hoping that the original birth certificate with her new adopted name can be issued quickly, like in a day or two or three and taken to the town where she is. But then again, are things really that simple in Ukraine? The judge has already agreed to change her birthplace, but he wanted an original Moscow birth certificate since that is the way they do things in Moscow. In Ukraine, they just change the birth certificate and it usually takes only a day.
We're not sure about all of the specifics, but our facilitators told us that since our daughter has been in the custody of Ukraine, that she is a citizen of Ukraine, even though she was born in Moscow. There is supposed to be an understanding between Russia and Ukraine, that Russia will honor the legal documents of Ukraine that have declared us to be her parents.
We don't quite understand how she is a citizen of Ukraine when she was born in Moscow. It could be that she is a citizen of Ukraine because her mother is/was actually a citizen of Ukraine. I guess it's not like the US. From what I understand, all you have to do is to be born in the US to be a citizen. I thought it was that way everywhere. Then again, I remember reading about Ukraine citizens going to another country to work, having a child and abandoning it. The child ends up in the orphanage of that country, but is still a Ukrainian citizen. This child was stuck in this system unable to be adopted in this country or returned to Ukraine.
Anyhow, we are praying to hear that all this is cleared up soon and would appreciate others praying with us. This is really a very difficult situation to be in. We have a daughter that is stuck in another country and have no idea when we can go get her. She is very anxious to come home to us and we are just as anxious to have her here.
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