19/20 Feb
Yesterday – Thursday – we left Kyiv in a blizzard. Very much like our last trip to Gorodnya – it took about 4 hours and several near-misses with ocehn bolshoy (very big) trucks. Oles (our facilitator) says I must be an ancient snow spirit since I seem to bring it with me ;-) The first picture is our departure from Kyiv at 0700 – Oles is filling the windshield washer fluid (we needed it!)
We got to Gorodnya about 1130 only to discover that the inspector was out with an Italian couple meeting a child at the hospital. We went to lunch at a swank diner that also had a motel attached (we had heard there was a motel in Gorodnya now). The rooms were clean, but right above the disco & bar. I hadn’t really understood how frazzled Charlene’s nerves were from the many near misses during the drive until she said, “let’s stay here tonight.” I was not convinced there was hot water (it didn’t warm up when we visited the room) and envisioned a sleepless night listening to the disco beat, so I said we better think about it over lunch.
We finally met the inspector at 1400. She called the orphanage and I understood enough to know that she was asking questions again about the spelling of Katya’s last name. This issue has been an on again – off again thorn in the process. All I knew was that the girl in the picture at the SDA was definitely Katya!
We finally made it to the orphanage about 1500 (we were getting a bit tired by then). We met Larissa the lawyer (she seems to always be in good spirits and likes to joke around) and Mr. Orphange director. He told us that he had gotten the Statue of Liberty tie we sent him, but he couldn’t wear it because he is a Ukrainian citizen – couldn’t fault his logic on that. After several minutes I started asking – Gdyeh Katya? (where’s Katya). Larissa had sent several young men and women to find her without success. Finally we saw her walking through the snow with a big smile on her face. She hugged Charlene and wouldn’t let go. Tears fell & she was overjoyed to see us!
We spent the next several hours with her and her sister Tanya in Tanya’s room. We looked through many pictures and heard stories. Tanya clearly loves her younger sister (Katya) and mothers her. She told us that this summer when Katya was with us in America she worried that everything was all right because Katya hadn’t called. When Katya did finally call, Tanya said it went something like this (from her perspective).
“Hi Tanya this is Katya – ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha”
“Hi Tanya this is Alona (Sophie) – ha ha ha ha ha ha”
Tanya, “Why are you laughing – are you drinking Vodka?”
Katya, “No we are calling from the computer” (we were using Skype)
Tanya, “You’re crazy” (hangs up)
When Katya got back to the orphanage, Tanya asked why she didn’t call and told here she could no go to America again. After days of crying and apologies on Katya’s part, Tanya relented.
After all that excitement, we headed to Chernigov (in the dark) to find a place to stay. We hadn’t seen a deer or squirrel all day, but almost t-boned an enormous wild boar on the trip back!
Please pray for God to continue to work through the myriad details!
SDG
Tim & Charlene
Pictures – 2nd – we meet Katya at last!
3rd – Charlene, Tanya & Katya
PS – for anyone from Charlene’s Russian class, we saw a TV show with the actor who plays Misha. He was in the snow with a pistol at his head.
Yesterday – Thursday – we left Kyiv in a blizzard. Very much like our last trip to Gorodnya – it took about 4 hours and several near-misses with ocehn bolshoy (very big) trucks. Oles (our facilitator) says I must be an ancient snow spirit since I seem to bring it with me ;-) The first picture is our departure from Kyiv at 0700 – Oles is filling the windshield washer fluid (we needed it!)
We got to Gorodnya about 1130 only to discover that the inspector was out with an Italian couple meeting a child at the hospital. We went to lunch at a swank diner that also had a motel attached (we had heard there was a motel in Gorodnya now). The rooms were clean, but right above the disco & bar. I hadn’t really understood how frazzled Charlene’s nerves were from the many near misses during the drive until she said, “let’s stay here tonight.” I was not convinced there was hot water (it didn’t warm up when we visited the room) and envisioned a sleepless night listening to the disco beat, so I said we better think about it over lunch.
We finally met the inspector at 1400. She called the orphanage and I understood enough to know that she was asking questions again about the spelling of Katya’s last name. This issue has been an on again – off again thorn in the process. All I knew was that the girl in the picture at the SDA was definitely Katya!
We finally made it to the orphanage about 1500 (we were getting a bit tired by then). We met Larissa the lawyer (she seems to always be in good spirits and likes to joke around) and Mr. Orphange director. He told us that he had gotten the Statue of Liberty tie we sent him, but he couldn’t wear it because he is a Ukrainian citizen – couldn’t fault his logic on that. After several minutes I started asking – Gdyeh Katya? (where’s Katya). Larissa had sent several young men and women to find her without success. Finally we saw her walking through the snow with a big smile on her face. She hugged Charlene and wouldn’t let go. Tears fell & she was overjoyed to see us!
We spent the next several hours with her and her sister Tanya in Tanya’s room. We looked through many pictures and heard stories. Tanya clearly loves her younger sister (Katya) and mothers her. She told us that this summer when Katya was with us in America she worried that everything was all right because Katya hadn’t called. When Katya did finally call, Tanya said it went something like this (from her perspective).
“Hi Tanya this is Katya – ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha”
“Hi Tanya this is Alona (Sophie) – ha ha ha ha ha ha”
Tanya, “Why are you laughing – are you drinking Vodka?”
Katya, “No we are calling from the computer” (we were using Skype)
Tanya, “You’re crazy” (hangs up)
When Katya got back to the orphanage, Tanya asked why she didn’t call and told here she could no go to America again. After days of crying and apologies on Katya’s part, Tanya relented.
After all that excitement, we headed to Chernigov (in the dark) to find a place to stay. We hadn’t seen a deer or squirrel all day, but almost t-boned an enormous wild boar on the trip back!
Please pray for God to continue to work through the myriad details!
SDG
Tim & Charlene
Pictures – 2nd – we meet Katya at last!
3rd – Charlene, Tanya & Katya
PS – for anyone from Charlene’s Russian class, we saw a TV show with the actor who plays Misha. He was in the snow with a pistol at his head.
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7 comments:
I came to your blog site and had to go back for a cup of tea before I could read it. Your pictures of Ukraine in the winter caused flashbacks of last year in the freezing cold, I held my cup to stay warm. You two don't look touched by it.Charlene, Katya looks like a biological daughter! Our God is such a good matchmaker.
Praying and praying and praying for you folks.
Fran
Good day friends,
All is well with the fam. Minus Johnny, they made it for dinner last night. They seem to be well and were even doing homework here. We talked about Katie coming and I thougtht just to be safe, I'll make a reminder call today to pick her up.
Katya looks well. It is good to see her and to know God is step by step taking care of you all. We'll continue to pray for you and to check in on the family here.
Love,
Beverly
Hey guys looks like you're making some progress. We hope to bring some sunshine with us is two weeks and by then hopefully you'll be getting close to getting out of there!
How old is her sister?
i'm so happy that u r alwrady with Katya.
i miss u guys!!!
love,sophie
say hi to her ,for me.
Hi guys!
So the motel didn't sound appealing, eh? That's my memory of our first trip - pulsating disco music all night long. :)
Katya looks SO happy! We're praying for her, Tanya and the whole situation.
Looks like I will be in Kiev on Thursday with Laura. I'll call you.
Sophie is here watching a movie with the girls. I know she misses you :)
Keep warm,
Nancy
Tim, Charlene & Katya,
We are so happy that things are working out. The Lord is good all day every day and he will see you guys through on schedule. We miss you here in the office, it's too quite and Heather is sad...ha ha(she is not acting out this week...at least less than norm). Please let us know if you need anything.
Godspeed!
A&H
Ах! я надеюсь, что Миша не умер! Мне всегда нравится Миша....
--Андрей
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