"Roll with the Punches"

The English Club on Tuesday night started out teaching two common phrases, “The thrill of victory” and “the agony of defeat”: not bad phrases to use in this roller coaster ride adventure adoption in Ukraine. However, we would like to share another that really describes the necessary attitude to adopt while on this ride, “Roll with the Punches”, which means pray for the necessary peace when events do not proceed as planned.

The boys took Tanya out Tuesday night at 10:30 pm to McDonalds for a late night extra dinner (her first time there). After munching on some French fries, we women went to sleep, but the men stayed up talking to after 1:00pm—Tim lulling Oles to sleep with stories about ice breakers and gas turbine engines.

Despite the late nights, we were up, packed, fed, and ready to leave the hotel at 10:00 am. Alas, Oles discovered that his license plates were missing. If only one plate was missing, one could surmise that it was the victim of the Chernigov roads: the crater-sized potholes are impossible for even the most experienced Ukrainian driver to navigate around completely. However, since both were missing and there was a ransom note, it was clear that we were the victim of one of the latest Ukrainian get-rich-quick schemes. This, of course, is preferable to what we hear happens in some parts of southern Texas, where Americans are ransomed. Nevertheless, our plan to meet Rita, the older sister of Katya and Tanya at 11:00 am for a tea and “good-bye” was compromised. We waited at the hotel for the police with all of our luggage and bags in the vestibule. Oles got tired of waiting after an hour and drove to the head of the police. Of course, after he left, a police officer showed up, but left after talking to Vlad (hotel worker) and Oles (on the phone from police headquarters). The girls and I walked to the market for some cake and candy to bring Rita. After we got back, Oles called to tell us he was coming back and we could go. A strange man carrying a bag stood uncomfortably close to us in the lobby and kept looking at us. Tim asked if we were Americans or English. We ignored him, but when Oles came back asked if he might have something to do with the crime. Vlad, Papa, and Oles chased this character across a soccer field, lost him when he ran into the dorms of the Technological School, but then Vlad and Oles caught him and brought him back to the hotel. He said that he was interested in a position as a “Financial Director” of the hotel. Of course, his behavior and resume made that alibi impossibly suspicious. Well, the police showed up and we packed up Oles’ license-plateless Subaru and followed the police to their station downtown. Here we waited for several hours—Papa in the car, the girls and I walking to McDonalds (Tanya’s second trip to the “American Embassy”—as Oles calls it) and touring the local church and monuments. I took this picture of a typical Chernigov street with Soviet-style apartments lining the streets and a beautiful cathedral at the other end.

At three PM, Oles finally got frustrated and told them he had to go. We began the hour plus trip to Shorce, where Rita lives. Rita’s home is the second on the right (green).Rita was delighted to see Katya (all tears) and we shared coffee and cake together with the sisters and Valya (Rita’s mother-in-law), a loving woman who cared for the sisters during their visits home. Katya had not been here in years despite the fact that the village is approximately 20 minutes from Gorodnya. It was very interesting seeing the inside of one of these remote village homesteads—it almost defies description.
After our 30-minute-or-so visit, we stopped at the cemetery down the street and I took pictures of the gravesites of Katya’s mother, grandmother and grandfather, brother, and aunt. The sun was setting and the cemetery was surreal. It really brought to focus the loss our daughter has endured and God’s amazing provision. After dropping Tanya off at the orphanage, we headed for Kiev, stopping at a tire center (hah!) in Chernigov so that we could fill up one of Oles’ precariously low front tires. Oh, I almost forgot about when we were pulled over by the local law enforcement of a small village between Gorodnya and Chernigov because of the lack of license plates. Thankfully, Oles had procured a letter from a very high-ranking government official in Chernigov that afternoon which the officers accepted and we moved on after only a couple of minutes. The normal wait to be able to drive is several days to several weeks, which makes some folks to pay the $1,000 grivnas to get their plates back (but do they ever really give them back?).

When we got to Kiev without any incident (Слава Богу!-Thank God!), we quickly dropped our bags at another apartment—this time right on Independence Square—and went to dine at TGI Fridays. (see picture on right) We DID Thank God—not so much for Friday, but for delicious (non-McDonald’s) American cuisine, and for bringing us here safely!

SDG Charlene and Tim

Epilogue: After a wonderfully long night’s sleep, we went to the Australian Medical Center so that Katya could have blood drawn. We hope this will speed up the process at the end a bit. We also did some other pre-passport stuff at a notary. Oles wisely had Nikolai drive. Afterwards, Oles took off for some time at home in Odessa.