Getting to Izmyil

Train ride was uneventful.  We actually slept fairly well, although it helped that we had already been traveling for more than 24 hours and were exhausted.  

We arrived in Odessa around 6am.  Yuri, our driver, met us at the train and helped us get the bags to the car.  Then we started for Izmyil.

The road to Izmyil actually took us through Moldova for about 15-20 minutes.  So now John has unofficially been to Moldova as well as Ukraine.  About an hour from Izmyil we stopped at a roadside cafe to eat.  Since John needed to have a fully Ukrainian experience (according to Zhenia) we had the pork shish-kebab dinner for breakfast.  This is the same restaurant that Vitaly took us to on our first trip.  It was a definite hit even if it wasn’t a traditional breakfast.  

We arrived in Izmyil around 10:30 and went to the flat.  We had determined that we would need to stay here 1 night, and we needed some rest.  Zhenia left us and went to do work (pictures of the kids for the embassy, documents, notary, etc.).  We freshened up and got a quick nap.  We also went to the bank to change some money and went to the grocery store to get some supplies.  On the way back to the flat, we met Zhenia in the taxi.  He was looking for us to take us to the orphanage to see the kids.  I had forgotten the phone in the flat, so we didn’t know he was on the way.

At the orphanage, we met first with the director.  I gave her a donation for the orphanage and signed some documents.  She gave us the kids’ medical and school records and some documents needed for the rest of the process. Then she asked if I was happy about the kids.  I assured her that I was very happy.  Then we went to find the kids.

Turns out they were outside (it was a beautiful day).  I saw Lena first.  She came walking up to me with this, “where have you been” look on her face.  She seemed glad to see me, but she did not hug me.  Oleg, on the other hand, was behind me, and when I turned around, I saw him running toward me with a big smile on his face and his arms outstretched for a hug.  It was a GREAT hug!

We went inside to visit - to our usual spot.  I introduced John to the kids before we went in, and they seemed to take to him quite readily.  The kids entertained us for quite some time by wrestling with each other.  Oleg was quite gentle with Lena but definitely the dominant wrestler.  But Lena was persistent.   He let her get him down a couple of times, and she took full advantage.  Its a wonder she didn’t hurt HIM. 

An Italian couple came in with their boys, and our friends from California came in with their boys.  All the kids kind of played back and forth between us all for a while.  Then Oleg asked John if he wrestled.  So they wrestled some as well while Lena pretended to be asleep.  And, of course, they ate the snacks I brought.  All in all, we had a good visit.

As we were leaving, Oleg asked if they were going, too.  I told him we would be there in the morning to get them.  Haven’t seen a smile that big in quite a while!

After the orphanage, we went to another restaurant that we tried on the first visit - the little hole in the wall - for an early supper.  We enjoyed a Romanian soup, pork chop, and homestyle potatoes.  John had a Ukrainian beer, and Zhenia and I had green tea.  We sat and talked for a long time.  Zhenia gave John a short version of his background and passion for helping orphans.  It is quite a story.

Back at the flat, John and I decided that we needed to stay up until about 9pm, so we spent a couple of hours just talking about all kinds of stuff.  I really enjoyed it, and I’m glad we took the time.  After tonight we will have the kids with us and may not have another opportunity to talk like that.

Update on the bag:

My missing luggage was delivered to Andre, our driver in Kiev.  Zhenia arranged for Yuri, the driver from Odessa, to drive to Kiev, pick up the bag, and deliver it to us in Izmyil.  This is no small task.  Yuri left Izmyil after dropping us at the flat and should return about 2am.  John agreed to get up in the night to receive the bag and pay Yuri (thank you, John!).  Whew!  Now we have clothes for the kids and the gifts that we brought for our Ukrainian friends.

Plan for tomorrow:

For whatever reason, the court decree was not ready today as we thought it would/should be.   So......

We will be ready to go tomorrow at 7:45.  We will get the court decree, go to the orphanage to get the kids, and get on the road to their hometown to get their birth certificates issued in their new names according to the court decree.  We have all the documents we need from the older kids’ orphanage, so the next stop will be to pick up Hanna and her documents.  Then we go to Odessa for their tax numbers and to apply for passports.  We hope to get all of that done tomorrow.  Vitaly will drive us, so I will be able to give him his gift - a jar of peanut butter.

I hope I can sleep tonight!