Hello everyone:
It is Labor Day and we find ourselves laboring anyway, even though it is at home. The laundry and ironing are caught up and the school bag is packed for tomorrow. We hope for a good transition into school tomorrow. We are looking for a person to work with Sergey after school until we get home, hopefully someone who can help him with understanding culture, customs and homework. Sergey is looking forward to going to school, although I know he is not fully recovered from jet lag.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sunday September 2, 2007
Hello Everyone:
It is really good to be back in Iowa. We are looking forward to getting back into a routine and going back to the office. We have missed our staff, patients, and our families. Today was all about getting the laundry done and entertaining Sergey. Hopefully tomorrow we can look over the huge stack of mail from the past two weeks. Also, e-mail management is another challenge for us. Sergey wanted to know if he was going to school today. We looked at the calendar and were able to help him undersatand that it would not be until Tuesday. It is nice to have a calendar with Russian/English together on it for Sergey. It helps communication.
We have to complete the paperwork now for the Ukrainian Embassy. That should be the final step with the exception of annual reports by the social worker for the next several years.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
It is really good to be back in Iowa. We are looking forward to getting back into a routine and going back to the office. We have missed our staff, patients, and our families. Today was all about getting the laundry done and entertaining Sergey. Hopefully tomorrow we can look over the huge stack of mail from the past two weeks. Also, e-mail management is another challenge for us. Sergey wanted to know if he was going to school today. We looked at the calendar and were able to help him undersatand that it would not be until Tuesday. It is nice to have a calendar with Russian/English together on it for Sergey. It helps communication.
We have to complete the paperwork now for the Ukrainian Embassy. That should be the final step with the exception of annual reports by the social worker for the next several years.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Saturday September 1, 2007
Hello Everyone:
It is September 4th and I now have time to post the information about the trip home. We awoke at 6:15 AM (10:15 PM Friday evening - Iowa time). Our driver picked us up on time and we arrived at the airport in Kiev by 9:15 AM. The Kiev airport checkin is very different from the US airports. You have to wait with your luggage in the airport until it is two hours before check-in-time and it is posted that you can check-in. This basically allows you to pass through to the check in counter, where you then check your luggage. Oour luggage was under the weight limit and we were thankful. All the luggage is weighed together, not separately like the US. After check-in we went to the gate. Sergey made friends with a Russian speaking girl named Susha. They ran around until time to board the plane. On the plane he made friends with the family sitting in front of us who had a son about the same age as Sergey so they traded electronic toys back and forth during the flight to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam at the gate we met a couple who had just spent two months in Odesa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea visiting the lady's father who is in poor health. The lady is Ukrainian and spoke Russian with Sergey. That helped ease his tension and restlessness. The flight to Minneapolis was about nine hours and we arrived on time at 5:30 PM. Just before we arrived Sergey fell asleep and it was very hard for him to wake up. He was tired, afraid and just generally in a bad mood, which made going thru customs challenging. The customs officer felt sorry for us and passed us through. There are some rewards for having an uncooperative child!!! We picked up our luggage and went to the van. We arrived home in Spencer about 10:00 PM. Ironically enough it was just two weeks almost to the hour that we spent on the adoption process, which is a near record according to our agency people here in the US. Once in the house Sergey had to check out everything and was very happy to find toys and familiar items from his visit in January when we hosted him. He finally crashed about midnight but woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning. That is definitely jet lag sleeping pattern.
Again thanks to everyone for following our journey.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
It is September 4th and I now have time to post the information about the trip home. We awoke at 6:15 AM (10:15 PM Friday evening - Iowa time). Our driver picked us up on time and we arrived at the airport in Kiev by 9:15 AM. The Kiev airport checkin is very different from the US airports. You have to wait with your luggage in the airport until it is two hours before check-in-time and it is posted that you can check-in. This basically allows you to pass through to the check in counter, where you then check your luggage. Oour luggage was under the weight limit and we were thankful. All the luggage is weighed together, not separately like the US. After check-in we went to the gate. Sergey made friends with a Russian speaking girl named Susha. They ran around until time to board the plane. On the plane he made friends with the family sitting in front of us who had a son about the same age as Sergey so they traded electronic toys back and forth during the flight to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam at the gate we met a couple who had just spent two months in Odesa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea visiting the lady's father who is in poor health. The lady is Ukrainian and spoke Russian with Sergey. That helped ease his tension and restlessness. The flight to Minneapolis was about nine hours and we arrived on time at 5:30 PM. Just before we arrived Sergey fell asleep and it was very hard for him to wake up. He was tired, afraid and just generally in a bad mood, which made going thru customs challenging. The customs officer felt sorry for us and passed us through. There are some rewards for having an uncooperative child!!! We picked up our luggage and went to the van. We arrived home in Spencer about 10:00 PM. Ironically enough it was just two weeks almost to the hour that we spent on the adoption process, which is a near record according to our agency people here in the US. Once in the house Sergey had to check out everything and was very happy to find toys and familiar items from his visit in January when we hosted him. He finally crashed about midnight but woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning. That is definitely jet lag sleeping pattern.
Again thanks to everyone for following our journey.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Friday, August 31, 2007
Friday August 31, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Friday and our last day here. We could not make any internet games work and the servers here do not play DVD's so we spent our entire day walking the city of Kiev. We spent considerable time in the fountain in the square, the only "pool" of sorts we could find. We went to the souvenier stands along the street and looked at all the vendors. These vendors sell things from Western Ukraine. There is no industry in Western Ukraine as I may have mentioned earlier. A few souveniers later we are back at the fountains.
Some more observations about Ukraine:
People in Kiev smoke less than those in Donetsk.
The people in Kiev are heavier than Donetsk maybe because they smoke less and perhaps because of the fast food restaurants that are here - we counted at least six or seven McDonald's
The air quality is better in Kiev than Donetsk since ther are no coal mines spewing dust.
There are lots of banks in Kiev.
To walk across streets in Kiev and in Donetsk, you walk down steps, through a tunnel under the street and up the other side. In the tunnels are myriads of small vendors and shops. The flower vendors have absolutely gorgeous flowers.
Friday must be wedding day. We saw at least five different wedding parties. We saw a couple wedding parties with stretch white limos and one with a black suburban. We also saw one party with an old restored Russian auto. They decorate the cars with flowers for the wedding party. The carillon bells were ringing in St Michael's cathedral for one wedding - beautiful music. The wedding dresses are very elegant - some looked antique and some looked brand new. The men wear dark suits or tuxedos.
Buying property in Kiev is very expensive. Rex observed the property for sale on a realtor's window and saw that most apartments go for 500,000.00 USD to 1,000,000.00 USD. Right now we are in a large apartment by their standards. We have two bedrooms, a large living room with 70's looking furniture, a nice size kitchen with table and stools, and a bathroom with sink, stool, tub, and washer/dryer all in one, also a large closet at the end of the hallway. We paid $170.00 USD per night for this apartment. We enjoyed the space and so did Sergey.
Tomorrow we leave for home at 8:30 AM from the apartment. Hopefully no traffice jams tomorrow.
We will post again once we arrive in the US.
See everyone soon
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Friday and our last day here. We could not make any internet games work and the servers here do not play DVD's so we spent our entire day walking the city of Kiev. We spent considerable time in the fountain in the square, the only "pool" of sorts we could find. We went to the souvenier stands along the street and looked at all the vendors. These vendors sell things from Western Ukraine. There is no industry in Western Ukraine as I may have mentioned earlier. A few souveniers later we are back at the fountains.
Some more observations about Ukraine:
People in Kiev smoke less than those in Donetsk.
The people in Kiev are heavier than Donetsk maybe because they smoke less and perhaps because of the fast food restaurants that are here - we counted at least six or seven McDonald's
The air quality is better in Kiev than Donetsk since ther are no coal mines spewing dust.
There are lots of banks in Kiev.
To walk across streets in Kiev and in Donetsk, you walk down steps, through a tunnel under the street and up the other side. In the tunnels are myriads of small vendors and shops. The flower vendors have absolutely gorgeous flowers.
Friday must be wedding day. We saw at least five different wedding parties. We saw a couple wedding parties with stretch white limos and one with a black suburban. We also saw one party with an old restored Russian auto. They decorate the cars with flowers for the wedding party. The carillon bells were ringing in St Michael's cathedral for one wedding - beautiful music. The wedding dresses are very elegant - some looked antique and some looked brand new. The men wear dark suits or tuxedos.
Buying property in Kiev is very expensive. Rex observed the property for sale on a realtor's window and saw that most apartments go for 500,000.00 USD to 1,000,000.00 USD. Right now we are in a large apartment by their standards. We have two bedrooms, a large living room with 70's looking furniture, a nice size kitchen with table and stools, and a bathroom with sink, stool, tub, and washer/dryer all in one, also a large closet at the end of the hallway. We paid $170.00 USD per night for this apartment. We enjoyed the space and so did Sergey.
Tomorrow we leave for home at 8:30 AM from the apartment. Hopefully no traffice jams tomorrow.
We will post again once we arrive in the US.
See everyone soon
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Thursday August 30, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Our journey in the Ukraine brought us back to Kiev today. We left Donetsk at 5:40 AM. That means we rolled out of bed at 3:30 AM today. The flight here was easy, even fed us a snack. However, the ride from the airport was unbelievable heavy traffic. You think we have traffice anywhere in Iowa - NYET - NYET- NYET ( very expressive Russian no). Four lanes of traffic on the interstate became five even though there are only four. And a bicyclist was crazy enough to be riding between the traffic on the interstate and beat us to the turn-off!! We also learned that traffic in the Ukraine if not moveing fast enough, just drive on the sidewalk and push in whereever someone will let you. Sidewalk driving was a totally new concept in driving today. Also, if you do not like the stalled traffic in your lane and there is no oncoming traffic, just do a u-turn in the the oppostie lane of traffic and find a different route. For those of you following our blog and were in Italy with us - Italy was totally tame!! We saw a scooter get traffic jammed today on the freeway because the vehicles were packed so tight there wasn't even room for the scooter to wiggle through. Due to the heavy traffic we were about ten minutes late for the medical appointment, but that did not seem to matter either. The doctor just took us in five minutes after we arrived ahead of the next person. It seems adoption appointments get special privilieges.
The medical clinic is attached to the hospital. It needed a good cleaning. This was not a surprise after our courtroom experience Tuesday. The public buildings seem to need better janitorial standards. By the way, the doctors here are very efficient, but the rest of the system (staff) needs PINNACLE applied!!
After we finished the medical appointment we went to the Embassy. They took us an hour early which was very nice. We were finished before our appointment time. Later in the afternoon we went back and picked up the visa information and the passport. So all the paperwork has been completed here. When we get home we have several more registrations to complete. We also will have ongoing home study visits that will report back to the Ukraine over time.
Our flight home is on Saturday. We leave Kiev 11:50AM - arrive Amsterdam 1:50PM. Leave Amsterdam 3:35 PM and arrive Minneapolis 5:40 PM. We hope for very smooth sailing through customs and luggage pickup.
Tonight we found an Internet Cafe five blocks from our apartment. However, this one has no games for Sergey, so he is getting restless!! Tomorrow will be a challenging day trying to entertain him.
Thanks again to everyone who is following our journey. We appreciate your comments.
See you in the US very soon.
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Our journey in the Ukraine brought us back to Kiev today. We left Donetsk at 5:40 AM. That means we rolled out of bed at 3:30 AM today. The flight here was easy, even fed us a snack. However, the ride from the airport was unbelievable heavy traffic. You think we have traffice anywhere in Iowa - NYET - NYET- NYET ( very expressive Russian no). Four lanes of traffic on the interstate became five even though there are only four. And a bicyclist was crazy enough to be riding between the traffic on the interstate and beat us to the turn-off!! We also learned that traffic in the Ukraine if not moveing fast enough, just drive on the sidewalk and push in whereever someone will let you. Sidewalk driving was a totally new concept in driving today. Also, if you do not like the stalled traffic in your lane and there is no oncoming traffic, just do a u-turn in the the oppostie lane of traffic and find a different route. For those of you following our blog and were in Italy with us - Italy was totally tame!! We saw a scooter get traffic jammed today on the freeway because the vehicles were packed so tight there wasn't even room for the scooter to wiggle through. Due to the heavy traffic we were about ten minutes late for the medical appointment, but that did not seem to matter either. The doctor just took us in five minutes after we arrived ahead of the next person. It seems adoption appointments get special privilieges.
The medical clinic is attached to the hospital. It needed a good cleaning. This was not a surprise after our courtroom experience Tuesday. The public buildings seem to need better janitorial standards. By the way, the doctors here are very efficient, but the rest of the system (staff) needs PINNACLE applied!!
After we finished the medical appointment we went to the Embassy. They took us an hour early which was very nice. We were finished before our appointment time. Later in the afternoon we went back and picked up the visa information and the passport. So all the paperwork has been completed here. When we get home we have several more registrations to complete. We also will have ongoing home study visits that will report back to the Ukraine over time.
Our flight home is on Saturday. We leave Kiev 11:50AM - arrive Amsterdam 1:50PM. Leave Amsterdam 3:35 PM and arrive Minneapolis 5:40 PM. We hope for very smooth sailing through customs and luggage pickup.
Tonight we found an Internet Cafe five blocks from our apartment. However, this one has no games for Sergey, so he is getting restless!! Tomorrow will be a challenging day trying to entertain him.
Thanks again to everyone who is following our journey. We appreciate your comments.
See you in the US very soon.
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wednesday August 29, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey. Thanks for all the nice comments.
Today was another eventful day. Angelina picked us up about 10:45. We dropped off the original paper to the judge first, then onto passport pictures, then went to see his grandma which was probably the most important thing we did today in the grand scheme of things, and then we visited Olga at the orphanage to complete paperwork with her, have champagne and chocolates for a toast.
The visit with Grandma was very enlightening to say the least. She is older and in poor health. Her apartment is shared with Sergey's stepsisters, Nina and Marina, ages 21 and 18 who we also met. It is a one bedroom apartment with a small living room and a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. Over here the toilet is in a separate small room from the sink and the shower. It also appears that other people may also share the apartment, such as Nina and Marina's aunt and children?? Grandma told us that while she would love to raise Sergey she is too old and in too poor of health. His sisters (half sisters) are not financially capable of raising him because they are in school and also work to support themselves so there is no way for them to raise him although they would like to. Grandma had tears of joy to be able to meet us and is very happy for Sergey that he has a forever family. We probably spent an hour or two talking through the translator with grandma. The sisters could speak some English but we talked with them mainly through the translator. They have a computer and we will keep them informed about Sergey. It is very helpful for us to meet them and know his background. By the way, I am not sure how they got all his pictures, but all the pictures we took of him at Christmas were at grandma's house. I am so glad she has them and looks at them often. We can send more. When Sergey wanted to take some of them we told him we have a duplicate set in America and he should leave them for grandma. My observation here is that Rex got the 21 year old with her own apartment, just in a very different way than he ever expected - not that we will have that much contact - but it is interesting how the universe delivers what you think about.
Well, more Ukrainian observations if you are not tired of them.
For the families travelling to the Ukraine in the near future and working with Angelina- do not sweat the gift buying. It appears as though Ukrainian champagne, Ukrainian chocolates and cognac are the gifts of choice for the judge, and others, which Angelina helped us pick out and then she distributed. We did give some of the gifts we brought to the regional officials. The rest of them we simply gave to Olga to distribute to the orphanage workers. We also brought toys for Sergey to leave with his friends, which we left with Olga due to the fact the orphanage was closed. Angelina has a driver named Valera, who you will pay $10.00 per hour for his assistance. At first I thought it unnecessary, but after seeing how they drive (a little crazy like all of Europe), park, and move the vehicle around while we were doing paperwork, it is necessary so her car is not destroyed. Also, bring paper and pens to write on and with. There is a scarcity of pens here and no paper to be found anywhere!!!! Also, bring handi wipes. They will be used more than the sanitizer in the jar. I noticed Angelina carries them also. They are lightweight and easy to pack.
Observations about the country, food, etc.
Sergey is a common name in the Ukraine - have met at least five or six other Sergey's.
It is not an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) friendly country. Potholes, manholes, curbs without wheelchair accessibility, buildings with no elevators and going up the steps of these buildings is like the blind leading the blind - no lights.
One more comment about the toilets - they do not flush the toilet paper here, they put it in the trash. However, I could not bring myself to put the toilet paper in the trash and have flushed it. But Sergey puts his in the trash.
Another comment about our bathroom in the hotel, it is all black tile, including the ceiling.
Today on the way to Sergey's grandma's apartment we went past private houses - OH MY - it reminded us of the houses the slaves lived in down South. Rex remembers driving by them on family vacations when he was six or seven. These "houses" look in much worse repair than the apartments. They all have corrugated tin on the roofs. I believe the apartment buildings also have corrugated tin for rooftops if we could see the top of them.
Money is hryvnia (grivna) and is a 5:1 exchange to the USD. Therefore it takes 5 hryvnia to buy 1 USD and 100 hryvnia for 20 USD. Their bill denominations are 1,2,5,10, 20, 50, 100,200. I am not sure if they have 500 and 1000 denominations also, because we have not exchanged that much money, but I have seen those bills in a magazine.
Here the wedding ring is worn on the right ring finger.
I mentioned that everyone has a cell phone and today on the playground I saw a three year old handling her parents cell phone. Also, many have two and three cell phones. Angelina was talking on two phones at once and gave us her third one so she could call us. WOW!
There is alot of pollution here. We saw several smokestacks spewing out alot of pollution from the coal mines below the city. Sunday was National Coal Miner's Day with a big parade and on Monday we saw several hungover men lying on park benches.
They only toast their bread on one side!!
The staff at the hotel are service oriented. They are Pinnacalized for all of our chiropractic friends following our journey!!!
Sergey has watched Nickelodean channel here - and the cartoons are similiar just in Russian.
Well, we travel tomorrow morning at 5:40. I am not sure whether I will get to post anything else until we get home. I do not know where the apartment is we are staying in Thursday and Friday so not sure if we can find an internet cafe!
We leave Saturday around noon for Amsterdam and then around 3:30 from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. It is nine hours.
Rex, Liz & Sergey
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey. Thanks for all the nice comments.
Today was another eventful day. Angelina picked us up about 10:45. We dropped off the original paper to the judge first, then onto passport pictures, then went to see his grandma which was probably the most important thing we did today in the grand scheme of things, and then we visited Olga at the orphanage to complete paperwork with her, have champagne and chocolates for a toast.
The visit with Grandma was very enlightening to say the least. She is older and in poor health. Her apartment is shared with Sergey's stepsisters, Nina and Marina, ages 21 and 18 who we also met. It is a one bedroom apartment with a small living room and a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. Over here the toilet is in a separate small room from the sink and the shower. It also appears that other people may also share the apartment, such as Nina and Marina's aunt and children?? Grandma told us that while she would love to raise Sergey she is too old and in too poor of health. His sisters (half sisters) are not financially capable of raising him because they are in school and also work to support themselves so there is no way for them to raise him although they would like to. Grandma had tears of joy to be able to meet us and is very happy for Sergey that he has a forever family. We probably spent an hour or two talking through the translator with grandma. The sisters could speak some English but we talked with them mainly through the translator. They have a computer and we will keep them informed about Sergey. It is very helpful for us to meet them and know his background. By the way, I am not sure how they got all his pictures, but all the pictures we took of him at Christmas were at grandma's house. I am so glad she has them and looks at them often. We can send more. When Sergey wanted to take some of them we told him we have a duplicate set in America and he should leave them for grandma. My observation here is that Rex got the 21 year old with her own apartment, just in a very different way than he ever expected - not that we will have that much contact - but it is interesting how the universe delivers what you think about.
Well, more Ukrainian observations if you are not tired of them.
For the families travelling to the Ukraine in the near future and working with Angelina- do not sweat the gift buying. It appears as though Ukrainian champagne, Ukrainian chocolates and cognac are the gifts of choice for the judge, and others, which Angelina helped us pick out and then she distributed. We did give some of the gifts we brought to the regional officials. The rest of them we simply gave to Olga to distribute to the orphanage workers. We also brought toys for Sergey to leave with his friends, which we left with Olga due to the fact the orphanage was closed. Angelina has a driver named Valera, who you will pay $10.00 per hour for his assistance. At first I thought it unnecessary, but after seeing how they drive (a little crazy like all of Europe), park, and move the vehicle around while we were doing paperwork, it is necessary so her car is not destroyed. Also, bring paper and pens to write on and with. There is a scarcity of pens here and no paper to be found anywhere!!!! Also, bring handi wipes. They will be used more than the sanitizer in the jar. I noticed Angelina carries them also. They are lightweight and easy to pack.
Observations about the country, food, etc.
Sergey is a common name in the Ukraine - have met at least five or six other Sergey's.
It is not an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) friendly country. Potholes, manholes, curbs without wheelchair accessibility, buildings with no elevators and going up the steps of these buildings is like the blind leading the blind - no lights.
One more comment about the toilets - they do not flush the toilet paper here, they put it in the trash. However, I could not bring myself to put the toilet paper in the trash and have flushed it. But Sergey puts his in the trash.
Another comment about our bathroom in the hotel, it is all black tile, including the ceiling.
Today on the way to Sergey's grandma's apartment we went past private houses - OH MY - it reminded us of the houses the slaves lived in down South. Rex remembers driving by them on family vacations when he was six or seven. These "houses" look in much worse repair than the apartments. They all have corrugated tin on the roofs. I believe the apartment buildings also have corrugated tin for rooftops if we could see the top of them.
Money is hryvnia (grivna) and is a 5:1 exchange to the USD. Therefore it takes 5 hryvnia to buy 1 USD and 100 hryvnia for 20 USD. Their bill denominations are 1,2,5,10, 20, 50, 100,200. I am not sure if they have 500 and 1000 denominations also, because we have not exchanged that much money, but I have seen those bills in a magazine.
Here the wedding ring is worn on the right ring finger.
I mentioned that everyone has a cell phone and today on the playground I saw a three year old handling her parents cell phone. Also, many have two and three cell phones. Angelina was talking on two phones at once and gave us her third one so she could call us. WOW!
There is alot of pollution here. We saw several smokestacks spewing out alot of pollution from the coal mines below the city. Sunday was National Coal Miner's Day with a big parade and on Monday we saw several hungover men lying on park benches.
They only toast their bread on one side!!
The staff at the hotel are service oriented. They are Pinnacalized for all of our chiropractic friends following our journey!!!
Sergey has watched Nickelodean channel here - and the cartoons are similiar just in Russian.
Well, we travel tomorrow morning at 5:40. I am not sure whether I will get to post anything else until we get home. I do not know where the apartment is we are staying in Thursday and Friday so not sure if we can find an internet cafe!
We leave Saturday around noon for Amsterdam and then around 3:30 from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. It is nine hours.
Rex, Liz & Sergey
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday August 28, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Today was a very eventful day. Angelina met us at 8:45 AM and we were off to do precourt paperwork and pick up Olga, the orphanage director. She was a little worried because the final original stamped document had not arrived and was concerned the judge would not grant the hearing without it. However, she was able to convince the judge that the faxed document was as good as the original prior to the hearing. Judge was late for the hearing as he has another hearing. Hearing began about 10:30. It only lasted a short period, but the judge did ask us questions. He also asked Sergey questions. He did grant the request to waive the ten day waiting period!! Hallelujah! Prayers have been answered!!!! After the court hearing we did some more regional documentation in Donetsk and Angelina was going to pick up Sergey's passport with his new name later today. We saw his new birth certificate with his name change and Sergey was pleased. Tomorrow we will finish up the last regional paperwork, finish up the final paperwork at the orphanage and pick up his luggage from the orphanage, and visit his Ukrainian grandmother to say goodbye. Thursday we will have his medical appointment and Embassy appointment in Kiev. We would like to fly Friday, but due to the holiday weekend, ticket availability was better on Saturday, so we will come home Saturday. We are finalizing the flight details and let you know that tomorrow.
Some other Ukrainian observations for those that are interested. Most of the toilets here are the flush type, however, we have encountered some Turkish toilets (this is the squat type - but they do have porcelain bases for your feet - a little better than those we encountered in Italy for those of you who went on that trip with us!) We have not had to pay to use any toilets, however, we have had to use our own tissue a couple of times. Their toilet tissue is many different grades. In the hotel it is similiar to our cheaper toilet paper. At the Internet Cafe it is brown - somewhat like paper towel quality, but I do not mind it. As for shopping, there are no big box stores here, however, we did go to two nice malls in Kiev and one very nice department store in Donetsk where they had everything from clothes, to jewelry, to cell phones, to a grocery store all together in about a six story building. On the other hand, there are also open air markets with fruits, vegetables, etc., but Angelina tells us they are not all legal, especially the ones selling the fresh warm unpasteurized milk and the fresh meat that is not refrigerated, which we pass every time we go the federal buildings. Then their is the bazaar which is close to the Internet cafe and to Lenin Square. We ventured over there a couple times - part of it is outdoors and part of it is indoors. Then there are the street vendors, especially, the one along the street to the Internet cafe that is selling school supplies - the typical things, paper, pencils, books, pens, pencil cases, all the typical things you would get in America - just in Russian. Sergey got a pen there today and the English book - 5th Form that I talked about earlier. Then there are the private stores much like you see in small town America which I ventured into yesterday looking for a gift bag. Surprisingly, most of the shopping in Kiev was underground. There was a huge underground mall under the Mandarin Mall. You could buy furniture there as well as kitchen supplies, computers, TV's, kids clothes, shoes, etc., really everything but groceries. The cities have access to many things if you have the money to purchase it. In Ukraine, that is the biggest challenge. Doctors make $150.00 USD per month or 750.00 hryvnia per month. That is their middle class. Teachers make $60.00 USD per month or 300.00 hryvnia. Angelina said the judges make a little more than the doctors per month. I'm not sure what the coal miners make. Very interesting culture - where the people are very educated but their jobs do not support them above bare essentials. Oh, their homes are pretty much all apartments. Angelina told us her apartment was not much bigger than our hotel room. They inherited it from her husband's grandmother, therefore they live in Gorlovka, even though she is from southern Ukraine. When we were in Gorlovka lst week we passed rows and rows of apartments that looked the Chicago ghetto flats on the outside. I am not sure what the inside looked like. And by the way, the courtroom today - wait until you see the pictures.
Enough for today. Will post more tomorrow.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Today was a very eventful day. Angelina met us at 8:45 AM and we were off to do precourt paperwork and pick up Olga, the orphanage director. She was a little worried because the final original stamped document had not arrived and was concerned the judge would not grant the hearing without it. However, she was able to convince the judge that the faxed document was as good as the original prior to the hearing. Judge was late for the hearing as he has another hearing. Hearing began about 10:30. It only lasted a short period, but the judge did ask us questions. He also asked Sergey questions. He did grant the request to waive the ten day waiting period!! Hallelujah! Prayers have been answered!!!! After the court hearing we did some more regional documentation in Donetsk and Angelina was going to pick up Sergey's passport with his new name later today. We saw his new birth certificate with his name change and Sergey was pleased. Tomorrow we will finish up the last regional paperwork, finish up the final paperwork at the orphanage and pick up his luggage from the orphanage, and visit his Ukrainian grandmother to say goodbye. Thursday we will have his medical appointment and Embassy appointment in Kiev. We would like to fly Friday, but due to the holiday weekend, ticket availability was better on Saturday, so we will come home Saturday. We are finalizing the flight details and let you know that tomorrow.
Some other Ukrainian observations for those that are interested. Most of the toilets here are the flush type, however, we have encountered some Turkish toilets (this is the squat type - but they do have porcelain bases for your feet - a little better than those we encountered in Italy for those of you who went on that trip with us!) We have not had to pay to use any toilets, however, we have had to use our own tissue a couple of times. Their toilet tissue is many different grades. In the hotel it is similiar to our cheaper toilet paper. At the Internet Cafe it is brown - somewhat like paper towel quality, but I do not mind it. As for shopping, there are no big box stores here, however, we did go to two nice malls in Kiev and one very nice department store in Donetsk where they had everything from clothes, to jewelry, to cell phones, to a grocery store all together in about a six story building. On the other hand, there are also open air markets with fruits, vegetables, etc., but Angelina tells us they are not all legal, especially the ones selling the fresh warm unpasteurized milk and the fresh meat that is not refrigerated, which we pass every time we go the federal buildings. Then their is the bazaar which is close to the Internet cafe and to Lenin Square. We ventured over there a couple times - part of it is outdoors and part of it is indoors. Then there are the street vendors, especially, the one along the street to the Internet cafe that is selling school supplies - the typical things, paper, pencils, books, pens, pencil cases, all the typical things you would get in America - just in Russian. Sergey got a pen there today and the English book - 5th Form that I talked about earlier. Then there are the private stores much like you see in small town America which I ventured into yesterday looking for a gift bag. Surprisingly, most of the shopping in Kiev was underground. There was a huge underground mall under the Mandarin Mall. You could buy furniture there as well as kitchen supplies, computers, TV's, kids clothes, shoes, etc., really everything but groceries. The cities have access to many things if you have the money to purchase it. In Ukraine, that is the biggest challenge. Doctors make $150.00 USD per month or 750.00 hryvnia per month. That is their middle class. Teachers make $60.00 USD per month or 300.00 hryvnia. Angelina said the judges make a little more than the doctors per month. I'm not sure what the coal miners make. Very interesting culture - where the people are very educated but their jobs do not support them above bare essentials. Oh, their homes are pretty much all apartments. Angelina told us her apartment was not much bigger than our hotel room. They inherited it from her husband's grandmother, therefore they live in Gorlovka, even though she is from southern Ukraine. When we were in Gorlovka lst week we passed rows and rows of apartments that looked the Chicago ghetto flats on the outside. I am not sure what the inside looked like. And by the way, the courtroom today - wait until you see the pictures.
Enough for today. Will post more tomorrow.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
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