So, Thursday, July 7th, we got off the train all well-rested (not). We had breakfast and Vanya's driver picked us up and brought us to the consulate/embassy for my 10:30 appointment. It is pretty fun to walk to the front of the line with my USA passport. :-) Or did we go to the medical appt first? I think so. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I got the paperwork turned in to the consulate's office.
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| Just off the train - breakfast at "McFoxy" (or something like that - a McDonalds knock-off) Vanya was great at snapping pictures for me. I was working on THIS short post. |
"Today at the US Consulate's office, I got all of my forms and documents submitted and ready to go. I had to remind them that I needed to pay the second I-600 fee of $720 though. :-) He didn't mention it but I told him we had already used one approval on our I-171H and since the boys weren't biological siblings, I owed them another $720. It was the right thing to do. They would have caught it tomorrow and it may have delayed things, so it was best to just take care of it now.
The medical exam went MUCH quicker this time. It helped we didn't have to wait for 2 hours for the doctor to get out of a "meeting" like last time. It was still a joke, still costs $110, but hey...I gotta do what I gotta do to get out of here. :-)
So, tomorrow, I go back to the consulate's office at 2pm for the final visa processing. I know it will be a HUGE relief when I finally get it. Then, the driver will pick me up at 2:45AM - yes you read that right - for our journey home. Please continue to pray all goes well, esp for J's ears on the plane."
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After the paper chasing was done for the day, we set off to find an apartment for J and me to stay in for a couple of days. Vanya knows a landlord that rents pretty high-end apts. He gives Vanya a good deal when he knows he can't rent the apt for the weekend. It was a very "swanky" apartment!
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| View of the street from the living room |
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| Ok, this bathroom was none like I had ever seen before... The shower had a remote control! I kid you not. It had sprayers and misters and nozzles from all different angles. I just used the regular shower head. LOL And yes, it even had a bidet! :-) The one thing it didn't have? An outlet...go figure. |
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| Nice sized kitchen |
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| The spacious bedroom |
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| Living room with Jonathan laying in the middle of the floor |
This was one very quick, temporary solution...
Vanya left town Thursday evening, and J and I slept in on Friday morning. My embassy appt wasn't until the afternoon, so we hung out for a while. With no computer, I watched TV, or tried to anyway. I think the only thing I watched was "English 911" or "English Club" or something like that. The show was teaching Russian speakers how to speak English. Hey, at least I could understand it! After teaching a few of my children phonics, I realized how incredibly difficult English must be to learn as a second language. But one thing I never thought about until watching this show was the difference between homework and housework. Big difference, but oh so confusing to a non-English learner. Something to think about...after spending so much time in Ukraine, I have learned languages, and the ability to understand them, are a true gift. It also gives me a whole new appreciation for Vanya and Kostya, my facilitators, and the work they do. Their English is absolutely perfect and never once did I not understand something they said. They were a joy to work with.
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FRIDAY, JULY 8
TWO big things happened on this day:
1. I got Jonathan's VISA so we could go HOME! Praise God!
2. Dariya was sprung from her orphanage and I got to meet her!!! YAY! (You have to check out her Gotcha Day video HERE.)
Pat and I met Jason and Rochelle Cannon at the beginning of our trip. We dined together and then we stood in the hot sun together waiting for our referrals at the SDA before leaving for our regions. What a joy it was to follow their journey in country via their blog and then get to meet Dariya in person! How fun! We had supper at the Ukrainian Buffet together. I'm sure I had borsch and I think she had vereniki. :-) She did a great job at the restaurant after the exciting day she had. What a precious little girl! We hope to be able to see the Cannons again someday.
Coming up next....the trip HOME! Woohoo!!!
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| ....He wasn't overly thrilled with it though.... |
What I ended up doing was taking one of the older looking, thick bedspreads/comforters from the closet and laying that on the floor for him to play on. I felt bad it was going to have to be washed, but I really had no other option.
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| View out of the kitchen window. For a while, I couldn't figure out what the sand and the brick area was for. But then, I saw an owner taking a dog for a walk...ok, got it. :-) Not much grass around. But take a look at that "parking lot". The entrance was at the back left of the gray building. Hmmm...talk about being "parked in"! |
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Jonathan's first bath!!!
While he was not overly crazy about it, he did not shriek in terror like Elijah did for his first bath. It took a month or so home before J enjoyed his bath. I would not say that he LOVES them now, but tolerates them. Elijah on the other hand - he LOVES LOVES LOVES water! :-)
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| Naptime! I slept right next to him at night. He slept great! |
Vanya left town Thursday evening, and J and I slept in on Friday morning. My embassy appt wasn't until the afternoon, so we hung out for a while. With no computer, I watched TV, or tried to anyway. I think the only thing I watched was "English 911" or "English Club" or something like that. The show was teaching Russian speakers how to speak English. Hey, at least I could understand it! After teaching a few of my children phonics, I realized how incredibly difficult English must be to learn as a second language. But one thing I never thought about until watching this show was the difference between homework and housework. Big difference, but oh so confusing to a non-English learner. Something to think about...after spending so much time in Ukraine, I have learned languages, and the ability to understand them, are a true gift. It also gives me a whole new appreciation for Vanya and Kostya, my facilitators, and the work they do. Their English is absolutely perfect and never once did I not understand something they said. They were a joy to work with.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
FRIDAY, JULY 8
TWO big things happened on this day:
1. I got Jonathan's VISA so we could go HOME! Praise God!
2. Dariya was sprung from her orphanage and I got to meet her!!! YAY! (You have to check out her Gotcha Day video HERE.)
Pat and I met Jason and Rochelle Cannon at the beginning of our trip. We dined together and then we stood in the hot sun together waiting for our referrals at the SDA before leaving for our regions. What a joy it was to follow their journey in country via their blog and then get to meet Dariya in person! How fun! We had supper at the Ukrainian Buffet together. I'm sure I had borsch and I think she had vereniki. :-) She did a great job at the restaurant after the exciting day she had. What a precious little girl! We hope to be able to see the Cannons again someday.
And where was Jonathan during all of this? He was snuggled in the Ergo sleeping away. He might have woken up at the end, I don't remember. We were both a little lot sweaty by the time we got back to the apartment. It was over a mile walk uphill both ways...ha ha. But if you look at the picture below, you'll see the road going back up a hill far in the distance. My apartment was up there...somewhere.
Coming up next....the trip HOME! Woohoo!!!
1 comment:
Sweet memories my friend. Thankful God put you all in our adoption journey! I have pics of you and Jonathan from dinner that night. I will hunt them down and send you some.
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