Tuesday, May31

Today began slower than most days so far.  There was no paper work for me to do, so Hannah and I slept in.  We accidently met an Australian gentleman as we were greeting our missionary friends.  He thought we were greeting him, so we just took him into our group.  I suppose whenever one hears their own language spoken in a foreign country they want to speak with that person.  After Hannah got bored with our adult conversation and left for the room, I took her to the grocery store to help me with carry bags back. 

We met Katya and her school mates for their shopping spree after lunch.  We took a bus to a central shopping area, I forget what it's called (Chris, what is it?)  It reminded me of Canton, only the items for sale are practical items, food and clothing.  Each girl received about $45 from a teacher to buy clothes.  I've never been on such a fast shopping spree - barring Christmas eve!  Those girls shop 100 mph!  It was not the least bit enjoyable.  Hannah and I may return by ourselves so we can at least see the shops.

Katya seems to be a caretaker of the other girls.  I feel like she is not swayed by her peers.  I had to do my first "mom" thing though, and tell her she should buy something I would allow her to wear in the U.S..  Then I had to explain what I meant.  She took it very well.  I sense that she will be easy to work with, but time will tell.

I will post some random pictures today.

Yuri and Hannah waiting in a government office.  (It's not usually fun.)

Me waiting in a government office. 

Drew and Hannah waiting in a government office.

The intrance to our hotel In Odessa.

The Opera House.  We saw a ballet here.  Tickets can be purchased for $3 - $20.  And it's so beautiful.  I had lots of gold-leaf on all the inside walls.

This guy was just too cute!  He was so little, but he could really handle that machine!

The only Lutheran church in the city.  Therefore known as 'The Lutheran Church.'  Could somebody photoshop the wires out of the picture?  It is such a beautiful building!

The evangelical church I visited last Sunday.

Pastor Sergey and the translator, Naisy, which rhymes with daisy (her nickname for Anastasia.)

 At the market (maybe called the Provos?)

We may do nothing tomorrow,  Perhaps I'll get more shoe pictures.  I can't wait to show you my collection of crazy shoes.  Perhaps I'll have to get myself a pair!  Until tomorrow - goodnight!

Sarah

Monday, May30

Drew left for home this morning.  Thank goodness for technology!  I am so in touch with almost anyone that I will not be alone in this for a minute.  I want to back up and cover some interesting things from our "non-blogging" days.  The country side is beautiful between Kiev and Odessa.  Field after field was blanketed with yellow flowers and the sky was so blue.  Yuri told us this is why the Ukranian flag is blue on top and yellow on bottom.  The scenery looks so much like the flag.

In the cities, people drive and park on the sidewalks.

The cities are pretty run down too.  We took a walk along back roads to a grocery store (kind of like Wal-Mart!) and I took pictures of a public school and the playground.

There is construction every where in the city of Odessa.  I keep asking why and no one gives me much of an answer.  It would appear that they have the money to build, but all the buildings are so broken and run down.  And the economy is bad here.  I believe it ranks next to the poorest level in the world.  There are little stands every where in the city that sell all kinds of things.  They have flowers, cigarettes, vegetables, shoes, batteries, souvenirs.  Just about anything you can imagine.  And they are always busy.  People seem to buy lots of stuff.  I really do not understand and maybe never will, but it is interesting to ponder.

I got to visit with Katya again today.  I got permission to go shopping with the girls and teachers in her class tomorrow afternoon.  I am looking forward to buying some things for her.

On the bus back to our hotel, I met two ladies that spoke English.  Both were so happy to talk with me.  I am really struck by the friendliness of most people.  They are so much more accepting then I thought they would be.

I am getting brave and taking pictures of ladies' shoes when I can.  After I get enough, I'll post them. 

Enough for tonight.  I hope you are enjoying reading our blog.  There's so much more to tell too.  Until then, the Lord be with you!

Sarah

Sunday, May 29

The sun rose at 4:40 a.m. again, but we are finally getting used to sleeping in the light.  We slept well last night, then got up and went to church with one the teachers at the orphanage.  There was a translator (thank goodness!) and the service was great.  It was 2 hours and they even sang I Can Only Imagine.  I was told it is an evangelical church, but I'm not really sure what they mean by that.    After church, we walked all over Odessa after that looking for a place to eat lunch.

Odessa is a port town.  It apparently attracts tourists during the summer and it is absolutely beautiful!  There are fragrant flowers everywhere and they have Acacia trees all over the city.  I have been trying to figure out the mentality of the society here (like that's even possible with what little time we have here in this ancient culture!)  People seem to tolerate each other with a sort of indifference.  They seem to act as a collective body and understand the hardships they all share.  They are very into their own worlds though.  Perhaps survivalists.  There is so much to them.

There are missionaries from South Carolina staying at our hotel.  God has been providing people all the way as we move through this process.  He is so amazing!  I hope to learn more about them and their ministries.

Tomorrow morning Drew leaves us.  He will fly out of Kiev Tuesday.  I will very much miss him.  Katya has been bonding well with both of us (and Hannah) so we will have good company here.  Tomorrow Katya gets medical exams and we might get our court date.  We may in court this week, which will begin a 10 day waiting period where more red tape happens.  THEN we get to have her officially.

We must sleep so I will sign off and try once more to attach some pictures.

Our love to you all!

Saturday, May 28

I can't believe the whole week got away without us entering one blog!  It's been a very busy week.  We spent much of it driving around signing papers and waiting in government offices, signing more papers and waiting for signatures and so on and so forth.  We stayed in Kiev until Wednesday morning because our apartment was not available in Odessa until then, so we walked the streets and took in the culture. 


Kiev is a large city and is the capital of Ukraine.  People walk around everywhere, all the time.  They are much more connected in some ways than we are in America.  They are very social and much to my surprise, very nice people (for the most part.)  They are economically poor but wear their wealth.  Looking at them, you'd think they had plenty of money.  It is, however, the fashion capital of the world I've been told.  Especially the shoes they wear.  If people wouldn't think I was really weird, I'd take pictures of their feet to show you how bizarre some of the fashions are here.  Maybe I'll get brave.

Anyway, we travelled early Wednesday morning to Odessa, where the orphanage is.  We drove for 5 hours to get here and spent most of the day doing paperwork.  Then, we got to meet Katya!  Finally!  She was ready for our arrival and told the director right away she wanted the adoption.  Usually it takes several days to get to know the child before you get a "yes," but since we had been in contact with her since January, we already had a relationship of sorts.  We have been to the orphanage every day this week after her school and spent all afternoon with her today.  One of the sponsors at the orphanage had an end of year picnic for her class so we got to attend and spend time with several of the orphans.

I must stop typing here because typing is painful, but I promise to blog more often, hopefully most every day during the trip.  I miss you all and my home, but there is so much more to see and achieve here.  I have met people from other churches who help orphans and I need to tell you more about them too.  And the country is beautiful!  I can't wait to write about it all and download some pictures for you.  Until then - God bless you our friends! - Sarah

                            

A Deeper Look At Kiev

Our SDA oppointment was today.  It went very well, but I don't speak Russian/Ukrainian so it was hard to keep up.  I was very suprised when I saw the goverment lady wearing jeans, a tee-shirt and enormus high-heels, so I guess I wore a skirt for a big fat nothing.  After everything was taken care of, Yuri took us on a tour of Kiev.  We started out by taking a look at some beautiful buildings.  Many of them had gold colored roofs and blue, or some other colored walls.  Then came my favorite part.  We went into the catacombs of the catholic church and saw the glass coffins of some dead saints. (And watched people kiss them.)  My mom and I had to wear these old rugged looking cloaks and scarves over our heads.(If I can figure out how, I'll post some pictures.)  One of the coffins had an 800 year old hand sticking out of it.  Sometimes, people will lift up the coffin top and kiss it!!!  Talk about yuck!  We came out after living with the smell of horrible candles, and saw some monument of world war 2.  There were tanks, helecopters, and statues.
Later, we came back and called Katya.  You wouldn't believe how excited she was and did't want to say goodbye.  So please just keep praying and we miss every one back at home.

Thanks for reading!
-Hannah-

We arrive in Kiev

Today is our 1st full day in Kiev. Our very first flight the Chicago was delayed. We spent a good deal of time during that flight worrying if we would make our connecting flight to Dusseldorf. We hit the ground in a dead run and as God would have it, the departure gate was just close enough for us to make it by final boarding call. The reamaining flights went smoothly and we connected with Olag outside of the airport. Olag is a man of few words but I did manage to get a smile and a laugh or two out of him (Chris you are right about his driving). We stopped at a store on the way to our hotel and bought some water and a few essentials. By the time we arrived at our hotel we were all so sleep deprived that immediately went to sleep. I don't think any of us have any idea how long we slept but we seemed to wake up refreshed and ready to explore. Sarah has been taking Russian lessions and I thought that I would be relying heavily on her to communicate but I find that I seem to be able to get my message across so far. Most of the people that we have interacted with know a little english. I have never been this far away from home or in a non-english speaking country for that matter but I have a very peaceful feeling that this is where God wants us to be and I find much joy in knowing how much we are in his hands right now. Our SDA date is tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. . Please pray that things will go smoothly so we can be on our way to the orphanage.   In Christ

Off we go!

All of our planing and preparation has finally come to the place where we feel God is leading us. We are about to do so many things that we have never done before. Please pray that God will watch over us in the coming days. So many things that are in his hands which is  good thing but also frightful at times. As we  spend time in a strange land, I hope that I remember how it feels and what it will feel like for our new child as their change will be permanent. We have received so much support from everybody and are so grateful to all of you. We will try to be somewhat regular with our posts and hope that they are enjoyed as much as we enjoyed previous ones. God is good !   In Him.