Back to Kiev!

We finally made it to Kiev!  It is so good to be here.  It is so different than Odessa too.  It almost feels like the U.S..  I must be getting delerious.  Kiev feels so much more upscale, probably because it is the capital city of Ukraine.  Our train ride was very nice.  We were on the same train our friends were on the day before us.  They said it was like being in hell fofr 13 hours, (the length of the ride,) and was around 100 degrees.  Brooke, the wife, was trying to recover from food poisoning so she must have really been suffering.  The next day, however, about an hour before we left for the train station, it began to rain.  When it rains here, it cools off quickly.  We were so fortunate to have a cool wind coming in the train.  We were rocked to sleep and found it difficult to get up in the morning.  It's nice to have an occasional pleasant experience amidst the chaos and stress of the adoption process.

We checked into the nicest apartment we have stayed in yet.  It has a strong wifi signal inside the apartment, plenty of sleeping space, two great air conditioners, a nice balcony and a nice kitchen.  And it is $10 cheaper per night than we expected.

OK.  Now for the bad news.  This morning as I was filling out papers for the embassy, I noticed that Katya's international passport had her date of birth wrong!  That was a shock.  It has to be applied for in Odessa, processed in Kiev, then sent back to Odessa to be stamped and picked up.  This is usually a three to four day process.  We went ahead and went to the embassy to see if there was anything we could do to still make our Tuesday the 19th flight home.  I was leaking tears the whole time.  This was just too much.  They said the passport has to be reissued.  The embassy ladies said they would stay open longer for us on Monday if we can get the new passport off the plane from Odessa by about 2:00 p.m. Monday and rush it over to them.  Then maybe, maybe, we can get the visa issued on Monday.  PLEASE PRAY!!!!!  Another delay will cost us $500 (at least,) and we don't know if we can re-schedule tickets that late.  It could delay us much longer.

So, we came back to the apartment, rested and took a walk around our new neighborhood.  I will add pictures below.

At the train station as we head for Kiev.

Having fun Pee Wee Herman style on the train.

The girls on the upper bunks of the coupe.

Our apartment entrance in Kiev.  I sure don't know how anyone initially finds these apartments.  There is no sign above it or anything.

Beautiful buildings in Kiev.  There are so many here.

I thought this building was very cool so I took a quick picture as we passed by.  I didn't notice the bus until I uploaded the pictures to the computer.  I wish I could tell you about it.  I guess it's just floating there in the air!

In a park near our apartment.  This is a plaster face in a tree.

Hannah playing with the water.  Katya isn't in many pictures because she loves to do the picture taking.

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This is a walk we took in Odessa with my friend Michelle (you probably know her by sight by now.)  I forgot about these pictures so I'll put them in here.  This was the day before we left Odessa.  This is a cool looking structure near the sea port.  It reminds me of the building Hercules knocked over accidently in the Disney cartoon.

This is bridge where couples who are to marry visit.  They hang padlocks on the bars to symbolize their devotion and unbreakable bond in marriage (I think.)

There are hundreds, maby even thousands of pad locks.  The couples sometimes have their names engraved on the locks.  There are some locks with smaller locks attached.  These represent the children the couple had.

This is the house with one wall.  An Odessan oddity.

That's all for now.  We have some time to wander this weekend so I'll try to get some more cool pictures.  Please keep praying, and thank you for all your prayers so far.  Without them I think we'd have vanished into a black hole!

Love - Sarah