Druzhba Luhansk

Arno Writing: The court hearing went well, and after a mandatory 10 day wait we will be able to take Anastasia from the orphanage. The judge was nice and even joked at times. Before we started Luba said it was customary for the man to answer most of the questions. When we got started I was asked to stand and the judge asked me some basic questions and then told me to sit down. For almost the rest of the hour hearing Lancie had to speak. She did well, though. After the ...

Arno writing: We were treated to a Christmas play at the orphanage. Camera men kept geting in front of us so we couldn't get a real good view. Afterwards we took presents for Anastasia's class to them. They were so thrilled. I was taking in the moment so much Lancie had to remind me to film some. You should have seen the faces of the kids! I don't think the kids ever got ...

Arno writing: It's Christmas Eve and the sun has come out as a present. We went shopping yesterday to buy some clothes for Anastasia. The clothes we saw were not really cheaper compared to the U.S. We saw an "English" pub, but they did not have an English menu. We also saw a German restaurant, but their menu was only in Russian. We've only found one restaurant with an English menu, but we've fared well. Anastasia has a swollen mouth today, probably from ...

Arno writing: We woke up this morning and it had snowed last night. There was around 1-2 inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing pretty hard. We saw the sun yesterday for the first time for around 60 minutes; Then it went away. :( Lancie writing: Your absolutely right Suzy! Anastasia was a Russian princess. Matter-of-fact, I think it was Disney that made a movie called "Anastasia". Actually when we were told Anastasia's name, my first reaction was, "What ...

Arno writing: It's Saturday here so there's nothing we can do adoption wise. Luba asked us if we wanted to go an hour out of town to a monastery. We jumped at the opportunity to do some sightseeing. The city of Severdonetsk just seems to connect to the surrounding citites. There seems to be miles of apartment buildings that are run down. Frequently people will hang their laundry on the balconies to dry. After 50 minues of driving we came to ...

Lancie writing: Yesterday we hit the jackpot. We walked around exploring and found a Target/ Supermarket, a beautiful church, and an outdoor market. I don't know if the Target is owned by the same company in the states, but it is new and similar. It even has a cafe that Arno likes to eat at. It has a giant Christmas tree as tall as the building. We went to the outdoor market and bought some apples ...

Sunday: Lancie writing- On Sundays all the people come out- it is the only day school is out and most people are off work. We discovered a very large (very packed) outdoor market. We will go back during the week to see if it is crowded. Our facilitator, Luba, left last night to go back to Kiev for a meeting with a US agency and some diplomats regarding adoption of older children. So, Arno and I are on our own for a few days. It's OK- we know our way around. We know ...

Saturday 12/8/07 Lancie writing- Yesterday, visiting with Anastasia, we began teaching her the phrases, "Who is..." and "What is...". She has learned "My name is Anastasia". Still working on family names- they are difficult to remember. She is catching on, though. She finally understood she has brothers, but then saw the picture of Christian's grave marker and reacted very sadly. She is quite excited about Babushka and Diadushka (Grandma and Grandpa). She is beginning to match the same ...

Friday, Dec. 7th, Lancie writing: Hello! All is well here. Paperwork for the adoption is moving along smoothly. Yesterday we spent the morning attending to paperwork, traveling various places in town to get paperwork started and notarized. The notary process is much more complicated here, than in the states. We have a favorite restaurant we visit each day for lunch and dinner, right next door to the hotel. It is very nice. There is a coat-check, singers (quite good) each evening, sit-down ...

... wanted a better car. I followed two women through abuot 8 cars (at this point having no idea what was going on) - until they opened one of the luxury cars. It had only 2 beds (they assured me I would have the whole compartment to myself), a television, nice linens, cool air, nice scent, etc. At first I thought I have been mistaken, and that this WAS my car since I had paid a lot for this particular ticket. However, one of the women turned to me and said "1015 rubles" - which ...