Intourist Hotel Zaporizhzhya

During the last adoption, pretty much everything went smooth. Not this time! During a court hearing there is a "prosecuter". Well, before we even had a court hearing the "prosecuter" said he reviewed our homestudy and we were approved for up to 2 kids- not 3. We may not be able to adopt these three kids. We are talking about what our options are at this point.

Our facilitator will be meeting with the judge today to see when our court date will be. Yesterday, we ran around taking paperwork here and there. We get to meet with the kids from 4-6 P.M. each day. Everyone at the orphanage has been real nice and they allow us to take the kids outside to play. The two boys are a bundle of energy. The girl will be a big ...

... in our photo album. He asked, "Is that me?" Now the big unkown is whether we will get a court date before I have to leave next Sunday. I seriously doubt it. This will mean that I will have to call Delta and get a new date to travel home . I will also need to get the OK from my boss at work. Please continue to pray for us.

Trip Around Ukraine Monday, August 25, 2008. I made my way via the subway to Kiev's gigantic "Bogzal" (train station) to purchase a ticket for the first leg of my trip around Ukraine. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with my minimal Russian vocabulary I studied the departures and arrival boards for a suitable train to Poltava, my first stop. The Bogzal in Ukraine is akin to JFK Airport in NYC. This is Ukraine's transportation hub. Thousands of passengers pass ...

... culture shock!! I could not understand any of the signs around me, there was a sea of people walking in all directions and was surrounded by Slavics all around, Ukrainian and Russians. I felt like I was in a different world. I was not really there, I was merely an observer of that new place... it was surreal. I was so happy!! Somehow, this world awakened in me many memories ...

We left at 6am on Tuesday morning to go via Charles De Gaule to Kiev then catch a flight to Dnipro to be there for 10PM. We actually left at 6am to try to get to Charles De Gaule, took off late, missed connection and got to Kiev via Moscow (naturally minus our bags) to late to catch our flight to Dnipro. So 1 500km taxi and 8 hours ...

The highway that crosses the river is on the dam that makes all the power for Ukraine's main car manufacturer. Another quick pass through this unattractive city, and by now it had been 4 or 5 days since I've heard or spoken a word of English. This was also the HQ of the famous Cossacks with the original bowl-cut hair ...