June 8, 2011

This post is written by Slava

So many things have happened. First of all, we are back in Kiev but only for a short period of time. We had second interview and I think we found a nice boy. He’s cute and healthy. Alec is excited. He keeps talking about his brother like he’s already here with us. Tomorrow, June 9th, we are going back to the government office to pick up official documents for adoption and travel to Izmail where the boy is located. The city is in the middle of nowhere next to Romanian border. Hopefully will have something to write about once we get there.

We walked around Odessa on Saturday and Sunday (see pictures). It’s absolutely amazing, the opera house has been fully restored to its previous glory (over 300 kg of gold was used). We saw a kids opera on Sunday, Alec had a great time.

Yesterday was our last day in Odessa. I explored Odessa on foot. I walked by my old apartment where my family used to live. The building is in very bad shape. It looks like ghetto. I couldn’t believe it… It’s still have original 25 years old painting on the doors, mold on the walls and garbage all around. I was happy to get out of there as fast as I could. On the good note, I visited a barber shop where I used to go. To my surprise, I met the same barber who gave me a haircut for my wedding day. Amazing!! The guy is 78 years old!! He has worked there for 30 years now. He said that I look familiar as soon as I walked in. I had a haircut with shampoo for $6.50 including 25% tip. I also walked by my old school. It’s still there but in much better condition than I expected. I walked through the streets where I used to play with my friends and parents. Amazing!!! So many memories.

The day before, we went to the beach. It’s 100 grivnas for two chairs and two umbrellas (around $12-13). Alec had a great time, he found a friend and played with him the whole time.

In the evening our friends took us to Uzbek restaurant for dinner; very old style with live music and dance floor. We didn’t dance since we didn’t want to be late for the train. We ordered a bunch of stuff, some kind of soup with lamb and vegetables called shupra, meat and onion pirogi and lula-kebab (grounded meat on skewers). Alec has been enjoying eating in Ukraine the most. There are so many fresh fruits and vegetables, also meats, cheeses and many other great things. It all is sold in open air farmers markets from local farmers. The food tastes different. I think because it’s all natural and organic. Ukrainians do not have enough cash for fertilizers and pesticides. After dinner, we stopped to get dessert at local French style bakery. Pastries were amazing but kind of expensive by local standards. For 5 pastries and 3 coffee drinks we paid $20. All food prices at grocery stores and restaurants are about 30-40% cheaper than in US. Although, imported European and American foods are about the same price as in US.

After dinner, our friends took us to the train station. I was very impressed by the conditions of the train; very clean and comfortable (see attached pictures). We had our own compartment (4 beds, but only 3 of us) and paid $85 for all! We had a good night sleep from 11 PM till 6:30AM. The train made in to Kiev around 7:30 AM, right on time. Kiev train station is not handicap friendly. It’s not people friendly either. We had to carry our luggage to a second floor. No elevators or escalators. The driver who met us was a great help.

Another day in Kiev.   Hot... very hot. I do not know how many degrees outside. We are staying at the center of the city. Our agent found an apartment for us for $70 a night. One bedroom with queen-size bed, couch for Alec, full size kitchen, balcony and separate shower with toilet. Not bad at all.

Because our appointment was at 2 PM, we had time to explore Kiev. Our driver took us to Pecherskaya Lavra (http://www.kiev.info/culture/lavra.htm) it’s one of the largest active monasteries in Ukraine and Russia. It was built in 11th century and has a number of beautiful buildings. This trip, however, was exhausting. It required 3 hours of walking under 100 degree sun. The Lavra has underground caves where Russian saints were buried. To get in, Svetlana had to cover her head and wear a black smock (pictures are hilarious).

We bought precooked food at local cafeteria and had nice family dinner for about $20. Went to bed early, 10 PM.
More about our SDA appointment. We got a referral for a boy about 8.5 years old located in Izmail (about 4 hour drive from Odessa). We don’t know much about him and we will once we meet the officials. I will post soon. Enjoy the pictures