Monday Monday...

How do I get outside?




April 29th - at the ballet - a very, very beautiful theatre






In between acts





Ivanna is getting more bold with her colouring and trying new hues






Looking through our album for the first time



So, it is my (Darren) turn to update you on our lives here. Where did we leave off? I think it was before supper yesterday. We had another nice supper of fried salami in tomato, pepper, and eggplant sauce with bread before heading off to the theatre by metro. We arrived there with only a couple of minutes to spare and quickly found our seats in a box on the second balcony overlooking the symphony. The show was comprised of two one-act ballets: one concerning a sultan, war-mongering, lovers, and mass-murder (as all good ballets do), the other starring a young man chasing true love, trying to fight against the cynical and hollow path of his father (and most others). Some of the dancing was quite spectacular, but really, I am much more moved by the music and musicians. It was almost enough to inspire me to pick up my trumpet again. There really is nothing like a live symphony in a beautiful theatre.
Afterwards, we headed back home to pick up the computer and then headed to Mario’s. Unfortunately, it was closed and we had to post from outside the front window (where we still had very good wi-fi reception). We should have taken a picture of the three of us huddled up on the step after 10pm, looking intently at the computer screen. Well, now we know: get to Mario’s before 9:30. Later at home, Jonathan read aloud the first few chapters of Prince Caspian. (S – he has instructed us to read a chapter a night of that and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, if we do so, by the time we are done both books, we should be home or nearly there – if we can’t limit ourselves to one chapter a day of CS Lewis).
Today, we got up around 7 when Tanis called. All a bit sad because of Jonathan imminent departure, we kind of dragged around. Jonathan read us another chapter of Prince Caspian and then we all headed out to the train station – one last chance for Jonathan to babysit us in getting train tickets (which Shona requested beautifully in Russian all by herself). After a short and teary goodbye, Jonathan headed off to shop a bit more and Shona and I got onto another overloaded train. We had thought that Saturday was an exception and that everyone heading out to their dachas would be gone by now. Not so. We got wedged into the doorway adjoining two of the cars and swayed along with the other sardines. (S – Really I thought there was no room for anyone else but the swaying mass was able to move at least 6 inches in each direction with the train – so probably a few more could technically have come on). For a few moments we were not sure how our exit would go (S – I was sure we were wedged there forever and starting to have a panic attack). We were pretty much welded to the steel door – the handle nearly a new addition to my sacrum. Thankfully, before the stop before ours, a few people started squeezing toward the exit. We just followed a woman who had been pushed up against me for much of the trip, and got ourselves squished up against the wall beside the exit by the time we left the stop before ours. At that stop a young woman and her young daughter (probably about 5) wedged on beside us. I felt bad for the little girl surrounded by bums, facing her mom who calmly spoke to her in low tones. I craned my face to smile at her and wave shortly before our exit and she smiled back. Maybe she’s used to that sort of thing. I remember the church foyer at Greystone when I was little, walking through a sea of legs, trying to find the right pants to which to cling. That was one thing, but I don’t think I would have dealt well with a packed train, if I weren’t tall enough to see over most people. (S – On a happy shoe note, I have decided that maybe my feet can tolerate the crazy pointy-spiky high heeled shoes that women wear all the time here after all, as I spent much of the 45 minute trip on my tippy-toes and my feet survived).
When we got to the orphanage, we again tried to call Slava to have her ask the person at the desk to get Ivanna for us. The phone didn’t work – it seems we need to buy more credits in order to make calls (I think we can still receive calls though). So, we muddled through and eventually got someone to call Tatianna (the head nurse in charge of adoptions). It worked out and a caregiver soon brought Ivanna down to us. Through a combination of signs and words, she told us that Ivanna should not go outside today because of her cough and cold (which did seem a bit more productive today – what is the world record for snot production in a 2 year old?). We tried to go up to the playroom but it was locked, so we ended up hanging around in the foyer of the orphanage, which does not really hold much fun for a little girl who really wants to go outside. Shona and I did our best to entertain her with pictures, markers, bubbles (thankfully, we bought some yesterday), food, drink, and the window (which she tried to walk right through in her desperation to go out). But by 11:20, Ivanna was done with our distractions and starting to fuss a bit. So, rather than stoically push through to the time limit, we took her back upstairs and said a pleasant good-bye. I think my favourite moment in our time together today was when Ivanna pointed to a picture of me and said “Dada”. Yes, that feels really good.
Afterwards we headed home on a much less crowded train (although we did not get seats until near Kyiv) and had a brief sort-of (considering his lack of English and our lack of Ukrainian/Russian) conversation with a nice gentleman about us being Canadian and ‘tourista’. We had shawarma, a few tears (well, one of us did) in seeing Jonathan’s note and special treats (ice cream, his favorite chocolate bar, cookies and herbs/spices – we’ve been cooking without so far) he left for us at the apartment (it is amazing how 400 sq ft can feel too big and just a bit less homey now), and a nap, and then did a little yoga. We are now going to Mario’s for supper and possibly a little shopping.
S - Jonathan, we are going to try to continue to go out and about and not just mope in our apartment – we just may not be out and about quite as much as when you were with us. Yes, we are feeling a little down (the silence in our little place is hard - Jonathan was always making some kind of noise!!:) But looking at the pictures of our darling girl, we know we can do this for her – even if it’s hard at times.
Paka for now.

Well, I sit here, feeling a little glum as we’ve just spent the last hour or so, packing Jonathan’s bags. He came with one small one and is going home with one of ours and a purchased bag as well. No, he didn’t buy a ton of stuff – he’s taking home some of the things we (Darren and I) have purchased as well as some of the clothes I brought that I don’t think I’ll wear and almost all of our art. We’re keeping one piece to take home ourselves. Neither Jonathan nor I slept well last night, so I’m flagging a bit (it’s 5 PM here) but he continues to be the energizer bunny. This morning we went to the other church we’d found out about last week – Kyiv International Bible Church. It was in English (which I really appreciated – it’s amazing how tiring and confusing it is to never understand what’s being said around you)! The music was fairly good and the preaching was much better than last week (and I don’t think I’m just being biased by the language). The church has a lot of Americans but also has people who speak Chinese, Farsi, Ukrainian and Russian. They seem to be very Biblically based and have lots of different areas of ministry. It is a relatively small church and the people were very friendly (although both Darren and I were very glad for our extroverted brother’s presence when the pastor asked visitors to stand up and introduce ourselves). I think we may go back there – it’s only 6 metro stops away from ours so it doesn’t take that long to get there. There’s also a really nice little outdoor market outside the metro station so we stopped for Shawarma again (not as good as our favorite guy who’s place is a few blocks away from us, but still pretty good.) and wandered the market a bit. We then headed downtown for Jonathan to pick up a few things to take home and stopped at the TSUM (Central Universal Magazine – basically a big department store) and bought a few shirts for Ivanna. I think most of the pants and other things we bought her should fit, but knowing how kids get shirts dirty, I wanted to pick up a few more (besides she needed a little more pink in her wardrobe). It was fun to buy her things (it sure makes it easier to shop now, knowing her size and sex!). We took the metro to our grocery store to get a few groceries and are back at the apartment. Since Jonathan is basically packed, he’s making supper, Darren’s watching TV and I’m writing to you in anticipation of going out for dessert and coffee at Mario’s after the ballet tonight. We are looking forward to going to the ballet – hopefully it will be good (Jonathan’s not exactly sure about this ballet – it is actually two 1act ballets). We haven’t yet heard from Slava so we aren’t sure if we go out to the orphanage tomorrow or not (The next 4 days are holidays to celebrate May Day). I hope we get to go out either Monday or Tuesday – 4 days away from her is just too much. We still also haven’t heard about our court date and are expecting if this holiday may delay that. We are trying to keep our spirits up but are definitely feeling quite sad about Jonathan leaving (while we are glad for him to go home to his family, it’s hard to think of doing this all on our own again – it’s a bit daunting). Anyway, so as not to end on a sad note, I will plan to add more to this later. For now, paka.

jonathan: yeah, though I am very glad to be going home to my gracious wife and family there, I am sad to be leaving these guys. I know they’re gonna be a bit down when I go too, so now is the time to be writing lots of comments and emailing them and praying like you have before: fervently and effectively. They are really very well established here, for foreigners, and I have every confidence in their abilities to get all they need.

Well, we were too late for Mario's so we're sitting out on their step to post this. Hope it gets on.

Saturday's Train Adventure

Of course, this was followed by the perfect smile from Ivanna.

A brief excursion away from the swings led to Ivanna driving a car like her mommy.

I'll take what's in the box.

One at a time is not her forte, but she certainly enjoys putting the lids back on after she's had her fill.

St. Michael's Monastery, or a small part of it. Kyiv truly is a lovely city, with a great history. It is clean and feels much safer than Moscow.

Good evening (at least for us it is). I am sitting in our apartment (we are finding it easier to write here and then just copy it to the blog – more time to actually talk over dinner or coffee then instead of just staring antisocially at the computer). The boys have stopped at our little corner grocery store to grab some food for supper and I came home as my feet are tired from walking tons today (and I had to pee!). We got to go out to the orphanage today – despite it being a Saturday (or maybe we’ll get to each week – we are not sure). It seems that each day is better than the previous one. We took the train again today – it was even more of an adventure than yesterday. The seats were all pretty much full by the time we got there (25 minutes early) so we decided to stand at the entrance of one of the cars. Well, by the time the train left, the car was full: as in the seats were full and people were standing throughout, including the entrance area where we were. (BTW, this is not like “standing room only” at home; there is no ‘personal space’; everyone is touching at least a couple of other people). It was packed (or so I thought) with people, luggage and a rat in a cage (because it’s a holiday weekend we figure people were heading out to dachas etc…). We each had a little breathing space – but not much. I wondered what would happen when we reached the next few stops. Well, apparently, the train was not full after all, as at the next few stops, despite there really being no room – more people (5-10 at each stop and at every entrance to the train) pushed their way on. It was remarkable (kinda like: how many marshmallows can you put in your mouth at once? You can always squeeze another one in). People got a little heated with the cramped quarters and Jonathan was amused by a ‘discussion’ occurring between a few people (one younger man and an older baba especially). I couldn’t understand, but I could tell people were upset by the crowded conditions. It was definitely the most snuggly I’ve gotten with strangers in a long time – oh, wait, probably ever! (j: Riding the train becomes an intimate experience: I really don’t like knowing my thigh is between another person’s buttcheeks, but so is everyone else’s.) Anyway, we made it without being crushed – and it was lovely to get some fresh air and personal space back when we arrived in Boyarka.
We had a great visit with Ivanna. She is showing us each day that she is becoming more comfortable with us and that she is starting to trust us. After we walked a brief while and had our ritual swing, (we bribed her off with a snack again), Ivanna showed a little more initiative by taking us for a long walk all over the yard. We ended up near the entrance the orphanage workers usually use with the children. In the neighbour’s yard is a chicken coop with three (we think) chickens. She was quite entranced by the Kooritsa – at least until one of them came right up to the wire fence and she backed up into me and said ‘mama’ (at least, that’s what I heard). My heart could burst. She wasn’t completely freaked out though because we could barely woo her away from the fence! She threw a minor little temper tantrum (stamping both her feet on the ground and vocalizing unhappily) when we wouldn’t let her into her regular entrance to the building (we still had 15 minutes or so and weren’t about to give that up!). As we were packing up to head in, we saw her most animated display yet as another couple from the states came out with their daughter and older son. The boy went running off to play on the playground equipment and Ivanna took off after him and followed him up a large slide (with help from her mama who was having a minor heart attack at her trying to climb up the ladder which had 1/3 of the rungs missing). Darren caught her at the bottom and she was off again. Eventually we really had to take her back (I hate that part) and so Darren picked her up and in we went. As we took her to her living area (because no nurses were around to take her) she waved goodbye and blew kisses to her uncle jonathan for the first time. I hope she’ll remember him when we get home.
The train back home was a little more spacious, though we stood for most of the ride. We then had a soft ice cream appetizer and headed to Mario’s for lunch, where we posted the early blog, ate, emailed and posted pictures (the boys made me wait to post info. about today until now-they figure that spacing out the postings will feed addictions to our blog). After lunch we stopped briefly at home to dump my bag of kid stuff then headed back to look for art. Saturday is apparently a much better day as there were more people out with their paintings. The paintings that we had thought we’d missed out on (when we were there yesterday, the 2 paintings Darren and I had decided to buy, weren’t there anymore and we thought had been purchased) were there! Yay! So we bought more art today. I could just keep buying, but Darren thinks we should be done for now. It’s just so hard to stop buying because equivalent stuff at home is really so ridiculously expensive! After jonathan also bought another piece, we headed home because we were pretty much out of the money we’d brought. We took the metro home and Jonathan is now cooking us supper. We plan to go out for dessert later so we can post this. We have no firm plans for tomorrow except to go to the ballet. We may try another church or just wander the city. There are definitely a lot more people around for the rallies and upcoming holiday, so the next few days should be interesting. We’re hoping to catch the parade on May Day.
We are feeling quite settled here (we are able to get around and find our way on foot and in the metro, as well as have found some great eats), but we still miss home immensely. Your comments and emails make us feel very loved and supported: they bring us great joy (although I’m still a bawling baby when I read the comments and emails!). Thank you.

Pictures with jonathan's (& darren's) comments

She likes the shades, but has a bit of a time putting them on. Today she was smiling lots when S&D put them on her properly though. (I really like it when she smiles at me -- D :)

Ivanna found something very interesting over where I was sitting, but it was definitely not me; ever time I took out the camera, she looked away.

I figured Ivanna wanted to get into the stroller, but Darren wasn't getting it yet. She didn't say anything, just looked back and forth from stroller to Darren. The bear ended up getting the ride for now.

And back to the swings: definitely the favourite part of the orphanage playground. Oh, as an aside: today there was another little kid on the swings as D&S&Ivanna went by. He just stared after them saying "with Mama and Papa; she's with Mama and Papa." (I think this is where we're all supposed to cry). Those are the times it is hard to not be bringing back the whole lot of 'em.

Be very very thankful that you will never NEED to do this in your retirement. Close to the flat; these Baba's are selling their veggies so that they can get by.

Good morning Saturday (Friday's Post)

Hello all. I (Shona) am sitting in our kitchen writiing our update while Jonathan cooks our supper. I think I would like having him for a full-time cook. Tanis you are a very lucky woman! I am definitely taking full advantage of him while he is here – I haven’t stepped near the stove, other than to heat water for coffee or tea (I do realize I am spoiled – but I have washed the dishes). Anyway, we have had another good day. We took the ‘elektrichka’ out to Boyarka today (Jonathan was a big help, but really other than the language barrier – apparently most train systems are pretty similar so I felt pretty good about using the train). The train was quite busy and the interesting thing was there was a relatively constant stream of people coming through the train to sell stuff – everything from the newspaper to hand cream to pens to ice cream – certainly not something we’d see back home. Other than getting off at the wrong stop initially, realizing it, and having to rapidly hop back on the train – we made it fine. It is about a 10 minute brisk walk from the train station to the orphanage. And it only costs 4.27 Greevny – RETURN, per person – so for those of you who don’t know the value of the Greevny – that’s essentially $1. Their public transportation system here is really cheap and is well used. We haven’t decided if we’ll continue to use the train when we don’t have Slava with us or if we’ll just pay our driver to take us. It’s definitely more of an adventure to take the train (other than getting to be amused in the car by the traffic). We had a lovely visit with Ivanna that started out without her pouting or crying when she saw us waiting for her. That was nice. It was a gorgeous day today so we played outside. She is definitely feeling more comfortable with us – she was more active (though still sedate compared to some of the hyper-active kids we observe) and certainly letting us know what she wanted to do today. She led us around on a bit of a walk first then back to the swings. Big surprise. We may have to get a swing set in the back yard! We managed to bribe her off with a snack before she fell asleep this time. She then went for a little walk with her Daddy – it was pretty wonderful to watch her holding his hand, leading him where she wanted to go. They found a rickety stroller that she started pushing her teddy bear around in and then eventually we (her slow parents) figured out (with her wise uncle’s help) that she wanted to go IN the stroller and be pushed around. Her Daddy complied and pushed her around for most of the rest of our time with her – it was quite a challenge as a rear wheel kept falling off and the frame wasn’t exactly solid either. She threw her first minor temper tantrum with us as we took her out of the stroller when it was time to go. Who would think we’d be happy to have her kicking and crying – definitely letting us know what she did and didn’t want! She settled pretty quickly when we let her push the stoller toward the door (but still wasn’t happy to let GO of the stroller – we had to pry her little fingers off!). It’s quite lovely to have her being a little more active and directive in her play. We’ve been told by Slava that we get to go out again on Saturday but that the 4 days after that are holidays. She’s going to try to arrange for us to go out anyway- 4 days away is a little much time apart – especially right now.
This afternoon we wandered back to the artisans district and bought some art. It was a gorgeous afternoon. The blog site wouldn’t let me post anything new so I came home after checking email (the boys had gone to the store for supper fixin’s). We are now relaxing after a great supper. Hopefully we’ll be able to post this tomorrow.
yup.

Out and about in Kyiv

St. Andrew's Cathedral
April 26th, 2007 - playing outside again today. She mostly 'walked' the trike (with some help) but the ground was far from smooth!
Out and about - I don't remember exactly where we are!
This is for Dale Kary - a fighter pilot's helmet - found in one of the kiosks of people selling things in the artisan's district.
Art, glorious art...we found some amazing pictures! This little lane goes on for quite a while and is filled with various artists work. A lovely place to walk on such a beautiful day. (St. Andrew's Cathedral in the background)

So, here I am, sitting in Mario's again by myself. The boys think I'm too wordy or something so they have gone to the store to find some dessert. I sit here with a 'cafe americano - with milk' with a hockey game playing on the TV (not that I really care any more about hockey than I normally do, just because I'm so far away from home though!). We have had a good day. To ease your minds, we have talked both to Slava and to Lesya about the missing document and they have both reassured us that really, if it can't be found, everything will be fine and it won't affect the adoption. They are continuing to gather our documents and hopefully we'll hear before Jonathan leaves Monday when our court date will be. This morning we spent some time in the car with Slava and Vadim driving around (it seemed like in circles) to deal with documents for another couple who's adoption has fallen through (an older girl who has chosen not to be adopted). It was a bit frustrating but we also felt for this other couple. We ended up at the orphanage around 10:30 and so got to spend about an hour with Ivanna. We spent some time walking around, riding (walking) a trike, swinging (until she started to fall asleep again - so she sat in my lap for a while sleeping until a worker told me I was too heavy for the swing and we had to get off), having a snack (animal cookies, gummy candies and juice - nutrition will have to wait until we are home - for now, we bribe her to like us with sweets!!!) and then the best part of the day was when we were walking her back into the orphanage she was holding each of our hands. We had to 'jump' her over a low hedge and she had the hugest grin on her face after! It was priceless. We turned around and Jonathan got her smiling on the video camera as we swung her a few more times. She actually started to laugh a little! Her darling little face just lights up when she smiles - it just warmed our hearts. Darren said it was worth having the video camera just for that alone. Anyway, we then headed back into Kyiv and then the 3 of us took the Metro to the artisans area near St. Andrew's Cathedral. We bought a few souvenirs and found 'Jonathan's' artist - we plan to go back tomorrow or the weekend to buy some pictures. Good art is so much cheaper here than at home! We then wandered from there and ended up back at home - a long walk, but such a gorgeous day to be out and about. We came to Mario's for supper and plan to head back to the apartment for dessert. Tomorrow we will attempt to take the 'electrichka' or electric train out to the orphanage - we think we have it figured out and it's very cheap transportation! It will be an adventure and we are thankful Jonathan is here to help us find our way.
Thank you all for you comments and love and support. Darren and I are feeling more at home and comfortable with the city, language (sort-of) and people/culture. Jonathan has been a tremendous help to us for that. I can finally count to 8 (we are working on 9 and 10) and am able to at least say my pleases and thank you's. We are feeling like we will survive his (Jonathan's) going home and continue to enjoy this place - even if not quite as fully as when he has been here. We have tickets for the 3 of us for the ballet on Sunday (his last night here) - so that will be wonderful. Anyway, much love to everyone back home. Paka!

Feast or Famine.

So it seems as though we end up sending many, many posts when we have the chance, and then leave you all in much suspense when we can't access the internet! Mario's WIFI is up and running again so I (Shona) sit here writing to you today. Darren is back at the apartment and Jonathan, who was here with me, has gone to the store to get food for supper. :) Have I mentioned that I REALLY like this place (especially when the internet is working!)? Anyway, to let you know about today (I need to think and write as briefly as Darren (good luck) as I've been given a curfew to be back at the apartment by 6PM. The boys are taking good care of me! :)). So, this morning, Darren and I were picked up around 9 to head out to Boyarka to spend some time with Ivanna. She was brought up to us wearing a heavy snowsuit again so Slava told me to take it off of her and they would bring her a lighter jacket (it was a lovely day today - mid teens). She started to cry again (like yesterday) when we took off her snowsuit - again I think she thought she wouldn't get to go outside. She settle relatively quickly (with the help of her teddy bear) and we waited for the deputy director to present our gift to the orphanage. Eventually, we delt with the formalities (we still haven't met the Director to present our papers permitting us to visit Ivanna!!! - apparently that's not as big a deal as we thought) and got to go outside to play today. It was a beautiful day and there were many children playing outside (some with nurses and some with adoptive parents - mostly Italian and French). It was fun to see her explore and take everything in. She is a fairly tentative child and pretty calm compared to many of the children at the orphanage we've obsered. She seems alot like Darren was as a child - quiet, introverted but curious. She watches and notices everything. We discovered that she likes swings! We spent much of our time with her pushing her gently on the swing and each time we tried to get her to go somewhere else she would cry. Eventually though we could tell she was falling asleep as she swung (head bob - sure clue!), so I picked her up and sat her on my lap on the swing - she cried a bit until I put her hands on the ropes and then within minutes she fell asleep as we swung together. Words can not express how that was for me. We eventually extricated her hands from the ropes without waking her (by the way, as I write and look out the window the demonstrators with the blue/yellow flags are walking by outside - on their way home, I presume) and went to sit in the shade while she slept. It was a lovely morning with her. The rest of the day for Darren and I (frustratingly) was spent sitting in the car while Slava delt with some of our paperwork (stopping at many places)- we were hoping to submit everything to the social worker today, but a snag has appeared. Prayers would be appreciated as it seems that there is a document missing that is 'vital' - something related to the person who submitted a request for her birth certificate when she was born (to prove she was abandoned we think). We, of course, immediately worry that something will stop our adoption of her, but are trying to trust. Trust in God, and trust our facilitators - that they will sort it all out - because we sure don't understand this system and process. Your prayers for finding this document or sorting out how to get around it would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, I should sign off for now. We have had a good morning, a frustrating afternoon and hopefully will have a good evening to come (how can it be bad with Jonathan cooking?)!!!! We love you all - thank you for your support and comments - they mean more to us than we can express.

We'd like to introduce you to our precious daughter...

April 25th, 2007 - playing outside today! We discovered she REALLY likes the swings!
April 23, 2007 - our 1st 'official' meeting, playing in the playroom with a shape sirter and eating fish crackers. She had stopped trembling by this point - but still did not want to sit down. She crouched for about 20 minutes straight!
April 24th, 2007. Ivanna's first trip out of the orphanage and getting her first 'professional' photo.
April 24th, 2007. Waiting in the hall of the medical center for the doctor, playing with her little teddy bear.
April 24th, 2007 - Jonathan's version of the day - a protest outside of the constitutional court - he's a lot more adventurous than Darren and I are!!

Ok, here is the big one that you have all been waiting for. Mario’s is finally back online and we will be making up for the missed time…

Hello all. It is Shona (for now). We have just returned from wandering about the city, looking for cconcert/ballet tickets. Let’s go back a bit first. We never got to a place with internet yesterday, so we need to catch you up a bit. Sunday we all woke up relatively early and had all slept poorly. We went to a Baptist church on the other side of the Dnipro (river) about 8 Metro stops away. We are really living in a fantastic area – everything is really quite convenient. Anyway, we didn’t know exactly where the church was from the Metro (and Jonathan had forgotten the Kyiv map) so we just followed his nose. We wandered a bit, got asked by a Taxi driver for a light, kept wandering and eventually saw the same Taxi driver again, so Jonathan asked him if he knew where the Cultural Center (where the church is) was. He chuckled and said ‘Da” (yes), but nothing more. Jonathan asked him ‘where is it? Because we are walking”. He replied, ‘I’ll give you a ride’. Jonathan asked him how much and so we paid him $1 (5 Hryvni). He then drove us about to the end of the block (where we had seen him before and he’d asked us for a light). We all laughed. We had walked right by the center and not noticed. Anyway, the church was held upstairs in a theater. They were singing familiar tunes – unfortunately for Darren and me, in a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian. It’s amazing how when you are hearing another language is seems to block my memory for the English words of the songs. No worries, we worshipped anyway. The preaching was….well…long (they had FM radio transmitter/receivers for us to listen to a translator. The whole service was over 2 hours start to finish and the preaching was a good hour and kind of… hmm…meandering and lacked a focus. Jonathan says he lacked a thesis. It was still good to be at church and the music and band were fantastic. There is another church that we may try next week and see which we like better – or we may just go to the local Orthodox Cathedral (St. Vlodymir’s) – we’ll see what we feel like then.
After church we came back here and I changed (I had been wearing a skirt and dress shoes – not great for walking miles in – besides the fact that it was really cold yesterday). Then we all had a little snooze. Naps are good. We then went out for a bit of a wander and ended up at the Circus for 5 PM. It was fantastic! It was a water-themed circus (and I’m sure you’re all wondering how THAT worked!). Let me tell you (although hopefully you’ll be able to see some video tape that JP took before they told him to stop!), it was an interesting start with a feel of a Las Vegas show (girls skimpily clad dancing with big feathery poofs coming out the backs of their outfits – do you have the mental image?) progressing to various acts from synchronized swimming (remember the pool), to rhythmic gymnastics, to magic show, to traditional circus clown goofy sketches (some including audience participants), to animal acts including: doves/pigeons, a duck, poodles, snakes (yes in the water – freaked me out), an alligator, and seals (way, way, way too much seals). The best part for me was the acts that were more like Cirque de Soleil with acrobatics, Gumby-like girls (your head is NOT supposed to be able to touch your BUM – backwards!), trapezes and ropes. Another cool part was this juggler who instead of throwing and catching juggled using a triangle shaped frame and used all sides. He had amazing hand-eye coordination (much like me!! Ha! Ha! FOFL). Anyway – overall it was a great show and it only cost $8US. Crazy. After the show we grabbed some food from ‘our’ supermarket and headed home. We were all tired. Jonathan prepared some open faced sandwiches and baked/grilled them – yummy! And then we watched a movie. I talked to Val a Jason a bit (they had tried to get through to us several times – I eventually called them because I figured they were probably having problems. I’m not sure why, but sometimes it takes many tries to get through to us (and this time we for sure were NOT in the Metro – and we have figured out the phone enough to keep it on all the time now – who would think ON/OFF would be so hard!). We watched “Ocean’s Eleven” (thank you Jen and Rob) – or rather Jonathan and Darren did – I fell asleep sitting up so I went to bed (big surprise – some things don’t change!) Apparently there was tennis on after so JP stayed up until some ridiculous hour watching TV. I slept like a solid, unmoving log. Sleep is good.

The only other thing that happened was I also got a phone call from Slava to tell us that the social worker we are supposed to meet today (Monday) is not at work in the morning so our plans have changed. She told us we will go at 2PM to start the paper work for the adoption (yes, you are all right – we still haven’t OFFICIALLY met our daughter!). Apparently if anything of concern comes up in the next few days – we can still change our minds and stop the process – but it will help to get things started (I guess the sooner we start the process – the sooner we get to come home with her!). It does seem a bit strange and backward, but we are trusting our facilitators that they know their system (‘cause we SURE don’t) and that they won’t have us do anything that could jeopardize anything. Then we will go pick up our official paperwork and head out to the orphanage for 4 PM. We are so excited and looking forward to seeing her again. We bought some markers and paper and a fun little spinny/noisy toy from the circus. Hopefully she’ll like them.

This morning we all were up and awake by 7 and then Tanis gave a lovely ‘goodmorning’ call to wish us well at our meeting – which now isn’t happening until later. We then did some Yoga (even the boys – I did get some video) and we left to go to the Internet Café – but it was closed so we wandered. We visited St. Vlodomyr’s Cathedral which is about a 10 minute walk away. It is stunning. Then we searched for tickets to the ballet. We never got any (yet) but we did find a lovely park (with a playpark for later!) that I’m sure we’ll go back to frequently – especially as the weather warms (it has been quite cold here). Eventually we ended up back at the Shawarma place for a snack and picked up a few things at our store (pretty much next door to each other) and came home for a bit. I wrote this little update while Darren and Jonathan watched TV, shaved and had rests. We’ll head out for part 2 of our day in about ½ hour so we’ll write more about that from Mario’s later.
Paka!

Shona and Jonathan have been doing most of the typing so far, so it is now my turn on the rest of the day so far – I’ll be briefer.
Slava and Vadim picked us up to do the important stuff. We went to the notary public where Slava dropped off our documents. Next, we were off (on a rather wild ride) to the social worker’s to get our papers for our official visit with our proposed daughter. Finally, we headed out to the town to meet with the orphanage director and little girl. We waited for a while upstairs and Slava told us that the director was not in today, but that we could meet with the girl and orphanage doctor anyhow. A little later a caregiver brought in the little girl and turned to go. The girl almost immediately started to cry a bit (a good sign from an attachment perspective). The caregiver got her a toy and left. Shona offered her fish crackers, which she eagerly hoovered. (apparently, she had not had a snack yet) We spent the next hour or so playing with her. It was really good. While at the start of the hour, she was shaking a bit and obviously pretty scared, after a while she was playing with Shona’s watch, pushing a ball back and forth between us, and colouring with us (she seems to like purple – Shona is now refusing to wash her hand, which has a very limited-edition tattoo on it from a pretty special little girl – her name is Ivanna, and while at the moment she lives in an orphanage outside Kyiv, pretty soon we are expecting her to move to Canada).

Hello there – It’s Shona again. While Darren has given a good description of what went on this afternoon and briefly how it went – I will try to give you a bit of an idea of how I at least am thinking/feeling. Well, stunned continues to be a theme of this adventure. I am so filled with love and joy it is almost hard to contain. Ivanna is such a precious little girl. She appears to be quite shy but is definitely warming to us. Jonathan asked us in the car on the way home how we thought our attachment was going with her – right now I feel as though I couldn’t love her anymore than I do right now, and yet I know it will just grow as we get to know her more and better. It broke my heart to see her trembling with fear and confusion and to not be able to comfort her properly (besides distracting/bribing her with food)! It was the hardest thing to do today, to drive away and leave her in the orphanage. What a joyful day it will be when we can go pick her up and take her home with us. The funniest part of the day was when we were playing with her and I was trying to help her with a shape sorter (a toy which she really seems to like). I turned the box to bring the correct shape closer to her and she said in Russian “don’t”. Jonathan and Slava burst out laughing and we certainly joined in once we understood what she had said. So her first word to us is ‘don’t’! I’m sure we’ll hear that plenty more of those over the next 20 years or so. It was amazing to hear her little voice for the first time. She is so serious and quiet (kind of like her Daddy)! While I wasn’t paying much attention – Jonathan was able to watch another couple playing with their daughter (they are American’s from Indiana). They have been to court and are on day3 of their waiting period. Jonathan heard them comment about their daughter making some kind of sound/word. It’s good to know that Ivanna isn’t the only very quiet child! Well, I remain a blubbering fountain pretty much at the drop of a hat – whether writing our blog, reading your comments (thank you so much by the way – your comments and emails bless us in so many ways), talking to family on the phone or just looking at pictures and video of Ivanna. God is so good and we feel very much as though we are being held in the palm of His hand.
Sorry for the delay in posting this – the wireless internet at our restaurant – Marios- wasn’t working tonight. Hopefully the detail and pictures will somehow make up the previous lack of information.
Shona and Darren

a bit more...

Hi.
Jonathan and I (Darren) are at the internet spot with a cd full of words and pictures. Alas, the computers don't have cd-rom drives. So, I guess I don't have much more for you except, we bought diapers today...

So it is turned over to me (jonathan) because I generally don't lack for words.
Ok, I actually do have a few things to add. First of all is that I recognize what a privileged position I am in and figured that many of you might like to know what it has been like to be watching D&S go through this experience. It has been great. Really amazing. For each of you who already have children of your own, then you know the emotions of seeing a child brought into this world and into your arms and into your family. It seems to me that D&S are experiencing those same emotions: the joy, the fear, the uncertainty, the general awe that goes along with such an...awesome experience. I have been videotaping some of the moments and look forward to sharing those with many of you when I get back to Canada, but for now I'd say that you likely have a good idea of what they are feeling. The experience? somewhat different from a hospital birth, but the experience of welcoming a child into a family seems to me to be pretty much the same. It is beautiful.
I promise that we'll get some pictures online ASAP, but as those of you that have traveled to other cultures know: sometimes things don't go as smoothly as one might hope. We figure though, that if this is the most significant challenge, then wow!
For now we're heading back to the flat for my special lasagna (fried salami, roasted zucchini, lecho, and lavash). cheers.
jonathan

A brief update

Hello all. We are feeling very frustrated right now because we have some amazing pictures to share with you and are having trouble with WI-FI at our local restaurants. Argh! Jonathan just reminded me though that if this is the greatest problem that we have over here - really, we'll take it and deal with it.

Hi, this is Darren putting in a little context: right now we are in a dimly-lit basement room surrounded by about 15 adolescent boys playing boy video games. It's really pretty classic -- some things transcend culture. Now, back to Shona...

Well, you don't get any pictures right now but we can tell you that we are proceeding with the adoption of a very beautiful little girl named Ivanna. We have all sorts of details to share with you but they are on Jonathan's computer - our plan is to wander the city this afternoon until we can find a place where we can post the blog and pictures we have saved on his computer. But until then, here are some details to tide you (Tanis) over. We have begun the paperwork and took her today for her medical. The bottom line is: she is healthy. She is in the 95th %ile for height (we thought she was tall!) and is 12Kg with a 50th %ile head circumference. Developmentally she is actually not really delayed with regards to her gross and fine motor skills. The doctor thought that her vocabulary and social development are slightly delayed - but that will come with a loving home and parents. She seems to understand quite well and was pointing to the nose, eyes and ears on her little bear (thanks mom - she loved it!) when instructed to do so. She was a bit reluctant to do so on herself. We were told she is as healthy as most kids who grow up in families - a testament to a great orphanage. We have heard her speak a little more - she has a very cute little voice. While we were in the Doctor's office today, her nurse pointed to darren and instructed her to say 'daddy' and she did. She then pointed to me and said 'mama'. It was a precious, precious moment. Her little personality is becoming more evident to us (especially with her nurse present today). She sticks her bottom lip out when she is sad or scared and her eyes get teary. She cried through her physical examination by the doctor today but was easily reassured when it was done. She is very curious and as today was her first time leaving the orphanage, she spent much of the time in the car and all the places we stopped just watching and looking and taking everything it. I got to hold our daughter for the first time today and as we left the orphanage and went to get her photo taken, she clung on to me so tightly! I think she was completely overwhelmed by what was going on, but it sure felt good to hold her. As we drove in to Kyiv, she sat on my lap and held my finger in one hand and Darren's hand in the other. Our hearts are so filled with love for her.
That's it for now. We'll give you more later (today -- hopefully).

pictures from today...

metro escalator

outside

circus


kitchen

We've found our favorite haunts...part 2

So, we've had some fantastic Pizza and Calzone carbonara - which I managed to order (really not a big feat as it sounds pretty much the same in Russian). The Georgian wine is lovely. So back to our day. We found Jonathan his favorite treat. I can see us also spending a lot of time visiting that eating Shawarma. The vendor is quite close to the train station - so if we end up taking the train out to where Bortina (Jason's pet name for our potential daughter) lives, we may just stop there on our way home. We may never cook again while we are here. Oh. Wait. We haven't cooked yet - other than tea. So life is pretty much like at home! Although I expect we will actually make good use of the wonderful cookbook Michelle Ashdown put together for us. We stopped briefly at the store - (our store we now call it) to pick up a few necessities such as TP, tea towels, shampoo and conditioner, water, etc... It's a large supermarket with everything we pretty much need. Anyway, we then went home for a bit and we all journalled. I had a brief rest/read in bed then the boys went out to see if they could find tickets for some kind of entertainment (ballet, opera or whatever). Well, Jonathan came back (I had read, did some weights, listened to music while they were gone) practically vibrating he was so excited - he'd found tickets to the CIRCUS. For those of you who don't know - the circus was Jonathan's favorite thing to go see in Moscow. The circus (I'm told) is a far more interesting thing than what we know as the circus (think of the roots of Cirque de Soleil). We'll see it tomorrow night. We don't yet know our plans for tomorrow during the day...we'll have to figure that out. The boys have ordered us some dessert and coffee. I must say, this is a really good day. Our spirits are up and we are feeling much more comfortable with being here. I am slowly learning the letters and actually read my first word on my own today. Yay! It's amazing what an accomplishment that feels like to be able to read 'post' and know that that's the post office. Jonathan has been a tremendous help and support to us. We are so grateful he is here. Thank you Tanis, Misha and Sam for sharing him with us for so long. Anyway, I'm going to sign off for now. Know that we miss you all, but we are doing well - especially today. 'Bortina' is a wonderful image in our heads now. We are so grateful for being able to meet her yesterday. We'll have our official meeting with the director of the orphanage Monday and Lesya is arranging for us to take her to the doctor Tuesday. We are in a wonderful, amazing whirlwind - sometimes very disorienting and confusing, but what a incredible ride.

Ok, dessert just came, so it is my turn again (jonathan). We did good while Shona was typing: tiramisu and a chocolate-brandy mousse cake. both are good, but the mousse cake is killer. yum!!
Now to the 'feel' of the day: This has been a very good day. everyone of us is so much more relaxed and happy than we were even when we woke up this morning. What a lovely day, and way to end the day. I'd say that Darren and Shona are feeling more...resolved to the fact that this is all happening. The way that things are moving ahead is marvelously smooth (far more than I believed was possible - knock on wood, salt over shoulder, spit on the ground - and all other superstitious russian traditions as well). I can honestly say that i did not think that most things would be going as well as they are. From the trip to the orphanage yesterday to our exploration today to this restaurant with free (and fast) wireless internet to getting tickets to the circus tomorrow; it amazes me. Incidently, since many of you must be praying a lot, and phenomenally successfully - Swan Lake is playing on Tuesday evening and we are struggling to find 3 tickets together, pray that we can find them. It would be great. I must admit that after today, I feel like we have a giant horseshoe shoved up somewhere special.
with that lovely image in mind, i'll sign off. suffice it to say that this day is ending with us each feeling remarkably blessed and in hands of serendipity and providence. Even my language has been coming back quite well. The only little thing that has gone wrong relates to Darren and Shona's camera (you can pray about that too).
you have blessed us by reading this and with your comments. thank you for that, and keep it up. - j

We've found our favorite haunts...

So here we sit in a local restaurant, that happens to be a Pizza and Pasta place, that is 2 blocks away from our apartment, that has free wireless internet! (For those of you who have been to Moscow, Jonathan says: think Patio Pizza, but smaller and with much nicer serving staff). Now that Jonathan is here with his computer, I can see us spending alot of time here. It is really a very nice place. So we are sitting here with a glass of nice Georgian wine, having just checked out what the possibilities are for english church tomorrow morning, writing to you all. We are having a very good day. Jonathan managed to sleep quite well until 7ish this morning. We lounged for a while this morning then I got ready and went to the previously used internet cafe and replied to a few emails. Man, an hour goes by quickly when you have alot of people you want to answer. The boys came all too quickly to pick me up and off we went. We took the Metro and then wandered to find an indoor market that has all kinds of produce, meats and fish, cheese, spices etc... It is quite the place - our little farmer's market just doesn't compare! We then wandered some more - bought a 'blini' - filled with boiled condensed milk - YUMMY! A very good snack. We eventually ended up back closer to where we live to find Jonathan Shawarma - a very delicious and cheap version of donair (except with cabage and sauce)....Ok - must go now, our Pizza's have arrived. Will post more after dinner.

Our meeting...

Well, today has been quite a day. We only have a few minutes until the internet cafe closes so this may be brief. We picked up Jonathan today - what a blessing it is to have him here! (although he was late!!!) No big deal really. He did arrive safely, but had a crazy landing as it is really windy today. We then went directly to pick up our translator and then out to the orphanage. It took about an hour to get there from the airport - lots of traffic (but no need for sidewalk driving today!). Jonathan was immediately translating for us conversations going on between our driver and translator. Our driver picked up immediately his Moscow accent. Anyway, enough of that...
The orphanage is really nice - our translator says it is one of the best in Ukraine. We went immediately to a play room where a worker brought the little girl out (we are leaving her name out until we have made the official decision to adopt her). She is darling. She has very short brown (not blond) hair and vibrant blue (not dark) eyes. So much for file information! She was very quiet and shy with us (understandably - we are complete strangers and she was in an unfamiliar room). We stayed with her for about an hour and played with a shape sorter and other toys. She likes animal cookies and gummy candies. She also really liked to draw - she had a scrap of paper and pen clutched in her hand as she came in and by the end she was drawing on the paper. We'll have to pick up some markers and drawing paper this weekend! We are both feeling stunned.

as a result, I now get to say a bit about where things seem to be at: (Jonathan here, in case you didn't get the shift..:)
Anyway, I think that they are both doing exceptionally well. What a completely bizarre experience to go through: quite surreal. I even felt like I was kind of observing it from afar, because it has taken so long to get here and now....here is this lovely little girl before Darren and Shona. Amazing, but how does one respond to that???? The need to analyse is there but so is the need to love. What more contrary desires could there be, yet both are very important at this stage.
She really is lovely. I know that both D&S are really looking forward to actually getting to know this little wonder that has somehow stumbled into their lives. Wow!!!!
Monday is the big day of the "official" side of things. Pray. Keep them in your thoughts. We'll be picked up at 8:30 kyiv time and head out to meet the director (who is a doctor BTW) and make things ...official, at least as much as they can be at this stage of things.
For the weekend, I get my duties in order: try to help them settle in and settle down and enjoy this place. I am so fortunate to be here too.

We're here and have someone to meet tomorrow...

First things first, we have had our appointment this morning and were presented with one child: a little blond-haired, dark-eyed, chubby-cheeked, healthy 21 month-old girl. We are still in joyful shock. When asked if we wanted to meet her, it was really one of the easiest choices we've made. We expect to meet her tomorrow after we pick Jonathan up. Yes, she lives close to Kyiv. So, we'll be staying put for a while. It seems that many prayers have been answered.

Now, let's jump back a bit...
Travelling this far is a little bit of a challenge to the system. Generally the travel went well. We had a brief stop in Winnipeg and a slightly longer one in Toronto - which both went fine. Mostly, Darren wandered around and Shona read her book! The overnight flight was also fine. I (shona) slept a little for a few hours, Darren only slept for a few minutes. Arriving in Frankfurt we were greeted by thousands of people crammed into a relatively small ''connection center'' surrounded by the lovely scent of cigarette smoke. We are very thankful for the smoking laws in Canada! Frankfurt had very few places to sit and rest and seemed poorly organized. We managed to find our gate and a place to sit at a table. I grabbed a few more winks of sleep (getting a nice wrinkle on my face from my jacket) and Darren read the paper. Our plane arrived late and thus left late - so we had many more lovely minutes waiting there. On arrival in Kyiv, we managed to get through passport control (no smiles from the officer there!), gather our luggage (it all made it fine) and get through customs with relative ease. Lesya and Irina (our facilitators) met us there. They took us directly to our appartment which is in a very nice area, with this Internet Cafe, grocery, bakery (very important!) and money exchangers close by. The drive here was an adventure. With lots of traffic, our driver was 'creative'. We thought sidewalks were for pedestrians and lane markers were to divide cars going different directions. We are learning new things.
Our appartment is nice - it has 2 main rooms (1 bedroom and living room + kitchen and bathroom) and has recently been updated. We will be very comfortable there. On arrival we settled in and Shona crashed for a few hours. Darren watched BBC newsworld and somehow managed to stay awake. Unfortunately we missed the opportunity to email and blog as the Cafe closed at 7 - just before Darren got there. (We appologize to those of you who were anxious to hear from us. We'll try not to do that again!) On returning home, we had a minor crisis as the door lock wouldn't open and Darren was locked out and I was locked in for several minutes. How to get the adrenaline rush in 1 easy step. Eventually I did something right and the door opened. We crashed early and slept poorly - with both of us awake for several hours in the middle of the night. The rest of today (our appointment was at 10AM), we'll spend doing some food shopping and relaxing at the apartment.