Whew! What a day!! Ryan and I have been going non stop since this morning. We started the day by doing a little laundry. And then headed to our SDA appointment at 10 am.
Drying our clothes Ukrainian style
In front of the SDA office
I'm not sure what I expected, but the SDA office was not what I envisioned it would be like. There was no waiting room, so we waited outside until the appointment before us was finished. We were then ushered up a flight of stairs and into a tiny office, with one woman working behind a desk...with the lights out, no less. It was very informal, and Ryan and I said very little. Our facilitator did all the talking, and told us that the SDA worker kept mentioning how young we looked...this was the first of many times we heard that statement today:) We knew A had a brother, but was hoping he was already 18 so that he would not be a problem. It turns out, he is not 18 until next month, so we had to go ahead and accept his file as well with the intention of filing for a separation of him and A. To explain, in Ukraine, siblings are legally joined together until the oldest sibling turns 18. If you wish to adopt only one sibling, you must file a petition to have them legally separated. Our facilitator does not believe this will be a problem, but we do have to track her brother down and have him sign a form stating that he agrees to be separated from Alona. Her file was very small, and did not have much information...exactly what we expected.
Ryan and Igor buying espresso from a truck vendor
After our appointment, we went back to the apartment to change, and met our new friends the Kaiser's and Eugene, our translator/guide at an Irish pub for lunch!
Our lunch group at O'Briens Irish Pub
After lunch our group headed to one of the 7 Wonders of Ukraine...The Kiev Pechersk Lavra. It is a historic Christian Orthodox Monestary, also known as the Kiev Monestary of the Caves. It has been around since 1051, and is the central hub of Orthodox Christianity for Eastern Europe. One of the most interesting features, is its large underground network of catacombs. There are over 100 burials underground, and you can walk through some of the tunnels to view the catacombs. One interesting tidbit, is that some monks used to live underground in tiny closed in rooms, where they would live out their lives.
Eugene in front of the official entry to the Monastery that is a part of the Lavra. The entrance is called Cathedral of the Trinity.
After touring the Lavra, we went to the World War II museum. It was one of the most well put together museums I have visited. It was HUGE and there was so much to take in!
Ryan and me with the WWII museum behind us
After our long afternoon of touring, we had dinner with some of our new adoption friends Rachel and Jared from Louisiana, Jennifer and Jeante from Minnesota, and Eugene.
For dinner, I had rice soup, verenyky with potatoes and mushrooms, and mackerel with pomegranate sauce...random I know, but delicious!!
Tomorrow, we plan to take it easy before picking up our referral letter at 4 pm. After we pick up our referral, we will catch a 6 pm train to our daughter's region!! It will be a 15 hour long train ride, which should be interesting!
Specific prayer requests.....please pray that our daughter's brother will easily agree to sign the separation papers. *Retracted this part until after adoption* We trust that God has not overlooked this detail. As my sweet 5 year old told me on face time today, " And the Lord said, with men this is impossible. But with GOD, ALL things are possible".
No comments:
Post a Comment