Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Arrival in Kiev 7/26/2005

We made it here safely. Whew! We managed to get at least some sleep last night, and had no problems catching our flight this morning from London to Kiev. Once we landed in Kiev, we had to go through Passport Control, and the lines were really long. We finally got our turn after 45 minutes, only to be told we had missed a portion of the forms. We had to get out of the line, finish the forms, and start all over! By this time, the line was almost twice as long as the first time we went through it. Needless to say, we were pretty discouraged, but we figured it was just a chance to practice patience and trust that the Lord has it all well in His hands.

Of course in the end, it did turn out to be a blessing, because once we got through passport control, we collected our bags and started filling out customs forms. While doing so, there was an American family doing the same, and they seemed more familiar with the forms, so we asked them for a little guidance. We then heard them mention the words “donation” and “orphanage” so we asked what brought them here. And, of course, they are here to adopt! They already know the children, and are here for court. I guess they had experienced some complications with completing the adoptions the first time, so they came back, this time with 3 kids in tow, and we promised to pray for them and they for us, as we each pursue the children God has for us. Steve and I discussed later how we would not have met them if we hadn’t been forced to stand in the passport control line twice. God really does know what He is doing, and even the glitches are there for a reason.

Our hotel is decent. It has some conveniences which we appreciate, such as free breakfast, a couple of restaurants to choose from, and an internet center, where they have even allowed us to use our own laptop! The cost of use is around $2 an hour. Can’t beat that!

Our hotel room

Internet center at the hotel “Tourist”

We ventured to dinner on our own, and I managed to fumble through with my limited Russian to order us some tasty dishes! Steve liked the borscht, and we also had a meat & potatoes dish that was very flavorful, as well as a chicken dish. It was cafeteria style, so to an extent I was able to point. We had smetana (like sour cream) on the borscht of course, and white and dark bread with our other dishes. All in all, it was very tasty, though we weren’t terribly hungry. We get a free continental style breakfast with our room tomorrow, so that should prove to be an interesting experience.

We met both our facilitator and our translator, and they are both very nice. We learned that we have our appointment at the NAC at 11 am tomorrow, which is nice. Not too late in the day, but may very well not happen until after lunch anyhow, from what we hear about how things go there. Still we are grateful to not have to get up too early nor to have to wait all day nervously. Please be in prayer for this most-awaited day!!

It is hard to explain how we feel being here to do this. It is like being in another place and time… I mean, I guess it IS another place and time sort of, but it really feels like being in a dream somewhat… of course that might be the effects of jet lag. LOL

Well, I’ll write again tomorrow night regarding the outcome of our appointment. Thank you for your prayers and comments. God bless all of you!