November 26 update

Today was my first day in Kyiv, Ukraine. I spent the day at the National Adoption Center. The place was packed. Even though my facilitator had been there at 7:00 a.m. to sign me up for an appointment, I was still #13. Most facilitators somehow signed up on Sunday... Every few hours, the director would come out and tell everyone to come back tomorrow etc. But we stayed and they saw me before lunch. (For lunch I had traditional Ukrainian food -- borscht, bread, coleslaw and a mushroom/cheese dish and soda pop because I probably shouldn't drink the tap water.)

Then we came back in the afternoon to meet the psychologist and look at children's files. I was disappointed because all the children in the books were 6 years or older. The younger children all had difficult medical conditions that were more than I knew I could deal with. There were several 7 year old boys in the Donetsk region. If I get permission tomorrow, we may go there for me to see them. I wasn't thinking of an older child, I was looking for a child 2-4 years old, so I am still taking this all in and wondering about it all.

I am remarkably upbeat about all of this so far. My translator Sergey is really great. He has a low-key approach that helps things along I think. We have had several philosophical discussion on why things are the way they are in Ukraine.

The city that I have seen so far is just as you might imagine in post-Soviet era. We drive by buildings that have stores on the ground floor and are totally vacant sort of bombed out look on all the other stories. The airport is still a little intimidating.. The customs guy threw out the form the airline had given me (Russion - no good) and I had to fill out a different one which he then covered up with big scribbled Xs all across it - go figure.

My driver Sasha drives a Ford and could navigate very well in New York City. He will speed down the parking lane until he runs into a parked car, and then he will edge his way left into the lane! He can hop the curb and park in very tiny places, like behind the Adoption Center.

If we get permission to got to Donetsk, we may fly there. I am kind of hopeful that maybe one of the boys will work out, or maybe even they have a little brother or sister. Sometimes you just need to get to the orphanage and then see if there are any other children just coming off the registry that are eligible for adoption.

I am doing really well. I have a comfortable room with its own flush toilet and a shower with a warm trickle of water. Those of you who have been there, know that this is fairly luxurious even if I do climb 4 flights of stairs to get there.

That is all for now. I hope to post more details when the region is confirmed. Ruth

In Kyiv, Ukraine