It has been funny... well maybe not funny, but it has been something! There has literally been a challenge or crisis of one sort every day since we arrived, and honestly, since before that! I've been leaving most of them out of the blog, because, well, it's more fun to write about the good stuff. But, with each of these, the problem seemed really big and very upsetting at first, and then by the next day, we were pretty much over it. If I went back and listed them now, many of them would just seem plain silly, so I won't even strain my brain to remember them.
Yesterday's setback was kind of a big one. We learned that it may take longer than we had hoped to correct the mistakes in the parental rights revocation from many years ago (finding that mistake had been the previous day's bad news). Our facilitator told us that at this point, our court date is likely to be approximately 3-4 weeks from now. Keeping in mind that we had hoped to have our court date and fly home about one week from now, this is a real extention to the timeline. As such, we have decided to begin the trip home tomorrow night (Leaving Simferopol Friday at 8am and arriving at RDU on Sunday or Monday night... it's a long and complicated trip!
At first I was really sad because I definitely want to spend more time with Vitalik and Lera! Thinking of leaving made me want to cry! Now that we've had time to re-think the plan, we are convinced that this setback has led to a far-better overall plan, and we are feeling good about it. The new plan is complicated, difficult, and expensive, but at this point, what the heck! ;-)
As I said, we will go ahead and travel home this weekend, leaving after our visit with the kids tomorrow. We expect to be at home for 2-3 weeks before returning for our court date. The court-date trip will be "quick" - staying in region only a couple of days... which, with travel time, will make that trip about a week. Then back home for another week during the 10-day waiting period. Then finally, (this is the good part) we have decided that we will BOTH come back for the trip to bring the kids home. We will pick them up from the orphanage, bring them to our apartment in Ukraine, and run around together chasing papers for 10 days or so before coming home. Our guess is that we will finally arrive home sometime in March, though exactly when is sketchy.
I have talked this plan over with everyone at home, and everyone seems to like it. Again, having an amazing extended family and supportive community is a major factor in equipping us for this fantastic adventure.
We spent another 2 hours at the orphanage without a translator today and had a great time. I am actually coming to understand the crazy Ukrainian cardgame called, "The Fool"... mainly thanks to a good explanation that Eugene found online. A highlight today was that our driver wasn't busy, so he agreed to come up with us to Vitalik's classroom and play cards with us. He stayed for at least half an hour - at first a group of 4, and eventually, just Vitalik and the driver (a very jovial Ukrainian man of maybe 50 years old). They were the two really competitive ones, and were both really fast at this game, so it was really fun to study their technique while they played several games mano-y-mano. I am not sure which of them enjoyed it more, but they both seemed to be having a great time! Later, Vitalik and I played several games 1:1 and he said "You understand good!" :o) I wouldn't go that far, but definitely making progress!!
Lera is learning to charm her father. At the end of the visit, he had already put away the i-touch and she wanted to use it to watch a movie while we waited for the driver to return. He tried to say no, but she kept asking and eventually, he really put his foot down, saying, "Skazee puzhalsta." (say please), and then after she sweetly complied, he gave in. Yeah, I think she's gonna have her way around our house! ;-)
I have met you and your Blog through Lynn Lee. We have three children from Russia, and certainly feel your pain and CONFUSION! Please contact us when you get home if there is anything we can do to help, before and/or after the children come home. I am Lynn's sister-in-law, Maureen. God Bless and keep the Faith! Although your plan and God's plan may be the same, the path you foresee and the one He maps out to get there often looks VERY DIFFERENT!
ReplyDelete