The days are a little blurry as we have had trouble adjusting to the time change being awake when we should be asleep, and asleep when we should be awake. Today (Wednesday) is getting close to being more stable with that respect. This is good, as we will be leaving on the overnight train tonight and if we don’t sleep well, tomorrow will not be a good day, and it should be our best.

This is the day that we are to receive our referral from the SDA so that we may travel to Zaporiziyah to meet with the inspector and Alina. We have been working all this time to get here at different levels. So much effort so far has been focused on getting the appointment because of all the papers and documents needed to obtain an appointment. Stamps, seals, records, etc… all that effort just to get the meeting we had yesterday. But, the meeting we had yesterday was so that we could obtain the referral, the key to being able to go see Alina and officially ask her to become our daughter. This, is why we came to Keiv, and this is what we are waiting for before we leave. Something this valuable, this important must surely be much more serious to receive than the meeting yesterday.

You might think so, but you’d be wrong. We spent the morning getting ready by cleaning the apartment, repacking our bags, and getting ready in general for getting the referral and jumping on the train. As is typical, we had a great plan that changed several times as Victor is working to juggle some things at home with his son, a situation with another friends package that will cause a delay, and our process. The man works hard and I wish he knew how much we appreciate what he is doing for us.

So, I spent a great deal of the afternoon scurrying about going from bank to bank trying to find ones that would take our ‘bad’ bills and exchange them for grievnas so we could fully vest our efforts. Eventually I came to a point where I felt I was there and returned to the packing. Victor came to the apartment with plenty of time to spare, so we sat and traded funds for about 45 minutes… so many dollars for the fee, use so many greivnas to get there and so many dollars for the train tickets… it was fun! We were passing back and forth blue, yellow, red, and green bills like crazy. I turned to Jennifer and asked, “you don’t have park place don’t you?”… I guess you’d have to see the stacks of colorful money to get that one.

Finally, the apartment manager showed up so we could turn it back over to him and we left. The three of us walked to the SDA talking about all sorts of things. Victor is not only our facilitator, but he is our planner, our guide, and our inside advisor on what Alina will be experiencing and needing from us. We arrived at the SDA, were several people were coming out and several more were waiting. We had expected to see somebody as before, but this big event was simply to wait in line, show our passports, and sign for the referral, then leave. It was kind of like checking out a library book or something.

So with the referral in hand, Victor having the train tickets, we were off to the train station and McDonalds! Me, I could do without McDonalds, I am on the other side of the world… could I not find something better than our nations gift to the world of burgers stamped out like so many small meals created on an assembly line. Oh well, once or twice will not hurt. The awesome part was getting to be someplace (besides the airport) that I knew! I seen the pizza place from last year’s trip and yearned inside so much to go to the roof and sit at the same tables and relive what had happened there just 9 months earlier. Instead, I went into McDonalds for a new adventure. We sat and talked about so many aspects of what we were about to do, from the how’s and when’s, to the time when we get home. Victor helped us with Russian a little and I mistakenly trusted him a little to far when I was trying to ask him the proper way to pronounce the phrase for “I purchase/buy ___”, Yak u-poo-piyat, an he had me say “Ya koo-koo”, told me that it was correct, and so I said it a few times confused trying to figure out how incorrect I had been before until I asked him, “that means I am koo-koo, what’s koo-koo?” then he had to start smiling and I realized he got me to say that I was crazy several times. Victor is fun!

So, through the beautiful train station… what an awesome entry port this building is. Amtrack should just drop it’s head in shame. We found our train, got on, settled in a bit, and after it started rolling we went to the window and just watched the country side roll by. Mile after mile (oh, sorry… kilometer after kilometer – these guys don’t use ancient metrics) of farm lands, forests, rivers, and villages all mixed together in a tapestry of beauty. Ukraine is such a lovely place. I would not hesitate to desire to come here just for the beauty of the land alone.

After night fell over the land and Victor took the chance to get some sleep ahead of my planned snore-fest, I prepared our bunks. Jennifer and I went in, took some Tylenol PMs to be sure to help set our bio-clocks, and we went to bed… well aside from the hour Sudoku she played that is. About 4:15, I woke to us rolling into a huge industrial town. Where I chose to start writing this for you. I will attempt to post it after we check into our apartment, but that may not happen. In either case, here is the game plan:
1. Check into the apartment.
2. Shower, change, and get out the door in 20 minutes.
3. Meet with the inspector.
4. Go to the orphanage and meet with the director.
5. Meet with Alina – our face to face encounter for her to be officially asked about the adoption.

It’s now 5:45 in the morning. We are to meet with her at 11:00. So, there are only about 5 more hours of waiting. Do I think this will go as planned? NO! Not because everything always changes, but because Alina has called Victor several times in the past few days asking when we would be there. A few times yesterday as a matter of fact. She knows we’re arriving about 11:00… so, there will most likely be a step 4.5: Get attack by a very sweet, girl who has been waiting for this day as long as we have.

Well, they just popped in to say we’ll be there in 30 minutes, so time to stop blogging and look as some more countryside before we get there.