The Old Apartment

In case you are wondering why we’re staying in a town 2 hours drive from the orphanage, it’s because there is no place to stay in the town that the orphanage is in. Well, that’s not entirely true, there was one place that we looked at which was apartments for “young adults”. It’s a very run-down place that feels a bit like a prison. There are lots of 2 bedroom apartments with shared amenities. There’s no shower and no hot. water, and the second “bedroom” would be occupied by another couple. This place just didn’t feel safe, and so we’ve taken our only other option - to stay in the big city 2 hours away and “commute” to the orphanage. We felt bad for the vice director of the orphanage who has been so very, very kind to us, and tried really hard to find us somewhere to stay in the village.

Saturday we got up and Luba had already lined up two apartments for us to check out. Our driver from Kiev was heading back home and we met our new driver. He doesn’t speak much English so we had a lot of smiles and waves. He drives a Lada so that just completes the experience! The first apartment was in the center of town and near a grocery store and restaurants. The second apartment was on the outskirts of town and not near anything. That was really all we needed to know and we were sure we’d be taking the first one.

When we arrived at the first apartment the owner was waiting for us outside the building. It looked like the majority of apartment buildings here - just a derelict looking concrete building. The entrance to the apartment building is a huge steel door with a number pad lock. The owner pressed the code and in we went. At the time my nose was plugged and I could tell by everyone’s reactions that there was a horrible smell. I began to smell it even through my stuffy nose - and there are no words to describe it - I think there might be something dead in the basement. We quickly went to the elevator and went up to the fourth floor. The apartment is okay and thankfully does not smell. There is a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. The owner pointed out how close the stores were and we decided to take the apartment. There is no washing machine - which is a shame but we decided it would be another new experience for us - to go 3 weeks without a washer.

We brought our suitcases up to the apartment, got a little settled, then hoped back in the car and started the 2 hour drive to the orphanage. Our son was so excited and we had fun playing for a couple hours. We gave him a matchbox car - and you would have thought we gave him a million dollars. He was so excited. We also gave him our little photo album and went through the photos explaining who everyone is. Note to any future travelers - we got a little 2 x 3 album on Snapfish and it’s been great - great for little hands and he can put it in his pocket to show his groupa. The next time we went to the orphanage we could already tell that little photo album had been well used!

I’m not going to say his UA name until after court - but I don’t see any reason I can’t announce his USA name - Nicholas Alexander Walker..!! We’ll probably call him Nicholas for as long as we can until his friends start calling him Nick.

Nicholas absolutely loves Mike. He is so excited to have a father and a male role model in his life.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped by the FoxMart - which is a large grocery store (almost like a mini-WalMart). We bought the necessities for a few meals. Note to future travelers - if there is a FoxMart in the town where you stay - you can disregard those lists of what to bring with you - there is plenty of shampoo, toilet paper, snacks, garbage bags, etc. One thing to remember is to bring a shopping bag (I brought a cloth tote) as they only give you one plastic bag - but you can buy more. We bought a few bags and then just reuse them each time we shop.

On Sunday we did not do much. Mike and I went to the internet café but were unable to update the blog - I’m not sure if the site was down or if access is denied to that site from the café. Luba started working on all the documents that we need for the adoption…and there are a LOT! She worked the majority of the day on them. I felt so bad as she was sneezing and coughing and I was so afraid I’d given her my cold. We kept giving her Airborne and hot tea and I think that may have helped as she was feeling better on Monday.

Luba made us an excellent dinner on Sunday. We came back from the café and she surprised us with a meat cutlet and pasta. It was excellent!

On Monday we went to the orphanage early and finally saw the town in the daylight! We did a puzzle with Nicholas and he really does enjoy puzzles! We spent the entire day at the orphanage. Luba took Nicholas to the hospital for the doctor approval stamps for the paperwork. We spent the time in the library at the orphanage trying (unsuccessfully) to decipher the quotes on the plaques on the walls. :o) We found out later that it was all in Ukrainian, and we only had a Russian-English dictionary!

When Luba got back from the hospital we went with her to the notary to have the paperwork stating we wanted to adopt Nicholas notarized. As we were in the notary’s waiting room she said that we needed our passports. Mike and I both gasped as they were not easily accessible - they were under our clothes. Luba told us to go out to the Taxi to remove them. We went out and I can only imagine what our driver was thinking - we were rooting around under our clothes - and I was giggling like a school girl at the situation. The more I thought about what the driver must be thinking - the more I giggled! I got Mike to laughing and we must have been quite a sight! :o)

That night Luba got a ticket for the overnight train back to Kiev. She could not get a room in the sleeper car and instead had to sit in the employee cabin - and had to stay awake the entire night as she was fearful for her safety. She called the next morning that she made it safely - thank goodness.

That night we watched Ukrainian TV on our own for the first time (no Luba to explain what was being said). Some shows you can work out what is happening - but frankly we’ve mainly been watching music videos. And who should come on - Kylie Minogue! It’s so funny as she will forever remind us of Ukraine now!! It was great to see a video that was in English too. The other day I was in the bedroom and Mike had on music videos and I was so exited to hear Engligh - I came running into the living room and screamed “Justin Timberlake”! OK - I’m so NOT a teenage girl - but I must have sounded like one screaming his name. :o)