June 28, 2010

Day one of our trip began with a bit of a delay…in Denver of all places! (You can see us in Durango airport to the right.) We had to circle the airport in Denver twice because of thunderstorms and almost were rerouted to Colorado Springs for more fuel. Fortunately they let us land at the last minute and we had a two hour schedule layover that was shrunk to 40 minutes with the delay. We departed from Denver on time and the rest of our connections were very uneventful. The kids were a bit disappointed we did not have enough time in Denver to race on the moving walkways, but Tami and I were fine without those moments!

(Vika at left having fun in the London Heathrow airport during our layover.)

We actually had an easy time getting into Ukraine and we were reminded of our first moment alone with the kids 5 years ago after our translator had to let us go from the gate at the Kiev airport. We got on an escalator not realizing our kids have never seen one. The both promptly fell over backwards and rode the escalator on their backs, heads down and feet up! We thought for sure they would take the kids away from us right then and there, but the kids were simply laughing uncontrollably and jabbering in Ukrainian. We all had a good laugh now that it’s been 5 years and we all know how to ride escalators!

We were picked up at the airport by Boris our driver who escorted us to our home for the next three nights, the Lybid Hotel which is about a 15 minute walk from Downtown Kiev. The next morning we were met in the lobby by Boris and Alla who has been our translator today and will be with us through tomorrow. You can see a picture of her in the picture files on this blog. Alla is very sweet and took a liking to the kids right away. (She is in the picture above with us.) She brought them some great Ukrainian treats which made them both happy. This morning’s tour included trips to St. Michael’s and St. Sophia’s Cathedrals, two places Tami and I visited before we got the kids. Both cathedrals date to before the 11^th century. They are beautiful cathedrals that have been rebuilt since they were destroyed in World War II. There were over 100 churches in Kiev prior to that and after the war and during the Soviet Communist occupation they were reduced to 4 and all of them were seen by the Russians as museums. (Below we are in Kiev with St. Michael's in the background down the stree to the right.)

For those of you unfamiliar with Ukrainian history they have only been independent since 1991! Before that they were occupied by the Soviets, the Poles, the Cossacks, the Turks and many other empires. Each empire took it toll on Ukraine and the most destructive was Joseph Stalin who was responsible for killing more than 30 million Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933. There is a monument to remember this travesty with 24,000 stones, each one symbolizing the 24,000 people who were starved to death each day by Stalin’s regime. (To the right is Thomas and Vika in front of St. Sophia's.)

Just last week they celebrated Ukrainian Independence Day and today is actually a holiday to celebrate their first ever constitution. Over the last 19 years they have been working to figure out how to become part of the European Union and what it means to combine their rich unique heritage with western culture. Kiev is a very American city in many ways but many of the older generations struggle with this. Alla, our translator, is older and has mentioned on several occasions how groups have demonstrated and lobbied to keep skyscrapers from overwhelming their skyline as they don’t mix well with some of their ancient architecture.

Alla is very knowledgeable of Ukrainian history and you can tell she is very proud to share it with us. She also has been so gentle with the kids and has become like an adopted grandmother in one day! We feel very blessed to have her as our translator and she has added a great deal to our trip already. Our schedule is for a translator to be with us in the morning and then have the afternoons free. We will be here in Kiev for the two days, then head to the village where the kids lived. We also will visit the kids’ orphanages the following days in the region of Cherkassy, which is about 3 hours south of Kiev on the Dnieper River.

For our free time this afternoon and evening we ate a traditional Ukrainian Meal…and did I mention that today is Thomas’ 14^th birthday! We had borsch (beat soup) and dumplings that the kids scarfed down. (Me and Thomas at right enjoying a birthday dinner.) The hotel sent up some white sparkling wind and chocolate for Thomas’ birthday so we enjoyed that with dinner. Not much wine really (who gives a kid wine for his 14^th birthday!) After dinner we walked to a beautiful park named for Shevchenka who is considered one of the founders of Ukrainian independence. He was a peasant who was raised by monks and sent to school and elevated out of the working class because of his brilliance. He began to write about freedom and developed a large following which eventually landed him the Russian prison system or the Gulags in the mid 1800’s. The park is adjacent to the University that bears his name and there are beautiful flower displays shaped into things like a cat and mice and Pinocchio! There was much celebration in the park and around town as we walked (remember this is Ukrainian Constitution Day).

On our walk home we passed by Saint Vladimir’s Cathedral (Pictured above.) Prince Vladimir is known as Vladimir the baptizer because he took the citizens of Kiev down the hill and into the Dnieper River to have them baptized and become Christian around 900. This cathedral has special significance for Tami and I and she shared that with them as passed by. Tami and I stayed in a place not far from this cathedral before our appointment at the National Adoption Center in 2005. We found this cathedral the day before our appointment, not knowing what was in store for us—if we would be assigned kids to adopt or leave without completing an adoption which was happening to numerous couples at the time. In an Orthodox Cathedral such as this one, you purchase small candles as you enter and then place them by the icon you are praying too. Tami chose the Virgin Mary and asked her to help guide us toward the children God hoped we might bring into our family. The next day we were assigned to Thomas and Vika at the National Adoption Center and rest is history. Vika said she was really glad that “God answered your prayer mama.”

As we finished our first day we marveled and how much the kids were becoming proud of their heritage in the one short day we have been here. This is sure to be a powerful trip for them and Vika has said on more than one occasion, “I’m from a great place!”