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After we chose Anna, our first step was to find a place to stay in Odessa. Oles made arrangements with the orphanage director's
cousin, Natasha, to use her flat while we were there. She stayed with relatives and we used her 2 room flat. It was comfortable
and very clean. She agreed to come in and cook our meals for us as needed. I can honestly say that I have never tasted better
food. She was an excellent cook. I discovered that I absolutely love Ukrainian food.
Tuesday, July 25th, we started
out early in the morning. Oles hired a driver for us. I can't count the number of trips we made between the inspector's
office and the orphanage. I lost count. By 3 p.m. we were finally able to go to the orphanage and visit with Anna for about
2 hours. I didn't want to let her go! We left the orphanage at around 5 after giving the director our gifts for the orphanage.
We then returned to the inspector's office. We waited there for an hour and a half walking away with the conclusion at the
end of the day. Oles sent the conclusion papers off on the overnight train to Kiev. My husband and I and Oles sat up late
into the night talking and laughing. We so enjoyed his company!
Wednesday, July 26th dawned hot and sticky. The
flat where we stayed had a problem with water availability. The water, cold only, would come on for only a few hours a day.
If you did not happen to be there when the water was on, you were out of luck. We were running out of clothes and I'm sure
we were all beginning to smell not too pleasant by this day. The water had been off too long! Our driver came for us at
10. Our first stop was the McDonald's. They had modern bathrooms and clean! We went first to the inspector's office and
then to the orphanage. Our family spent about 3 hours there with Anna while Oles took care of business. After lunch we picked
up a woman who was an attorney. She would be helping expedite this adoption in Odessa. She went with us to meet the judge
in hopes that the judge would excuse Mike from the actual court hearing. He needed to be back in Kiev by Thursday morning
to complete his portion of the paperwork at the U. S. Embassy. The Embassy was closed on Friday and his flight for the U.S.
was scheduled for Saturday. The judge gave her approval. We returned to the flat and repacked the suitcases sending as much
as possible back with my husband to free up our hands as much as possible on our return trip. His train left at 8:30 p.m.
In the intervening hours we ate dinner at a sidewalk restaurant and strolled through the streets near the Port of Odessa.
It is quite a fascinating town with an almost Mediterranean flavor to it. After Mike left that night, Oles, Vadim (our driver),
Jon, Liz, and I walked around on the docks at the port and took an excursion boat out on the Black Sea for 40 minutes.
Thursday, July 27th. I was finally able to get enough water to wash some clothes for us! We stayed at the flat waiting
for Oles' cell phone to ring. The Sense staff in Kiev were to call when they had received permission from the NAC and had
faxed it to Odessa. The call came around 10:30. We were all delighted to hear that they had dated the papers for the 26th
the day they received the documents by train. (There is a regulation prohibiting a court date on the date as the NAC approval).
We set out immediately to the notary office to meet the lawyer. She and Oles worked together and by 2:30 we were in court
with the inspector and the judge. It was a short and fairly informal hearing. That was fortunate since we did not have time
to return to the flat to change. I had a skirt on but definitely not my court clothes. The judge asked me a few pertinent
questions, found it in the best interest of the child to waive the 10-day waiting period so that we could seek medical care
in the U.S. for her, wished us the best of luck, and signed the papers. By 3:20 p.m. Anna was ours! We went straight to
the orphanage. When they brought Anna to me, she had obviously been freshly bathed and had on an adorable little sun suit.
I took her, hardly believing she was actually my little girl. My heart was ready to burst! While we visited there, we met
a number of Italian couples that were adopting children at the same orphanage as we were. I didn't have the heart to tell
them how quickly our process went, since most of them had been there considerably longer than us. That evening, after leaving
Anna at the orphanage, we went to meet with the man who is over the inspector. We had dinner with him that night at an open
beachfront restaurant on the Black Sea. The kids played on the beach after dinner while we sat and talked. I walked away
from that evening knowing I had made a friend. The conversation with Dimitri and Oles was fascinating and thought provoking.
Friday, July 28th: Our goal for today was to be on the 8:30 p.m. train to Kiev! We didn't know if we could make
it! Oles went first thing to meet the train from Kiev to get the original copy of the NAC approval. By 9:30 we were on our
way to the ZAGS office to get the birth certificate. While the woman there was looking over our court document, she found
several errors that could have presented a problem. Oles and I waited at ZAGS office for 2-3 hours while the attorney went
back to her office to revise the papers. Once she returned we had the birth certificate in 30 minutes. While we were waiting
we observed a wedding at the ZAGS office. We were allowed to tuck ourselves inconspicuously in a corner. It was fun. The
birth certificate was placed in our hand about 1:30. We split up. The attorney took the papers to obtain a passport for
Anna and Oles and I went to get the birth certificate legalized with a stamp. This was a fairly nerve-wracking wait as the
woman in this office had a reputation for being difficult. Oles and I prayed together before we went in and quoted some encouraging
scriptures as we waited. Once Oles went in to the office things went very smoothly. By the 3:45 we had the legalized certificate
in our hands. We dashed to the lawyer's office to pick up the passport and give her a gift. We arrived at the orphanage
by 5:10 just as the office staff were preparing to leave. We were able to give everyone gifts as planned. Then I was sent
to the baby room. Anna was in the middle of her meal. While Oles left with the driver to get her medical forms, the caregivers
dressed Anna in the clothes I had brought for her and we went outside to wait for Oles to return. I was able to say goodbye
to the Italian couples we had met. When Oles returned we said our final goodbyes to the orphanage staff and left the orphanage
around 6:15. We had just enough time to go back to the flat, inhale some food Natasha had prepared, pack our bags up and
dash to the train. The train left 2-3 minutes after we were on board. That was close!
Saturday, we saw my husband
off at the airport. Monday, July 31, we visited the National Adoption Center with Yuri, the office manager for the Sense
office in Kiev. He was a wonderful person to make acquaintance with. I thank God every day for the people he put in our
path during our adoption journey in Ukraine. We came away with friendships and wonderful memories. Tuesday, August 2, we
went to the U. S. Embassy in Kiev to complete our paperwork there. On Wednesday morning, August 3, we flew to Warsaw on
Air Ukraine. We were able to make it to the U. S. Embassy in Warsaw (straight from the airport) in time to make our 11:00
interview appointment. I returned at 3:00 to pick up Anna's immigration visa. That night we had our choice of many American
style restaurants for dinner. My kids chose Burger King. They were dying for a Whopper! Our flight left Warsaw right after
noon on Wednesday, August 3rd and we were home by 11:45 p.m. U. S. time.
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