Thursday, April 19, 2007

4/20/07 - Getting ready for the weekend...



Good day yesterday. Did some orphanage shopping and got quite a bit done. A little bit more and we should be good to go... Spent a couple hours with Ira yesterday (more English). Since we plan to pay her grandfather a visit tomorrow with some gifts, Ira's teacher suggested we take her for the night so we could go directly in the morning to her grandfather's. Ira is very positive about doing that as we are happy about it too. When we got back to our flat, Sharon had an anniversary gift waiting for us: Bouquet of roses, chocolates and an anniversary card (written in Ukrainian - could have said condolences and we would not have known the difference). It was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated. On the way to the orphanage yesterday we had to see a notary (another short 2.5 hour event!!!) to have Debbie give me power of attorney on the follow-up actions after court. We found out from Kyiv that our documents were accepted and approved by the SDA and would be picked up and returned on tonight's train. If Sergey can arrange it, we may be able to go to court Monday instead of of Tuesday. We are praying for that but the worst case is another day. We had a great meal and good time at a different restaurant last evening. The name of the place is "Fidele's" It was Spanish motif, played soft music and the food was great. All of us agreed it was the best we have had since coming to Ukraine. The had a jazz band (smooth jazz) come in around 9 PM and they played great music. The singer was great. She sang all her songs in English, but was fluent in Ukrainian. After we walked back to our flat, we had some ice cream and watched a movie, which put me to sleep (what else is new?). Debbie is looking forward to her return next week but wishes we could all come home together. I will try to get the orphanage director to allow Ira to leave for a few days with me to Donetsk with Sergey, to see some more of her country, possibly see a soccer game and sight see.
Pic 1 - Open meat market in Kharkiv (more about that when we see you, the FDA would have a field day!); Pic 2 - English lesson with Ira.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great update. It is like reading a book and seeing my country through somebody else's eyes. A soccer game in Donetsk would be tons of fun! Hope it works out. I am sure Ira would enjoy it, too.
Love and prayers,
Iryna

Passanita Family said...

Sounds like things are moving right along. Glad you had a nice anniversary. One you will probably always remember. We're praying for a smoothe rest of the process.
Take care,
Laura and Rob

Jodi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jodi said...

You sound like you are having a great time aside from all the legal work. This trip has been so beneficial to you both. Cultural education, vacation away from the every day riff raff and a daughter all wrapped into one long trip, NICE! You are so lucky! How many people can say they got to experience this in their life? It is so interesting to read your blogs. We all get to learn too. Thanks dad & Deb!
Love, Jodi