Wait, Wait, Wait, Now Hurry Up!

Day 17 – Tuesday, 29 December

If a candlelight dinner is romantic, what do you call a shower by the flame of a tankless waterheater?? One thing that we had noticed this trip was the improved availability of public utilities…we hadn’t had a single power or water outage on this trip, except for on the train. Around 9:30, as I finished writing, Mark showered and shaved; as I opened the bathroom door and flipped on the light, the light flipped back off again. Checked the switch, it was on. Checked the next room, no light. On our very last day, when we need to get ready for court and finish the last-minute packing, the power went out.

Thankfully, the sun returned to us today, and our apartment had a lot of windows, so we finished getting ready in natural light. Our translator was running errands this morning to prepare for the congratulations party at the orphanage later that afternoon, and around 11, we began pacing and waiting for him to call.

The phone finally rang, our driver arrived, and drove the few blocks to the courthouse. We showed our passports and followed our translator upstairs, where Lena and a representative of the orphanage were waiting on a bench in the hallway. We hugged Lena and sat on either side of her to wait for our 12:00 hearing.

About noon, a court clerk opened the door to the courtroom, and we all entered and found our seats. The local Inspector greeted us; the orphanage psychologist had brought several photos of Masha, and gave the local inspector an update on how she was doing. Everyone chatted in low tones while we waited for the judge. And waited. And waited. At about 12:40, Lena started to get very worried that something was wrong. The orphanage psychologist was sitting next to her, and reassured her that everything was fine, and that the judge probably was just running late.

The judge finally entered the courtroom at about 1:20, and from there on, the hearing went smoothly. He read the documentation, and Mark and I answered a few simple questions. We were quickly ushered back out and the other family, whose appointment was scheduled for 1:00, traded places with us. Once both hearings were done, we waited outside the judge’s office while he finished the official decree. He then invited us in, read the full decision to us, and we were done.

We thought the original plan had been for us to go back to the apartment during the other family’s hearing, get a bite to eat, change clothes, and finish our last-minute packing before heading to the orphanage for the party. The wait…wait…wait…HURRY UP of the afternoon blew that plan out of the water, and following court, we rushed to the orphanage, trying to make it there in time for the dance/singing concert that was scheduled for the afternoon.

Typically, when a child is adopted from the orphanage, the kids put on a nice little program with singing and dancing followed by a party with fruit and juices for all the kids (a rare treat!). Both times we’ve adopted, we have coincided with major programs that were already scheduled, and we’ve kind of “piggy-backed.” This time, though, the show went on without us. We were able to spend some time with Lena and the Director shared some kind congratulatory words with us, and then we whisked off to change, load our luggage, and get to the train station ON TIME!

We also stopped briefly at a grocery store to grab some water, bread, and summer sausage for the train (we were starving, and nearly out of Ukrainian money with no time to exchange more!) The store the driver stopped at was new to us, and we discovered it was a two-story grocery, with moving sidewalks that shoppers could “ride” with their carts between the two levels. I do wish we hadn’t been in such a hurry!

We got back to the apartment and changed in record time, crammed our last minute things into the suitcases, and quickly cut up the summer sausage and some cheese for the train snack bag. As we began hauling our luggage down to the car, we again regretted the amount of stuff we brought to Ukraine and the amount of new stuff we’re bringing home….our bags are really heavy!!

We got to the train station in plenty of time, and the drivers helped us haul all our luggage up to the platform where we waited for the train to arrive. The air was much warmer than for our last voyage (it felt about 40), and the wait was pleasant. In time, the train pulled in, and our translator helped us lug all our bags through the train and get them stowed in our cabins.

We lucked out…the only tickets available were in first class compartments. While they are the same size as the second-class compartment we rode in last time, there are only two bunks, so Mark and I had the compartment to ourselves. We were next door to the other couple, and our translator was in the compartment on the other side of us.

Just as the train got underway, our translator walked up the corridor of the train with a bottle of champagne to celebrate. That kicked off an evening of drinking and snacking and general fun; our translator almost had us all talked into changing our flights and going to Egypt for the 10-day wait! We eventually called it a night and tried to get a bit of sleep before the train arrived back in Kyiv at 8:30AM.