The Midnight Train to Kiev

Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-13 June

Since Tuesday rolled into Wednesday on an overnight train, my memories are equally fuzzy, hence one joint blog entry.  Yesterday morning, we got up bright and early.  The hot water was still out in our building, so we filled the tub with four inches of cold water, and then boiled four big stockpots of water and dumped it in.  Made for a decent emergency bath.

Once we no longer smelled like homeless people, we finished packing and loaded up the car at about 9:30.  Our facilitator had arranged for a larger car to drive us to the capital so there’d be room for our luggage….we got a station wagon that was about the size of a Saturn.  It was packed to the top once all of our stuff was in it—we are up to eight bags of various shapes and sizes!

We picked Lisa up on the way to the orphanage, and the girls came bopping out as soon as we arrived.  Masha looked so cute in her outfit from Babushka Sam, complete with glittery belt!

The Director invited us into her office, and said some very kind words to wish us well in the future.  We asked a few questions about how often Masha could call to speak with the Director and her friends, and the director shared some more information about Masha’s friend Lena.  The Director inscribed a very nice book for Masha, and then called her in to say goodbye.  Many hugs and kisses later, we were in the car and on the road.

Once we got on the highway, I called Northwest to arrange our flights.  WE ARE GOING HOME ON FRIDAY!!!!!!   Thanks to all of your supportive prayers, the fare difference for each of our tickets was only about $130 extra (plus the change fee). That still worked out a lot better than the adoption fares offered by Northwest.  

The kind agent at Northwest also found the least expensive alternative for Masha’s flight…she is booked on a round trip with us, and we can just abandon the return.  For those of you starting to plan your budgets, this is high season, so it probably won’t go too much more than we paid, and will start going down again in the fall/winter.  With just a 3-day notice, her ticket was a little over $1,000.  Could have been MUCH worse!!! 

We arrived in the capital at about 12:30, and immediately went to the records office to get her new birth certificate.  We had about 30 minutes after it was complete before we could go to the passport office, so we hung out in a shaded parking space for a while.  This is one of the “boring” days.  We gave Masha her new MP3 player, and she had it figured out in no time.  That took the edge off the waiting for her!  Mark and I sat and watched chocolate melt.

We had her passport in hand a little before 3:00, and then we realized that our train didn’t leave until 7.  Hmm….We now have four hours to kill in a city that no one knows all that well.  We all decided we were starving to death, and Sveta suggested McDonalds. 

McDonald’s smells like McDonald’s the world around.  For a moment, it felt like heaven to smell the greasy burgers and French fries, and to see familiar color schemes and logos.  Mark got a Big Mac and announced that it tasted exactly like a Big Mac!  But there were still differences.  The good:  They sell these cheese sticks with a sweet berry sauce that looked really good (Sveta got some).  The bad:  they charge for ketchup and mayonnaise!

We killed a good bit of time there, and I found a very clean public restroom with *normal* toilets…not the hole in the floor kind…WOOHOO!  (is that too much information??)  When we wore out our welcome beneath the Golden Arches, we headed over to a mall that our driver knew about.  There was a playground outside, so we hung out there until it started to rain.  We explained to Masha that we were only looking, not buying.  Didn’t stop her from asking for things, but she accepted “no” pretty well!

Before we knew it, it was time to head for the train station.  Sveta and our driver helped us get our luggage up into the cabin, and Sveta gave Masha instructions to help us and be good.

Once the train pulled out of the station, we fired up the laptop to watch “Happily Never After” in Russian.  We took a break to eat dinner from the giant sack of food that I brought (next time, I will know that one can purchase train snacks at one of several stores near the train station)., then finished the movie, made up our beds, and went to sleep.

This train actually had air conditioning in the compartment, but it was little unpredictable.  Overall, this train was quite a bit nicer than the train we took to Masha’s city three weeks ago….and it really helped to be able to keep the compartment door closed to keep sound and light out.  I will repeat myself again….Air conditioning is a wonderful thing!!!

Mark and I were both wondering how the first full day away from the orphanage with our daughter would be.  Would she be happy?  Would she be sad?  Would she be some of both?  We were both very happy by the end of the day to see that Masha was happy and content.  We both reflected on how this experience has been one of the most wonderful and life changing experiences in both of our lives!

The train arrived right on time this morning, and as Mark was trying to wrestle one of our big duffel bags out from under the bench seat, he popped up, and there was our driver standing in the doorway!  It was nice to see a familiar face, and nicer to see one that could help carry luggage!

This time, we were in a 2-door Mitsubishi “jeep-like” car, and I have no idea at all how we fit into it!  Masha and I each sat on a side, our behinds half up the wheel wells, and Mark crammed in between us.  Our luggage somehow all fit in, one thing piled on top of another and another.

We had a few minutes to kill before the medical clinic opened up, so Sasha announced that we would go to McDonald’s for breakfast.  No McD’s for well over a month, and then twice in 18 hours!  AAARRRRGGGHHHH!  This time, we hit the drive through, named “McDrive.”  Not kidding.

Sasha suggested that we figure out what we wanted before we got up to the window, and so we asked what all was on the breakfast menu.  Sasha replied “No special menu, just the regular food.”  Mark:  “You mean like Big Macs and Frech Fries for breakfast?”  Sasha: “Yes, of course.”  Like eating a Big Mac was a great way to start the day.  Masha got a Coke and fries.  I got a Diet Coke and fries.  Mark got a Diet Coke.  This is a great start for our new attempts to eat healthy and set a good example for our daughter…NOT!

After sharing our fries with some of the stray birds flying around the parking lot, we all piled back into the car, and drove to the medical clinic.  There weren’t too many people there, and we ran into one of the families from the Indianapolis hosting program there.  Masha got through her exam, and only needed one vaccination to be able to immigrate. 

We made the mistake, though, of trying to take advantage of a bi-lingual doctor to explain what was in her records about the surgery she had last January.  The doctor interpreted this to “worry” on our part, rather than just information-gathering.  Because we were “worried,” the doctor became “worried” and decided that Masha also needed a chest x-ray to be sure she didn’t have tuburculosis.  If anyone can explain how a swollen lymph glad indicates TB, I’d be interested to know!

Needless to say, we were at the medical clinic a lot longer than we expected, and it was chock full o’ people by the time we left.  The doctor had agreed that there appeared to be nothing wrong with her, and provided docs for a clean bill of health.

From there, we drove over to the US Embassy.  We needed to get a new photo of Masha from a nearby photo shop, and then Sasha took us to the guardhouse at the Embassy.  Even though we are still in Ukraine, it was comforting to be on American soil for a short time.  The security checkpoint was pretty thorough, and we were not allowed to bring anything but our documents with us…no purse, no cell phone, etc.  Mark was able to carry his wallet, but that was about it.  They wanded each of us (including Masha) after we passed through the metal detector.  They even x-rayed my accordion file with our documents in it.

The adoptions department was in a far corner of the building, but it was all very clearly marked.  When we got there, we were helped by two young American women whose parents were both posted in Kiev…apparently being a consulate staffer’s kid entitles you to a summer job at the consulate.  They were both VERY helpful and enthusiastic about helping us.  They answered the last couple of questions we had on our paperwork, and we turned everything over to them.

We waited in a nice waiting area that had some kids books and toys, and a water dispenser.  No snacks or sodas to speak of, so make sure you don’t go in hungry like we did…we were ready to gnaw our arms off when we got out a couple hours later, but it was worth it.  The consular officer that we met with was very helpful, and promised that Masha’s visa would be ready for us tomorrow morning…this is the last piece of paperwork that we need before we can head home as a new family!

Once we left the embassy, we headed to the suburbs to our new apartment.  This time, we are staying with a woman named Svetlana and her grandson in a very large two bedroom apartment.  Svetlana made us a late lunch of chicken soup and vareniki (yummy).  Mark hopped online for a few minutes while Masha taught me how to play Uno, and then we watched a Harry Potter movie on the laptop. 

After dinner, Masha dressed up her magnetic paper-doll and took photos of all the new outfits, then she did the same with the two Barbies we brought for her.  She planned out her clothes for the next couple of days (including requesting our hostess to do a load of laundry for her).  She finally settled down for a bedtime snack of an apple (after a KitKat was vetoed).