River of Thoughts

Christine Royse Niles — Changing the world one word at a time

Borsch Day

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, four weeks into our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For the next few weeks, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane… Saturday, 9 June, 2007 – Borsch Day We are coming to the realization that we’ll be leaving soon, which is met with both anticipation and panic. We’re not too worried about the “We’re gonna be parents” thing…that’s settling in well. The panic is actually related to shopping […]

The Home Stretch

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, in the home stretch of our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For a few more days, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane… Sunday, 10 June, 2007 – The Home Stretch Our stay is drawing to a close…and time is running short! Today, we left the apartment at 11, picked up Kseniya and Lisa, and then met the second car at the orphanage where we picked up the […]

Headed to Kiev

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, in the home stretch of our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For a few more days, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane… Monday June 11th, 2007 – Headed to Kiev! Our last full day.  We had recently become less diligent with our “shower whenever you can” strategy; the water hadn’t gone off in nearly a week. However, we woke up to find that our hot water was out […]

Midnight Train to Kiev, Part 1

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, in the home stretch of our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For a few more days, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane… Tuesday, 12 June, 2007 – The Midnight Train To Kiev (part 1) 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 […]

Midnight Train to Kiev, Part 2

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, in the home stretch of our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For a few more days, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane… Wednesday, 13 June, 2007 – The Midnight Train to Kiev (part 2) 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 […]