11 Nov Update

Hi All,

My posts will be smaller and I won't be able to upload pictures until we find another internet cafe. This one no longer allows us to use thumbdrives or access to CD drives or anything. We are highly bummed out about this because we need to get access to programs and such but can't get to them now. Sigh, anyway...

We have our hearing date for this Thursday. We hope we can get our court date the same day so we can then start the 10 day wait. The 10 days ends on Sunday we we'll get the court decree on Monday the 24th. We then need the new birth certs from their town but Monday is reserved for death certificates so we won't get them till Tuesday. Tuesday the 25th we'll apply for the passport and have to wait about 5 working days +-, then off to Kiev for physicals and embassy work which could take another 3 or so days. God willing, we just may be able to make our plane itenerary on the 9th and home on the 11th. We need all the prayers and positive thoughts we can get.

We don't know if it made the news there, but the American woman who adopted a 12yr. girl made the prime time news. This was not a good thing because the girl got scared, started screaming and decided she didn't want to go jsut before boarding the plane. After checking the documents, it appears that the court decree was in error. It stated that her brother could not be found but the authorities found him on the same day this all happened. The mother then decided that she didn't want this child because she was a problem child. You have to wonder why this woman even decided to adopt this girl if she thought she was a problem child. The child is back into the shelter and the woman is still here in Ukraine. You have to wonder now what the judges are going to think when they make their final decisions. The adoption was legal and all the paperwork was in order except that the brother was easily found after the fact. We hope that this has no effect on us or those coming after. Each thing like this puts international adoption in bad light and especially Americans adopting.

It seems that where the girls are at is a standard Internat, not what we call a boarding school. Our translator was told by another American couple that is was better to use "boarding school" instead of Internat so that's where my comfusion came in. I asked our translator to explain the difference and we came to understand that Internat is the preferred use by Ukrainians and us as well. For those not familiar, this is a standard Orphanage for older children. It's a combination of true orphans such as our girls and those who can't afford their children at home so the state takes care of them.

So that's it for now. I had a much longer post of dailies but can no longer get it posted from this cafe so we'll be looking for another.

Ta-Ta for now,

Chris and Virginia