The End of Week One

We have completed our first week in the Ukraine. Felt like a month. Lots of waiting around interspersed with sight seeing and the search for sustenance. To update on the adoption progress (or lack there of), the concerns we voiced in prior blogs has come true. There was a change in the administration of the Adoption Center this week and the center is in a state of flux. We have been working toward gaining some new contacts and trying to find new files. Our coordinator is as a bit of a loss as to what to do and our agency is working on the situation back home. This weekend is a holiday weekend, and Monday is a National Holiday (International Women's Day) so nothing will happen until Tuesday when the government opens back up. As described in our first blog this is why they describe it as a "journey" and "patience" is required.

We have ran out of reading material. Thank goodness for internet access. Writing for this blog has consumed a great deal of idle time at night. Our news comes from CNN.com and reading Ukrainian News published in English. There are no English newspapers, magazines or books in any of the bookstores or news stands. We will venture to the Hyatt to see if there is something there that we can pick up today.

Yesterday, Lara and I started our day with a meeting with our coordinator and discussed next steps. We then took a walk to get coffee and then decided to walk up the hill to the park. We stopped at a grocery store, bought some bread, cheese, wine and salami that then walked over to the park to eat lunch with the pigeons. After eating, we walked by the government building, the old summer residence of the Tsar, Dynamo Stadium (Dynamo is their soccer team), and lastly visited the National Museum of Art. We really enjoyed the paintings and learned a lot. We have not had exposure to eastern European art, so there was a lot that we have never seen. We were impressed. They had a very large and expansive collection of paintings ranging from medieval religious art to the modern day. As usual, our favorite section was the impressionist art on display from the late 19th century and early 20th century. We went to do some shopping. Lara and I have decided that the plastic "chip clip" she uses for her hair was not up to daily standard in the Ukraine, so we went in search for some bling. We did not buy anything, but hunt will continue. Ate a good pizza, came home, communicated via email back with our agency in Minneapolis on strategy, then went to bed.

All of this seems a bit surreal. We feel like "Tourists with a Cause". We are here to find a child, but the process is slow. We could sit in the apartment and wait, but that just seems like a waste of time. We should learn as much as we can about the country and culture so we can transfer this knowledge to our child. There is some guilt associated with the fact that we are sight seeing, while everyone is back home helping us with this mission. Your emails and comments are a great inspiration!

It sounds as if Jane survived her time in Minnesota. We had read that the temperature there was below zero again. But we had also read that there was snow in Dallas around the time she went back to Texas. She must have liked Minnesota so much she took it with her. Texan's must love her for that! Clarke is now at the house and suffering the ice bowl. Maxine and Norman arrive on Sunday. Thanks goes out to Andy, Missy, Gregg and Sandy for helping and keeping watch, Lucas and Emma for keeping the snow shoveled and the dogs walked. Love you all.

Happy Women's Day to you women out there reading this blog. I think that this is a great reason for you to tell your husbands or male friends to serve you breakfast in bed or bring you flowers.