We Made It Back to Kiev!

Sorry it has taken so long to update the blog. It has been a hectic week to say the least.

Monday: after our last "visit" with Yan, our translator took us to a very nice Ukrainian restuarant for a traditional Ukrainian dinner. We had a 4 course dinner which included borsch, a salad with many unrecognizable ingredients, a main course and desert. I also agreed to sample the Ukrainian vodka. What I didn't know was I agreed to sample a whole bottle of vodka. Our translator (Andrew) is from Siberia and likes his vodka. We walked back to the hotel afterwards.

Tuesday: After a bit of a "foggy" start for me, we headed to Stakanoff (sp ?) - the village where Yan was born. We had to get Yan's birth certificate changed to indicate us as his parents. This was required for us to be able to pick up Yan even though the 10-day period was officially over. We got the birth certificate around 1:30 and headed to Lutugino to pick up Yan. When we got to the Children's Home, we met another couple from Buffalo, NY who were there to meet there new son for the first time. Seeing them with their son brought back a lot of memories from our first day. We really enjoyed meeting them and talked about finding a halfway point in the states to get the boys together in the next 6 months - year. After reviewing the paperwork, we were permitted to pick up Yan. He was really excited. He knew exactly what was going on. The translator for the couple from Buffalo said that Yan was asking him all day when Karen and I were coming to get him. We got him dressed in his new clothes (he thought he was cool) and he said goodbye to his groupa and "teachers." You see the women had mixed emotions. They were happy for him but they also were sad to see him go. We spent the next 2 - 3 hours in the inspectors office signing papers and getting the paperwork needed to process Yan's passport. We used the occasion of leaving the Children's Home as the opportunity to introduce him to the name Michael. Many people advise using their new name in combination with their old name so they get used to it and then eventually dropping the old name. So now he is Michael Yan and doing OK with it. If someone asks him his name, he will tell them Yan. If you call him Michael Yan or even just Michael, he will respond. After getting the paperwork completed, we headed to Lugans'k to get airline tickets to Kiev and then back to the hotel for a late dinner (around 7:30 - 8:00 pm). By the time we got Michael Yan showered and in bed, it was about 10:00 pm.

Wednesday: We were picked up by our driver to head to the airport at 5:00 am, so we had to get up around 4:00 am. Our flight was on time and Michael Yan was jumping out of his skin he was so excited to get on the plane - until it was time to actually get on the plane. Walking to the plane he was holding on to Karen's arm like he was dangling from the top of a cliff. Once on the plane, he was cool and took in the whole experience. It is hard to describe how frustrating it is sometimes when you can't understand him or explain things to him. The plane ride was one of those moments. We landed in Kiev around 9:00 am and had to run around doing paperwork until our apartment was ready. We got into our apartment around 1:00 pm and Michael Yan's meltdown started around 1:45 pm. We finally got him to sleep by 2:30 and he slept for > 2 hours. The day was capped off with a long walk to TGI Friday's for some much needed wings, salad, and a cold beer. Michael Yan was more interested in the fries and vegetables than he was his cheeseburger. I learned later that the kid's in the children's home get very little beef so it is not something he is used to. We ate ice cream on the way home and then crashed.

Thursday: was a rough day. We had to get Michael Yan's physical, pictures for his visa and all of his documents translated from Russian to English. If there were any mistakes in the translation, our application for a visa for Michael Yan would be thrown out so they had to be perfect. We worked on this until about 8:00 pm and decided to call it a day. Another late dinner for Michael.

Friday: yesterday was very productive. We got all of the translated documents by 9:30 am and headed to the hospital to get Michael Yan's completed medical paperwork. We took all of his documentation and passport to the US Embassy and got there 25 minutes before the office closed. We spent the next 1.5 hours submitting paperwork and filling out forms. We we were done we were told that everything was in order and that we had an appointment for an interview at 2:00 pm this Monday. Assuming there are no outstanding issues, we were told we will get Michael Yan's visa at the end of the day Monday. This means that we can fly home on Tuesday!!!! When we left the embassy, I took Michael for a hike down to the Dnipro river while Karen got some alone time. We had to kill a couple hours until the travel agency we are using was open so I could start working on ticket reservations to JFK. Karen took Michael Yan to the park while I worked on tickets and sat in on a conference call for work. We had are seats reserved for Tuesday by 5:00 pm and headed to dinner. Finally, a dinner by 6:00 pm.

Today we are going to the circus. Tomorrow (Sunday) is election day in Ukraine. Kiev his hopping! I am sure we will find many things to do.

We finally feel like parents and it is awesome. A feeling we didn't have when visiting Yan on a daily basis. We have experienced a lot of "firsts" with Michael Yan.

- First time on a plane
- First time to get sick on a plane
- First experience with a automatic hand dryer in a bathroom (scared to death when it first came on - now we can't get him away from them)
- First pony ride
- first escalator

It is so cool to see his reaction to these new experiences. So cool to have him wake up in the morning and hug Karen for 5 minutes as he is still tired. In many ways, he acts like a 3 - 4 year old with things like soap dispensers and light switches yet we also know that Michael Yan has expereinced more dissapointment, feelings of abandonment, loneliness and rejection in the first 6 years of his life than many of us may experience in a life time. Hard to imagine what is going on in his mind. Each day, we remind him that we will be together forever.

I have a lot of cool pictures of his last day at the Children's Home, on the plane, at the park in Kiev, etc., but am unable to post due to problems in the Internet Cafe. I will try later or tomorrow. Sorry for the long entry - just wanted to bring you up to speed on where we stand. Most importantly, we are well, doing well together and really really looking forward to getting back to the states and to see all of you. K&M