Home Stretch

We made it to Kyiv, but not before a bad cold and car sickness set in. (I with the cold, and Sasha with evacuating the entire contents of his tummy.) 12 hours on terrible roads, a really smoke stricken first apartment (I'm pretty sure I breathed in the equivalent of 5 packs in my sleep, it was that bad) and now into our new little place. Clean and cozy and missing Dave and two poopers.

We stayed close to home today as we rolled into Kyiv at around 1 am. Then went out for supper and bought groceries for the next couple of days to cook here. I only have two burners so dinners will be fried or boiled. Sasha was fed soup every day and today he refused it at the restaurant, so I think soup will not be on the menu for awhile. He is not a fussy eater and was overjoyed that we bought bananas for tomorrow. They are pretty expensive here, but since Dave and I bought them all the time in Izmail, I thought it would be nice for the kid. He eats everything. Today he found out he didn't like the smell of salmon, and therefore wouldn't eat it, but instead he consumed two large sausages, a huge shishbob, Ukrainian style fries (not deep fried) some sort of salad (everything here is mayo based) bread and two apple crepes for dessert. I think we will have to remortgage our home to cover the cost of a growing (and previously borderline starved) boy. 

The last day at the orphanage was bittersweet. It was difficult for all of us including the kids we were leaving behind. There was sadness in their eyes and there were a couple of kids that I wished we could bring home with us. The director spoke with me and said that she had been observing us the entire time we were visiting the orphanage and saw a really great connection with us three.

Although this process has been a speedy one for us, it has not been smooth sailing in the least. There have been many obstacles for all parties including Sasha. Thankfully we have had an amazing team to support and carry the brunt of the weight regarding politics and procedures. Please continue to pray for us as we have a long road of uncertainty ahead.

But for now, we are discovering the wonderful world of englisky:) I am ready to come home, and asked Sasha if he was ready to start a new chapter, and he said yes:) My heart smiles. What a brave kid!

Part 3: I understand

Dave arrived in Winnipeg early this morning, and I arrived back in Izmail later this afternoon. During the 10 day waiting period, we made it all the way to Krakow, Poland. There we visited Auschwitz. I had always wanted to visit Auschwitz for a couple of reasons. One, to try grasp some sort of understanding of what "really" happened, and two, to understand why my grandfather never spoke about his time in the war.

He only shared one story with me, and that was when he was walking through a field and he he tripped and fell face first into a pile of cow dung. It was humorous at the time, and I still chuckle when I think of my grandpa falling and how his fellow troop members must have laughed at him. But aside from this and the one time mention of him seeing Mussolini driving by him, no other words were spoken about the war.


Upon arrival to the now museum, I couldn't help but think about the innocent people during the time Auschwitz was open and how many of them believed they were being transferred to a place of wealth and safety. Some were even paid to board the train to Auschwitz. Of course, the payment was taken back once the innocent were murdered. We arrived on a full bus, I imagine the people arriving on packed train cars and what they might be thinking. Perhaps they were thinking of hope and freedom, perhaps fear of the unknown. I know I was fearful of entering Auschwitz because it would become a reality that I will have to deal with. I was afraid.

We were a small echo of the souls that actually lived Auschwitz.We stood in a long line to get our entrance ticket, we waited in large groups. We were divided and sorted by our ethnicity and size; and we even shuffled around the grounds from building to building. I felt afraid even though I knew I was safe. I knew I belonged with the English speaking tour guide, I waited in line and in large groups with other people waiting to see the museum. I shuffled along side fellow travellers from the first gas chamber to the wall of death, to the multitude of eyeglasses, hair and suitcases.

After experiencing Auschwitz, I understand less than I did before entering. I understand why my grandfather never talked about it. That's the only thing I understand.

                                                         The entrance gate to the camp

  

                                                           

     Only a handful of actual human ashes remain. And they remain in this commemorative urn.

                                                                              Statistics

                                           A canister of the poison used in the gas chamber.

                                      Over 43,000 pairs of shoes are on display at Auschwitz

 Female prisoner photos lined one side of the wall, while male prisoners lined the opposite. Below are three women that caught my eye. From my perspective, they look to be smiling and/or at peace.

 Many of the photographed women did not live longer than a month or so after entering the camp

                                                                  My lens was foggy.

The wall of death. Prisoners were stripped then marched out to face this wall. They were then shot in the back of the head.

 Prisoners were hung on this post and left as a reminder to others to obey. Even if they did obey, there most likely killed in the end.

Outside the first gas chamber. Unfortunately, I did not make it to Birkenau as this was very overwhelming for me. We chose to leave and visit Schindler's Enamel Factory museum instead. (an amazing display of history there as well.)

Part 2: Blog Update

We've passed three days now, and we can't stop thinking about "the kid". I guess separation anxiety may have started....

Today we continue to reflect on an amazing journey and opportunity that took place yesterday.

We connected with an English speaking tour guide/chauffeur here in Lviv who my family in Selkirk referred us to. He was an amazing guy who took us to a small village called Dovhyi-Voinyliv which is a mere 100 kms outside of Lviv. However, it took almost four hours of driving due to the terrible state of the roads. My uncle warned us of the roads, but we've had previous experience with them on our travels to and from Izmail- A trip I will have to do two more times! Below are some photos of the poor infrastructure (I will do my best to refrain from complaining about the road conditions in Winnipeg when I get home:).

We arrived at the village around noon and began to walk the road. The first sights to hit us were families walking home from Church, people walking their cows, yelling at their turkeys in the front yard, and washing the milk pail at the well. We stopped at the well to ask if anyone knew of a family we believe to be connected to our family tree. It turns out we were practically standing in front of their house.

Outside we met Bogdan, who was a very sweet man with hardened hands proven of his labour of metal, carpentry and now masonry. We were excited to learn this as both my Grandpa and father spent a good deal of their careers in metal works. We explained who we were, and we were soon introduced to his wife who (as they say) "officially" welcomed us in to their home. It would not take long to come face to face with a Ukrainian tradition of treating guests to a healthy display of drinks and food and conversation.

We stayed for lunch and had a great time! We had homemade turkey noodle soup. The turkey's were raised and smoked in their back yard, and the flour was ground in their back yard summer kitchen for Nadia's homemade noodles. The grapes were picked straight off the tree, and the dessert of "Roshen" chocolate and Nadia's homemade cheesecake (it's not the same as American cheesecake) were amazing. The house was very quaint and lovely. Country living is very different here than in Canada. Country living here is very simple. Our new found family had to dig wells (one is soft water and one is hard water). They have electricity, but no plumbing. Their toilet is little more than an outhouse with a hole in the ground. They have a small "farm" where they raise cows that provide them with fresh milk (we had a glass of fresh whole milk as well), turkeys, chickens, a pig, and they even make their own honey!

I was very humbled by the hospitality and it made me a little homesick, as they have done what my Ukrainian family does when guests come over. Offer them a seat, roll out a table with enough food to feed the entire village, and of course, out comes the homemade wine and vodka. I have now come to understand my own family traditions in a new light. It is exciting to think that I can perhaps work to help this heritage live on in the life of our new son.

So back to our son. We feel it is now appropriate to name him and picture him on this blog. The court date is done. The ten day waiting period is likely to pass without too much of a challenge. All that is left is to reach October 7th when we will finally be able to declare sole custody of our son. So, we would like to introduce to those of you reading this blog Sasha Gregory Courtney. He is a wonderful kid. Smart, handsome, and talented. And above all we get to call him our son.

We are about to reach the final leg of Dave's journey home. We have soaked up our time in Lviv, immersed ourselves in my families  heritage, and in two days I will be seeing Dave off to the airport so that he can prepare our home for the new arrival. We are thrilled, nervous, exited and scared. And yes we are both exhausted. But we trust that in time we will sit back and wonder at how this incredible opportunity has changed us for the better. Now, if I could borrow a toast from my good old Ukrainian relatives: Here's to getting excited for today and anticipating tomorrow, to good health, good food, family and friends. Cheers.

Full Circle Part 1

Where to start....

When we last wrote we were counting down the days until our court hearing. Our original hearing date was on September 23rd. Unfortunately the internet in Izmail has been poor at best in the past two weeks (since we posted), which has been more than frustrating to say the least. Thankfully we have access again and can update you on our journey.

The big (and very good) news: Our court hearing was successful. Actually, it was more than successful. Apparently we can mark it down somewhere in the record books as one of the quickest cases they have dealt with. This however did not come without some huge ups and downs along the way. A day before our hearing we found out our hearing had to be postponed due to some incomplete documents. Initially this news was received without any sense of when it might be rescheduled. We were discouraged and disheartened. We had everything lined up perfectly for the court date and for (Dave's) journey home. Time was moving slowly for us, and although our daily meetings with our boy provided a lift in our spirits, trying to occupy the hours outside of the orphanage was taking a toll. And now we had to mentally prepare for the fact that the process could be prolonged by week(s) or more.

Thankfully we did not have to wait that long. Our document (actually it was one document) arrived the next day, and our hearing was rescheduled for the 25th ( a mere two days after our original hearing).

OUR DAY IN COURT
We received a call the evening of the 24th from one of our facilitators asking us if we were nervous. The nerves would set in the following the morning. We did not know what to expect. All we knew is that we would be sitting in front of a judge, a jury, and a team of our facilitators and representatives from the orphanage. We were told it would take an hour and a half or more, and to be prepared for some possible questions. We arrived to the court house in Izmail where our boy and facilitator were waiting for us. We were all very nervous, including our facilitator and our boy who sat quietly in his suit pants without saying a word.

Once we entered the court room we were sat in the centre with the judge and jury in front of us, a jail cell to the left, and the team of facilitators and orphanage directors to the right. Really, from where we stand now the whole things is a bit of a blur. We stood. We stated our full names and addresses, and the reason why we were in court; to adopt our boy. Everyone else stood and said their piece (of something... it was all "Russian" to us). The only thing we really understood came a mere 10 minutes later. "We are done". We shook everyone's hand and walked out approved to take Sasha home. We all, facilitators, our boy, and us, were overjoyed. A day we have anticipated now for 2 years now took 10 minutes of our morning, and the end (or beginning :) of this long journey now lies ahead.

So where does the process go from here? Well, we are currently happy to say that we are writing this blog from Liviv (from the wonderful Lviv Coffee Factory). That means that we have officially started (Dave's) journey home, while (Jen) will stay behind to finish the rest of the process. October 7th will mark the end of a mandatory 10 day waiting period in which  anyone may contest the adoption, and the day that we can officially claim custody of our child.

Inside the coffee factory

Dave's flaming sausage

Near our hotel

Stay tuned for part 2...

Turkish Coffee and Wedding Rings

We have officially started counting down until the date of our court hearing. Twelve more days...

We've spent time with the kid every day and our hearts grow bigger and bigger with love for him. He learned 31, which is an old Cholosky favourite (Jen's mom's side), we play checkers (although the kid clearly needs to learn Canadian rules:)) and have spent a little time teaching english as well.

We go to the outdoor market everyday, and find something new every time. The market is so big that we honestly get lost in all that the market has to offer. Yesterday we found a Turkish coffee pot and grinder, which we snapped up as it won't be there tomorrow, and bought some Turkish coffee. They drink quite a bit of it here and a lot of the market findings are from Turkey. We've spent the last two days trying to master a good cup of Turkish coffee. (It is not easy to do!)

Not only have we been trying to master Turkish coffee, we've been turning our apartment upside down as Jen has lost her wedding band. It's been a tough couple of days of searching, but Jen is confident that it is gone. She hopes that someone will give it a good home:)

It is the kid's birthday tomorrow and we found some fun gifts for him. Jen's favourite is the "new" game 'Twister', but this Twister has a twist. It's called "Super Twister" as you can use your whole body OR.... you can play hand twister!!! Jen is giddy with excitement to play the hand version;) ;)

That is the small update for now, not much new here, although it is scorching hot with temperatures in the 26-30 degree range. Jen is melting. But not complaining too much as we hear back home people have turned the heat on.

Please feel free to email us if you want, we love getting word back from home:)

Dave, Jen and the kid.

We buy our berries from this stand

Fresh herbs if one wants

Sporty Mike and Dream Wedding Suzy

Turkish Coffee Experience

Ismail

We've been here in Izmail, a town south of Odessa right on the Romanian border, for three days or so. Following a successful appointment (which went longer than intended due to some things that needed to be figured out) and choosing our child, we were quickly packed and on the road. It's been so busy that we don't really know how long its actually been. 

Thankfully birthdays can at least help us keep track of what day it is. Happy Birthday to Mom Courtney and sister Kristie! Sorry we can't be there to celebrate you, but I'm sure you understand:) There is a present on the way!

We know that many of you have been waiting to hear an update, and we are very excited to announce that we have been visiting a 12 year old boy. We know that he is a bit older than many expected, but after falling in love with his picture and his story, and then ultimately now with the person, we feel extremely blessed to find ourselves here in this young boys life. It is interesting that as we went through the files, his picture was the first one that we picked up, and Dave ended up holding his picture on his lap the entire time. In the end what we thought would be the most difficult choice to make was perhaps the easiest. There have been more than a few people along the way that have remarked on how much this boy looks like Dave :)

A quick snapshot of our first three days. We travelled to Izmail overnight, went straight to the orphanage in the morning to meet our boy, left the following day back to Kiev for his  immigration medical, and returned to Izmail all within 30 plus hours (22 of which we were driving). We are still recovering! We are pleased to say that everything has been going very well so far. 

Here are our next steps:

1. Court hearing on September 23, 2014

2. mandatory 10 day waiting period for family to contest the adoption

3. Processing of birth certificate, visa and passport'

4. Flights home

If we can be honest, as we have been thrown into a world of unknowns, and as we attempt to now settle in to a bit of a "quieter" routine, its safe to say that it has taken a toll on us. Today we felt slightly homesick. We miss our pups dearly. Some difficult distractions at home have been making it difficult to fully immerse ourselves in the "here and now" of building a relationship with our child. Continued prayer for strength and patience would be greatly appreciated. 

A part of the challenge of Ismail is that everyone speaks Russian (good thing we took all of those Ukrainian classes :)). Thankfully we met the owner of the apartment today where we are staying, and he speaks english!! He took us out for a "good" cup of coffee. And it surprising how comforting it was to simply find a good cup of coffee (so far our experience with the coffee has been mediocre at best, even trending here in Izmail towards the "nes cafe" brand).

One of our daily routines has been (and is going to be) walking down the main street to the "Rynok" (huge outdoor market). It is a lot of fun. The lifestyle here is different. People go the market once a day or every two days to buy all of their food fresh, and then they come home and cook it all up. We purchased some fresh vegetables and fruit, and even some homemade yogurt that was to die for:). We are looking forward to buying the fresh cheese which is all made on the spot. 

This afternoon we took a challenge and rode the Izmail public transit (small compact busses) to the orphanage (to save money on the cab). That was interesting. On the way back it was a disco bus as the driver had some pretty groovy tunes blaring and some fun and flashy things hanging on the dash.

It has also been a fun experience getting to know the orphanage  The teachers and director there really love the children and are very protective of them. Although it is like a group home, to these kids it is home. Whenever a child receives something like a bracelet or candy it is shared with everyone. There was a 3L pop being passed around to several kids. We met several other children during our visits and have had a blast playing soccer (sorry... football) and "Go-Fish" with them. One girl in particular came and sat beside Jen, and we had so much fun. When we went back today, she made sure to wave and say hi before having to go elsewhere. We were taught a couple of card tricks by two boys today, and tried to learn a little Russian while also teaching a little English. All in all, it was not a bad day at all.

When it was time to say goodbye, we learned a couple new handshakes from three different boys and got some tight squeezes as we boarded the bus. It was tough to say goodbye today. But alas, tomorrow is another day, and we know there are many more ahead of us. So here is to another trip to the market, some more fresh meals, and another blessed visit at the orphanage:)

Dave and Jen

Up the River

It looks as though we've kept everyone on their toes regarding our appointment. Dave and I wanted to take some time to think over the events of the appointment as it ended up being more than an hour long (a couple of days actually). After working through some complications we are now moving forward. We are ok with that. We want to make sure that we are in line with the Ukrainian government and the Canadian government and their expectations with us, as well as spending time praying through this difficult process.

Due to confidentiality reasons we cannot give specifics to the past few days, but we can say with hopeful hearts that we will be travelling to the Odessa region to a small city called Izmail on the border of Ukraine and Romania. We will likely leave on Sunday or Monday. There we will have the opportunity to meet an orphanage director and a child. We feel hopeful, and we are anticipating the next step in the journey of a bigger process.

Today is Saturday, and to occupy our minds in the meantime Dave and I ventured out on the boat tour of The Dnipro River. It offered lovely views of the lower Lavra and the Mother Motherland Statue. After the boat ride, we took the Funicular up to St. Michael's cathedral where we were only a short walk to our apartment. Tonight we plan to visit the Presidential Palace, lovers "bridge", and the park. We might even be able to catch a puppet show.

I have really enjoyed exploring Kyiv. It is a city of about 2 000 000 people (registered) and unofficially 10 000 000 people that actually reside. The subways and trolley buses are easy to navigate, and there is always a store close by that you might need (like a mini supermarket, a shoe or dress shop, currency exchange booth, or even nylons and a smoke shop) can be purchased on your way to the subway underground. Okay, the smoke shop is for all the people that smoke over here (which is the vast majority it would seem). But suffice to say that one can easily get lost in what is a never ending underground maze.

Dave disagrees with me, but I think the coffee is very do-able, I have a cappuccino every day (except for today, but the day is still young) and at least two pieces of Roshen Chocolate. We are in agreement that Roshen chocolate will be coming home with us:)

So what can people pray for? 1. Current situation of Ukraine. For every time you see a step forward it seems to take another step back. I myself have not fully grasped the concept of what it must be like to feel like you are losing parts of your homeland and nationality.

2. Safety for Dave and I as we continue to travel to Izmail and for the next steps at the orphanage.

3. Our home and pups (Yes, Matt too:))

4. Discernment.


Photos

 The escalator going to down... way down. (Although the picture looks like we're going up)

                                                                        Found it!

                                           People park their expensive cars on the sidewalk.

 We went to the Pharmacy museum... creepy. They had separate rooms in the basement for witchcraft.

                                                         Lviv Chocolate shop... again.

                                              I guess breakfast gets lost in the translation....

                          One of only a small handful of certified gluten free foods here in Ukraine.

                                                The Lower Lavra from the Dnipro River
                                                (The saints are buried here in the caves)

       

                      Funicular up to St. Michael's Cathedral and only a few minutes from our apartment. It cost 12 cents per person to ride.