TIME TO MEET THE BOY

Well, at 6 am the train pulls into the station and our faithful guide Serge is waiting for us. The man is incredible, he drove all night along dark and pothole filled roads to get here. Day's agenda-securing place to stay, eat some breakfast, head to orphanage to meet and decide on our boy. Nerves and anticipation are kicking in.

Hotel-AWESOME. wasn't sure what to expect, but pleasantly surprised when we arrived. It's a 5-star place and it is very affordable. Nice, clean rooms, hot shower, breakfast, etc. all under one roof, and it's close enough to the orphanage. I can "rough" this for a few weeks.

Breakfast-Eggs, juice and crepes, ahhh finally some food that I can relate to. It is all good, and we meet Marina (Serge's girlfriend and right hand). These two are cute together. They both are excellent at their jobs and very professional. You can tell they have a heart for the kids they work with and want both the families and children to form a lasting bond. We are blessed to have these two working with us.

Orphanage-After breakfast we head to the orphanage with another lady from the US, Nancy, who is also here for an adoption. The staff at the orphanage are very nice. We get to watch Nancy meet with her child, a little girl, and it is moving. (her situation is different. She knew who she was adopting prior to coming and the girl is a little older and so she has been waiting expectantly to finally meet her mommy. The workers have been telling her for months that "mommy's coming") The meeting is emotional. Robin tears up immediatley and yes even I do as well. Hard not to. To know this little girl will have a new home and a family to love her is incredible. It reminds me of why we go through all of the paperwork, travel and "inconvienences" of adopting-because the "payoff" is worth it in the end.

Now it's on to meet our little guy. He's younger, so he's in a different area of the orphanage. We've seen his picture and he is cute. Always smiling with big brown eyes. Now it's time for the real thing. And it doesn't disappoint. The staff bring him out into a little room and he is of course overwhelmed. (first of all, he sees myself and Serge-I'm sure his contact with males is limited at best) Then there are all these people, men women and another little boy staring at him. Even though his little smile faded from the overwhelming fear, he still is curious. We get to hold him and talk with him (though only for a short period because we have paperwork to deal with) Though he gets nervous and looks for comfort from the staff, he does not have any type of crying fit or excessive panic, and his little cry is so cute. Overall, he displays normal responses to these situations which is a healthy sign. We snap some pictures and get to sit with him, play and touch him. Time to go, we have to now go meet with the doctors, discuss the particulars and then go through the acceptance or rejection process. Of course, we accept.

Then it's on to do some more paperwork and then lunch. We will get to return tomorrow and spend a longer visit with him. For now, we get to check out the town. There's a great little lunch shop down the street. It's great because it's cafeteria style where you can point to the food and they give it to you. Should be foolproof right? Well it is if you realize that the Ukrainians like sour cream in their soups. After sitting down with my captured prey, preparing to eat my bounty I discover a large white glob floating in the middle of my soup. It seems my vegetable soup has a large slab of sour cream floating smack dab in the middle of it. Yuck (I do not like sour cream. Who puts sour cream in anything?). Have to pass on the soup. But at least there's some excellent sausage, chicken Kiev (see Tom Rupp I tried some), rice, mashed potatoes, etc to go around. All of which is very good. Now Robin can eat just about any dish, so adapting for her is easy. But Logan and I are a little more selective (alright we're high maintenance, whatever) Logan tries and enjoys the Kiev. "Just like mom made for me back home", he says.

With full bellies, we head back to our room to rest and get ready for the full day tomorrow. We will get to visit our boy at different times throughout the day while paperwork and such is being worked on. It will be a great time of bonding, for both us and our new little boy. We'll keep you updated in the days ahead. Peace from the other side of the world.