February 12-14

Confession: Two years ago, when we were lying through our adoption blog teeth in www.siblingsettaketwo.blogspot.com, we in fact had met our dear Valentina, for whom Valentine’s Day is named.  There is a very true cool back story.  Some day we’ll share.

February 12-14 , 2011

Time to fly.  Adrienne, our 18-year old, who gave up her bedroom for a new sister, packed some love in a brown paper bag and pushed us out.  I made her sign an accountability contract:  “Adrienne can do anything she likes.”

Are your pets prescient?  Nienke knew Pam was parting for 6 weeks, so decided to go on a hunger strike. Out of pity, we hand fed her one last time and let her go along to the airport to kiss us goodbye, right along side the rest of the fam. 

As if small town America was escorting us out of the country, we shared the first hop with Sharon Katt, another Lincoln Lutheran drama mom.  Did you know she’s an Assessment Ogre like me?  Once at O'Hare, we tuned our antennae to all things international. Chicago newspapers blared, in fine print: “Mubarak Resigns, Military Rule.”  Much bigger headline: “Boy Accused of Killing Fish.”  If you like the second better, you may keep reading.

We did not get bumped off to Privat Air, our preferred luxury Lufthansa airline.  No duck, no champagne, and certainly no individual entertainment screens.  The one monitor 200 feet away we could see had a greenish tint along one side.  That’s okay, except when Rachel McAdams is trying to be all foxy and romantic on the left side, and Mr. Tums Commercial on the right looks like he’s going to nauseate.

If your flight is long enough, even cooked spinach tastes good.

A Burma shave later, we taxied up to Christ Church in Kyiv, left our luggage in the side room, and crept in just after the confession (which we will need after all these exaggerations).  Our dear friend Olga, who spent a week with Pam in eastern Ukraine during Round I of SiblingSetTakeTwo, was overwhelmed to see us, and we spent the evening with her.  After the service, we joined her for a Bible study.  Wow.  Christians from Russia, Ukraine, China, India, America, and Narnia all delved in, mostly in Russian, sometimes in Hebrew, and occasionally slipping into English for our sake.

We are staying with Sergei and Irina Timchenko, duplex-like neighbors of Orest and Susan, who hosted us during our last adoption stays in Kyiv, and have since moved back to Indiana.  Now we know how the other half lives.  As the Timchenkos’ four children have grown, they now have a B&B.  It sure is heart-warming to have Christian friends meet you and share in your joy when you are so far from home. 

Sasha and Jonathan emailed us: “Dear Dad, we are watching a lot of TV, and there is nothing you can do about it. Love, Sasha.”  Jill and Brady Johnson volunteered to keep them until next year when we hope to be done.  They have 44 kids 10 and under, so what’re 2 more?

What does one do on Valentine’s Day in Ukraine?  Nothing.  What do two do?  Lots. 

Go to a destination B&B, practice your international love language skills, sleep in, and chat ‘til noon with the hostess, of course.  Far more fun than FB.  Flip phone SIM chips.  I’ll tell you our new number later, after Valentine’s Day.  Venture forth to a hole-in-a-Soviet-built-crumbling-wall translator shop, where Andrei keeps a troupe of well-educated college students employed.  We carried a letter inquiring about the adoptability status of another girl. 

(awkward paragraph break) No, Lynn, we are not coming home with two.  This is on behalf of friends.  Wander through the city parks, past the President’s Palace.  Take cheesy photos overlooking the Dnipro River.  Check out the real Locks of Love on the bridge joining Marinsky and Kreshchatik Parks, testifying to the strength of steel and romantic love.  Make goo-goo eyes at a nice restaurant.  Fall asleep blogging about it all.