Cautiously Optimistic

1. Roadside diesel station.

2. Phil and Kostya asleep in the minibus.

3. Vladislav

4. Dasha, Nastya, and Robin

5. Robin and Nastya

[Phil]
We’ve had a busy couple of days and are just now getting to the blog. We had an unpleasant surprise this week, when it turned out that Nastya has a living relative (a sister). This can affect the judge’s decision on a foreign adoption. We feel pretty confident about our case, but anything can happen. Keep us and especially Nastya in your hopes and prayers. We’re proceeding from the assumption that she will be awarded to us, and we continue to visit her every day. The judge will have the final say in the matter. The hearing could come as early as next Thursday, and of course we’ll keep you posted.
In any case, we’ve really been enjoying visiting Nastya and her friends at the orphanage. The only hard part is that she gets very sad when we leave. Dasha (the seven year old helper) always helps us by telling Nastya that we WILL be coming back tomorrow, and that calms her down a bit. Dasha has actually been invaluable, so whenever she asks me to bring her something, I always do. She’ll say (in Russian), "Papa, tomorrow please bring me a mineral water." Or "Papa, bring a juice box for me tomorrow." Today she wanted to use the watercolors, and I said, "Sorry, Dasha, we left our water at home." She then nodded towards a Spanish woman sitting nearby and said, "Papa, she has water. Ask her." I said, "No, I really don’t want to." And she said, "Papa, there’s a spigot on the building." I said, "Okay, Dasha, go and get some water." She just looked at me and laughed. It’s no wonder that one of the caregivers is adopting her. She is incredibly clever and mature for her seven years.
[Robin]
Yesterday was a really long, exhausting day and we are sorry that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to post on the blog when we got back. We traveled seven hours by car to go to Nastya’s hometown. It was really an experience traveling by car outside the metropolitan area. Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe, and after traveling out of the city we could see why—fields and fields with black, fertile soil. The driver, Vladislav, was really sweet, he showed us pictures of his wife and kids (WHILE DRIVING) and really drove fast to get us there and back. It wasn’t an easy drive; there were very few street signs and he had to stop and ask directions a number of times to and fro. It was also raining which added to the merriment. Phil slept on the way home and good thing because he hates to drive and he would have lost it if he had seen us play "chicken" with a number of trucks along the way. We also saw something that must be noted as one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen: We pulled into a mud driveway off the highway to a rusty shack in a field and a guy siphoned gas with his MOUTH to fill our minivan. We took what pictures we could under the radar. My mouth just hung open at the scene.
[Phil]
Yes, yesterday’s experience was what some people mean when they ask if we’ve seen the "real Ukraine", i.e., outside of Kiev. It really is enormously different. There were these little self-owned diesel stations every 20 miles or so, and Vladislav would only stop at them –never the Lukoils or Exxons or what-have-you. It’s still kind of like the wild west. For example, yesterday I realized that we left our camera’s recharging cord in Kiev. I went to the electronics store nearby, and the guy said I’d have to order it on the internet. This could take a long time of course, so I considered buying a new camera. Kostya met us later and I told him about my problem. He then took me back to the same store (a big store like Best Buy) and told one of the young salesmen my problem. The sales guy went searching around and said that he had this type of cord but couldn’t sell it because it was part of the camera package, but that if we left him my camera, he would recharge it for us. I asked Kostya, "Is he really going to do that?" He said, "Yeah, just give him 5 hrivnya (i.e. $1) or something." I told him, "This is why Ukraine is so great. You could never do that in the States." Sure enough, we showed up a couple of hours later and my camera was recharged. I handed the guy a folded up 10 hrivnya note but he was like "No, no, please." I had to insist. He finally accepted. Is this a great country or what?
[Robin]
My parents said that we were "brave" to come here. I didn’t really think so until we traveled yesterday. The town that Nastya was born in left much to be desired. On a more positive note, the orphanage here in Kramatorsk is a really cute and wholesome place. I went to pick up Nastya during visiting hours today and they had a really nice playroom for the kids. All of them yelled out "Mama" when I arrived (slightly disconcerting until you realize they call all adults this name). Nastya is so grown up that she can put on her own clothes and tie her shoes by herself. In fact, she is rather independent; going up and down the stairs and putting herself on the swing. She has come to expect us, and now when we leave her, she cries. It’s hard to take. Luckily, Phil can say in her language that we will see you tomorrow. Her caregivers are really sweet, and this makes it much easier to deal with this situation. The caregiver remarked on Phil’s command of Russian today and thanked him, because it made it so much easier for her to communicate what Nastya needs and is feeling.
It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and we are just praying that things will work out. We are trying to think positively, and yet we accept that this journey may be a learning experience in itself. Certainly Phil and I are steadfastly sharing this together and this is exactly "in good time and bad."
[Phil]
Indeed. At this point, we just think about how we can make Nastya, Dasha, and the other children at the orphanage happy for one day. If it’s playing with them, bringing cookies, talking to them, whatever – it’s still something. So that’s how we’re trying to look at it.
Again, thanks for all the comments. Your good thoughts keep us going.
[Robin]
As nerve-racking as this process has been so far, I have to say that we remain hopeful. This is in large measure due to the kindness of relative strangers. For example, yesterday our driver, Vladislav, saw that I was upset on the way home. He talked to Kostya after we arrived back in Kramatorsk and apparently told him that if it didn’t work out here that he would try to find us an orphan in another region. It about broke my heart to hear that; tears of thankfulness that the world can be kind and generous.