More Good News

I am needing to write these dispatches on email, send them to my friend Tim, who then posts them, as I have yet to be able to figure out the Cyrillic translations. It's a beautiful alphabet containing 31 characters, but the trouble is, once you translate the letters to Latin, you then have to also translate the word from Russian to English. Those of you who have been to a Cyrrilic-driven culture know of what I speak.

I just was on the blog re-reading my post from four days ago, and it seems like a lifetime ago. First of all, just to let you know the good news that both Hannah and Suzanne are feeling much better. Emily and I have been trying to give Suz as much sleep as possible while we attend to the kids late at night (when they are too squirrely to go to bed at times!) and in the mornings. Suzanne is regaining strength and doing much better.

Yesterday Emily and H were able to join the rest of us for their first visit to the orphanage to visit Jhenya. It was moving to watch Hannah's expression when she first saw Jhenya, and how she quickly gravitated toward him and proceeded to play with him, Kylie and Zoe for over an hour. Jhenya was his typical jovial, energetic self. It was a great visit.

On the paper chase... we continue to break all sorts of Ukrainian adoption speed records. The big news is that we have our court date with the judge this Friday at 1030 in the morning, which will then allow Suzanne and the girls to return with Igor to Kiev on Saturday, while I stay back to finish up affairs here. Suzanne will then go to government offices on Monday to sign over power of attorney to me. BIG NEWS: Suz and the girls have been confirmed to fly home Tues 7/31, which means they will have been in UKR for just two weeks and a day--truly amazing.

Tomorrow morning Igor will meet privately with the judge to see if he can get the 10-day waiting period waived. If it is waived, it means I will be able to pick up Jhenya from the orphanage and take him back to Kiev next Tuesday (the same day the girls go home). I will need to do the medical exam in Kiev and get a passport for Jhenya, visit the U.S. Embassy, etc. This means that he and I might be able to fly home around Aug 2. If the judge does NOT waive the 10-day waiting period, I will need to stay in Mariupol until the 10 days are up (until Aug 7), and then an additional 3 days or so in Kiev until flying home with Cory Yevgen Duncan (official name on adoption papers) around Aug 11 or 12.

Yesterday we were able to escape to the sea for a day at the beach. Very Long Island looking - saw grass, small dunes, tilting picket fences, interesting sea shells, and green water. It was a very welcome respite from the heat of the city.

Finally, something bizarre and different: A little bat decided to visit us last night, and Igor and I jerry-rigged a plastic jug to catch the little friend and release him outside. It definitely enlived the evening.

Some general observations:

Ukrainians are friendly and honest and straightfoward. We've appreciated that.

Extreme poverty and beauty hold hands comfortably. Fifteen-story Soviet-era block apartments dot the streets like concrete beehives, and everyone emerges in the cool of dusk to buzz and chat, men often stripped to the waist, young women dressed to the nines in mini skirts and high heels, stepping carefully over man-hole sized potholes and empty beer bottles. It's a country of startling contrasts. Beautiful, well-stocked grocery stores equal to those we know. Stroll air-conditioned aisles, grab gelatti on your way out. Walk outside and in the distance loom the smoke stacks of the largest metallurgical plant in Ukraine spewing out tons of waste in the form of ginger-colored smoke. Trash everywhere, cars careening between pedestrians oblivious to the shouts of the drivers. There's a middle class just bursting to emerge from the hive, but still, as with much of the poorer nations of the former Soviet bloc, two classes dominate, lower and upper. Fifty-year-old Lada's putter along next to $100K Lexus SUVs and Land Rovers.

We appreciate your continued prayers for:

- Continued health and safety for the girls

- continued favor with the judges and adoption officials

- waiving of the 10-day waiting period

Thanks much. We appreciate you all.

Kyle