We Are Here

So, let’s see…Tuesday morning was surprisingly civilized with no rush or panic. Sharyn arrived at 8:15 and we were ready to go. She dropped us off at the Jet Blue curb and we checked in. Our bags just barely made weight and the flight was on time. Jet Blue is a good airline, and the seats have extra legroom so it was relatively comfortable. We arrived at JFK around 11:45 and got our bags. We walked to Terminal 4 and left our bags at Baggage Storage. Just up the escalator, we caught the Air Train to Jamaica Station and the E train to Manhattan.

It took about an hour to get to 42nd St. and cost a fraction of what a cab would cost. We found Tagine at 40th and 9th Ave. Kelly and Lindsey Kravitz were there waiting for us. Kelly and her friend Melissa both work there and her boss Hammid opened the restaurant just for us. Melissa joined us, too, eventually. Tagine Eating Gallery is a Moroccan restaurant, very ethnic and exotic. They often have live music and belly dancers. Hammid cooked up a huge meal of spicy chicken, beef with vegetables, couscous with vegetables, and a large plate of fancy pastries for dessert. He was generous with his Moroccan beer and we ended the meal around a hookah pipe with lemon/peppermint tobacco. He would take no payment for this amazing meal and special treatment, so we prayed and blessed him. Kelly showed her expertise in pouring tea, waiting on the table, and blowing smoke rings. I was very proud. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay too long, having been told to be back at the airport by 4:30. It was a beautiful day in New York, sunny and warm, and Kelly and the girls took us back to the subway on their way to Central Park.

We arrived back at JFK at exactly 4:30, retrieved our luggage ($24), and went up to the 4th floor to check in at the Aerosvit Airlines counter. Security was as usual, without any long line and we found a place at the gate. The flight was scheduled to leave at 7:05, but there was posted a 1 hour delay, with boarding scheduled for 7:15. We relaxed and made phone calls to friends and family. However, we didn’t board until 8:00 and the flight finally took off at 8:30. Thank you to all of you who were praying. It really made a difference.

The flight was long and uncomfortable. The seats were like concrete, with the typical minimal legroom. Kevin and I sat across the isle from each other and I was next to a large middle aged Ukrainian woman who spoke no English. She was friendly enough, and I persuaded her to teach me a few Russian words. I drew pictures and she told me how to say in Russian. I practiced my few learned phrases and I must have impressed, because she chatted incessantly to me for most of the trip despite my protests of “I don’t understand”. They showed a movie called “Proofs” and the Narnia Prince Caspian movie. My eyes were beat, so I tried to get some sleep. This proved to be harder than you’d think, but I at least rested for a while.

We arrived in Kiev around 6:00 am our time, 1:00pm Kiev time. A man holding a sign saying “McCormack” met us as we disembarked. We gave our little immigration paper to a man a booth with no line, while everyone else waited in long lines. Then we waited for our bags to come on the carousel. Once we had our bags, we followed the gentleman right out of the airport where Victor was waiting for us with a taxi driver. I paid the nice man for his VIP service and we left with Victor. Kevin and I were utterly exhausted. The ride into Kiev took about 20 minutes and Victor described some points of interest as we rode. I was so bleary-eyed and punchy that I don’t think I was all that interested. We got to the apartment and I settled in a little bit while Kevin went with Victor to change some currency and buy some drinking water. Victor left us, promising to return at 7:00pm to take us to get dinner. Kevin and I got cleaned up and went to sleep.

That night Victor took us to a nearby restaurant that has Wi-Fi. Victor and I had borscht and Kevin ordered pickled herring with onions and chicken Kiev. I posted on Facebook briefly, but Victor really wanted to talk about our agenda. It was a tasty and enjoyable meal, and afterward Victor took us for a walk around the area, showing us St Michael’s cathedral, Independence Square, McDonalds, and the underground Mall. We came home, watched McGyver and conked out.

Thursday morning we woke at 9:00 and Victor got us at 10:30. We walked to the SDA office and waited for our meeting. The meeting took all of 3 minutes. We were shown Artom’s records and found that he was actually born in Zapporyzzhia and not in Moscow, as it was rumored. This was fantastic news. We were told that we would be able to receive our referral tomorrow at 4:00. Victor took off to make copies and prepare more documents and we walked around Kiev. We checked out a sidewalk “mall” selling souvenirs and crafts and had omelets in a French café. Then we walked to the underground mall looking for things that we could bring home as gifts. Kevin thinks that everything would look good on Kelly. If he had his way, we’d need another suitcase for all the pretty things he’d like to buy for her. We stopped at a small grocery to buy toilet paper, coffee, tea, and snacks. Back at the apartment, we relaxed, and I wrote up this blog. We will download it as soon as we get to internet connection.