Hurry Up and Wait!

I awoke about 5:30, excited to get this day going. I got showered and dressed and spent some time writing yesterday’s blog. I really need to buy a flash drive so I can post from Kevin’s computer. We were ready before 8:15 and were waiting only briefly when Vladimir arrived with Marina (the Queen) in the car. Our agenda for today was to go to the court, get the 10 copies of our court agreement, the all-important paper without which we can do nothing, then pick up the Inspector from Juvenile Services, go to the orphanage and meet with Ekaterina, sign some documents, take the kid and run. Sounded simple enough and Victor had assured us that everything was all set and ready to go. But this is the Ukraine. When you hear something like that, always take it with a huge grain of salt. At the court building, Marina told the secretary we were here to get the documents. She said they weren’t ready and we should come back tomorrow. This, said the Queen, was unacceptable. The secretary said to wait, and so we did. Victor suggested a gift of coffee and chocolate for the secretary so we went out to get some. Our lawyer, who we had never met, was there and took it upon himself to get the “gift” for us. I suppose he was very good at things like that. He peeled out in his old car and returned shortly with a bag containing the biggest chocolate bar I had ever seen, a jar of instant coffee, and a bottle of wine. Marina was a bit piqued about the wine and bemoaned the state of affairs in Ukrainian public service. I wondered why we did not give the secretary her gift, right away. Marina said she thinks the secretary might just take it and then not do the work for us. But after an hour and a half of waiting, they told us to go and come back in one hour. It was 10:00 and Vladimir took us to the Coffee Life (Coffee As Life Style) near the McDonalds. We had coffee and something to eat and it was a refreshing interlude. We were back at 11:00 and when we asked, were told to wait. Why does that not surprise me? So we sat on the Group W bench a la “Alice’s Restaurant” and watched as various prisoners were being escorted in and out. We even saw an Orthodox priest being brought in. Kevin hypothesized that he must have done something unorthodox. At around 12:00 we saw the secretary walk around with what looked like a stack of documents in her arms. We were hopeful. I wondered how hard it was to make 10 copies of a document that was already drawn up. Marina explained that they do not use staples in these documents. They are literally sewn together with string, sealed down with a special tape, with a stamp and signature in it. That is in addition to the signatures and stamps on the actual documents. And we needed 10. These were to have been completed by last Friday, but apparently this had not occurred. At 12:30, after 4 hours waiting, we were given our documents without ceremony. Marina was to teach English classes this afternoon beginning at 1:30. It wasn’t looking good. We bolted and Vladimir took us to the Inspector’s building across the street. We took the stairs 2 at a time and found her door locked. She wasn’t there! Marina called her and was told that she was unavailable for the rest of the day. Oh, God, no! Upon further discussion it was decided that her assistant could do the job for us but not until 4:00. In that case, we went to the orphanage to tell Kai why we weren’t getting him, that there had been a problem, and to arrange to meet here at 4:00. We were told that Ekaterina would not be there at 4:00 but that it was okay, we didn’t need her, the documents were ready. Marina faxed a copy of the court agreement to Victor and we took her to her work place exactly by 1:30. That itself was a miracle. We went to the apartment and I wrote and Kevin rested. At 3:35 we went out to get picked up by Vladimir and Marina. We picked up the Inspector’s assistant and went to the orphanage. In the Director’s office, Marina and the secretary were pouring over more documents. The assistant was looking at a dossier that wasn’t ours. Then we were told that we could not complete this transaction without Ekaterina, and that she’d be here at 5:15. Unreal! Marina decided that, to pass the time, she’d like to go see the new kitchen that Crosswalk Church had built. Nonna went to get a key and when she returned, she discovered that she needed another key to get in the main door. Someone went to get it and when produced, no one could seem to get it to work. No one can get the simplest things done in this crazy place. Kevin came over and worked the lock as good as any vandal. We got in and oooh-ed and aaah-ed over the beautiful kitchen. No one had the key to the shop room next door (so we could see the big table saw) but it might have taken an act of congress to get it. Besides, it was after 5:15 and we just spotted Ekaterina’s big black sedan. We went upstairs and the director was giving audience to staff person. It was about 5:35 when she asked us in. We exchanged formal pleasantries and then the Inspector lady arrived. It seems that Ekaterina was not about to hand over this kid with the assistant present. That’s not in the rules. This place is full of crap and I was about at my tolerance level with it. As Ekaterina signed and stamped our documents, she gushed about how wonderful it has been to get to know me (HA!) and that we are such great people, and how wonderful Kairos is (yeah, like she even knows him). I made nicey-nice with her and then she had the balls to say, “So, you’ll be picking him up on Thursday.” I first nearly freaked, then it was all I could do to not punch her in the teeth. She actually thought this was funny! She finished her documents and Kai arrived. We exchanged more pleasantries but I was seething with indignation at all the pomposity of this place. Plus I was emotionally exhausted. We all went downstairs where Kai’s classmates poured into the hallway and gave hugs, handshakes, slaps on the back and all kinds of banter. Kai procured all his belongings in a grocery bag and a small knapsack. We exited the building en masse as I videoed. Just outside the gate, teachers and kids crowded around him once more. Good wishes and blessings were lavishly bestowed. Kai said his final good-bye and we headed to the bus. I was crying at this point and Kai held me close and said, “I love my friends.” I said, “Me, too”, and I spent the better part of the bus ride trying to pull myself together. We were all starving at this point (it was about 6:00) and Marina suggested we go eat at the Christian Café near McDonalds. That sounded good so the 5 of us went. Jessica had waited with us all this time. The café was nice but my food came before everyone’s pizzas and we ended up eating at all different times. Kai was somewhat sullen, and that was to be expected, but I didn’t want him to be rude and said so. We all had hot chocolate afterwards and it was, by far the best hot chocolate I have ever had. But we were all exhausted and emotionally drained so we parted ways and went home. At the apartment, Kai watched the good-bye video twice, then all the other recent video before heading to the bath. His feet were absolutely putrid. Kevin tried to work and I just chilled. It wasn’t 10:00 and Kai went to his room. I went and knocked and he said he was going to sleep now. We exchanged kisses and hugs and I-love-yous and he was out for the night. Kevin and I watched a Jordan episode and I went to bed. Kevin stayed up until after 2:00 working.