The Ball is Rolling

Saturday afternoon we had some time to kill before church. I suggested we find a grocery store. We went a different direction than before to explore the area. Much to our surprise, our apartment is right near the river. We hadn't been able to appreciate that we have a water view because it has been so overcast. We walked along the river front and found a variety of small shops. Then, wonder upon wonders, there in the distance was the Ukrainian equivalent of Wal-Mart!!!! It was the biggest store we'd seen and it had pretty much everything for sale, from food, to clothes, to electronics, etc. I was astonished at our good fortune and we went in to shop.

Victor helped us to find the things we wanted. We bought a rotisserie chicken, some prepared salads, crackers (no Cheeze-its here!), cheese, tuna, plastic plates, a couple of beers and a small bottle of vodka. Victor decided to show Kevin how the Ukrainians drink that night! We also bought some more toilet paper which was bright yellow and smelled like lemon. There also was pink, blue, and other colors, all scented for your enhanced bathroom experience. The guys lugged the heavy stuff and we walked home.

We left at 4:45pm to go to the church service where we would meet Jessica and Kai. They were waiting for us, and church had already begun. The building was an old theater, very run-down, purchased by the church. Praise and worship was great. There were 4 men and 4 women with a "conductor" singing to a soundtrack. Though I could not understand the words, most of the melodies were familiar. They sang "Lord, We Lift Your Name Up High" and "Shout to the Lord" among others. They were in 3 part harmony with some fairly intricate arrangements. I sensed the presence of God as we worshipped.

There then were a series of speakers who Kevin said "made no sense at all", mostly because it was all in Russian. Victor and Kia sat on either side of me and chatted away. Kai wanted to ask me all kinds of questions about school and what we will do first when we get home. You could tell he had been thinking a lot about it. I hoped we were not being disruptive to the other people, but I was too happy to be there to be upset with him.

In between speakers, the singers would return and do another song. We stood, Kai and me, with our arms around each other and I realized he was singing. I could feel the vibrations on his back, though I could not really hear him. I was so blessed. The boys had to get back to the orphanage before 7:00 so we disrupted service some more as we exited the theater. We let them take the taxi to the orphanage and took it back to the apartment a few minutes later.

Such fun that evening as we ate and talked and I watched the guys put a glow on. Victor instructed Kevin to blow out forcefully, take the shot, and then eat a bite of food. They did this periodically throughout the evening. Victor played his music from his computer and showed us pictures of his family and of children from the area orphanages. He compared the before adoption faces with the after adoption faces. Such a difference in the children! When most of the food and vodka was gone, we went to bed. An early start in the morning.

I awoke monday morning before 7:00 and got ready to go. Kevin declared he was fine, but Victor was definitely under the weather. We had a 9:00 appointment to pick up the Inspector and go to the orphanage. I was about to jump out of my skin I was so excited, although I was not sure why. We arrived at the orphanage with the Inspector, and met with the orphanage Director, by the name of Ekaterina. She was a pretty lady and had a nice office. After short greetings, she buzzed her secretary to bring in "the child".

When Kai walked through the door we were supposed to act all happy and surprised and such. When he actually entered, I was so overcome, that I jumped out of my seat and ran to him. We hugged and kissed and cried, and it wasn't even an act! Among the ensuing discussions, Kai was asked if he wanted to be adopted and live in America with us. Well, duh! I don't remember much of what was discussed because it mostly was about the paperwork. I was just happy that another step in the process was taken.

We left the orphanage to go to the notary and sign a few documents. Notaries in Ukraine are more like lawyers. They are in charge of all kinds of permits and licenses. We signed in a big ledger, too. Kevin ate to candies in the candy dish and we played hangman while we waited.

After that we went back to the pizza place to have lunch. The name of the place is spelled Nay Bay, but is pronounced Pow Wow. I found that amusing. I had an awesome salad and the guys had potatoes, vegetables and eggs. Victor was still not a happy camper. Back in the cab, Kevin and I prayed for him and we went back to the orphanage.

Kai was waiting for us and while Victor went to work on papers with the secretary, Kevin and I hung out with Kai in the common area. We ended up being there over 3 hours. Kai's English is better than ever. I think he is remembering things he has heard and is using the words appropriately. In addition, he is very animated and can act out or draw what he wants to say. That combined with the little bit of Russian I learned, made for some decent conversations. We met a bunch of his classmates and took pictures of everyone. Even Jessica came by on her weay to giving Olga her English lesson.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and slightly warmer (nearly 40 degrees) and I was disappointed to have spent it inside, so when Victor finally returned, we went outside to walk around the grounds. As with most of this place, the grounds are dirty, rundown and stark. Kai showed us his expertise on the monkey bars, and showed me the window on the 4th floor of the dormitory where he sleeps. I asked if I could see it, but it is locked until 8:00pm when the kids are sent up to prepare for bed. Between school and dinnertime, they just hang around. That is when many kids go off to smoke or drink or be with their girlfriends/boyfriends. We saw some of this as we walked around.

It was nearing 5:00 when we went inside and called a cab. While waiting, I tried to teach Kai and Victor how to play Yatzee. We played a little bit and the cab arrived. On the ride home, I realized that I was utterly spent. Not having done much physically that day, I was somewhat surprised. Back at the apartment, I tried to relax and go on the computer, but ended up falling asleep instead. I woke at 8:30, got ready for bed, and Kevin and I watched an episode of Bones. Then I slept.

Tuesday dawned sunny and bright. Victor went to do more paperwork stuff and Kevin and I took a walk. The mall by the hotel wasn't open yet so we had a cup of tea (cafe American, for Kevin) at the Ukranian version of Starbucks. While there, Victor called and said we had an appointment with the department head of something or other bigtime at 11:30. He arranged to have a cab for us at the apartment at 11:00. It was 10:20 by then, so we headed back. On the way, we went into the mall and finally found Kevin some cigars.

We got prettied up and the cab was waiting for us when we went out. I called Victor and he told the driver where to take us. Victor was waiting for us at the same government building that the Inspector lady was in. We went inside and met the Inspector. She ushered us to a large office with a large man behind the desk.

After greetings, we sat and talked. The man has to sign papers giving us permission to adopt. He prefers to meet the adoptive parents because he feels responsible for the welfare of the child. He has concerns because there was at some time in the recent past, a couple who adopted from Russia 2 children and "killed" one of them. This came as a surprise to me and I think it showed on my face. The man was very reassuring to us and talked about us being the same age and wanting the same things, i.e. grandchildren. I smiled and nodded and agreed with whatever he said. He talked about the political differences between the US and Russia, that we are old enough to remember. But that we see now that we are all the same. I smiled and nodded. Again, the meeting took all of 5 minutes and we took a cab back to the apartment.

Kevin started working, I started blogging, and I think Victor took a nap. The plan is for Victor and I to go to the orphanage to hang out, and Kevin will stay here and work. People have asked me how we got the name Kairos. I have explained it a few times, but it is a cool story so I will repeat myself for those who have not heard.

I was resting one afternoon a few months ago when the Lord spoke to me about Artem's name. I thought, "Oh, yeah, he needs a new name." The Lord said, "He has a new name." I said, "Well, are you gonna tell it to me?" And I heard Him say, "Kevin, Kim, Kelly". I thought, "Oh, it'll begin with the letter K." So I went on some baby name web sites and looked at names beginning with K. There were a few that I liked, but nothing jumped out at me. I needed to go to my friend Penny's house to pray, so I had to stop my search. No worries, I had plenty of time. After praying, Penny wanted to show me something on her computer. She punched up a web site of a conference she planned to attend. In large letters across the top was the word "KAIROS". It about jumped off the screen at me, and I said, "Lord, is THAT his name?" He said yes, so I asked Penny to look up it's meaning on Wikipedia. Kairos is a Greek work referring to a period of time of indetermenant length, different than "chronos" meaning chronological time, but a time when God shows up and makes miracles and all things new. I thought that was pretty cool and appropriate. I also figured Kairos would be, most likely Kai in usage, so I looked up Kai, which means, according to one source, praise. So we asked Artem while he was here if he liked the name and he said yes. I don't think he is very picky, but he liked it's meaning. Later, while bugging God about if He really wants me to name him Kairos, He said that his middle name will be Andrew, Kevin's middle name. I was thinking we could keep Artem as his middle name, but the Lord said Andrew, so Andrew it is. And that is the story of his name.

I'll write later when I get back. I hope you are enjoying my ramblings and I really appreciate your comments, feedback and questions.