So what is the latest with Marisa…?

Since I will be on my own for the next few weeks, I will provide a brief synopsis for those of you whose time is precious. For those of you that have nothing better to do, I will provide more detailed explanations further in the blog as I will have the time to indulge in additional rhetoric. Read at your own risk!!

The synopsis of the last five days:
We went to court on Monday July 23rd. WE WERE GRANTED PERMISSION TO ADOPT MARISA LUDMILLA AND TAKE HER BACK TO THE UNITED STATES! Since we have been here over five weeks, Molly needed to get home for our seven year old daughter Madison and for her own sanity. On Tuesday, we got a cab from Kivorograd to Kiev as we had to get some papers signed by Molly at the US Consulate enabling her to return home early. Michael will stay in Ukraine as he awaits the 10 day waiting period as well as the issuance of Marisa’s Ukrainian passport which will add an uncertain number of days to the wait. By their law, Marisa will have dual citizenship in both the US and Ukraine until she is eighteen. Our visit to the US Consulate took about 45 minutes. They were very helpful. They explained when I come back to the Consulate to fill out the rest of the paperwork I should allow two business days to get her required medical exam along with her American visa. So after spending a couple of days in Kiev, eating, drinking, shopping and hanging out, Molly boarded a plane at 6:45 am on the 26th to head back to Boulder. She used the VIP service at the airport which was worth every penny. She was whisked into the terminal and cleared all the airport hurdles in about 10 minutes! I in turn got a taxi back to Kivorograd. I have visited Marisa for the last two days. She wore a giant smile when she saw me. I received a very enthused hug from her. It was heartwarming. I plan to visit her twice a day for the next week. Then, depending on the remaining time waiting for her passport, I will either stay several days in Kivorograd or head up to Kiev with her.

More detailed summary (I am warning all of you to read at your own risk.):

Well it finally happened. After weeks or was it months, maybe even years, on Monday the July 23rd, we went to our Ukrainian court hearing. This was the next step in a long and convoluted process to adopt a child from Ukraine. The first, which took four and half weeks, was to locate this wonderful sweet girl. If we got permission, then Marisa will join our family. If not, who knows? We drove with our translator Kirill to the court house with Andre, our taxi driver in Kivorograd. Originally we were told our hearing was to be at 3:00 pm. But unlike what we have found in this country, the judge agreed to actually see us at 1:00 pm. We were shocked. Something was actually done before a commitment. So we weaved our way around Kivorograd and turned on a non-descript road. We look at each other and think this cannot be right. Finally, we pull up to a stern building with dusty old windows laced with bars. We witnessed a motley crew of people on the outside wondering who these people are and why they are here. It was a warm and humid day, made more oppressive by our anxiety, dress clothes and general uncertainty as to the outcome.

We get out of the taxi, sweat exuding from us laced with our trepidation. Will we be given approval? What is going to happen in court? After reading about other’s hearings, we brace ourselves for a battle. After waiting a few minutes, our attorney, who adopted a four year girl from the same orphanage as Marisa Luda, pulls up in her leather trimmed Honda CRV. She and another woman, with one of the best poker faces we have ever seen, get out of the car. We have no idea who this woman is and why she came with our attorney. Our translator, who is on a need to know basis, has no idea who she is or her role. So the two of them walk up to us and we exchange salutations. Our attorney, who is an amiable bulldog of an attorney, preps us on the format. She tells us the judge has agreed to see us over his lunch hour. We give each other a knowing glance….. someone forked over a little cash. Nonetheless, after weeks of getting glanced off of our quest, we do not mind. She tells us they will go through a general reading, followed by questions such as “Why do you want to adopt a child from Ukraine? What is your income? Will you give the child the necessary medical attention?” as well as some other innocuous questions. It does not sound too bad. Yet, we wonder will there be other surprises?

We go inside and find a daunting sterile building badly in need of a remodel with a sundry of sorted characters inhabiting the hall. It turns out this is a general court house where criminals are tried as well as where naïve foreign families hoping to adopt a four year old girl intermix with these potential criminals. After waiting a few minutes in the hall, scrutinized by the natives and local police, we go into the court room. It was warm outside, but much warmer in this room. Off to the right sits a metal cage painted a faded dirty white to hole up the worst of the felons with a clumsy large padlock to lock the cage. We sit down on a bench opposite the judge.

After waiting about ten minutes, the door from his chamber opens. We stand up as coached, and the judge walks in with two witnesses and the recorder. He was an amiable man, about 45, thinning dark hair with a mustache, but enough humor and intelligence in his eyes to help us relax. After exchanging formalities, he spends about an hour reading through the paperwork. Our interpreter Kirill was very nervous translating for us, but did a superb job. He was even able to translate some of the bantering occurring in the court room.

As the judge went through the reading, he occasionally asked questions more to satiate his curiosity about how things are done in the US than about our specific case. For example, he asked about drinking and driving laws, who is fingerprinted and how is it done in the US. He asked about doctors and medical facilities and insurance. Specific to our case, he asked why we want to adopt from Ukraine. Were we aware of Marisa Luda’s medical issues? Do we have pictures of our house, family etc? (We did) He wanted to know our annual salary. After telling him, it was interesting to see the reaction from the people in the court. In a country where an average annual salary is about $2400, our “rich” American income must be shocking to them. After the court took pause on the salary information, the judge continued to talk and threw in a few jokes to reduce our obvious angst.

After finishing with the reading of the paperwork, he leaves with his entourage. We sit nervously as our lawyer chats with the other people in the room. They tell stories of their children and this banter becomes almost painful as we wait the decision of the court. After about 40 minutes, the judge returned in formal robes and read his decision. We are approved!! It was such a relief, a shock, but almost surreal. Did he really say what we thought he said? We were elated and relieved, yet unsure. After weeks of waiting, this most important decision almost felt anticlimactic. I am not sure we have yet fully allowed the pent up energy to escape.

After court, it is off to the notary to get some documents signed making the court decision official.

We were completely spent. We head to the apartment and pack up Molly for our trip from Kivorograd to Kiev so we can complete paperwork at the American Consulate. There is no easy way to get from Kivorograd to Kiev, so we opt for a taxi. After our tortuous bus ride from Kiev to Kivorograd a couple of weeks ago, we want no part of a bus. Our friendly and punctual taxi driver Andre drives well, but his shocks should have been replaced about 3 years ago. The rural roads in Ukraine are often similar to a roller coaster with potholes. Needless to say, the ride went well, though our insides will need to be rearranged back to normal when we return to the US.

We arrived into Kiev on the 24th and our in country coordinator’s right hand man by the name of Anatoly meets us and takes us to the American Consulate. Anatoly is a smart man from Russia who refuses to speak English. Although, Molly and I suspect he understands English quite well when he needs to interact in areas related to money, money or money. We are not sure what he actually does or what his role is in the big picture. I mean a really big picture as there is no minutia, just a broad stroke on getting things done. Anatoly always seems to be around, taking care of this or that. He has power of attorney for us on all our legal documents. He represents so much of Ukraine. The uncertainty, the wheeling and dealing, the lack of a process or cogent program that is so prevalent in our dealings in this country. Anatoly fits right into this mindset.

So after arriving at the American Consulate which had about 50 or 60 people milling outside an unpretentious white building with bullet proof glass and guards, we are schussed inside. Once inside we go to the adoption section. Since we are American citizens we jet ahead of all the natives. They explain to us Molly must sign two forms in front of the diplomatic officer, and then she can leave. That allows her to head home and me to stay to complete the rest of the process.

After that, we decide to get back into the electronic world. We have to find a phone cord to connect the laptop to the internet at our Kiev apartment. The thing that is interesting in this country is there is no such thing as one stop shopping. If you want a phone cord, you cannot go to a Wal-Mart and find one. You must go to a computer store and be told no. Then off to an appliance store we go, no. Most everywhere we went we witnessed a true entrepreneurial marketplace. Most shops completely specialize in one small product area in most likely 100 to 200 square feet. There is no stock in the back room. If you do not see it, they do not have it. We go from store to store, no phone cord. Finally after checking around this rather large underground mall with several hundred shops, we see a store selling lighting and extensions cords. They have a phone cord. Why here when appliance, phone stores, or computer stores did not have the simple phone cord made no sense. Who cares? We found what we needed. If Target or Wal-Mart were to come to this country, thousands upon thousands of merchants and their owners will be out of work. It is ripe for the plucking.

So we plug in, check email and then promptly crash with a power nap after only a few hours sleep the night before. The apartment we stay at has satellite. While Molly is working on the computer, I start scanning through the channels and find they had 999 channels on this satellite. After doing the “guy thing” with the remote, I realize more than half of them are feeds from the Middle East. It was such a shock to see women on these channels fully clothed discussing something or another. Then the next channel is an Arab porn channel selling well, what porn sells.

The next day it is off to the expensive Italian shoe store. In previous blogs, I have talked about the shoes the men and women wear during their daily strut. However, Molly has learned from other reliable sources that most of these shoes are junk and do not last long. She wanted to get some expensive, interesting and tasteful shoes. Hence, where else but in Ukraine can you find an expensive Italian shoe store? After spending a gazillion dollars it is back to the underground mall for a few books, chocolates etc. So I managed to grab some photos of these shoes for both men and women. After you see these pictures, I must tell you these women can most likely run a marathon in them. It amazes me to their dexterity on any type of surface while walking, running or whatever in their 5 inch heels. No Nike or Puma here. No way.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Mcubedpictures/Shopping

We get back to our apartment and get everything ready for Molly’s trip home. We must get up at 4:00 am to meet Anatoly who is our ride to the airport. We signed up for a service at the Kiev airport that is call the VIP Airport Service. We found this through a gentleman based out of Tennessee. In this tangled and bureaucratic environment where a greased palm gets more done than following the lack of rules, it only made sense to pay the fee. This man Alex meets us at the information booth and before I even have a chance to kiss Molly goodbye, Alex is walking, I mean running through the airport with our overweight and quite large bag. Molly tells me after she is home that she almost had to run to keep up with him, but she breezed through check-in, security, passport issues is about 10 minutes. Molly says it is worth every penny. Clearly this man who had an airport badge on his shirt pays off the system. It must be lucrative for him. I wish DIA had such a service.

Molly gets home with no problems. I miss her already. I get back to Kivorograd to resume my twice daily, one and a half hour visits with Marisa Luda. Before Molly went back, we granted Marisa lots of freedom. After all, we are strangers, speak this weird language and do not know the rules. She tested us which was okay. On my three hour taxi ride back to Kivorograd, I decide to start to reign her in a little bit by giving more structure on each visit. After four visits with her, I think it is helping with her boisterousness. Children from these orphanages or child houses as they call them here in Ukraine live in a very rigid environment. Each day is the same; same time to get up, eat, potty, exercise, play, naps, showers and bedtime. They need structure. So I am setting up some structure within each hour and a half I have with her twice a day. Start off with snack which she devours. While she eats, she must sit with me and I read a book and show her pictures of our house, Molly, Madison and TJ. Then, it is play time by Papa’s rules. I resent the alphabet to her, drawing, modeling etc. After 30 to 45 minutes or so, I allow her to pick the games. So far it is working.

Today, we called “Mama” and Madison. When Marisa heard “Mama”, she lit up and started jabbering into the cell phone. I am not sure if Molly heard all the talk, but after we lost the call, Marisa talked about Mama and Madison who also spoke to Marisa. Marisa was clearly elated!

I warned all of you of the lack of brevity in this blog. But I am about done here. Like Marisa, I am going to establish some structure for myself to keep me sane. Walks, internet and phone calls along with the occasional beer should keep me in good spirits.

Finally, I do not know when I am coming home. The Ukrainian passport department reorganized to become more efficient which means it will take longer with more hassles. I will keep you informed as I gather more information.