Exciting times

So, a lot has happened since my last post.
Tuesday was the day I got to pick up the princess. But first, we had a lot of running to do.
We left the apartment at 8am and started by going to the court and picking up the court decree. Then we went to the baby house to get her original birth certificate. Then we dropped off the paperwork needed for the adoption certificate. Next, we went to the office where they issue the new birth certificate listing Scott and I as parents. There was a minor problem here. The person in charge was on vacation and the underlings were reluctant to issue anything in her absence for fear of doing something wrong. I can appreciate that, but as it is a fairly self explanatory document, let’s get moving, ladies. Numerous stalls and calls later, this document was finally secured. Victory! As it was now the national lunch time, 1:00pm – 2:00 pm, we could not go pick up the adoption certificate, so we went to the HIV hospital to pick up enough medicine to last Dasha until we go to the doctor. As none of these offices are anywhere near each other, in fact, they are in 2 different vast towns, we were able to go back to the office to pick up the adoption certificate.
Back to the baby house we went, not to pick up Dasha yet, but to pick up a representative so I could close Dasha’s bank account and donate it to the baby house. It was now 4:00pm. At the bank we hit another snag. The bank wanted one of the documents notarized. Sprinkled amongst all the earlier stops were a number of notary visits. (Notary offices are EVERYWHERE!) Sasha looks a little stricken. “Wait right here!” she yells over her shoulder as she literally sprints out of the bank. At this point I have no idea what is wrong, but the baby house rep and I take a seat and wait. 15 minutes later, a winded Sasha dashes back in waiving a paper over her head. We reaproach the counter and the transaction proceeds as planned.
Now we could finally go back and pick up Dasha. The proper papers are signed, meds are quickly explained, and we are OUTTA THERE! It is 4:55pm.
Provided we could secure tickets, our train would depart at 7:20pm. Sasha turned to me and said, “Ok, now we pray.” I told her I had been praying all day. We were able to secure tickets and bolted back to the apartment to pick up the luggage and pay the landlord.
It was 6:30, I still needed to buy some food for dinner and Dasha’s meds were scheduled for 7:00pm with milk, and 8:00pm with food.
Again, the train was leaving at 7:20.
I bought 3 baked potatoes with garlic butter and cheese, 2 bananas and a big bottle of water. It was the best I could do. In my possession I already had a bag of shortbread cookies and 4 slices of cheese. This was dinner and breakfast.
We arrived in Kiev at 7:00am on the button, and the driver was waiting for us. He was supposed to take us to Sherry White’s apartment. She was leaving in the morning and I planned to take over where she left off. It is more centrally located, and the price was right. We verified that this was ok ahead of time.
Niko was definitely not taking me to Sherry’s apartment. Maybe we are going directly to the Embassy medical? He parked the car and popped the trunk. Nope. It was an apartment located up a steep and winding road, buried where no Tinley Park girl would ever find it. I quickly told him that I was not staying here, please take me to Sherry’s, and he did.
That night there were 3 adult women, an 11 year old boy, and 4 freshly adopted children in this small apartment. 2 women and 3 children vacated the premises at 3:00am, and now it’s just Andy, Dasha and I.
Yesterday we had her medical exam and today we had the first of 2 embassy appointments. I get her Visa tomorrow and I have seats on a flight leaving Monday.
Why am I not leaving on Saturday, you ask? Because there are no seats available Monday, that’s why!
Interestingly enough, even though we were back at square one on July 14th, a month after we left, August 9th is the day I had a ticket to come home from the start.

Here is where I planned to show you darling pictures of Dasha on the train, but as I am paying for internet access by the minute now, I will wait until I have access to someone else's wifi.
PLease forgive me.