We Have our Visa!!! ~ Day 30

This was the day we have been working towards all these months. Our final Embassy appointment was today. The weather here has been horrible. It’s been raining and cold. That really doesn’t help my case trying to get Vika out to see Kyiv. She is very much a home body. She doesn’t like to just wander and see the city. After staying in for part of the morning I convinced her that we should get out and get something to eat at least.  This bakery was delicious.  This is where we went for breakfast today..

I know that all kids are this way, but I think the orphan and language barrier thing really adds to her really being uncomfortable with spontaneity. We have to stick to the plan. As long as she knows what is next on our agenda she is OK but if I stray it is very difficult to explain with ‘charades language’ and very easy to know that it is very upsetting to her. At the bakery we practiced our English and Russian words and today we started working on colors. She is much better than I am which is more important I suppose, but is very frustrating for me! I think the best part of my embarrassing efforts to speak her language takes the threat and embarrassment away from her learning and my lack of remembering the words shows her that it’s OK to forget and ask over and over and over again! After eating a very healthy pastry breakfast I did my best to explain that we were going to walk to a church. I pointed to my watch and showed her how long I planned on being gone so she at least knew when we would come home.

Of course as we started walking it started to rain. Perfect. We continued our language quizzes on colors. She is doing quite well with colors. I however am struggling with several of them! It was very cold today. I almost aborted the mission but honestly the thought running through my head was that she really needed to see this. It is very clear that today she doesn’t appreciate seeing the sights of Kyiv but in several years she will hopefully even love all of the pictures I make her pose for! It is important to me that she sees where she comes from and has that with her always. Even if I have to drag her around! We walked to St. Michael’s and went inside.  I still get the attitude when I pull out the ol' camera, but there really isn't anything like this for her to see in Utah!  These Cathedrals are from the 16th century.  Of course they have been remodeled and kept up, but there are still some of the remaining stones in place.  There is a baptismal font in this church that looks untouched.  I think it is just an amazing thing to see.  I think she actually liked that we were there once we got there.  It was the walking that wasn't really great.

 There was a large tour going on in English right when we got there.  It made for a crowd in the church, but when is a crowd in a church ever a bad thing!?

She wanted us to light candles. That was neat. I don’t fully understand the reason for it but it felt nice to participate in something that felt important to her.

We walked around the back of the church in search of a park I had been hearing about. We found a park, but not the one I was hoping for. It was a beautiful view of the Dnepro River and the ‘left side’ of Kyiv. Man it was cold! She just kept saying, “Mom.. house?” Yes. Now we could go back to our house. But now we were a good 30 minute walk away!

I asked her to come and swing with me..  No chance.  What an embarrasing mom I am!

 I thought this statue was interesting.  The only people it faces are on the other side of the river.  She didn't want to get a closer look, but then, neither did I really!  Too cold.

 Even in the cold we did have a good time together.  She is so much fun and so different here than in the orphanage.  I think that she will just become herself more and more everyday and let her past settle into her past.

Had I been able to communicate better I would have had us stop at a café for some hot chocolate, but her patience for our little language was short and she just kept on walking! She is noticing a lot more than I originally thought.

She recognizes exactly where we are. We came home on a street we’d never walked down and she could get us back without asking which way. I thought that was so great! She has a good sense of direction!

We came home and had just enough time to warm up before our ride came to take us to the US Embassy to have our follow up appointment. When we arrived in the waiting room for the adoptions area there were 3 other families there to pick up American Visas ready to leave. They were all very chatty and happy. One of the families there followed the exact time schedule we did, from their arrival, their SDA appointment, to their court date, and now we picked up our Visas on the same day! How bizarre is that?! The other families were all very nice. The consulate we met with was very nice too. He was silly and Victoria liked him. She would laugh when he would ask for things. There were signatures, raising of my right arm and swearing everything I was stating and doing in these documents is truthful, fingerprints for her, passport checkings, and finally congratulations – you’re done! He said we are free to take our new daughter home to her family in America as an American citizen. There was some waiting for them to process and prepare the Visa then we were free to leave. We were given our ‘do not open this’ folder and her passport and sent on our merry way! It was such an amazing feeling to be completely done with the adoption process in Ukraine. There are still some things to take care of once we leave and are in America. Those things seem so simple with the prospects of being in a country I understand and people I can talk with to get things done!

By this time Natasha had joined us and had a plan. I really like when she has a plan because she is a lot of fun and Vika really likes her and opens up more with her. We went to Pizza Cilintano’s again. The Kimball’s were picking up there 2nd SDA referral so we were able to visit with them for a while. It’s really a lot of fun to be in the process and hearing of what everyone else’s experiences are like. They are great people. We left Cilintano’s and rushed to the Metro to get them to the train station on time. Vika had never ridden or seen a Metro. It was all very new and different for her. To top off the new experience, it was rush hour! It was so crowded I held on to her and kept hold of her with 2 hands most of the time. I think she actually like that because on the way back with less of a crowd I wasn’t as on top of her and she was reaching for me and clinging to me. It really was the most crowded vehicle I have ever been in. People were pressed up against the glass we were squished in there so tight. Fun commute! We walked them all the way to their train and said goodbye.

Vika was kind of nervous that the train would leave while we were still saying our goodbyes. After leaving them we had time with Natasha all to ourselves.

There wasn’t really anything that we could do this late, but we went to a fun café and had desserts for dinner. I am not really making the record books for most responsible mom when it comes to meals!

She has no interest/patience in shopping. I keep looking for movies she will like in Russian. She says they are so much better in English that she doesn’t want them. Of course they are the only thing she is interested in watching when we get back to the apartment, but at least she doesn’t just beg for everything I guess! I wish she would let us at least look at some clothes. She has one pair of jeans and a few tops that will be headed to the dump when we get home. I brought the black turtleneck shirt for her that we will keep and she has one pair of shoes. We need to do some shopping! That will happen in America. She’s just so tiny that my fear is in America everything that will fit her will be very juvenile looking! We’ll just have to see I guess!

The café we went to for our treat was fun. Natasha is just fun. Vika gets involved with the conversation the best with her around of anyone we’ve met. We went to the market on our way back to the apartment to get a few things for tomorrow morning. She thinks shopping is so unnecessary.

I bought ‘Up’ the movie in Russian and she was very excited to watch it. That was our nightly movie tonight. We have been having movie nights every night since we’ve been together. It’s fun and relaxing. Tonight we should have gone to sleep earlier because tomorrow is a big day! I could see that she was visibly excited to see her brother again. He has been calling her all evening and I have loved hearing how excited he is and seeing how excited she is. Totally worth it already!