Nov 6, 2007

Nov 6, 2007

We left Atlanta on Monday and flew to Frankfurt, then onto Kyiv, arriving Tuesday around 1PM. The flights themselves were uneventful, but we got very little sleep. And then we stepped off the plane and into Borispol Airport.

Have you ever had a moment where you felt like a complete outsider? I'm betting most of you recall that feeling at some point during your early teen years! Even if you were among the most "popular", there were likely certain circumstances where you felt out of place, uncomfortable, and unwanted. You felt like everyone was staring at you, talking about you, judging you.

That's how it felt as we entered the airport. Add to that the fact that everyone around you is speaking another language, and you probably get the picture. I always try to be honest in my writing, especially considering the fact that there might be people reading our blog who are preparing for their own adoptions. No one prepared me for this part. While it certainly got better, at this moment I was feeling scared and isolated.

Alex, our VIP escort, sped us through everything, got our bags and the appropriate clearances, and led us to the arrivals area. There we met Sveta and Leonid. Sveta would be one of our facilitators. Leonid is the husband of our other facilitator, and would also serve as our driver. They were friendly and quickly got us loaded into Leonid's very roomy and clean VW van.

And off we went. We stopped to buy some minutes for the phone we'd be using. Then we went to the grocery store. Keep in mind that we were jet-lagged and experiencing significant culture shock. Sveta was so kind, and pointed out suggestions to tide us over for the next few days. But we were overwhelmed, to say the least. We walked out with what should be enough food to get us through Friday or so.

Leonid drove us further into the city, and the four of us carried our bag up the stairs and into the very nicely furnished apartment. Sveta sat down with us and went over what to expect at our SDA appointment the next day.


They said their goodbyes, and left us. And we pretty much collapsed. It was still early afternoon, but we took some Amb!en and slept for several hours. We got up, had something to eat, and let friends & family know we'd made it safely. We got unpacked (yes, all of our luggage made it with us - Awesome!), and settled back in for the night.

Next stop: SDA.

You can read our original post from 11/6/07 by clicking HERE.