Arriving at the Orphanage

Saturday, May 12, 2007

We got to Andriyevo-Ivanakova orphanage on Thursday morning at 9 am. It was an interesting ride.
We left Kiev on Thursday morning May 10, 2007. Our Chevy Aveo arrived at 5 am. The driver proceeded to stuff our luggage in the small trunk. All four of us were stuffed in the back seat with our bookbags in the back window and on our laps. We picked up our facilitator Seroge at the bus station. He had his luggage between his feet and on his lap. I wondered how we would make it four hours like that. I laughed as I think of how we prepare for a 4 hour trip at home: books, games, water, food, comfortable seats. How were we going to make this? The girls did pretty well without much complaining. I was hoping for them to sleep but Amber couldn’t. She said she was too excited to see Tanya and Lienna. I wanted to see the country. The landscape was very similar to SW Minnesota and SE South Dakota.

Andriyevo is a village. I will try to get pictures later. We went right to the orphanage hoping to get to see the girls. They have been very nice and hospitable. God has blessed us with some very nice officials. Seroge started right away on our paperwork and went to the county seat while we were able to stay at the school. We went to the office when he came back and met with some officials and the girls. They asked us a few questions and just mainly wanted to see how we interacted with the girls. They could see how happy and comfortable Lienna and Tanya were with our family. It was a fun meeting with some laughing and they looked very pleased. We found out later that one of the ladies there had a lot of influence on our process. She really went to bat for us the next day and fielded some tough issues with another official. We were also blessed to find the only notary home that day so we got some papers done that otherwise we would have had to take a two hour trip to Odessa to have done. That would have been more cost and time. Also the car we were riding in by now would not have been suitable for our girls. It reminded me of my high school car (’67 Ford Falcon) and it smelled strong of gas fumes. The drivers window was open so I think it was to let the fumes out. Nothing like a trip to Ukraine to increase your prayer life!

Friday was more paperwork for Seroge as we just sat around the orphanage. Tanya and Lienna have been given permission to do what they want while we are here. They can go to class or spend time with us. Guess what they have chosen. Actually Morgan has basically taken Tanya’s place in class! She has found many new friends and just follows them wherever their schedule takes them.

We are staying at the orphanage and that has been a bit of a challenge. We go to meals with them. We are given very large portions but the Ukraine diet is very different and it causes some challenges for our systems. The borscht soup is good. They have tea with every meal but it is not like our tea. They have spices I have never tasted, lots of fat in their food, and interesting cheeses. I think it should be a good weight loss program for me. We have a room with four beds that each function like a metal spring hammock. Our beds in Kiev were extra hard foam, these are extra soft springs covered with a hard mat. No heat here also but they have nice warm blankets. They keep it very clean and do the best with what they have. Today we hope to get our first shower since arriving at the orphanage. The bathrooms will also provide us with some stories once we get home. We are thankful but the many new experiences of a traveler provides challenges. The girls have been doing very well as they are now full-fledged missionaries.

We feel God is blessing our paperwork process. We are praying to have our court appointment Wednesday if not earlier. Seroge, our facilitator/translator has been working very hard. He is very nice and has answered all our questions during this process. He is also great with the kids and has a big heart. We are very thankful to have him in this process.

Please pray that our court goes quickly. We are supposed to have a preliminary court hearing and the first court hearing a day later. We are praying that they will combine those two and we can be done by Wednesday. We would then go to Odessa for our ten day waiting period before coming back for our final court hearing. We are trying to line up housing in Odessa as well as transportation. Please pray for safe transportation. We plan to stay at the seminary in Odessa and hopefully it will be a great chance to connect with our sister church. Please also pray that Amber will have a special birthday. She turns 14 on Tuesday, May 15! We are not sure how they celebrate here. I am not sure whether to ask for a cake.

Today we also took a tour of the facility with the camcorder running. Lienna and Seroge explained everything while filming so that the girls can look back at their home once they move to South Dakota.

Janell, for the Tolly’s