Biding our time in Kiev

We've had some extra time to explore our surroundings in Kiev while awaiting our second appointment date at the State Department of Adoption tomorrow. Our flat is located quite close to the center of the city which has made it relatively easy walk to nearby parks, stores, and other attractions. Kiev, we've discovered, is a beautiful city in many respects, with great parks and ornate architecture. In the states, a building is considered old if it dates back one or two hundred years. Here it is not uncommon to find buildings dating four hundred years or more. Within a mile or so of where we live are a couple of spectacular churches complete with gold domed basilicas in the Ukrainian orthodox tradition.

We've enjoyed visiting a number of nearby parks where Ben has had the chance to drive various kid vehicles available for rental, try out the rec equipment, and basically terrorize the pigeons. In one park we came across some bumper cars, which, we discovered, move about twice as fast as they do in the U.S. and are generally unencumbered by unnecessary accessories such as seatbelts. We resolved to take a pass on further rides after we realized that it wouldn't take much to end up with a case of whiplash.

Our daily outings usually include a trip to the very popular "Fed House", located just off the main plaza in Kiev. The place is set up like a very big a'la carte cafeteria where you can try any one of a number of Ukrainian culinary specialties. After a couple of visits to this place we have quickly developed a Borscht (rhymes with Porsche) addiction. One bowl of the stuff, and you realize that Campbell's will no longer cut it.

Yesterday we took a long walk down to the riverfront. The central part of Kiev, where we are living, is actually located on a high hill overlooking the Dnieper River. There is a funicular (a type of train) that covers the steep portion of the route, but it was out of commission for the month of September. We therefore had to hoof it back up the hill afterwards. Stopping at the riverfront McDonald's made it all worth it, though.

The last couple days have also been filled with the unexpected paperwork drama of trying and obtain an addendum to our home study on short notice prior to our appointment date tomorrow (Thursday). We had completed an update earlier this summer and thought that was it, but our facilitator Zhenia has felt that we needed to make a few additional changes. The process is not trivial to coordinate when you're in America, involving visiting notaries, apostilles, and the local Fed Ex office. As we're discovering, it is even more of a challenge when overseas and trying to communicate by e-mail and phone, but things seem to be working out. A huge THANKS to our friends the Rowe's back in Bethlehem, who are helping us out on the home front.

That's it for now. We appreciate all your prayers on our behalf and will hopefully have some good news to share with you after our appointment at the SDA tomorrow.