Preparation for return trip

We woke up again late today. Showered and hopped on a train from Kings Cross to Cambridge. Our stop was Cheffins Auctioneers to pick up a catalog for the upcoming auction on Wednesday of the estate of Roger (Syd) Barrett and to view the items beforehand.

It felt a bit like walking through someone's house when they're not there. He obviously liked having color around him, as he would purchase items and then hand-paint them a different color. A lamp that was now blue, a chest of drawers he painted purple, another light blue, another yellow, two bicycles one painted light blue, the other red.

There were notebooks, items of his artwork, handmade curtains with a store-bought children's pattern of zoo animals, and quite a few art supplies.

I'm not sure what it reveals about the man, but he certainly was one of a kind.

Harold struck up a conversation with one of the auction house ladies who's married to a man from the same town as where Harold's parents live. Shall we break into a spontaneous round of "It's A Small World Afterall?!"

No, I didn't think so.

On a more interesting note, I received an email today from "the other family" that one of the girls wants the option to stay with this Christmas. They "would be delighted" to host the girl. So that solves that. As for the future of the second girl, we've decided to talk to an expert to figure out what might be possible for her. I can't go beyond that, but that's where we are.

Harold and I continue to talk about what we've just been through, but have come to no conclusions yet.

Whew! What a trip.

Still reeling, with a mad dash to catch up

Today was a heck of a lot more low-key than the past 4 days.

I woke up at 11:45 (I hadn't slept well at all in Ukraine), and then started on some work for my job. I'm in the process of reviewing an online course and writing up my suggestions to improve it. Harold didn't get out of bed until about 4 pm (although he had been working in bed, so it's not like he slept the whole day.

We are going to see one of the shows I saw last summer. I wanted to see it again, and show it to Harold. Tom Stoppard's play "Rock N Roll" should be of interest to Harold since he's been to Prague and tomorrow we're going to Cambridge (the play takes place in both locations).

We're still not sure about what just happened to us.

I forgot to make some general comments about how we found the Ukraine:

1- We never saw the sun... ever. It was constantly overcast and grey.
2- The temperatures were comparable to our usual winter. It flurried one of the days. It was COLD.
3- Any sign longer than 3 words long in English was written in the most stilted language. A verbatim example:

"Since your luggage checked-in you shall bear administrative or criminal responsibility if legal and established procedure on transferring articles through the customs border of Ukraine violated."

4- Verbal announcements at the airport were interesting too:

"We wish apologize for not arrive of flight number 354."

5- A toilet could mean anything from (1) what you'd expect, to (2) what you'd expect with a bucket of water next to it so you could "flush" it, since it obviously broke eons ago, to (3) a literal hole in the floor that you had to squat over. I used all three types while I was there.

6- The food was good.

7- The people were hospitable and if you attempted to speak Russian or Ukrainian, they were very patient with you. I never felt odd trying to spit out what I was trying to say.

I have never felt comfortable with speaking with French-speaking natives, as they tend to grade you more on your perfect pronunciation and syntax more than any other group I'm aware of. As Henry Higgins said, "The French don't care what you say, as long as you pronounce it correctly." The Ukrainians were a lot more forgiving and willing to meet you half-way.

Well, I'll have to stop now.. Going to the theatre, but once it's over, we'll be back here and continuing on with our work.

Post-Ukrainian Trip- Expect the Unexpected

Back in London after three days in Ukraine. Three days that we'll not soon forget, that's for sure. It was very very productive, but not in the way that we expected, intended or necessarily desired.

Sorry that this is going to be the abbreviated version of it (I've got some work and coursework to catch up on).

Bottom line 1: We will not be hosting both girls nor will we be adopting both girls due to something I don't feel at liberty to put here.

Bottom line 2: The first girl may choose to be hosted and even possibly adopted by another family. But she may not know for sure until after mid-January.

Bottom line 3: We still need to discuss the options of the second girl, as she may not be a good match for our family based on new information that both the girl's orphanage staff and the first girl gave us.

So, we might be hosting/adopting 1 or 0 girls, and not 2. It looks so small on the screen, but really, after all this time, that's a huge thing to say.

It was an emotional, confusing, topsy-turvy little trip.

God gave us favor with the American Embassy in Ukraine, and with the orphanages, so prayers were answered.

Even with the twists and turns and surprises (not all of them good), we felt a sense of "this is the way it's supposed to be," so we've rolled with the punches. So far.

Sorry so brief. I could have made this so much more interesting... I probably will (after I finish my other work first). We're tired, worn out and gutted to some degree, but always knowing that God's in charge of everything.

I always do better when something is completely out of my hands.

That's unfortunately all for now.

A small but eager Arvon reunion

Today, I continued working feverishly on homework for my "Story and Structure" course. Granted, this week there is a TON of work due: 2 character analyses, 2 monologues by two characters, 5-8 pages of a script, 5-8 pages of a treatment... All due Monday. I got the analyses and monologues completed and I sent them in already. I was concerned that I wouldn't have time before Monday to complete them, but I've already heard back from my teacher saying not to worry about being late. He won't count it against me. Thank you, Lord!

After I turned those in, Harold went out to buy some gloves (for what looks like a pretty cold time in Ukraine). We then headed out to Leicester Square and I met up with Nicky and Nicolle from Arvon. Nic called me to say he's developed a stomach "thing" and couldn't make it. He's really disappointed as he's been looking forward to this for weeks.

So, with Harold along, it was dinner for 4... Then after Nicolle left, Nicky and I went to look for tickets. I wasn't willing to see Spamalot for 60 pounds (one show for $120? In America, I'd expect that, but... No thanks). So, Nicky and I bought tix for Mary Poppins. I wasn't really looking forward to it, as my favorite bits in the movie are animated, but I was interested in seeing how they pulled it off. I thought it wasn't bad, but Nicky thoroughly enjoyed it and hastily bought the soundtrack. It's very different from the movie, and they even had the gaul to take out "I Love to Laugh." The very idea!

Anyway, I'm back in the flat now, and trying to mentally wrap my brain around the fact that I'll be in Ukraine tomorrow. This will be the first time I've ever traveled to a country without having a good command of the language. Well, I've been to France, but at least their alphabet isn't cyrillic and you can find out stuff in a hurry. Plus, the fact that it's so close to Spanish, I didn't quite feel like I do right now (on the nervous side).

Well, once there we are meeting a translator... But if he's not there, I don't know what we can do. We won't have a telephone with us. Our orange phones don't work in Europe because we have a pay-as-you-go account. For some reason that means we can't use the phones outside of the UK.

We won't have access to the Internet either, I don't think. Granted, we can find an internet cafe, but the keyboard will be cyrillic. Argh.

Enough of my moaning... You get the picture...

So, our adoption adventure is taken up several notches as of about 12 hours from now, when we're due to land in Ukraine.

More to come, but not until after Wednesday.

All the best, people.

D.

But it's only been three months!

Hello there.

I'm in the UK again.

"But it's only been three months," I can hear you cry. Yes, I did hear you cry that.

Well, I thought I heard somebody say that.

Well, we're here making the most of a difficult situation. One of the girls we wish to adopt is about to turn 16 years old in a little over 2 weeks. If we don't go to Ukraine and file a piece of paperwork, we will not be able to adopt her. If we DO file the paperwork, we get another 12 months to complete the adoption. Hopefully, we won't get any more delays with the Ukrainian government. So we're stopping off in London because we weren't sure if we'd get a chance to visit the girls on this trip. Plus, a 5-hour difference is better than 7; we're tempering our jetlag.

Anyway, I don't have much time at present as Harold and I are only in London through the wee hours of Sunday (that's less than 32 hours away).

We arrived at a flat in Camden Town yesterday, rested, went to Sainsbury's (a grocery store for you 'Mercans out there) and rested some more. I woke up in the dead of night to complete some work for my job.

Today, I started working on some homework I have due on Monday. I'm taking a "Story and Structure" class which is a prerequisite for a Playwriting course I'd really like to take in the Spring (I've registered for it already).

Tonight, after our 2nd Indian meal (courtesy of Sainsbury's), we went to see the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Lo and behold we bumped into 2 old friends of ours whom we didn't tell we were coming (oops) and who will be staying with us next Spring.

Anyway, it was a wonderful wonderful show, even with its flaws. Highlights for me were "Odd Boy" sung by a young guitar player Neil obviously has found, "Look at Me, I'm Wonderful," sung by "Legs" Larry Smith, and "Busted" as one of the encores. "What Do You Do," has always been a fave of mine, so that was cool too. I appreciated Roger Ruskin Spear's goofy antics which filled out the show a lot. Adrian Edmundon sure has come away since I saw him floundering through learning how to sing on that Comic Relief Singer's Camp show a couple years ago.

Overall, I had a great time and Harold made me buy a lot of "merch." I'm now the proud owner of a Bonzo t-shirt, which will be used as a sleep shirt for the rest of the trip, a 2007 calendar, a 3-DVD set (we saw some of it already-- looks good), and a program.

I never thought I'd see the day I'd say I saw them live. Last year, I was saying the same thing about Cream. Never say never, people!

Anyway, sorry so brief, but must get back to my homework. I'm supposed to write 5-8 pages of a script, 5-8 pages of a treatment, 2 monologues and 2 character analyses before we go to Ukraine...

Tomorrow we're meeting people at 3pm, having a meal together, then seeing a show, so I literally have NO time to do my homework! Argh!

I just asked Harold if he had anything to say. He said "It's great to be here." He's got a lot of work of his own to do. Thank God for a flat with wireless internet access! Woohoo! We've been well looked-after.

TTFN.
Diane