Thank you for your prayers!

Although it is posted as the 24th, we wrote this on the 19th, in the train on our way to Kramatorsk.

Thank you for your prayers!

Because, thanks to them, today we defied destiny, the laws of physics, and at this time we are writing to you from the train on our way to Kramatorsk!

The day started out with a good omen, last night it snowed heavily and, although the morning had been very cloudy and cold, around noon the sun came out. Armed with our thermal underwear (courtesy of Mizuno and Under Armour), we set out to Independence Square to find something to eat and, most importantly, to find a hairdresser for Marielle. Unfortunately we did not find any and we understood that although Ukranian women are very well dressed, they are not as interested in their hairdos. Fortunately, the dry weather was the best antifrizz for Marielle who now has almost straight hair, so the hairdresser was not required. Then we found this underground Shopping Mall, probably designed for the freezing winter season, which is located below Independence Square. Already starving, we found the Food Court, so we attacked the only thing we could understand, the Golden Archs were our pray, and we ended up eating two Big Macs (without any fries because we could not explain that we wanted them in a combo). Fortunately, we realized that McDonalds has Lipton Ice Tea on its menu, so we could enjoy our hamburger with a delicious Pepsi product.

After that we took some pictures of the area and went to find the place where we were supposed to meet Masha at 2:15 p.m. Obviously all this walking, because everybody walks in Kiev and there is limited space to park. Ukrainian women with miniskirts and high heeled boots, and Ukrainian men with a beer belly and a bottle of beer in their hand. Everybody walks and walks.


At 2:00 p.m. we were ready, dressed up like Ukrainians. Marielle with a fashion skirt and high boots, party make-up and antifrizz hairdo. I, with a suit and a tie, which I hadn't worn in years, and a scarf that completed my English Lord look. Against all odds, and defying the previous experiences shared in blogs of adoptive parents all over the world, we dared to walk along ice-covered streets, wearing slippery shoes and high heeled boots. Final result, although we almost slipped and fell a couple of times, we made it in one piece. For further reference, picture a TACA landing in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (the plane feels like it will not make it, but somehow, finally lands safely).
Our experience was somthing like that.


At 2:00 p.m., 15 minutes ahead of time, we met Masha in front of the Blue Church. When she saw us, she commented on how well we looked. Marielle thanked her with a smile while I thought that fortunately we had managed to erase the image of third world country "sudacas" (slang word for southamericans) we had portrayed the day before with our three-days-on-a-row jeans and our various sweaters, coats, hats, gloves and scarfs. We walked with her to the office of the SDA, our appointment was at 3:00 p.m. but we arrived early. We patiently waited until they called upon us around 3:10 p.m. We were shown into a small office where the psycologist in charge of our case greeted us and asked us to take a seat in a little living room. Then, in a whispering tone, she said something that we did not understand not only because it was in Russian but because it was said in an extremely low volume. We answered “spasiva” (gracias) just in case. Masha explained that she was welcoming us. Then she made a few basic questions for which Masha had already preped us, and right after that she proceeded to show us the files for each one of the boys. The first one was Nico (Roman), whose picture was from when we was aproximately 2 years old, always with his spectacular smile and those big blue eyes full of love and joy. The next file was Fernando's (Kyrill). We must confess that while the psycologist read his name, birthdate and other basic details, we experienced great anticipation because we were about to see the face of our oldest little angel for the first time. Unfortunately, one is never “macho" enough to endure this without sheding a few tears. Fernandito is the most amazing child you could ever imagine, I don't know how much of this is a father's pride and how much is objective opinion, but I can tell you that he is going to be the David Beckham of Guatemala! Blond hair, dark eyes and a naughty yet sincere smile. Our son is wonderful!! Finally we were presented with Santiaguito's (Vlad) file, with a very pretty picture, from the same time of the one we already had, but showing a wonderful smile. With the same naughty smile and sparkling eyes as his big brother. Another wonderful son!

The whole interview lasted about 5 minutes. Masha was happy but at the same time surprised. She expected it to be easy but not this fast... Now all we needed was the authorization to go and meet the boys at the two Orphanages in the two cities: Artemovsk and Mariupol. But for this to happen we needed to have the letters written and signed by the SDA director before 5:30pm so that we would be able to catch the last train to Kramatorsk and from there, go to the other towns. The train leaves everyday at 6:40pm so time was not on our side. Since our appointment was at 3pm the letters were offered for the next day. However, Masha, our facilitator and also our accomplise for the last few days, asked for a special favor: to have the letters today so that we could gain one day. The schedule was tight. Marielle and I were to go back to the apartment, make our luggage and leave everything ready as if we were going tonight. In order to do this, we had to walk once again along the ¨Holiday on ice¨ streets, on high heels, without falling down, and be back at 5pm wearing the same clothes and shoes at the SDA office. Everything was perfect. We skillfully skated our way to the apartment and back almost without slipping... At 4:55pm we opened the door of the SDA and began the final wait. It was supposed to be a tense wait. However, were soooooo happy that nothing could ruin our day. At 5:10pm we were told that we should have the documents in 20minutes. At 5:40pm we were finally asked to sign a book and left the SDA with the letters to try and catch the train. Before, we had to stop at the apartment, pay the landlady, get the 3 large suitcases plus the double stroller and race to the train station in the middle of the "Ukrainian rush hour". Thank God, our driver, whom we named Sergei, took us there in record time. At 6:26pm we arrived at the station. Masha beat the 100 mts. flat record on snow with heels and a bag on her shoulder and bought the "first class" tickets. I came in second with the stroller in one arm and one of the suitcases in the other one. Sergei came right behind me completely relaxed and carrying both large suitcases as if they were empty... Imagine the Russian fighter in Rocky IV, only uglier and with a beer belly.
Well… believe it or not, we made it on time. We hopped on the train at 6:34. 6 minutes before it departed. We had enough time to squeeze two of our suitcases and the stroller into our 2m x 1.50m. first class compartment, give the other suitcase to Masha to carry for us in hers, and start the overnight ride to meet the children. We should arrive in Kramatorsk at 6:20am. We will have 4 minutes to leave the train, all dressed, with our suitcases, stroller and backpacks, to start a new chapter of this beautiful story. We haven't stopped thinking about Ale and Mica, our older daughters, the whole time. They have always been with us every minute of this trip and right now as we write this summary or day #3 en Ukraine, they are still with us in the train. It is amazing how much we ran and accomplished today. Once more, God shows us that we should leave everything in His hands. All we need to do is leave the decisions up to Him.

Thank you all for your prayers. God has heard you and has guided today onto our next stop. A very important one: meeting our boys.