Our 1st Full Day

Don...

I have heard it said that many of the Ukrainian people think that Americans are spoiled. Now that I am here, I would have to say that they are probably correct. I have included a couple photos of the apartment.

The Entrance to the apartment

 The apartment itself is not bad, although it smells of cigarette smoke all through. Like much of the city, the building is drab and neither the hallways or the exterior are well kept. Inside the apartment is nice and colorful, but like I said, the smell of smoke is almost choking at times. We have a lot of little friends in the apartment though to keep us company. Little fruit-fly type bugs. They are everywhere. I would still come back here though. The bugs are probably due to the season of the year. It's cold outside.
                                               

The inside is colorful and modern

                                                             
Went to our appointment today at the SDA (State Adoption Agency). I don't think I have ever encountered a person with a nicer smile or attitude than the lady that took care of us there. She was absolutely delightful and made Rocky and I feel very comfortable. Like the apartment however, the building was kind of drab. The parking-lot (what parking lot) was dirt.

SDA Office

There are two other couples here from the United States also adopting children. We had our appointments with one of the couples at the SDA office just about the same time. All of us hooked up after the appointment and went to lunch at a every good Italian restaurant (Olive). Food was good and not expensive. There were six adults and one child served for about $90.00 total.

If it looks like I'm freezing? I am.

One thing I thought was interesting is that there is very little parking space in this city. There are people on the street that that do nothing but help people park their cars on the sidewalks. It is obvious that parking was not a future consideration by the Soviets when the planners laid much of the city out.

Try parking your SUV like this in the U.S.

So the first day has come to an end. Tomorrow we will pick up some paper work and head out on a small plane for the Zaporizhzhya Region where the Chernigivka orphanage is located. We were told today that the kids know that we are here. They are very excited and can't wait to see us. I can't say I blame them. We are both really nice people (Ha Ha).

I have heard it said that "Ukrainian men don't cry". I hope that the state doesn't reject me as a father when I have my breakdown when I see the kids.