We are on American soil!

Hi everyone, we made it safe and sound to the American soil! I’m writing from the JetBlue terminal at JFK while waiting for our flight to Rochester.

But let me start from the beginning and tell you the whole story starting with the passport. Caution: this is a very long entry (written on the long plane ride to JFK).

Similar to many parents who recently adopted from Odessa, we had a bit of a problem because Raya inherited a property. That’s great, right? Wrong! Not only her flat is in a very bad shape and in a very bad location, but also it’s almost impossible to legally sell a property owned by a minor. The law is trying to protect orphans by placing all kinds of legal roadblocks on their properties, but in reality these flats are often being taken away from the kids who own them. Anyway, who cares about a flat when we want to go home? So we’ve decided to leave it as is and think about it later when Raisa is older. Sounds like an easy solution, but nothing is easy in Ukraine. In this case we were required to submit a specific paper verifying the fact that Raisa does own a property, but doesn’t live there anymore. This paper was very important because we couldn’t receive a passport without it. Basically we needed to do the following: apply for the passport, get a special paper verifying the fact that we applied for the passport, go to another office, show them this paper, get a special stamp, and then bring the paper with the stamp back to the passport office to exchange it for the passport when it’s ready. I know, it’s very confusing! Honestly, my two graduate degrees are not enough to understand Ukrainian bureaucratic system :)

Lo and behold, we applied for the passport on Thursday evening, got this special paper and headed to another office on Monday the 21st since it was closed Friday – Sunday. This office was in a very poor part of the town, called Perecip. There were a lot of babushkas waiting in line, but it didn’t take very long, and we went in. The lady in charge seemed very nice, she even shared with me that her relatives adopted a 4-year old girl from Moscow, so I was cautiously optimistic. She sent us to the local Police Department (don’t ask me why – it’s beyond me!) to get another stamp to prepare for our stamp :) Off we went, found the Police Department, found a specific man in charge, showed him our paperwork, and received a stamp! Absolutely for free!!! Then back to the first office, then to another office, and finally at the end of the day the lady from the first office told us that we should be able to get our stamped paper on Wednesday. Why Wednesday, when it’s only Monday evening? Apparently she needed to go to another higher office on Wednesday morning to get the stamp because it was closed on Tuesday. Since I didn’t really expect the passport to be ready before Wednesday, I reluctantly agreed.

On Wednesday we were told to come “posle obeda” - after lunch. This is a very broad definition. Usually the lunch hour is from 1 to 2 p.m. After lunch could mean 2:10, or 2:30, or 3:00. At 2:00 sharp I called this woman and asked if I can come to pick it up. Do you want to guess what the answer was? Yes, you guessed right. The paper was not ready because we needed to supply more paperwork! Why didn’t you tell me about this additional paperwork on Monday, I would’ve done it on Tuesday? Her answer: I forgot! At this time the call from the passport office comes through, and I’m informed that Raisa’s passport is ready, and I can pick it up anytime as long as I have this special paper!!! Can you believe that? I finally have a passport but can’t pick it up???

At this point my friend Lena has had enough. She went to that office with the look on her face leaving no doubt – she won’t have “No” for the answer. To make the long story short, she’s got the stamped paper. I had to use my emergency fund, but it was worth it :)

So with the priceless paper in hand, Raisa and I headed to the passport office. By this time I was a nervous wreck, and I was not sure I’ll get the passport – who knows, maybe the stamp was not right or something else? But on the way to the passport office I ran into my guardian angel – Tami! I guess it was a good omen because 5 minutes later we were able to exchange the paper for the passport! Thank you, Tami!

I forgot to mention before that the Passport Office is a part of the Police Department, and all workers are police officers! I was very intimidated by the head of the Passport Office in the major uniform when we applied for the passport. She looked very scary :) This time when we came to get the passport, she actually smiled, and I noticed that she’s not as old and scary as I originally thought. But when Raisa on impulse gave her a hug and a kiss, the genuine smile on her face transformed her to a very good-looking woman. As many other people before, she was very surprised when I signed for the passport in English and showed her my American passport. She assumed I was a translator!

Now it’s 5:30 on Wednesday, and there is still time to get train tickets and take a night train to Kiev. Of course there are no tickets, but a call to a special ticket-agent lady with the promise of some extra gratitude worked wonders, and we had our tickets in hand. Then off to the apartment to pack, to make several calls to our friends to say “good bye”, and to finish some other tasks. And finally it was time for Rachel Alice to say “good bye” to the city where she was born and raised for the first 10 years of her life, and to her guardian Lena with whom she lived for the last several months. It was a very emotional time, but finally the train departed and we were on our way to Kiev.

The train ride was okay, a little bit worse than last time in December, but still manageable. Raya and I had the whole compartment to ourselves, so we had some privacy. She had fun riding the train, and slept soundly. I on the other hand didn’t sleep well because it was too hot in the cabin. The train arrived to Kiev at 8:30, and our great facilitator Sergey took us to the Medical Center for Raisa’s medical exam.

When I saw all these people waiting in lines everywhere at the Medical Center, I was so thankful that at home we don’t have to ask who’s the last in line when going to the doctor’s office. Luckily we didn’t have to wait in lines because all adoption cases are given a priority. But we needed to go to several rooms, and it took a lot of time. The first snag hit us in the very first room. I forgot Raisa’s pictures in Odessa! It was entirely my fault, but it was very easy to fix – just go and take another set of pictures. The next one was much worse. Raya’s medical form didn’t have the results of her blood work. She could get the blood work done at the Medical Center, but the results were ready only after 3:00 p.m. It didn’t work for us since we needed to drop off our paperwork at the Embassy before 12:00 on Thursday in order to receive the visa on Friday. Of course, I’m a nervous wreck again :) But Sergey wisely advises me to call the Embassy and ask if they can accept everything but the medical today. I call the Embassy and find out that it’s indeed possible to drop off the paperwork today and bring the medical tomorrow. Okay, it sounds good. We went to the photo place to take Raya’s pictures, then to the Embassy where a very nice young woman accepted all our paperwork (can you see how I like American Embassy?) and told us to come back on Friday at 2 p.m for the interview with the Consul. Note for pre-adoptive parents: it’s very convenient to fill out all Embassy forms ahead of time. I downloaded them from their website, and brought them with me. It worked out great because after the train ride and the Medical Center experience I was in no shape to fill out any paperwork :)

After Embassy we went back to the Medical Center to have the blood work done. The nurse immediately asked for Raisa’s passport. Well, I don’t have her passport anymore because I left it at the Embassy to get the visa! But the nurse is adamant – no passport, no blood work. At this point I break down and start crying. I’ve had enough! Fortunately, it works and the nurse takes the blood work (I didn’t do it on purpose, honestly!) But since we came back after 12, the result will be ready not at 3 today, but at 3 tomorrow! I feel like my blood pressure is rising again – we have a 2 p.m. interview with the Consul tomorrow! But Sergey found a solution once more – we paid a legal expediting fee to have the results by tomorrow morning. Then back to the doctor’s office, then back to another room for a couple of vaccinations (another legal $50), and finally we were told to come back for the final results next morning.

On Friday we arrived to the Medical Center bright and early to pick up the results. In typical Ukrainian fashion it took almost 2 hours, but after $85 (cost of the exam) and my nervous breakdown (related to the lack of Raisa’s passport again :) we finally had our results. After that the visa interview was a piece of cake. The Consul was extremely nice, he even talked to Raya in Russian, and 20 minutes later we were on our way with the Visa in hand!!!

For our last dinner in Ukraine we met my blogging friends Kathy and Matt at a restaurant on Kreschatik called “Domashnia kuhna” – it means homemade food in Russian. Just before we left for the restaurant, we had an interesting experience at our apartment. When I was trying to open the door, the doorknob came out, and the door wouldn’t open! It took us 15 minutes to finally open it, and by that time I thought we are going to be prisoners of that apartment forever :) Then we rode the subway – the first time for Raya - and finally saw Kathy and Matt. It was so great to visit with them and exchange our war stories. They only started their journey in Ukraine, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, as they are leaving for the region on Monday.

This morning we woke up at 5:00 a.m., and our facilitator took us to Borispol airport for our 8:20 a.m. flight to Frankfurt. Note to pre-adoptive parents: make sure you have your court decree with you! I was asked for it twice: at the check-in and at the customs. I knew about this requirement from other people blogs, so I was prepared. The check-in lady also asked for the Power of Attorney from Oleg in order for Raisa to leave the country. I explained that her father is in the States, and of course he wants her to leave Ukraine and go to her country. She was very skeptical, but the court decree was good enough and she let us go.

The flight was another “first” for Raisa. She was very afraid at the beginning, but after the plane took off, she had a lot of fun watching the clouds and eating her first ever airline food. We had only hour and a half between the flights, and with my luck, our flight was 30 minutes late! By the time it stopped taxiing, it was only 40 minutes before our flight to JFK! Can you imagine how high my blood pressure was? Luckily, the departing gate was at the same terminal, and after going through security we made it to the gate with 30 minutes until departure. The flight was already boarding, but we were assured we still have time while the Delta agents asked me to show Raisa’s special Embassy envelope. After another 10 minutes we finally boarded the plane.

And finally after another 8.5 hours flight, our plane touched the ground at JFK. The passport control took about 5 minutes, then another 2 minutes at a special immigration room, and voila – we have a new American Citizen! Our plane to Rochester is boarding soon, and our adoption journey is finally coming to the end. Stay tuned! I’ll try to post soon!