Step 1 in Lugansk

We left the flat in Kyiv yesterday. There was freezing rain which made the traffic even worse than usual. We had to stop by the SDA to pick up our referral between 5 and 6pm. Then about 2-3 miles away to the train station for an overnight to Lugansk (I changed the spelling from yesterday. I think this is the better one, though I have seen both).

We got to SDA with just a few minutes to spare. Our facilitator had made arrangements for us to pick up our referral right away. Apparently that is a big deal as there were long lines there we passed right by. I don't think we want to know how that was done. Suffice it to say, we got there, then ran to the car and made a mad dash (at about 5 mph given the traffic) to the train station.

We got there with about 10 minutes to spare. We met our new facilitator Natalia (or Natasha for short) who is traveling with us, and said goodbye for now to Yulia and Yuri.

We had a sleeping cabin on the train. Kind of like in "North by Northwest", but not really. 4 folding beds and bedding. in a room similar to that on a battleship. Not bad at all really.
The beds were fairly comfortable. However, the train was HOT. At least until about 1am when they turned off the heat. By morning, it was fairly comfortable.

We passed through the night through long flat stretches of Ukrainian country-side toward the coal-mining area of Lugansk. Sorry for the bad picture quality but it was through a dirty train window.

We arrived in Lugansk a little later than the schedule 9:45 (out time in yesterday's post was inaccurate). We then got a car to our new flat in Lugansk. It is owned by a very nice couple named Nikolai and Nadia. Nikolai and I hit it off well, given our names and that today is St. Nicholas Day!

At about 2pm we headed off to the nearby town (basically a suburb) about 15 miles away. I don't recall the name off-hand, but it was south of Lugansk. We met with the local inspector. He found a couple of errors in the documents that had to be corrected. The birthday of one boy was wrong. He is 7 instead of 6. And there was some other family found, but we don't think that will be an issue.

The process here, is that you meet the local inspector who reviews all paperwork for accuracy. he also asked us questions as to why we were adopting; why from Ukraine; do we know the children are likely to have some developmental delay; do we realize it will not be like raising our biological kids since their personalities are developed, etc. Important, but also expected, questions.

He was very friendly and is trying to make arrangements for us to go to step 2 which is to meet the orphanage director. However, due to 1) parties at the orphanage for St. Nicholas Day, 2) parties with police at the orphanage since it is also Police Day, and 3) visiting dignitaries, she has been very busy to the end of the day.

We are scheduled to meet her tomorrow morning at 8am. Assuming she approves of us, we then can meet the children.

We stopped to pick up some toys for the boys. We got them a couple of Lego(-ish) sets. One is a city hospital and the other a SWAT team (actually spetznaz). They should like that :-)

Finally had our first meal of the day about 6pm. we ate pizza and cabbage rolls at a local mall, then picked up groceries. With the weakness of the hryvnia, they were cheap, about $15 dollars.

Please pray thanks that our trip has gone so well so far, and that tomorrow's meeting with her and the boys are well received.