Embassy Email

We don't see it on the Embassy's web site either but here is what they sent.

Dear Friends and Wardens,

The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy will be closed to the public starting December 24, 2008, until January 9, 2009. During this period, assistance will be available in emergency situations only. For emergency assistance on December 29, 30, 31, 2008, and January 5, 6, 8, 9, 2009 please contact the American Citizens Services Unit directly at (+38 044) 490 4445. For the rest of the time, emergency assistance will be handled by the Embassy Duty Officer at (+38 044) 490-4000. Emergency services include: medical emergency, victims of violent crime, destitute Americans, detention or arrest, U.S. passport loss. Routine ACS services will not be provided from December 24 to January 9. American Citizens Services Unit will resume its regular working hours and services on January 12, 2008.

US Embassy Closure Dates

For those of you in Ukraine working on adoption we just want to make sure that you got the email from the US Embassy in Kyiv. They are closing from December 24 and not reopening for normal business until January 12. They are also planning to close at noon on December 19.

Thank You All

Thank you family and friends for your support during this time. The phone calls, emails and blog comments have been very valuable to us. We feel especially blessed with our new friends from among the Ukraine adoptive families.

Thank you Jim & Kari for the evening together it was just what we needed.

And still be willing to hang out after our instant backseat cramming still smelling direct from the the train ride shake and bake.

In case you haven't read it elsewhere the trains are HOT. In the hall outside our bunk room I found a thermometer that read 75. The room was hotter I'm thinking close to 80 with no way to open any window.

It's Not our plan

We haven't said much during the last week. We definitely fell in love with the boys, however they are not going to be our boys. When we were at the SDAPRC we were not told that there was a fourth family member. A three year old little girl. The short story is that after we were informed of her existance each official said it shouldn't be any problem to adopt the boys as she was already placed with a Ukrainian family. In the end the children will not be split up, we understand, but it isn't easy.

Now we get to practice what we have taught and said for years. It is not our plan but we trust that God does have a plan.

We will leave for Kyiv tomorrow. We could ask for a second referral but today we don't feel like thinking of anything. We could be leaving for home anytime from Wednesday through next Monday.

Learning how money works in Ukraine

At this point we feel it better not to comment on our situation with the boys. So since I haven't posted for a few days I thought I would talk about our experience with money in Ukraine.

First if you are bringing cash to exchange make sure that they are new uncirculated bills. Some banks or exchange companies have machines to verify that the bills are good but the safest method is new bills not folded.

Traveler's checks are not worth the hassle. If you have ever tried to pull out more than $10,000.00 in cash in the US then you are assumed to be a drug dealer and get to fill out extra forms and prove who you are and what you are using the money for. This is the same basic idea with traveler's checks in Ukraine.

Credit cards are accepted in some locations but are rather limited. Also make sure that you tell your bank the dates that you are traveling and where otherwise they will put a fraud block on your card. When I set up Skype I put an automatic refill from the credit card. However I told our bank we were traveling to Ukraine and Skype was billed from Sweden. Yes they stopped the payment. It's fixed now.

ATM cards. We were warned not to use these but they have been one of the easiest methods to use. Again make sure you have communicated to your bank that you want to use it outside the US. Also being slightly paranoid we limit the amount in the account and it is not our normal checking account card. We opened a new account with a bank that we have not used before. Then we left deposit slips with a neighbor and they add deposits as needed. There are still some catches to this. It has taken me an average of four ATM machines to get money. Sometimes they are not using a network that the card does. Sometimes the machines are out of money and sometimes they to not have enough for your request. Pulling out US $300-500 (2,000 - 3,500 Hryvna) is the equivelant of the average Ukrainian's monthly salary except in maybe Kyiv. So our plan is always to be pulling out what we need a few days in advance. Still I don't like carrying as much US currency as people told us too. ATM machines are very available in even small towns.

I assume this would also work with credit cards as most of the ATM's have Visa or Mastercard logos. Just haven't tried that yet.

The exchange rate was stable for most of the last two years that I have been watching it. Since we have been here it has really moved in our favor. We got 5.75 Hryvna (Greevna) to the dollar when we arrived and are now getting 7.50. Even including the fees it looks like we get the best exchange rate by using the ATM cards. ATM machines here are called bankomats.

This is clearly still a cash economy. And after hearing some stories I understand why. One person talked about a relative who bought a car taking out a loan. The bank wrote the note that said it had to be paid in hard currency. (Dollar, British Pound or Euro) As the exchange rate as gone up we have also noticed that the spread to buy dollars is now between 5-10%. This individual is now really hurting due to both the exchange rate and the extra cost.

Enough for now hopefully we can soon fill you in on more of the story. As my Aunt told us last night, whatever happens God is still in control. It's just easier to hear than put into practice.

Keep Praying

We have made some progress and are hopeful that we now have the right people involved to resolve the issues that have come up. We appreciate your encouragement and prayers.

The last four posts include pictures from the orphanage. Including something that I think is false advertising. We have only seen the sun two days since we've been in Ukraine, I'm not sure how one would know how to draw it ;-) Yes I miss my Colorado sun and blue skies.

The computer lab at the school is quite good they have one machine for about every six kids. It's not brand new but it is a good lab.

All of the buildings here including the orphanage are not too appealing from the outside. Many buildings are pretty decent inside. All parts of the orphanage are always clean.

Bureaucracy!!! Argh.

We know every country has it but we are frustrated right now. It seems that some paper work in dealing with the boy's family was not properly filled out. Now no one wants to take responsibility for it and simply fix it. So we have spent the last two days driving to the town where they were born (about 75 kilometres away) and talking to various administrators. Then they pulled a committee together we appeared before them and they have said that they will recommend approval of fixing the paperwork but they want to pass it on to a higher official in the state (Oblast) capital of Kherson to actually sign off on the paperwork. Hopefully that will happen today and we can get on with going to court for the adoption.

We have been able to visit Vitali at the hospital each day. He is doing well and is supposed to have his chest X-ray done today. Since he has not been coughing the last few days his Doctor expects that the X-ray will be good and that he is over his Pneumonia and will be able to go back to the orphanage.

Since we have been traveling we have not seen Dennis and Sergei for four days. I told Teresa it was a good thing we left them with picture albums so they will remember us. She alternated between slugging my arm and almost crying.

Hopefully good news and a timeline for this trip by the end of today.