Trip in a nutshell

I'm almost adjusted to the time change...almost.  Friday was kind of a blur.  The flights were great, but I was kind of nervous about getting in the Kiev airport.  I had a few "Is this real?" moments as we got off the plane and headed to the bus that took us to the new terminal.  I was freaking out a little because I was by myself, and because we didn't get any type of customs paperwork.  Two years ago, we had to keep track of that piece of paper otherwise we wouldn't be allowed to leave the country!  I have to tell you the new terminal is so much better than the old one...WAY easier.  As I was standing in the passport line, I listened for English.  And I heard a very familiar southern accent.  "Hey!  English!  Were we supposed to get a customs form?  I haven't been here in a couple years."  Turns out the three men were from an organization called Manna.  They are in the country to build a transition house for orphans.  One of the men, from Dallas, kind of took me under his wing.  I think he saw that I was a little nervous.  We talked about the adoption, the ministry and how much we love this country.  I got my bag, followed the green line past the luggage x-ray and my driver was waiting for me outside the gate.  Bing, bang, boom.  And the next thing I knew, I was driving to our apartment in Kiev.  For most of Friday and some of Saturday I kind of had this "Am I really here?"  feeling.  We stayed in Friday and decided to get a good nights rest before venturing out in to the wild East.

We weren't sure if the banks would be open on Saturday, but I found some grivna from a few years back so we weren't too worried.  But we found an exchange and that eased my mind.  Then we walked the Kreshadic, which was closed to cars, and headed to a grocery store.  Our apartment is top notch.  We have a great sized bedroom, a living room with an air conditioner!!!, a nice sized kitchen (complete with fridge, oven, and microwave), and an all in one bathroom (toilet and shower are in one room...and we have a washer).  We bought some groceries, found the pizza place, the TGIFridays and got more minutes for our phone.  All of this with no facilitator!  I had an interesting conversation with a, well, unique guy at the phone store.  He was obviously intoxicated...the only words he knew in English were "I love you"  and he said them repeatedly.  Apparently he loves NYC, Amsterdam and weed.  Niiiiiice.  I just laughed, shook my finger at him and "Tsk, tsk, tsk".  He laughed and I high tailed it out of there!

I'll have another post about today in a little while.  It was a great day with great people and prayer.  I'm still processing everything that happened today.  I can't believe tomorrow is the big day!