We Made It!!!

WELCOME TO KEIV

Our plane left Salt Lake City at 6am on Sunday morning. Since we had to be at the airport a couple of hours early and we live an hour away, we really didn't get much sleep on Saturday night. We were hopeful that we would be able to sleep on the plane. Alas, that was not the case!

After leaving SLC we arrived in Denver where we had a very boring 7 hour lay over. We walked the airport and then found a place to sit. We rested and read and did a lot of people watching. I was very intrigued by where everyone might be going to or coming from. 7 hours is a long time!!

Mike catching a nap on the floor

Very tired

This lady had the tallest hair. told you I people watched :)

more people watching in Denver

A little bird watching as well. this bird kept flying right by us and then it decided to sit by the same lady for a while, so she fed it.

When we finally boarded our plane to Germany I was pretty tired. We hoped that the plane wouldn't be too full so that we could have our row of seats to ourselves. Again no such luck. But it was ok. I sat in the middle of our row next to a man from Algeria. He really liked to talk!! We spoke about many things, including both of our religions. He was Muslim and he told us that he hadn't met any mormons before, but that he had heard that we were very nice. He also told us of a friend that he knew who's daughter had become friends with a mormon girl. This man had told him that he was very pleased, because he knew he didn't have to worry about her! I was very impressed by this man. He frequently prayed (he would rest his head on the chair in front of him since he couldn't kneel down) throughout the eight and a half hour flight and was very polite and respectful of everyone around him. I thought that this long flight would be hard to handle but it went by fairly quickly.




Once we made it to Germany, we had only a few minutes wait before we boarded our last plane to Ukraine. We were joined on our flight by a large group of children, that Mike and I both agreed must have been a group like the Olena was a part of.

playing with his phone while we wait to board our plane

looking tired

waiting to board

group of kids on the plane with us

German orange juice

On this flight, Mike and I were not sitting together. Instead I was sitting with a couple from Michigan and their child. The wife was Ukrainian and the husband was American. It was fun to be able to chat with them.


We were met at the airport by our driver Alec, who took us into Kiev. Mike and I, even though we were tired, were excited to finally be in Ukraine. We took in everything that was around us and were so interested in the difference in living conditions. We agreed that Kiev looks like there was at one point a lot of industry and money here. There are many statues and monuments, that we hope to visit and look at, that show the towns history. We passed many old churches and cool buildings. But, we also passed many large apartment buildings, that looked extremely run down.

Just arrived in Ukraine

houses

There are so many of these apartment buildings. The one we are staying in looks just like this.

One of the many old churches we passed along the way.

Another old church

One of the many cool bridges we passed

Another Church

more apartments

This was on top of a building. Not sure what it is, or what its for. Just thought it was cool.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way to our apartment. That was the first of what I am sure will be many interesting experiences on this trip! Our driver was there to help us find the things we needed. But, Alec doesn't speak much English so we tried to fumble through as best as we could!
As many of you know I have dietary restrictions and looking for food at home where I can speak the language can sometimes be difficult. Here is was ridiculous. But we fumbled through. While making breakfast this morning, Mike realized that the milk that he got for himself (I got soy milk, since there is no almond milk here) was not really milk after all. After using the Google translate (something i think we will be using a lot) We discovered that it was Kifir milk, which for those of you that don't know, is a pro-biotic milk. My friends in Australia will know it as Yakult!! Not really something you would put on your cereal!! But he ate it anyway, he is such a good sport. And we had a really good laugh about it.
Luckily, we only grabbed a few things, since we weren't really sure what we were going to have in the apartment to cook with. So, we will be making another trip this morning to get some more milk and a few other things.

After shopping and changing money, which also took a long time, we made it too our apartment and settled in. We are on the 8th floor of our building and our balcony overlooks the school that is in the center of  a large amount of apartment buildings. They all look like they are connected. Our apartment consists of a bedroom/living room that is about the size of Carters bedroom, a small kitchen/eating area, a small bathroom and a toilet. I am not sure if all the apartments in this building are this small, but there is definitely no room for children in this one, at least not the way we are used too!

This was taken from the front door. That is the bedroom/living room

Kitchen/eating area. You are seeing it all, there isn't more behind the door!!

Small bathroom!

These are for Talon. Our apartment is decorated with Egyptian pictures

one more

Today we plan to relax, shop a little, maybe do a little sightseeing (I am not sure if we have the use of Alec today) it might be on foot. We would also love to see the Kiev Temple. We had planned to go into the temple, but I forgot my recommend. We also get to meet with our facilitator Sasha today. This is a relaxing day!
Tomorrow, Wednesday is APPOINTMENT DAY!! We will be meeting with the SDA and they will decide if we are allowed to move forward with the adoption.

More to come!!