SDA Appointment

So, most of you probably know that we had our SDA appointment today. Our appointment was scheduled for 12 noon. When Niko brought us to our apartment on Tuesday he said someone would pick us up for our appointment. "Maybe me. Maybe another driver. Maybe taxi. Maybe 11:00. Maybe later. Someone will let you know." Normally we would've been given a cell phone when we arrived with our facilitators' phone numbers already programmed in. We didn't. Niko told us someone would bring it to us the next day. He had given 5 phones out on Monday and they didn't have any more. No problem. But...no one came on Wednesday either. Luda had called yesterday afternoon to help us with our internet problem. She gave me her home phone number and said Yulia would call and give us information about our SDA appointment. We didn't hear from anyone. This morning around 10 am I tried to call Luda to find out for sure what time someone was picking us, who it would be, and what we needed to bring. No answer. Duh...it was her home phone number...she was at work. So I sent her an email with my questions. Finally at 10:50 she called and said a taxi would be there at 11:00 and would know where to take us. Good thing we were ready! The taxi arrived. We got in. The driver got to the end of our street and asked, "Where to?" Jon and I looked at each other and said, "Uhhhhh...we were told you would know where to take us." Huh? Poor guy did not speak much English and we do not speak much Russian. We tried to tell him 'SDA', but that meant nothing to him. He asked us for a phone number but all I had was Luda's home number. He got his phone out and made a call (to Luda we assume). He got off the phone and said, "Iz okay." And off we went. I must say I was not feeling warm fuzzies at this point. All I've heard from other families is how wonderful all the facilitators are. I think maybe my expectations were a bit high. All the RR families have said that someone called them everyday while they were here to check on them. No one has called to check in on us. Good thing we're okay. Kiev reminds me much of St. Petersburg so I don't feel completely out of sorts here. I'm not trying to complain either. I'm just sharing our experience - one that seems to be different than most families have had.

I should probably mention here, that our facilitator team has 20 families in country right now. I think that is more than normal. 20 families at one time for one team. THAT is pretty awesome and amazing, don't you think? It's also a lot of people to manage. A lot of people to keep happy. A lot of people to keep in touch with every day. I would not want any of their jobs. That means that 20 families here have jet lag. That means that 20 families here have brains working on little sleep (mine included) and patience could be thin. The change in time zone is one thing...add dogs barking all night, beds that are not your own, and early sunrises and you've got 20 very tired families. Emotionally and physically. We're tired, friends. 20 families here are out of their element and it could be very stressful to some. THIS is where grace and understanding come into play. THIS is where we have the opportunity to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Anyway, we made it to the SDA building and found the spot where Luda said to wait. She said someone would find us. We waited there 10 or 15 minutes and then Luda came out and introduced herself. She brought us into the building and Jon and I asked her all the questions we could think of. Niko came in and gave us a phone with a list of everyone's phone numbers. He had to buy a new one, so they were not programmed in yet. We met Serge and liked him instantly. Wish I had gotten his picture. Hopefully we'll see him again.

We waited in a little room until after 12. Luda said it was very unusual to be waiting this long. That meant someone had a problem. Oh, please don't let it be us. I've read so many stories lately of people getting to their SDA appointment to find that their child is not available for adoption for whatever reason. I wasn't terribly worried this would happen to us, but it's always there in my mind. What if?

Finally at 12:15 we were called in. Luda talked with the SDA lady and it was obvious she was looking for Vera's file. She had piles of files everywhere. She went into another room and came back with a thick, red file. She pulled out 3 papers...each had a photo of Vera attached. One photo was of Vera as a baby. One was from when she was 3 and the other was taken last year. We're hoping we can get these photos at the end of this process. They were precious.

We were told we would be asked some questions, but we weren't asked anything other than, "Do you want to see any other files or do you want to accept this one for Vera?" We accepted Vera's referral and signed our names. That was it! It lasted maybe 5 minutes. Maybe. The SDA lady did say that Vera was one of their favorites and that Vera is ready for a family to take her home. She said they've been preparing her.

We were told that Vera's birth mother gave up her parental rights and put her up for adoption. Nothing is known about her birth father. We should find out more details at her orphange.

After that we left and Niko brought us back to the apartment. We had ham sandwiches for lunch and then took a nap. We're going out for dinner tonight.

For all of you families in process, here's a picture of me and Luda. Luda is the one who reviews all of our paperwork and gives the okay before we get it apostilled. She is very nice. At one point she looked at my necklace and said my 'decoration' is very pretty.

So, we're here until Sunday and then we'll take an overnight train to Vera's region. We will meet Vera on Monday!!