One step at a time

I'm on top of the world!

Sunday was a fun filled day to take our mind off of what the last few days had delivered...for everyone. We loaded up the van and headed to Yalta. Our first stop was a cable car from Мисхор to Аи Питри, I think I spelled those right. Also known as Mixor and Ai Petri. The cable car ride takes you from just above the beaches to way up on a cliff, somewhere up in the clouds. This was apparently the thing to do as the line was long. For those who won't catch the subtlety, the odd word was line. Ukrainians don't typically wait in lines. Not in their cars, the grocery store, the post office...anywhere. They will claim to have been there but had to leave for whatever reason and that makes getting back in their prior spot legit. It even happened in this "line". Anyway, we hopped on the cable car and headed up the mountain face. After about four to five ear pops you arrive. As soon as you step off, there are about a dozen guys holding hawks and falcons and owls and they want to put them on your arm, shoulder, head. The idea being to charge you to have a photo with the bird. They do this in Kiev only it is with pigeons and we've heard stories where they won't take them off unless you pay them. Well the top of Ai Petri also had a baby lion cub. Nothing like having your neck as a chew toy for a lion while you try to smile. That's a little dramatic as the cub was clearly sedated. We walked around on top of the mountain and took a quick side trip into a cave.  The cave took about 3 minutes to walk through and cost about $6, that comes out to $120/hr!  Oh well, now I can say I did it, not sure who I will tell, but just in case.

Yalta Boardwalk

We had lunch at a Tartar restaurant.  They have about 20 restaurants all serving essentially the same thing. Imagine going to the food court in the mall and your options are narrowed down to where to sit and not so much what to eat as the menu does not differ. We made our way back over to head down and this line was even longer. Plus there were a couple of your groups that only had one person waiting in line, so when they got to the front, the line didn't move as there were another 30 people to include.  After about an hour wait, we arrived at the bottom and got back in the van. We were headed to the Yalta boardwalk. We wanted to see the crowds and possibly find Sophia some new shoes, the ones we gave her were hurting her feet. First stop, McDonald's for some ice cream.  It's nice to be able to share the simple things with Sophia.  The Yalta boardwalk is full of activities. Rides, food vendors, street performers, tourists, restaurants, retail stores and hotels. We stopped at a Crocs store and she found a pair she liked they just didn't have her size. We walked a little further down the boardwalk stopping to watch some of the acts. We found another store, MegaSport, and went in to find her some new flip flops. She must have walked in a dozen pairs. Some were just a little too wide, some not soft enough, some had straps, some "flopped" too much (this is my favorite). We finally found a pair that were comfortable, but I don't think she's thrilled with the color, all black. However, this was her choice.


With her new flips, as these have very little flop, we headed out. We stopped on the way back to let the older brother of the child my host family is adopting out of the van for a bit. He wanted to stop in and see his older sister and get her phone number. While we waited I pulled out the iPhone and let Sophia entertain herself. She played the whole way home and shared the photos on the phone with Tammy. We got home late and everyone was tired from the long day.

Monday morning, we stopped by a photo store to get a few pictures developed for Sophia to give to her Father and her Aunt, and a couple for her as well.  An hour later, we picked up the photos and went for a short walk through the market across the street...you never know what you'll find, so it's always worth looking.  This particular one was mostly a fruit market with women's undergarments, nice mix.  To get back to the house, Tammy had informed me to take bus number 78, well, I had not learned how to say seventy yet.  In hindsight I could have guessed, but I tried to explain to Sophia that we need to take bus number seven eight.  She was rather emphatic that it is number seven five.  I thought ok, seventy-five, it's close enough to seventy-eight.  I decided to trust her, she is from here after all.  After a 15 minute wait, I said let's get on a bus to the Central Market and walk over to Sevastopol street because I know the bus goes that way.  So we did.  We had to walk a fair amount between stops but we made it.  Well, I was looking for a minibus number 78, what we hopped on was a trolley bus number 5/7.  Close enough, and it was headed in the right direction.  The only problem with this bus, and it's not really a problem, was that it stopped about a mile from where we were headed.

Our host Tammy and Sophia

Another step in our relationship happened as we were getting off the bus.  I was trying to figure out if the bus could keep going looking at the wires when I heard my name.  Since we met Sophia on July 4th, she has not addressed me as anything.  Not Mike, hey you, sir, and certainly not papa.  It's really hard having no identity with someone you love so much.  To hear my name spoken by her, well, let's just say that I spent the next 20 minutes replaying it in my head.  I can still hear it.  And since we were still a ways off we walked and I thought about finally having a place in Sophia.  At this point I was feeling good.  I gave her a little decision making authority and trust and she got us back.  I was excited to get back to the house, relax, read a book, maybe have a brownie, but not Sophia.  She asked if she could go over to her dad's house.  Good feeling gone.  Then I thought about it, if I were in her shoes, I would ask the very same question.  I said yes, but I was thirsty.  Let's go home first and let me grab something to entertain myself and we'll walk over.  I had all kinds of thoughts going through my head, but if I was going to trust Sophia, this was part of it.  I told her that I was not going to go inside.  That she needed to spend time with her dad alone and that I was going to wait on the street and we needed to be back in one hour.  I also told her that I understand how hard this is.  She said "how hard what is", I said "going to America".  So in the middle of waiting, I called my facilitator back as he had been blowing up my phone.  Mind you at this point my nerves are already a little edgy, but he proceeds to tell me that our fingerprints have expired, according to the I-171H sheet from US Immigration.  I'm in the middle of a dirt road, waiting for my daughter to come back out of her father's house, in a foreign land and the documents are back in NC (I didn't think I would need them), with a flight to go home in 4 days and now this.  Lord help me focus.  I called Lisa and we worked out a plan.  When the time came I called for Sophia from the front gate and waited for a bit.  Nothing.  Have faith Mike, stay calm.  I opened the gate and walked down the path to the side opening, all the while saying "Allo".  Sophia came around the corner with a bag and a smile.  Faith is not always easy...especially during trials.

After coming home from her dad's house, we came back and relaxed a bit.  Actually, I talked with Tammy's mom on Skype. It was ringing as we came in so I answered. I'm glad I did, it was a great conversation and much needed encouragement. M&T came home with chicken wings, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and fresh bread for dinner. While the wings were baking, Tammy and I chatted. Matt and Sophia were upstairs watching Disney channel (in Russian) and Matt was talking with her. Both have spent time talking with her alone off to the side and not translating everything for me or have me hanging around so she guards her words (I can pick up a lot in a conversation, but it's all about context).  They were basically telling her that out of all the children who need homes, God chose this family and you. That this is an amazing miracle. 

I mean come on, 7 years ago, little Sophia was riding her bike around Fontani, playing with her friends and her dog in the fields or empty lots.  Matt and Tammy were new to the area and lived in an apartment right across the parking lot from her Aunt's building.  What are the odds?  Add to that the thousands of Ukrainian orphans, hundreds of millions worldwide, and a family that lives clear over in America.  Plus, Lisa and I met this wonderful couple while attending church here in Simferopol.  We found the church because the pastor, his wife, and another missionary couple were introduced to us by friends back in Raleigh who adopted from the orphanage last year.  I firmly believe God made this happen.  God chose Sophia to be our daughter.  How cool is that?

Well anyway, Tammy explained that she and Matt loved her and they've only known her a week.  She also said that Lisa and I loved her.

After dinner, Matt and I played ping pong while Tammy and Sophia talked and worked on Origami. She needed help folding the paper, but once it was folded, she needed zero help drawing on the paper to make it look like a cat...she really has an artistic touch.  We can definitely nurture this.  Oh yeah, we had homemade brownies for dessert!

With full tummy's and playtime finished, Matt, Sophia, and I climbed into the van and headed over to see her Aunt one last time to drop off the pictures and frame we got her.  Matt stayed in the van in hopes that it would speed up the visit, since my Russian isn't that conversational. Well, I may not be able to converse with adults, but their two little children, Ruslan and Nila(?), them I can talk with. Sophia picked up a few more clothing items and was ready to go, but I was wrapped in conversation with Ruslan...who btw gave me a big hug upon seeing me. I guess they asked how we got over there or maybe Sophia said Matt is waiting in the van...well they sent me down to go get him.  While I fetched Matt, they brought out the table, made coffee and dragged out the kish-kish, dates, and candy. This was not going to be a short visit.  But it was another great conversation. At one point, Ruslan asked me to come into his room to show me his nasleki, or stickers.  He asked me to pronounce them in English for him. I go back in the other room and my coffee is gone, replaced by tea...oh boy, more caffeine.  I got their Skype info, home phone number, mobile number, and names of the aunt, uncle and their son and daughter-in-law. I've already sent them an invite on Skype, in Russian of course. The uncle even told Ruslan that he could talk to me on Skype and learn english.  I told Ruslan, he could talk in English and I would talk in Russian.  He got a huge smile upon hearing this.  It was another great visit and I told the family we will be back with all my boys, the aunt said we are welcome in their home anytime.  While Monday was full of trust development and tests, it was a beautiful day.

This morning, Tuesday, over breakfast, Matt pulled up a youtube video of simon's cat.  For any current or prior cat owner, I highly recommend checking it out.  We watched a couple during breakfast and were laughing hysterically.  Sophia and I had to catch the morning flight out of Simferopol to Kiev.  We are now in the "gateway" apartment as I call it.  It is the apartment all families coming in and leaving Ukraine will stay in.  We'll be here for a few days and flying out on Friday morning.  But it is just the two of us now. So I pulled up Simon's cat to see all of the rest of the videos.  Thank you again Matt and Tammy, I got to hear my daughter laughing and it was adorable.

I love you Sophia.