Meeting the Mayor and the Regional Inspector

We had just ordered breakfast in the cafe downstairs this morning, when our Facilitator called and said that the driver would be back to get us at the Motel in a few minutes. Apparently the Regional Inspector had a break in her appointment schedule and could see us. I tried to explain to the waitresses to "stop making us breakfast and that we would be back" while rushing upstairs to grab our coats. Oleg, our driver, explained the situation so that the girls understood and John paid for the food so that they knew we were honest. I ran down with everything and we ran for the car.

We were ushered in to ante-chamber of the Mayor's office by a nice middle-aged blond woman. I was admiring the violets (reminded me of Mom and Grandma) as we were asked to enter a huge office. A middle-aged gentleman in a business suit came from behind his desk to meet us and asked us to sit at a long conference table. Apparently the woman that I had mistaken for a secretary was the Regional Inspector for Children's Rights and the man was the Mayor. She presented a complete list of who we are, how we had met Mari, that we have a son in Colorado, and that we had met Mari and Michael yesterday. All from memory. She mentioned that we have a large home and that each child will have a bedroom. The Mayor then asked us if we had hosted Mari. He asked us to confirm that indeed, each child would have a bedroom. He asked if we would continue to keep the children close to Ukraine as even though they are far their country it is in their souls. We agreed and explained that we have several friends with Ukrainian children, that there is a large Ukrainian culture camp held in the mountains of Colorado each summer, and that we were planning to return with the children (when they are all older) for a Heritage Trip. This information seemed to please him. He noted that we would have our hands full with three children. We agreed. He mentioned that a village provides for all of its children and we are part of a global village and he commends us for taking care of these children. We all stood and he moved to his desk where he signed the paperwork approving our submission for a court hearing.

We then moved to the Regional Inspector's Office and she and our Facilitator completed the paperwork for the court hearing. We have decided to name the children Mariya Renee Barrett (Mari for short) and Michael Joseph Barrett. This information was added to the forms. We signed the paperwork which will now proceed to the SDA. We then traveled to the Orphanage so that our Facilitator could drop off paperwork. Back to the Motel for lunch (in this case brunch as we got to eat our eggs) and the Facilitator helped John explain how to make American coffee (2 shots of espresso and then fill the tea cup up to the rim with hot water makes very similar coffee). I enjoyed my first Ukrainian hot tea, loose black tea in a beautiful teapot, that tasted incredible

Our Facilitator and Driver, Oleg, then packed and left for Kyiv. They will see us in a week. They have arranged for a local gentleman, with a green car, to take us to see the children. His name is Viktor. John spent the afternoon working and I spent the afternoon cleaning the room, unpacking, and doing laundry in the shower basin (I call it my new front loading washing machine)! We are a little apprehensive and will resort to drawing pictures if necessary when ordering food!

We have met a wonderful couple from White Plains, NY, Bill and Stefanie Krebs and their son Peter (krebskids.blogspot.com). They are in process to adopt 3 brothers, two from our Orphanage and one from the nursery orphange for this region a few hours away. One of the boys is in Michael's group. They are all so cute playing. It is going to be wonderful to have Americans to talk to during this next week. We have TV, but only in Ukrainian, so even speaking English to someone is a treat! They have been here longer and are happy to show us the ropes! Heavenly Father certainly puts the right people in your path when you need them! We are so thankful that all-in-all we can handle everything and that we are in a beautiful, quaint, village for all of this. It should be safe as long as we watch out for the maniac drivers and the geese.

Thanks for the comments and hugs to all!

It is time to head back over to the Orphanage. We will include photos later.