Day 3 Friday 4SEP09

Friday September 4, 2009

Let the waiting for Monday begin...or so we thought.

We began the day in a lazy mood - why get up early and try to conquer the world when we have to wait three days before we travel to meet a possible new Douberly(s)? Finally, the haze wore off and we took off for a nice jog around Kiev to make sure we wouldn't get lost later in the day when we went sightseeing. The run thoroughly inspired us as we were able to see how to get around the city with relative ease. We ran about 4 miles or so (until my foot started to hurt) before returning home to the apartment.

After our exercise, we showered up (mercifully for the Ukrainians...but still not sure if everyone here reciprocates), and struck out for an early lunch. We went down to the corner to a travel-guide-recommended cafeteria with local fare. The Ukrainian food was good - but we have to let it grow on us some more. One must be careful here not to eat all fried and fatty foods - they are plentiful and cheap! Of course, the one thing we could both agree upon was the Ukrainian borscht. The beet root soup can be done many different ways - always delicious.
The cafeteria came to a whopping $12 (we ordered enough for several locals) , so we definitely needed to walk it off. We struck off on our sightseing tour of some local churches. The churches here are similiar to some of the ornate mosques in Istanbul, albeit with a decided Eastern Orthodox flair. The insides are where the differences can be noticed - the interiors are actually more akin to what one might find in the Vatican. Not quite as showy, but still much more ornate than a mosque. We did get to ascend to the top of St Sofia's highest tower - see for yourself some of the shots we were able to photograph from this perch. Yes, those pictures are real and not something we superimposed or pulled off a website. (Kristina included for your viewing pleasure.)

While in St Sofia, we got a call from Yuri to coordinate a meeting time to pick up our letter of permission to visit a child(ren). We weren't expecting the call to arms this early as we believed nothing else would happen until Monday.

After St Sofia, we went to St Andrei church right next to where we needed to meet Yuri. St Andrei is situated on a hill overlooking a cobblestone street vendor area. It really is one of the touristy highlights of Kiev as one can purchase all matters of souvenirs, knick-knacks and the such. But we were in for oh so much more today.

Apparently Friday is a very popular day to be married in the Orthodox church. The brides and their wedding parties were lined four deep outside of St Andreis waiting for their turn in the chapel for the "big day." We initially were skeptical of our ability to get inside the church due to the ceremonies - not to worry, it appeared none of these weddings were closed to the public anyway. The wedding was something out of the Godfather's baptism scene...complete with a full orthodox choir singing acapella traditional hymns and the minister chanting the rites in a rhythmic almost mystical cadence. We never felt like intruders, but we were blessed to see something so distinctly non-Western.

Outside the church, more brides arrived as some of the completed weddings made their exit - this marriage factory showed no signs of slowing production during the global recession. Some of the wedding parties were dressed interestingly to say the least. I am quite shocked we didn't see a smoking hole where a person used to be as I am sure it was the first time some of these folks had ever seen the inside of any church. That's OK - they probably thought the same about us. Heathens we all are.

We met up with Yuri straightaway at 2:30 and commenced a two hour waiting exercise for our alleged 3:00 appointment to pick up the letter of permission. No, the math is funny purposely there - again we were caught in the Ukrainian time space continuum (vacuum) where time means nothing and personal space is nonexistent. Regardless, we finally received our letter at 4:30 and were able to return home for a small 3 hour nap (yeah, cool) before beginning our Friday evening. It looks like we are still on for a Monday session with our possible charge (s).
We went down to the coffee shop at the corner and had a nice meal (and nicer desserts). We then did a little grocery shopping (bottle of wine inclusive) to cap off our wild and crazy Friday night. A little Skype with our boys capped off a marvelous evening.

On Saturday, it appears we might meet Yuri's girlfriend during some more tourist activites. I will try to keep Kristina on her best behavior and not allow her to give this poor unsuspecting soul the third degree. You all know how gentle she can be when confronted with another possible Alpha female. Things should remain civil unless this girl decides to say something negative about Josh, Jake, and the other addition(s).

Have a great weekend everybody.