Ukraine’s Top Tens

Sunday, August 24

The last four weeks since we’ve returned have been a blur. We are sitting down during “nap time” to recollect on the trip. What better way to do it than some top ten lists:

Ukraine’s Top Ten Best
1. Bringing the kids home
2. Spending time with the kids
3. Meeting the kids
4. The way Ukraine’s culture has blossomed since Donna’s last visit in 1987
5. The food: Chocolate ice cream in the bag; bulk varenyky/perogies (esp cherry); picking up fresh bread at 6 a.m.; and good cheap beer anytime!
6. The markets (where “the Eagle” soared)
7. Ukrainian pop music on FM radio
8. Going to Chernivtsi and Western Ukraine (Kolomya, visiting relatives)
9. Ukrainian fashion—especially what the women wear (Note: This is a top ten item for Murray only)
10. Learning and reading Cyrillic language (Molodyez!!)

The Top Ten things we likely won’t miss about Ukraine
1. The freshly polluted air and heat of Mariupol
2. The traffic congestion in Kyiv, including dealing with parked cars as you walk on the sidewalks
3. Continually wearing a money belt at plus 30C temperatures with a big wad of cash.
4. . The sweet smells outside our apartments just before garbage day
5. Trying to speak Ukrainian to people in Eastern Ukraine who only insist on Russian
6. Doing business with Ukrainian taxi drivers, despite the meters in their cars
7. The bus ride from Kolomya to Vinnetsia on Ukraine’s bumpy and rolling roads
8. Dealing with Ukrainian officials who get off on power games (passport control; train stations; etc)
9. Kyiv Metro at rush hour (you feel like you need a rape kit after you get off the train); except when you have a 2 year old in your arms who parts the 'sea of masses' to get her own seat
10. 11 hour flight from Kyiv to Toronto with a two year old

The Top Ten things we looked forward to returning home:
1. Growing as a family
2. Getting to know the kids ourselves in our own home
3. The wonder and amazement of discovery for two new kids in Canada
4. Introducing our kids to family and friends
5. Sleeping in our own bed
6. The familiarity of home, including normal driving, clean and functioning bathroom facilities; fresh air (outside and in bathrooms too…), the English alphabet, and lettuce in salads
7. Watching the Riders win some more games (OK…so that hasn’t happened…I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not a jinx…it could be a 2 year old though ;-)…)
8. An early arrival back to Canada so that we could enjoy some Saskatchewan summer during August
9. All the toys that Murray gets to play with now
10. Just staying in one place and keeping a routine

It’s a Long Way to Tipperary – And a Helluva a lot Further to Saskatoon

Hello to all our blog followers. Yes, we have been back for four weeks now, but with settling in, buying supplies, meeting with family and friends, and most importantly being parents, the blog has been relegated to 15th or 50th fiddle. But, I finally have the time, energy and right headspace to get back into it, so here we go!

Let’s start with traveling home. Our last report was from Kyiv the day before we left. Our trip home on August 3rd began with a 7 a.m. wake up and ended with crashing into our own bed at 11:00 p.m. A 16 hour day? Not too bad. Well, actually with time changes it was a 25 hour day with 15 hours in the air enjoying a two year old.

But we were ready for that and prepared to deal with it. What we weren’t ready for was Ukrainian Passport Control at the beginning of our trip. Leaving the country requires clearance through Ukraine’s border officers. While I think this is primarily for their own citizens leaving, everyone is in the same mosh pit when it comes to getting through. What’s even more frustrating is to see the officials flipping through passports 4 or 6 times, stalling for no apparent reason. Although, I do understand that there are “expediting fees” that one can pay to arrange for faster treatment. Perhaps, this is why they stall with those who don’t “play the game”. After standing in line for 1.5 hours with many smokers around us, I was truly amazed that the official, after going through our documents repeatedly for 10 minutes, tapping his computer keyboard a few times, and generally dragging his ass, did not even look up to confirm that the kids we had with us matched the pictures in the passports that he so intensely examined.

So, we were off to a rough start; and then it was the 11 hour flight from Kyiv to Toronto and 3 hours more to Saskatoon. Some of the memories from that include:

Evan’s excitement in getting on a big plane and especially having the chance to use some really cool bathrooms;

Valya playing with every possible thing around her seat and Donna keeping her busy;

Murray and Vanya laughing and giggling as they sat beside each other. (I don’t remember why…must have been the children’s gravol for him and the sleeping pill for me…);

Valya doing laps around the aisles and one of us right behind her;

Valya’s timeout corner on the floor by the emergency exit at the back of the plane (She and I spent a fair amount of time on that floor);

Realizing that we were back in Canada as I gazed down at Newfoundland;

The joy and pleasantness of going through customs and immigration in Toronto, after our experience in Ukraine;

Timmy HoHo’s coffee at Lester B. Pearson airport;

Touching down at Diefenbaker Airport in Saskatoon!!

We made it!! Home with our new family!! All the time, effort and persistence (especially from Donna) had paid off. Some of Donna’s family and a few friends met us at the airport. And then our friend Boris, a Ukrainian ex pat drove us home. He had a car seat for Valya which we didn’t yet have in our vehicles.

We arrived home to a clean house, with a stocked fridge, a newly furnished bedroom for the kids, car seats, along with a bunch of clothes and toys. We are so thankful to everyone who helped out in different ways and for all your generosity in welcoming Evan and Valentina. You have all made it so much easier for both the little ones and the big ones to settle in!

We have many stories and pictures of settling in over the past four weeks; but that is for another blog posting…