The Twilight Zone 1960

We are hurtling down the highway between Donetsk and Mariupol. It is as if we are on the autobahn. Our driver, Alexi, is playing no favoirites. He has passed farm trucks, delivery trucks, Volvos, Ladas, Toyotas, BMWs. He just flashed his lights and passed an ambulance with sirens blaring. Our van has no seat belts. This must be the famous Eastern European fatalism. “If I am destined to hurtle through the front window, that is my destiny and no puny seat belt will stop me.” We on the other hand would prefer to return to Colorado with our lives intact. We are desperately rummaging through the luggage looking for something, anything, we can use to tie us down. Wendy has found a belt and secured Graham, she has woven two shirts together into a makeshift sling and lashed herself and Elizabeth to the headrest on the backseat. As for myself, I have taken the power cord to my laptop and wrapped it around the center console used a triple hitch knot to secure myself.

You have entered another dimension, a dimension of sight, sound, time, and space. A dimension not unlike our own, but at the same time, very, very different. You have entered the Eastern Ukraine Twilight Zone.

We had no problems making our train. Our tickets were for the 2nd class compartment, which meant 4 bunks. Unfortunately, we were only able to get 3 of the bunks in one compartment and 2 bunks in another compartment 2 doors away. Contrary to what we had heard, the train was very nice. While the train heated up considerably while it was waiting at the station, it did have air conditioning and once underway, we were quite comfortable. Our train left at 7:30pm for an overnight trip to Donetsk. Joe stayed with Wendy, Graham, and Elizabeth until the sky began to darken and the passengers started getting ready for bed. Then he headed back to the other compartment which he was sharing with Edward (our interpreter) and a Ukrainian couple. Wendy advises that you bring Benadryl on the trip and take it before going to bed on the train (along with Vodka). Wendy seemed to be the only one who was able to sleep most of the night (big surprise!). For the rest of us, it was like sleeping on the Twister II at Elitch’s.

We have arrived in Mariupol, greeted by a factory belching gray smoke and a large statue paying homage to the superiority of the Soviet factory worker. The smell is a seductive blend of coal, creosote, and seaweed. It is 100 degrees and VERY humid! We have worped back to the 1960's where women wore dresses and highheels and men wore dress pants everywhere. There are no seat belts and no speed limits signs. No dryers or dishwashers. I loved explaining to Elizabeth my childhood of hanging clothes on a line and the art of using the least possible amount of clothes pins possible. She is fearful of the birds pooping on our clean clothes! The apartment we are staying in looks like Joes's dad's old house...very cluttered and dirty. BUT, it has internet as we were told 50 times, and hot water (which is a privilge) and air conditioning in one room. For the internet, we could find a cafe, it is summer, so hot water is not as important, but with this temperature, that air conditioning sold us. Even if the outside of the building and the stairwell look like it was transplanted from a horror movie. We'll post pictures as soon as we are rested.

It cannot be emphasized enough to the adoption group, how much time is spent in the car, sweating and pacing! We left the train at 7:15 this morning, and were not able to shower, brush our teeth, eat, or even go to the bathroom until 6pm this evening. We have been going constantly. Teenagers tend to get a little grumpy, go figure! Tomorrow we will have a DVD ready and watch it during the hours of down time. We should be able to see at least 10 movies per day. These people really out-do Floridians (not that we have anything aganist Floridians) in the "lets see how slow we can move" game.

We have saved the biggest news for last. We saw Kolya today. That is the brightest part of our day! He looks exactly the same... no taller or bigger, just a happy kid. He still refuses to talk because he knows we do not understand a word of Ukrainian. The social worker tried to get him to practice his English but he was too shy. He sat in the back of the van and played with our kids, giggling. One of the errands today was to pick him up at summer camp and bring him back to the orphanage. We just happened to be be riding in the van when it picked him up. Tomorrow we will get to officially meet him in the director's office. We will discuss his choice of names with him since he has a chance to totally make him self into someone new. Joe favors Seward Lee Grant Hickman in honor of his great grandfather. Wendy likes Throckmorton because it sounds cool. Graham and Elizabeth are in a coin toss between Bart and Megatron. We just hope he ignores all of us and picks something which he likes. We also have about a zillion more documents (give or take 3-4). Our kids unanimously voted to stay in the airconditioned apartment for the day. Smart kids.

Seriously, once we were able to hug Kolya again, all the frustration melted away. This is our reason for being here.