A Successful Meeting with the Inspector!!

All went extremely well this morning. We got up and headed to the Inspectors Office right across the street from our hotel this morning. Victor talked over a few things with her then we caught a cab to the orphanage. The Director (Galina) met us in her office at the orphanage along with another official from the Berdyansk inspector’s office and we got right down to business. She reviewed Erin’s (Irina’s) history which was nothing new from what we already knew from the SDA but was of course still very sad. One of the unique questions we received before Erin came in was “Would you have adopted if you hadn’t met the girls?” We had to answer honestly that we probably would not have but it has always been something in our hearts since long ago when we saw the plight of the Romanian orphanages after the fall of the USSR. We just couldn’t afford it then.

Once done with our questioning, they called for Erin to come in. She came running in with a big hug and kiss for both of us and then plopped herself down on Bev’s lap. What a wonderful moment for us. She is truly a beautiful and sweet young lady girl just like her soon to be sisters (Zach, You’re great too but didn’t want to lump you in with the beautiful/sweet part. You’re handsome and nice ;-). Then they went straight to “THE” question…Do you want these people to be your Mama and Papa? She didn’t hesitate to tell the inspector “YES”. They also asked if she had had any contact from her sister or mother. She said no. The Inspector said, “Well, now your going to have 2 sisters and a brother that will love you”. What a vote of confidence from the inspector. Everyone in the room just kept smiling throughout the meeting. It was really very pleasant. After that, a nurse came in and reviewed her medical record. She is very healthy.

Following the 30 minute meeting, they went straight to work on the paper work and we hit the road with Erin, Victor, and a school nurse from about 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on medical exams. Now, this is something different according to the Victor. It used to be that one doctor pretty much took care of most of it but now you have to get an OK from each of the different specialist then it all finalized by the head doctor. Victor went to work for us running all over town to ensure all the boxes where correctly checked and that we got it completed correctly and quickly. He was amazing. We are very glad to have him.

Some have asked about costs. Here’s a very quick break down:

Lodging at Berdyansk Hotel - $38 for a double up to $75 for a very nice suite. The double up to suites have little refrigerators. You need to pay for your facilitator and yourself- 2 rooms each day.

Taxi: From hotel to orphanage - $1 each way. We did spend about $20 today for our taxi which was with us most of the day even waiting outside the various buildings while the exams went on. But that is not a normal taxi day.

Meals - Breakfast comes with both rooms and it’s a lot of food. Usually good enough to get you through lunch too. Meals range for the 2 of us and our facilitator at around $15-$20 total but of course it depends on where you eat. The hotel restaurant is very nice and relatively inexpensive.
Food/groceries – You can buy enough water and snacks to last about 5 day for less then $20 easily. You can buy almost anything with the exception of hand sanitizer so bring some. You can even have your laundry done but it’s fairly expensive at around $21 for approximately 20 items.

Internet café (in the lobby) – $1-2 per hour. There is a hotel Wi-Fi connection on the 10th floor which costs $2 per hour. I can pick it up on the 11th floor but it’s a weak signal.

Anyway, tomorrow is a fairly calm day. We hope to just spend some time with the kids while Victor works on getting the final inspector decision and paper work to Kiev by tomorrow afternoon. He’s also already writing the petition asking for the court date so that it will be ready too. If the paperwork is delivered to the SDA in Kiev by Wednesday, it takes 5 working days to get it back. Victor is hoping to get our court day within the next few days once the paperwork returns but you never know. Of course the ever present 10 day wait follows the court date.

Please continue to pray that things go smoothly and as quickly as possible. God is truly at work here. It so awesome to see. Also, pray that all these great kids get families some day. They are all so sweet and just want someone to call their own. It’s just heart breaking.

We love you all.