The Saga Continues

Well, it's 5:45 p.m. Monday. We're back in the apartment. Still no sign of my suitcase, but today I learned that there's a lot worse things than lost luggage and having only one set of clothes.

Our appointment was 9:30 a.m. The first thing the woman at the SDA asked was, "You want to adopt two children, Bogdan and Yan?"

Oh, boy, are they behind. They had to go hunt down our latest letter to them. Then they couldn't find the files on the two new boys we want to look at. After a while, they found the files but said it appeared that Ruslan's paperwork had not been registered and that he may not be available for adoption. We were a little blown away by this bit of news because we have been most interested in and feeling positive about Ruslan. They told us to come back after lunch so they could investigate the situation.

So we left and waited and waited for Irina to call us while we mulled over the possibilities. We walked for hours with Jen and Drew and did more than enough sightseeing, ate lunch, and waited some more. Finally Irina called and told us to come back to the SDA. Yeah! She met us outside the building and said, "We are very sorry, but Ruslan's paperwork did not ever get sent from the region to the SDA. He will not be available for international adoption for one year."

I can't begin to describe the emotions that welled up inside of me. I hope Irina and Sergei aren't afraid of me now, but I started to get slightly hysterical. I said, "This is the second time we've been to Ukraine. We picked this little boy out of a group of others. We were told he was officially available June 8. We've paid over $20,000 to get to this point. How could someone have made this mistake?"

I know there was a lot more said, but I'm giving the Reader's Digest version.

Irina said, "Just a moment." She walked away from us and got on her cell phone. Then things started to happen that I will probably never fully understand, but eventually a woman came out of the SDA with a file, handed it to Irina, Irina went back into the SDA, then came out again and said, "They have found the paperwork. Ruslan will be available June 22."

What? I don't get it, but I'm not asking too many questions. Somehow the papers were found, and I don't care where they found them or whether they will be manufacturing them, just that for now everything is still okay.

So tomorrow we're headed for Dnipro with Jen and Drew on the night train to meet Zhenia and (unofficially) Ruslan.

And with that, I will end on the happy note that my luggage just arrived.