A new father's Ukranian photojournal

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well, as of this past Friday, I am now officially a father! The big downside though is that my wife and I have to fly back to Kyiv in 30 days so that we can bring our son home, thanks to ever-changing laws in the country. Below are some random photos from the trip (and these can all be viewed on my website at www.abunchof.us).
This is a gazebo we saw in downtown Kyiv, just outside a huge orthodox chapel
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0015.jpg

Note the elaborate art underneath
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0012.jpg

This is the chapel itself. It remained unused for a long time when the Soviet communist law had outlawed religion. As a side note, our translator mentioned that she was baptised in secret when she was very young since it was illegal
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0019.jpg
The main square in downtown Kyiv. This is likely what you saw on the news when the streets were flooded after the initial election
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0031.jpg
Part of a huge tent village near the above photo. This is where protestors hung out until Yuschenko was officially sworn into office
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0033.jpg
The city of Kryvyi Rig (meaning narrow horn) is about seven hours south via train of Kyiv. This is where we found our son. The city is an industrial one, used for mining of coal, iron, as well as the processing of iron products. This is one of six huge strip mines in the city. The photos really don’t do the scene justice. In the second photo, near the bottom, there are some train tracks that kind of help with the scale
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0072.jpg
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0071.jpg

On the river in Kryvyi Rig. Our translator said this was done in a ‘Stalinistic’ architecture as he demanded several buildings in this style to be built during his rule
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0090.jpg

The train station in Kryvyi Rig. The trains ran only overnight, and I paid about $25 for a private sleeper car with four beds in it. The train compartments get really hot and uncomfortable, but if you are tired enough, you’ll sleep through anything
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0149.jpg

A shot of the orphanage and the dog that ‘protected’ it
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0125.jpg
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0120.jpg
A shot of the apartment we stayed at in Kryvyi Rig from the orphanage. It was about a 30 second walk for us to visit our son, which we were allowed to do twice a day
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Ukraine/dscf0122.jpg

Now for the good stuff of my new boy. He was born Yuri Vasilyovich Patrenko, but his name is now officially Alexander Robert Thompson. He is 2 and a half, very healthy, very sharp and listens to instruction well (as long as it is in Russian). He speaks a few Russian words, like sabahka (dog), babushka (granny, except he says babaka), and adai poppa (give it back dad!). Because he is so healthy, he has been rather spoiled by most of the nurses at the orphanage, and this, along with the language, will make for a challenge when we get him home.

This is when he is happy to be riding me. When he is unhappy, he is hitting me with the book
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Alexander/dscf0054.jpg

He’s a fan of cookies
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Alexander/dscf0056.jpg
My wife is using our son as a weapon of mass destruction
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Alexander/dscf0063.jpg

I think he likes bubbles
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Alexander/dscf0155.jpg

And finally, here he is outside
http://www.abunchof.us/images/Alexander/dscf0145.jpg

We leave for our next trip around February 21st, and will be there for about 10 days to finalize his passport and other embassy crap. I will hopefully have many more photos then.

A couple of other notes on the trip:

  • a big hearty screw you to the Frankfurt Airport. It should not take 20 minutes to scan my wife’s coat for drugs or bombs or little bits of illegal fruit or whatever. That, combined with another 10 minutes to inspect my shoes which were slip on loafers almost caused us to miss our leg from Frankfurt to D.C.

  • a second big hearty screw you to United Airlines. Not since Wal-Mart have I wished for a company to go bankrupt as much. You have a saint by the name of Adelaide Jackson working for you in D.C… Unfortunately you have enough other dumbasses who told us that they don’t know where our luggage is (we still don’t have it back yet, but we just found out today that it never got shipped from Frankfurt and we should get it tomorrow), who scanned it wrong in the first place in Frankfurt, and who told us it would be two days to reschedule a flight from DC to Atlanta that had been cancelled because of the storms. Only sweet Ms. Jackson made the company tolerable in her ability to find us a flight on Sunday morning, which meant we only had to sleep in the airport for one night.

  • speaking of the trip back. I pray our trip back with our son will go a little more smoothly. It took us about 48 hours to get from Kryvyi Rig to Atlanta with time spent sleeping on the train, waiting in Kyiv airport, sleeping for the night in Dulles airport, etc. When we finally got home yesterday afternoon, I was ready to burn my clothes and shower for 3 hours.

  • beer (aka Peva) is cheap. At 5.40 gryvna = $1 US, I was able to buy 1 litre of really tasty unfiltered white beer for just under a buck. Vodka is also cheap, and unless it got pinched somewhere along the way, I should have a couple of bottles in a suitcase waiting for me after work tomorrow (assuming our luggage does in fact get delivered)

  • Ukranian women are HOT. I mean HOT HOT HOT. I love my wife and I love being a parent, but on more than one occasion had I thought about leaving it all just to hump random chicks that might drop trou for an American with lots of cash (wait, you saw my photo, you know that’d never work!).

If anyone has any questions about the trip, please let me know. Otherwise, I hope to have part two in about 5 or 6 weeks.

2

Alexander is absolutely precious! You’re a lucky guy to have such a beautiful, smartypants little boy! :slight_smile:

3

Congratulations! He looks totally adorable. And I mean that in a totally manly way. Ahem.

I hope you have a smooth journey back, and an uneventful flight.

Our one tip: car seats come preadjusted to the smallest size. When we got our son to the car, we realized that we had a 6 month old boy and a carseat set for a newborn. We pretty much had to fold him in half to fit him in, before we realized there was a problem.

So you may want to check the settings on the seat…

4

Awwww, he’s such a sweetheart! Congratulations!

5

Your son is beautiful! Many heartfelt congratulations from the Wry household!

Striking architecture, too.

6

What a beautiful new son you have! And he looks quite happy in the “riding daddy” shot.

Even the bad parts of the trip will make it memorable, so don’t sweat it too much. Congratulations!

7

Hi: Congratulations on your new guy!!! He’s very cute!!

If I may ask a question: Why are children there for adoption? Is there many? What is the reason for adopting from there opposed to here?

You have worked hard - hope your return trip is smooth!!!

8

What a lucky little boy. What a lucky family! Stories like this always make me tear up!

Those pictures are priceless!

You need to adopt that dog, too. He’s soooo scruffy and cute! :slight_smile:
Thank you for sharing your joy and hope. It has truly brightened my day!

9

Thanks so much for sharing. The pics are great and your son is just adorable.

10

Thanks for all the kind words everyone, and as lousy as the return trip was, I would go back immediately if it meant being able to bring my son home.

As for your question Canadiangirl, I would imagine that Ukranian children are up for adoption for many of the same reasons as other children. In the case of our son, he had tested positive for antibodies for HIV at the hospital when he was born, and as such, his mother did not want him. Fortunately, he had tested negative three times in a row in three month increments and was thus allowed to be put into an orphanage (while he had the positive results, he was not allowed there for fear of spreading the disease). We have looked online to see why this could happen and it seems that it is possible for the antibodies to be passed on temporarily after birth and then go away, or perhaps the testing they used was not up to snuff. Regardless, he will be receiving a full medical exam one more time before he comes home.

Also, the reason for adopting for a foreign country is that a) it is ‘cleaner’ in that there will be no chance of the mother coming back into our lives, which while it might be okay when the child grows up, is not something we want to deal with for a long time, b) it is a one-shot deal in that it is all but impossible for the mother to change her mind and the adopting couple be out lots of money, which can happen in the US, and c) we could adopt a child much faster in a foreign country than domestically as in the US, the birth mother usually ‘shops’ for an adoptive set of parents, and that can be tough for a couple that is a bit older like my wife and me.

11

Your son is a jewel! :slight_smile:

:: breaks into sweat ::
Tell me about it. I once visited Helsinki, where Scandinavian and East European people meet and mix, and it was surreal.

12

Consider your trip home with your son your “labor and delivery” story. When your wife is in a group of women talking about epidurals and “36 hours of labor then I had a c-section anyway!” she will have her own delivery story to tell - different in nature but harrowing and full of screaming and discomfort and pain. Its a right of parenthood.

Congrats, he is beautiful.

13

Positive canadian thoughts with you on your return trip to bring home your son!!!

BTW, I met, in the summer, a couple who had adopted an asian girl - her mother had left her on the sidewalk outside the adoption place because she was a girl. They went to asian to pick her up - she has adapted well and seems to have just a little bit of a devil in her eye!

14

Congratulations!!!

What a beautiful family, thank you so much for sharing. :slight_smile: