It is still going to be awhile down the road, but my wife and I will hopefully be adopting one or two children from the Ukraine. I have done my homework on the adoption side of things, and have checked the CIA factbook and a few other sites, but I was curious if anyone had any personal experiences from visiting Ukraine. We will likely be there for four weeks in the Kiev area, staying in an apartment.
As a quick aside, I’ve found there are not many Ukranian language books out there to use as study guides. It will make communication a challenge, even though we will have a translator for the adopting portions of the visit.
Also, we are still finishing the second wave of paperwork to get started on the home study, but if anyone had any questions regarding Ukranian adoption, feel free to ask.
Russian should work fine most of the time for general communication purposes in Kiev, and Russian materials are easier to come by. Hopefully any particularly nationalistic Ukrainians won’ be too nasty to you as long as it’s obvious you’re only speaking Russian to be able to communicate at all.
Also, check out some general travel books/sites if you haven’t already; I’m fond of lonelyplanet.com’s discussion forums. (I’ve been to Kiev briefly, but not since 1989.) If you have any more specific language or cultural questions, please post them and I’ll give it a shot. I may think of some other ideas later.
Eva Luna, M.A., Russian & East European Studies
My husband is from Romania, and had this to say: Be prepared to see widespread poverty. It will be unlike anything most Americans see (I’m assuming you are an American). The orphanages will be filled to the brim with children, but you can’t take them all home with you.
My husband is from Ukraine. Although I have not yet travelled there, I am preparing to meet my in-laws and would be happy to answer any questions I can. I would highly recommend a book called “Culture Shock: Ukraine.” I purchased it at Borders. It is aimed a business people who plan to live there, but it is a great resource on cultural, historical and language matters. I would suggest studying Russian first, as he told me that almost everyone speaks Russian there, and then learn a few key phrases in Ukrainian.
Some useful websites:
http://pages.prodigy.net/l.hodges/ukraine.htm
http://www.ukma.kiev.ua/pub/courses/UFL/
Tips from Mr. Spry for visiting the Ukraine. When he was there in '98, there was a pretty good restaurant in Kiev around the corner from the Dnipro hotel, with a Marilyn Monroe theme.
If you have time for sightseeing, the monastery on the side of the hill overlooking the river, up the hill from the Dnipro hotel, was an interesting place to visit. Built approx. 1000 years ago. One of the earliest Christian sites in that part of the world.