Day 9

I’ve lost track of the days. Oh today is the day we get the Illichivs’k passport office to sign our de registration letter. The drive seems to get longer everyday, but we arrive at 9:50am for or 10AM meeting. The manager of the housing authority has agreed to meet us at the passport office. She’s right on time. The passport director is telling everyone about her private meeting with the president and her twenty five thousands (ok five thousand) close friends (ok co-workers, she can’t have friends). So we wait for 30-40 minutes for her to clear her busy schedule. She looks at the documents, appears to read three or four pages in one-two minutes sets the documents down and leaves the room. She returns and again scans the documents, signs her name and requests copies from an assistant. We receive the documents and are off to the Odessa passport office.

The hope is that we can drop off the documents and pick up the passports; unfortunately the passports have not arrived so it is a bitter sweet day. We confirmed that the passports have been completed and arrived on Thursday. We will fax copies to Kiev so our documents can be submitted for the visas. Our plan tomorrow is to pick up the passports between 10am - 12noon and drive to Kiev (6-7hrs). Get the girls medical exams and visit the US Embassy on Friday to receive the final documents, the golden visas.

We now have a flight Saturday to return to Colorado, we can’t wait any longer. The girls are doing great, maybe better than us. The restaurant visits have been very entertaining. At first they pronounce that they are vegetarians that eat chicken, shrimp, salami, hot dogs, ham, bacon, eggs, ground beef as long as it is not in a hamburger (according to them they make you fat) and never fish unless is breaded and deep fat fried.

They will eat any fruit or vegetable not tied down, so I’ve been making daily runs to the market for bananas, peaches, apples and lots of bottled water. Ice Cream and French fries are still the top of their food pyramid, but hamburgers make you fat. I’ll never let them forget that fact and some day I will convince them that fried foods are not health food. I think this is my last update until we return. Thanks for all the comments see ya soon.