Day Forty Three – Bye Bye Rivne

We’ve had some communication problems, apparently solved with a mobile phone reboot. The recent news from Sherri includes successful negotiation for a more-rapid-than-expected delivery of Peter’s Ukrainian passport. This one day acceleration relative to the planned schedule gets Sherri and Peter home three days earlier (because they don’t need to spend an extra weekend in Ukraine) – they are scheduled to arrive late Saturday night, 11 October. Sherri has also convinced me to meet them at JFK, so I’m flying to New York on Saturday, meeting Sherri and Peter, and we’re flying back to Nashville together.

Sherri’s plan for Peter’s going-away party on Monday had a few twists and turns. She delivered the cakes and drinks to the orphanage in the morning, intending to return for the party that afternoon. Peter caught her preparing and was crying when she had to leave. Sherri said that she’s never been happier to see her child cry. I (Todd) suspect that Peter will be Sherri’s satellite (if he isn’t already!) much as Max orbits around me. But the Ukrainian-English communication about the party didn’t work as planned – when Sherri returned that afternoon, the party was over and the cakes were gone! She did hear that the cakes were good, though!

So, we’ve fixed the communication difficulties and discovered Sherri and Peter were traveling from Rivne and to Kyiv today (the 7^th). We could barely hear each other because they were in a 1960’s era Lada (a Russian car) buzzing down the freeway – trying to avoid bus travel, no doubt. But all seems well and the end game is next: a visit for Peter with a US-approved doctor on Wednesday, presentation of Peter (and our documentation) to the US Consulate on Thursday, delivery (we hope!) of Peter’s visa on Friday…paving the way for the flight home on Saturday!