That was what I dreamed about last night, after we completed our escape from Lugansk. The full body ache of carrying Matan, all 8.5 kg of him, from Lugansk all the way to Kiev was not something this old body is used to.
I know Tamar warned me, again and again, but a stroller would just have been even more of a hindrance. I can’t imagine climbing the slippery stairs from tarmac to plane and back down again with anything more than we already had with us. DH took responsibility for Karen, and all hand baggage, and it was almost more than he could manage.
It seemed almost like a military mission. We got the passport, not before a final attempt to convince us it would take another week. A call to our agency, and we got it same day.
Goodbye Babyhome
Thursday afternoon we picked Matan up from the baby home. The caretakers all gathered around to wish him goodbye. I thought I saw a tear or two. It was clear they were both happy for him, but sad to see him go. They were happy to take a group shot.
We spent one last night in Lugansk with him, and flew out of there at 6 am. To my surprise, Matan managed to sleep, and we made it to the airport, even though our facilitators told us they were worried about us flying in “terrible weather”.
We were pleasantly surprised by the fact that our 1 hour flight (instead of 16 hours by train), was on a decent sized jet and the flight was smooth as silk with clear skies and a good pilot and crew. The view was fantastic, white fields as far as the eye could see and a beautiful sunrise.
View from above - approach to Kiev
I think it was an Ebraer jet, and belonged to a small, Ukrainian charter company called Dnieproavia. Great flight. But this old body isn’t used to carrying 8.5 kilos for 5 hours – to the airport, thru security and and somewhat against his will while waiting to board. He really wanted to walk around, but was so tired he was falling all over the place, and putting his mouth on everything, so in my arms it had to be.
I wasn’t able to update or access Internet from the time we got Matan’s passport until just now. Everything happened so fast, and we had to quickly pack up 4 pieces of luggage, get the kids, and ourselves a few hours of sleep before leaving.
Sergey, our driver, met us at the airport and took us to the same apartment in Kiev that we spent or first week in. Unfortunately, we only got the modem late last night, and it didn’t work. Needless to say, I was in serious withdrawal, plus I knew family was waiting to hear from us via Skype, this blog, or email. We had no way of communicating with anyone outside of Ukraine.
Early this morning, our adoption family buddies, Tal and Sagit, called us, and with some encouragement from them, we managed to get the modem connected. Bad wires mean we could lose it anytime, so I’m uploading this and will give more details shortly….if it’s still working. I love you all and miss everyone so much. We can’t wait to come home!
