Lili si Gelu in Ucraina /
Liliana and George in Ukraine

Buna dimineata (tot din Kiev),

Da, ati citit bine. Suntem tot in Kiev. Parca traiesc un cosmar din care as vrea sa ma trezesc si nu pot. Am sa va povestesc de unde am lasat lucrurile ultima oara si anume cu o seara inainte plecarii. Am facut bagajele, l-am imbaiat pe Vladut ca in fiecare seara si l-am pus la culcare, iar eu si Gelu am revizuit timpul si experienta traita aici. Nici n-am putut sa dorm la cat eram de bucuroasa ca vom pleca acasa. M-am uitat la ceas la fiecare 2 ore ca sa vad cat a mai trecut/ ramas pana cand vom pleca. Vlad s-a trezit la 5 dimineata (in ultima saptamana adoarme mai usor, dar doarme din ce in ce mai putin). Am facut un dus, am baut o cafeluta, am mancat micul dejun si la ora 8:00 AM am plecat spre aeroport. Am facut cam o ora pana acolo, timp in care am spus "Bye, bye Ucraina" de cateva ori (inclusiv Vlad). Deci am ajuns la aeroport la ora 9:00, cu 2 ore inainte de a pleca avionul nostru. Ne-am indreptat catre terminalul unde urma sa facem check-in. Am prezentat pasapoartele si documentele lui Vlad. O angajata s-a uitat peste ele si le-a citit si rascitit de cateva ori, dupa care ne-a spus ca Vlad nu are viza pentru USA. Am intrebat de ce ar avea nevoie. Ne-a spus ca el are pasaport ucrainean si are nevoie de viza de tranzit. I-am explicat ca doar trecem prin aeroportul din New York, nu intram in America, dar ne-a spus ca si aeroportul e parte din aceeasi tara (adevarat graia). Nu-mi venea sa cred ce auzeam. Ne-a repetat de cateva ori ca noi putem pleca, dar Vlad nu. A chemat un superior  care ne-a explicat acelasi lucru. L-am rugat sa sune la ambasada US din Kiev si sa le explicam situatia si poate vor face o exceptie. A sunat si i s-a spus ca nu putem pleca fara viza care ar putea fi obtinuta pe 21 mai. NUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am inceput sa plang. Nu mai mai tineau nervii si puterile. Am intrebat ce alta solutie mai avem. TREBUIE sa mai existe altceva. Ne-a sugerat sa cumparam alte bilete de avion cu o companie ucraineana care zboara direct Kiev - Toronto peste 2 zile, adica duminica. Am incercat sa sunam din nou la ambasada US; era un mesaj de 15-20 minute si nu raspundea decat un robot. Disperarea mea crestea. Tot mai speram sa ne lase sa plecam. Toata lumea se imbarcase, numai noi nu. Nu aveam nici macar un telefon (pentru a suna la ambasada am imprumutat un cell) sa contactam pe cineva. L-am trimis pe Gelu sa sune intr-un fel la Lesya poate ne putea ea ajuta. A gasit-o; a sunat si ea la ambasada si a aflat acelasi lucru: nu puteam pleca fara viza. Gelu a decis sa cumpere alte bilete pentru duminica. Lesya ne-a spus ca va veni la ora 1:00PM sa ne ia din aeroport. De fapt a venit la 2:30PM. Intre timp eram cu totii epuizati si scarbiti de situatie. Cum nu ne-am gandit si la asta? Pe cine sa dau vina? De ce nu ne-au spus cand am cumparat si tot schimbat bilete de la Delta ca Vlad are nevioe si de viza americana (doar le-em spus ca e un copil adoptat din Ucraina)?! Oricum, prea tarziu. Inapoi la aeroport. Vlad si-a pierdut si el rabdarea, nu stiu cat si ce intelegea el din toata povestea, cert era ca nu mai statea nicicum. Plangea, zbiera, se zbatea pe jos, probabil era obosit, dar n-ar fi stat nici in brate la mine. In sfarsit a venit Lesya cu Vitali si ne-am intors la apartament. Nici nu-mi venea sa desfac bagajele sau sa ma apuc de ceva. Vlad facuse caca pe el, mancare nu aveam si nici chef sa fac ceva. Ne-am adunat moralul cat am putut si am plecat sa cumparam ceva de mancare si sa petrecem putin timp in aer. A venit seara. Imi vine sa ma culc si sa nu ma mai trezesc din vis decat cand sunt acasa. Daca as avea o masina a timpului as calatori in viitor...:dry:. Inapoi la realitate, ne-am dus la culcare, Vlad s-a trezit de 3 ori pe parcursul somnului si eu am bantuit prin casa dupa el sa-l pun din nou la culcare. La 5 dimineata ne-am ridicat din pat si incepem inca o zi...tot in Kiev. Macar de-ar trece mai repede ziua de azi si maine...AJUTA-NE DOAMNE sa plecam acasa. N-am sa mai scriu pana nu ajungem in Toronto. Pa!

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Good Morning (still from Kyev),

Yes, you read right, we are still in Kyev. It is like I have a nightmare from which I want to wake up and I cannot. I will write from where I left last time, the night before we were supposed to leave. We got ready, packed our luggages, bathed Vlad as usual, put him to sleep, and George and I reflected at our time and experience here in Ukraine. I was so ready and excited to go home that I couldnt even sleep. I looked at the clock every 2 hours to see if the time passed and how long we still have until its morning. At 5:00 AM Vlad woke up (last time I wrote that Vlad goes to sleep without arguing that much, however he sleeps shorter and shorter). We all got up and started the day. Took a shower, made a coffee for mama and papa, ate breakfast and at 8:00AM we were in the cab to the airport. It took us about 1 hour to get there. So, at 9:00AM we arrived at Bristol Airport. Our flight was at 11:00AM. We walked towards the terminal to do the check-in, presented the passports and Vlads documents. An agent from the staff looked and read and re-read all documents, then asked about Vlad's US visa. I said that we are not going to US, just via New York, but our destination is Toronto. She said that because Vlad is an Ukrainean citizen he needs a tranzit visa to go through the USA airport. I thought that this is impossible. How could we not know or be informed about this? I asked her to talk to somebody to find out the truth. This could not be it. I did not want to believe it. She kept repeating that we can leve, but Vlad can't. I asked to talk to a supervisor. He came and told us the same thing. NOOOOOOO!!! I asked him to call the US Embassy here in Kiev and explain the situation. Maybe they will understand and let us go. He called and gave the same answer: Vlad needs visa, which can be obtained on May 21st. God please help us!! We have to go home NOW. I started to cry and begged that we have, must go. All the passengers embarked in the airplane but us. This was my worst nightmare. It wasnt even a bad dream, it was reality and we had to live it ?! I asked about another option. There MUST be something else available. The agent told us that we could buy another flight tickets with an Ukrainean company that had flight straight Kiev-Toronto, however it will leave in two days, Sunday, May 16th. What could we do? We bought new tickets. For the 4th time (with changes and everything). Then we called Lesya and she said that she will come to pick us up from the airport at 1:00PM. So, we waited and waited. All of us were exhausted, emotionally and financially. Vlad also lost his patience. I am not sure how much he understood from all this mess, but he was stressed and tired. He cried and showed a temper tantrum. I wanted to do the same, but I had to keep the apparence (who cared, anyway). Finally Lesya and Vitali came around 2:30PM. They took us to the apartment again. I still dindt want to believe that this is happening to us. We were tired, nervous, hungry and everything else you can think of. Therefore, now we are back in the apartment until tomorrow when we hope we will go home. I cannot even dare to hope this time. I will write again only when we are home, whenever this will be. Bye for now!