Our First Entry

Image of vendor at De Gaulle Airport.

We’re here. After months and months (years actually) of planning, preparation, paperwork, we finally arrived in Kiev on Tuesday November 29th! Our final four days in Florida were a mad rush of activity. After all, we had to get the house in order, arrange for pet care, prepare the office and our clients for a month’s absence, pack, repack, and more. We had a few hours of sleep each night and somehow kept going.

Lauren’s folks took us to the airport and after a brief wait in the departure lounge, we boarded our Air France flight for Paris. Slept an hour or so on board, and then had a 5 hour layover at De Gaulle airport. As the terminal there was very cramped, and I was exhausted, I found a cozy spot on the floor under a staircase near a chair lauren was resting in and got my best hour of sleep in days… Lauren said I started to snore very loudly. I don’t care, it was glorious.

The flight to Kiev was 3 hours more. There was a very heavy carpet of clouds below us the whole way. I felt a bit cheated, as I really wanted to know what my destination looked like after all this time.

The trip for me was spiritual on more than one level. not only were we to meet our new family, but also I was returning to a place with roots. I found it ironic that a century after my mother’s father Irving Ozer left his home in Zhitomer (about 2 hours west of Kiev) for a new life in America, I was returning to bring a new generation of immigrants with me. On top of that, my father’s mother was also from Ukraine. Somewhere near Kiev, but the date is less certain. However it turns out that I am half Ukrainian!

We broke out of the clouds moments before touchdown on the runway, and I still had no idea what my ancient homeland looked like. Frankly, I was too tired to worry much about it.

Customs clearance was uneventful, and we were met immediately by a translator from the agency representing us here. A half hour later we arrived at our hotel!