Events of the Day:

Last full day in Kiev!

Everything fell into place on this day. We had our trip to the US Consular Office in Kiev. It was nice stepping into the little slice of American soul is this great country. This experience did not produce the same type of culture shock it might produce in some countries. Kiev is fairly Western-ized and the Consular Office is not much more than a gated office building in the heart of Kiev. However, it was nice to hear our "oath" presented to us by a native-speaker of English. The staff at the Consulate was very helpful & friendly - but again, this was another anti-climactic event given everything we had been through so far.

Now, for the first time, we were sure we would be in the Warsaw Consulate on Monday!

We also finalized our return flight plans with KLM and purchased our tickets for the trip from Kiev to Warsaw (LOT/Polish Air). We chose the more expensive option of flying to Warsaw, not because we were eager to leave, but more so that a 95-minute flight was simpler & more comfortable. After all we would be traveling with 3 kids and 5 rather large suitcases. The thought of a 17-hour train ride was not all that appealing despite the much lower cost. Hiring a drive and spending another 10 hours in the car was another option, but due to changes in Visa requirements for Ukrainians entering Poland, this option had some variables that we wished to avoid.

After all of our day's work was completed, we gathered briefly in the Apartment to thank Oleg, Katherine, and Yulia for all of their hard work. They have become our close friends over the past 2 weeks and we are disappointed to leaving them. But there is always email, telephone, and of course, the prospect of future meetings in Kiev and/or the USA.