One Hinshaw is Home

This is Scott posting. I made it home this afternoon. The best part was seeing the boys, who were so excited to greet me at the airport. It is also great to be an American. We truly live in the best country in the world. What a contrast.

Here is how the journey went. I got in the taxi in Mariupol at 5:30am on Wednesday and headed to the tiny Mariupol airport. The plane left for Kiev at 7:15. It was very strange to travel with very little English spoken. I was also a real paying passenger. The ticket cost me about $130, which is actually cheaper than it would have cost to drive to Donetsk and take the train. The plane was similar to the ATRs that American Eagle flies in the Caribbean. It had about 50 seats, and it was very full. The flight took just under 2 hours.

In Kiev, we landed at the smaller airport. I just followed the crowd walking outside in the snow and I realized that we weren't headed inside at all. I stopped and tried to ask somebody who appeared to work there about my bag that they made me check. She pointed to a truck that had just pulled up. Everybody was getting their bags off the truck. I was then approached by about 20 different taxi drivers who wanted to give a rich American a ride.

Shortly, our facilitator pulled up with her driver. We headed to the US Embassy. She handed me forms to fill out on the way. Writing in the back of a car in Kiev is very challenging. When we arrived at the Embassy, she told me what to do inside. Now I had read a blog that talked about how great it felt to go in the Embassy because it felt like America. I didn't get that feeling at all. I think everybody I talked with was Ukrainian. I went through security. They will make you leave any bags at security. They made me empty my pockets. I tried to show the guy that I had a money pouch. He just nodded as if to say, "just empty your pockets. I know you have a money pouch, but the rules are that you just empty your pants pockets. We'll also ignore your coat pockets."

After security, I went to the main building, and was pointed to the adoption area. I went to a window and gave them my name. I was asked to take a seat. About a minute later, I was called back to the window. They had retrieved a file about us. The lady said that our home study was only approved for up to 4 years old, and Halle Grace is 5 and 1/2. She seemed to think that "up to 4 years old" meant 48 months and no more. I tried to argue that it meant up to 4 years, 11 months and 29 days. There was no getting through, so I gave up. She said that I could still sign my documents and return home, but that the home study would need to be amended with INS before a visa would be issued. I was there no more than 15 minutes.

Next, we headed to the big airport. It was quite a haul out there. The charge from the driver for all of this was $100. I must say, the only thing that was unexpectedly expensive on this trip was the cost for drivers. I bet we will end up spending almost a $1000 on drivers. The airport is crowded, small, and not terribly nice. Once through security, I found a restaurant by the gate for my Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt (standby, of course). They sold me a sandwich and drink and they also exchanged the rest of my Hryvna to USD.

The flight was about 2 hours and 40 minutes, and went fine. In Frankfurt, I stayed at the Steinberger Airport Hotel where I got an airline rate of 89 Euros, or about $140 USD. When I got hungry, I took the airport shuttle and went back to the airport for a long anticipated Big Mac. I was able to use my credit card, which meant no more currency exchanges.

I woke up early the next morning at 5:00 am German time or 6:00 am Ukrainian time. I was the first in line at 7:00 to check in for my 10:35 flight. I was glad because by the time they began checking me in, there was a huge line. I then had breakfast at Marche' restaurant, which was very good. I was glad when I went to the gate to be given a First Class seat on AA's flight non-stop to DFW. What a glorious moment to get onboard an American Airlines plane and sit in first class sipping orange juice before takeoff. It was the moment I had been dreaming of for several days. The flight took 10 hours, which passed quickly with in-flight video.

After clearing customs, Kathy and the boys picked me up. Seeing Grant and Garrett was the other moment I had been dreaming of for days. So, my journey home that began on Wednesday at 5:30 am in Ukraine (or Tuesday night at 10:30 Texas time) has ended 43 hours later. It's now 8:30 pm here, and I've been up for almost 22 hours now. It's time for bed.