Sunday, May 16, 2010. Nataliya’s husband, Artem, picked us up at 12:30 and drove us to their hometown which is an approximate 90 minute drive into the countryside. We got her parent’s house and were warmly greeted. It looked as if her mother had been cooking for days! We found out later that we were the first Americans that they had ever seen, and were quite nervous about meeting us. We were also the first people from Nataliya’s work that they had ever met, and she’s been facilitating adoptions for 8 years!
It was an honor to meet them and share so much time together. Nataliya’s parents are wonderful, warm people. Of course, we did like the natives… vodka with our meal instead of wine, toast after toast, and sampling the many wonderful (and sometimes odd, if you’ve never been in this country and don’t know the customs) dishes that were prepared for us. Lunch slowly bled into dinner time, then cognac and cigar time… before we knew it, it was very late and we had to have Artem take us back to our hotel. The whole affair was a wonderful, enriching experience that we will remember for years to come.
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