Journey to an Open Door

After our appointment at the clinic yesterday we journeyed to our apartment that we are staying in this week.  Everything about our trip to Ukraine has been an adventure.  Since it is Easter here  and May holidays until May 13th the apartments were more expensive and hard to find.  So after climbing 3 flights of stairs (no there are no elevators in the apartments here)  we arrived  to a one bedroom apartment that is actually very nice; a new kitchen, and a hideaway bed in the living room.  The good part about our apartment is that there is a fruit stand on the street in front of the apartment and water stand; and restuarants all around us.  A McDonalds down the block.  So it is great to have my own food and not be getting on a plane today.  Our challenge has been to understand the doors in the buildings here.  This morning my mom and Alina could not open the door to the apartment after they came back with some food.  The key got stuck and I was locked in and they were locked out.  We kept trying and trying to open the door. Finally Alina figured it out and pushed the door really tight and the key turned.  What a relief to know they were not locked out-there is no apartment manager to help. You are on your own.  It is so symbolic of Alina's life.  Locked in the orphanage with no way out unless God performed a miracle.  With a parent in prison you can never be adopted in Ukraine and Alina had to wait until a judge would agree to terminate her father's rights.  Alina's life is a miracle and all the workers at the orphanage came to say goodbye and couldn't believe after 4 1/2 years Alina was able to walk out the door of the orphanage and never return.  I will never forget her friends waving from the windows of the orphanage as we drove away.  They are locked away and there is no one to come for them.  Alina is so happy to be out.  Of course what she loves to do is sit and play her pink ipod.