Home for the Holidays

Vera spent Friday the 19th with us. Martha had loaned us her ‘Prince Caspian’ (Narnia) DVD to watch after dinner. After some minor technical difficulties, I got it to play on Kelsey’s laptop (that she named ‘Claudius’ for reasons known only to her – I don’t ask anymore). It’s kind of nice that Vera is starting to let her guard down around us, although she is still self-conscious about her English. She has, at our encouragement, taken it on to find the English tutor to continue her lessons. Perhaps since no one knew when this would happen, she backed away from learning English.

Saturday morning found us on the 6th level of Europa Mall for breakfast. It was really kind of nice feeding three people for only about 70 hryvnia (about $10). Vera still stumbles through her conversations with us but appears to be a little more confident although still very self-conscious.

Back to the room to finish packing. Many of the things we brought over for Vera went to Michelle’s on Friday night, so Vera knows where to find them. Some adjustments to the packing and we have everything packed tight in the bags. Hope nothing breaks.

Vera went with us to the airport since she had never been there before. The airport was definitely a new experience for her; it has cold metal seats for everyone in the cold drafty main lobby. As our 1 p.m. check in time approaches, Vera knows she can't go beyond the doors to see us off; she decides it is time to go. Outside to show her where the mashukas are; then back in for “Poka” (bye) hugs & kisses. Vera looks at Mari and asks "Mama, why you cry?" Mari tries to explain that there are happy tears for the adoption being approved and sad tears that we are leaving for just a little while. We don't want to leave, but we have much to do at home and not much we can do here. We have Skype and e-mail and we intend to use it as much as possible.

Our trip home includes an overnight stay in Vienna... Hope our luggage makes it. Unbeknown to us, the hotel we stayed at was right across the street from the airport as we requested shuttle service to/from the airport in our online reservation. It's nice to know someone got a good laugh at our expense. Nice room, reasonable and fairly quiet. Being in a strange city after dark and not knowing the language, our sense of adventure was not too great; we stayed close to home, having dinner and breakfast across the street at the airport (cheaper than the hotel).

Ten hours on an airplane (we were thinking only 7 or 8) to Washington Dulles...

‘Are we there yet?’
‘No.’
‘Are we there yet?’
‘No.’
‘Are we there yet?’
‘No.’
‘Are we there yet?’
‘YES!’
‘Really?’
‘No.’

We clear the first line at customs, then on to the luggage return. Come to find out we only have ONE bag... Where are the other two? Well, apparently they were only checked through to Dulles and went to the other line.

‘Where are my bags?’
‘They'll be here in 30 minutes.’
‘You told us that 20 minutes ago’
‘They're on their way.’
‘We have a connecting flight in 20 minutes and still have to clear customs’
‘You have plenty of time’
‘Right. So Austrian Airlines will be footing my bills if I miss my connection?’
No response.

We get our bags and finish running the gamut through Customs. One of Murphy's laws kicks in: The shortest line, will most inevitably, move the slowest. The people in Customs were excellent. They did their best to ensure it was a fast and painless trip through the line. Now, it's off to the next conveyors to drop off our bags; then continue to the United Airline gate for our flight. We made it there in time, just to learn that the flight is delayed. What to do? Will we make our next connection? Will our luggage make it?

Patience...

Mari went over to Wendy's for a soda, then to a pretzel stand for some greasy, over-salted pretzel sticks. Should have had a burger...

After about a 30 minute delay, we board the aircraft. Very nice. We got an unexpected seating change to economy plus which gave us some extra legroom... WHERE WAS THAT ON THE FLIGHT FROM VIENNA?? The flight was uneventful, however due to the delay in Dulles the couple next to us would miss their connection. We made our connection (delays, delays), and get to Omaha around 11 pm.

Our luggage, however, was not as fortunate… We realized that two of our bags were only checked through to Washington. When we re-claimed them, we failed to pay attention in class and didn’t realize they were not continuing on to Omaha with us. We joined the growing line at the baggage claim office, and as I finally got a chance to explain the situation, the clerk nodded empathetically, filled out the form and told us she would call with news. In the meantime, feel free to use the online page to check the status of your luggage (as I have visions of two suitcases getting a better tour of Austria than we did).

The abridged version is that we got one bag back late Tuesday evening and the other bag (with our Christmas gifts) back on Wednesday morning… Don’t ask… I did and I’m sorry…

For now, we will enjoy the holiday season as best we can with our family knowing there is someone missing. We will keep her in our prayers, as well as the other families who are patiently waiting for their Christmas miracles.