She Just Had to Say It is having a contest, so here I am – admitting to you – one of the moments in my life for which I am eternally embarrassed.

Here I go: I’m going to tell you something that had/has me felling like I was really sinking low. And it’s pretty low.

November 2000 – I was way beyond culture shocked when I first traveled to Ukraine to adopt my son. Within the first 24 hours I’d convinced myself that I’d either die of starvation/dehydration, or panic-attack myself to death due to the language barrier.

Yet, I greedily vowed to stick things out in order to “get” the baby I came for.

Shame on me.

I shouldn’t have been so arrogant and upset about my son’s own country. I look back on that now and I’m beyond embarrassed for myself.

In hindsight, I don’t think it was ONLY being in Ukraine for the first time that upset me, I think it was also that I was completely and totally out of my element (and unable to accept it) and about to become a first-time mother (scared to death) while questioning MYSELF at every place along the way.

… and yes, it was also a bit of the ‘weird’ food (and water ‘with gas’??) and the fact that I couldn’t tell any one to stop shoving me in places like the market and train station (I later learned a bit more about my ‘Western’ concept of “personal space” vs. the very different concept of the same, in that part of the world.)

Of course you know by now that I do love Ukraine and that we’ve been back “for fun” since…