Friday, May 12, 2006

Today, for those who know the routine, is day three of the fourteen required bonding days. We got to count the day we saw only Zarina as day 1. That is a good thing as you cannot ask for a court date until after day 14 and this makes our chances better of going to court two weeks from today. They have decided to let us just go to court once for all three children in the village. Sholpan and Rinat will have to testify. Zarina does not since she is under the age of 10. As the time approaches we will have to have the translator coach them as to what to expect. Rumor has it that this judge likes to ask a lot of tough questions. Let’s hope we have all the right answers!

The director went over a few of the children’s papers today. It looks like their past will remain sketchy. After we have had more time with them she wants to go over their medicals and school records. She feels it would be more helpful if we have observed their behaviors first and can then ask questions. Today we settled for learning a bit about their routine. Let’s just say it is very regimented! Those children hear a bell and off they go to the next task of the day. The time we are allotted is 3:30 - 5:00. This is their break time between school and homework. On Sunday we will get more time since that is the one day they don’t have lessons.

Our visit today started with the girls going straight to Mama and Rinat to Papa. Their hugs came with no prompting this time. Zarina had shared some of her clothes with Sholpan and she looked lovely in a pink skirt and flowered shirt from Virginia. Rinat joked that he decided not to wear Zarina’s clothes and just to stick with the clothes on his back since that is all he was allowed to bring with him. Tomorrow we will go shopping for him. The children have never had to make any decisions for themselves as they just take what they are given. When I questioned him as to what style and color he would like he looked at me like I was crazy. This is very strange for him to have a choice and he was reluctant to make one. It was finally decided that he would like jeans and a blue shirt and some tennis shoes. Sholpan says she has no shoes. Someone let her borrow the little red “church shoes” that she is currently wearing. We will find something that will work until we can get them home and actually measure their feet. I tried to find out their favorite foods and got the same response. They eat what is put on their plates! No picky eaters in this group! I wonder how long that will last?

Rinat and Keith built things with magnetic blocks and balls while the girls made beaded bracelets. Zarina sat on the floor and copied every move I made. If I put on a red bead so did she. She was very proud of the finished product and now all three of us are wearing matching ladybug bracelets. We made a few extras for them to share with their friends. Zarina tried to tie one of them by herself and didn’t get it tight enough so when she stood up to get her picture made most of the beads went rolling across the floor. Rinat picked them all up and held them for her while she started stringing again. Then they fell off the other end! Sholpan jumped in and started stringing from the other side so they finished it as a team. They wanted to have their pictures made and loaded onto the computer so that they could see them right away. Keith made a slide show and they were amazed. Then our time was up. It went by too quickly! They were gathered by a caretaker to go have a snack. We had provided oranges for them to share with their groups. That is considered a real treat around here. We are trying to collect enough bananas to take one day. Each kiosk only has a few. They are typically only given to the children on very special days. The director says they have not had any since Christmas. She also asked us to not take any more pictures of the orphanage only of the children. It is in poor shape and she is embarrassed.

We were already in the car when Director Sandi tracked us down and insisted on that cup of tea. It must be a contest in the kitchen to see who can out bake the other! Today it was fresh home made sugared rolls, a curd Danish with exquisite dough art, cookies, candy, cheese, apple slices, and tea. We keep telling her that it is not necessary to feed us, but she insists. I think she is very proud of her cooks and it is something she can show off.

They are preparing a show for us with singing and dancing one day soon. She introduced us to a 12-year-old girl that is a very talented singer. She is going to sing in a big competition soon. The girl is shy because she has a birthmark across her face. We have agreed to take photos of her and show them to some doctors and see if they have any suggestions. There are so many beautiful children there. It is a wonderful, but difficult place to visit.