Thursday, May 11, 2006

It was a good day! We had breakfast this morning with some other Americans that are in various stages of adopting. Our translator then took Kim (from Canada) and us to exchange money and to the market for goodies to share at the orphanage as well as a few needed items. (Like a Pepsi Light for Susan. No one should have to meet their new mother when she is in caffeine withdrawal!) We dropped Kim at the babyhouse and went to lunch with Oleg (our driver) and Valentina (translator) at the pizza parlor. Then back to the hotel to wait for school to be over so we could visit the children. Thanks to all of you movie-loaners out there we have a good way to waste an hour and a half!  The time finally arrived and we made the 35-minute trip out to “the village” filled with excitement tinged with a bit of fear. Upon our arrival Zarina was brought to us again wearing an outfit we had sent her several months ago along with the necklace her Virginia sisters made. We visited with her while the social worker and coordinator went over details on the new arrivals. They were moved to “the Ark” where Zarina resides this morning. I gave Zarina a Magna Doodle to play with and she looked up, grinned and quickly wrote “mama” on it and handed it to me, as if she didn’t already have me won over! We drew some pictures together and questioned her as to her reunion with her brother and sister. She commented, “They seem taller”. I guess 5 years will do that to you. The psychologist fetched us and led us into the “relaxation room”. It has mats on the floor, several huge beanbags, a fake aquarium, cool lights, boom box, and don’t forget the disco ball. In the midst of our amazement over this room in walked Sholpan and Rinat. She very timidly smiled at us as he ushered her in. They are just as beautiful as their little sister! She seems shy and he protective and inquisitive. He quickly asked the translator what was going on and who were we. She introduced us and filled them in on our purpose. He announced that he and Sholpan would love to come to America, but this time they were not going anywhere without Zarina. It was quite touching. He is very much a young gentleman. When given cookies he gave them to the girls first and then they all sat there just holding the cookie. I asked if maybe it was not a kind of cookie they liked and the answer was we won’t eat until Mama tells us to eat. Rinat asked to see the computer and pictures of home. His eyes were like saucers! He told the translator that it was like something out of a fairytale. We learned that he turned 14 in March but is only in 5th grade due to earlier circumstances. He seems very sharp and is quite small so he should be fine to start middle school next year. Sholpan turned 12 on May 1. She is strikingly beautiful with unbelievable eyelashes and dimples. She is also in 5th grade and likes to play basketball. Her build is very petite and she seems very ladylike. Zarina was glad to see them again, but we all noticed she seemed a bit sad to lose her “center of attention” status! After seeing all of our photos of family, home and friends, they agreed that they would like to have this family and a new life. Rinat added that he wants to change his name if we don’t mind and that they all promise to try very hard to learn English and to be good so we don’t have to worry. They all seem wonderful to us. A bell rang and Zarina said they must go to do “home chores”. They gave us each a tentative hug and off they went. We had given Zarina the rest of the bag of cookies to share with her group and had to laugh when she saw the director coming and she quickly tucked the cookies and Magna Doodle under a towel as if she feared they would be confiscated! I hope she isn’t hiding those cookies under the bed! Once the director spied us she insisted that we could not make the drive back to town without a cup of tea. Of course, the cup of tea turned out to be four cups of tea, apples, candy, cookies, homemade pastries and magnificent potato turnovers. She called this a little snack! Then she made us a doggie bag to take to the hotel for later. They are very flattering with all of the attention. Apparently, Zarina has already bragged that she is getting new parents and they are beautiful! At least today there were no Cognac toasts. We were obliged to take part in the ritual yesterday and after so many hours of travel and no sleep it maybe was not the best idea! (Don’t worry John, no one threw up on our pants! What a relief for Valentina as she is still looking for the man who did it to you.) Tomorrow we will go to the Ark and have a conference with the doctor and director and go over the children’s history and try to learn as much as we can about their past. We end this day with great happiness. The meeting was much easier on all of us than we had feared. What amazing children to have their lives turned upside down and still be so trusting. We can not even imagine what must be going through their minds tonight.