A Very Special Time

We spent the last 2 days down in Zaporizhzya, where there is a 13 year old girl who is very special to us. When I stepped out of the car, the door to the orphanage bolted open and I thought she might tackle me. It was the first time I had seen her in almost 2 years and I missed her more than I realized. We visited, gave gifts,had some very good open discussion, and reconfirmed that many efforts are being made to get her home. She understands why we are here this time and she is ok with it. That is about all I should say about this for now.

We went to visit the director's office and I could not have felt less enthusiastic if I were having an arm amputated. There is a lot of history here that I have much disdain for. Without us asking, she allowed our special one to spend the night with us and be brought back at 3:00 the next day. All of us were so excited. We went out with the Graces and the Hartsocks for pizza that night. The boys then went with the Hartsocks (Will and Garrett are best friends) and the girls went with us back to the Grace's. On the way back to the flat, D. wanted to get a movie. She picked out Mr. Bean. I LOATHE Mr. Bean, but gladly agreed and we took it back and watched it while the monotone man translated into Russian everyone's role in the movie.

Friday, we went shopping. She needed warm boots and jeans. She knew exactly what she wanted, which made me very glad. She wore everything out of the store. It was awesome. We met our friends( from summer 2006), Nina and Marina, for lunch and had a great visit. Finally, after getting everything D. might need for the next number of weeks, Yana (our friend and translator)and the rest of us piled into a not very large car and headed back to the orphanage. No, I will not ever again joke about how many Mexicans can fit into a car.


We stayed around until it was time for us to leave to go to the train station. We almost got out of there without having to eat any of the famous orphanage food. Almost. The director quickly ordered a round of milk soup for us. Rachael Ray she is not. It was disgusting.

The time to leave came and it was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to make. I still cannot think about it much without becoming exceedingly sad. Nonetheless, I will treasure this time for weeks to come. Now I am finished talking like a girl.

Thanks so much to the Graces and the Hartsocks for being so gracious and flexible. They made everything so much better. We are so excited that they are closer to bringing their adoptions to a conclusion.

Done for Now,

Ande