Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, but I have not had internet access until today. I arrived in Kiev, Ukraine on the morning of the 15th, and met my facilitor, his wife and our driver. I was thinking we would rest up spend the night in Kiev and then head out to Nemirov in the morning. Not so. To get a head start on things we would me making the 5 hour drive immediately. Thankfully the now-familiar trusty red van had a big backseat. I was able to stretch out sleep for a good portion of the drive out to the region. We arrived in time to check into the Sanatorium we stayed in before. The next day, after our breakfast of beets, mashed potatoes and sausage and then some morning down-time we headed to the orphanage to visit with Natasha at our regular 2-4 pm time.
We went to her home room and waited a short while for the kids to come back from lunch in the cantina. As they came trailing in, I anxiously waited for Natasha, wondering how she would be after this 10 day break. When she came in she smiled and gave me a hug. In our embrace I said "I missed you" and she nodded in agreement. After a few short mintues she headed up to her room on the 3rd floor to change out of her school outfit. I brought to the visit a photo album we had put together of photos we took of the class during our first visit. While I waited for her I showed the photo album to the other kids in the class. It was a huge hit. They crowded around were jostling for position so they could get a good view of the book. There was a new boy, Vitali, in the class, and another girl who was not there during our first visit because she was in the hospital. I think her name is Natasha too. After Natasha came back and had a chance to see the album, we watche some Inspector Gadget cartoon. We were quiet, but I think she leaned into me, just a little bit. I was happy with our visit.
The next day we had a lot of running around to do for the new birth certificate and passport. We had to head to a town called Tulchin, which is the capital of the district were she was born. In Tulchin we did some kind of birth certificate business at the Civil Registry office. Then back to the court in Nemirov. We probably did more than that, who knows. I just rode in the van, read, and took pictures when we stopped. We briefly stopped at the Internot, just to let Natasha know tomorrow would be her last day there. Yikes! and Horray! I am sure we both felt equally nervous and excited. Natasha still is unsure how to act around me. During this brief stop, I saw here accross the yard. She was with friends. When she saw and heard me, she froze. Was she supposed to go over to me? Was she supposed to stay with her friends? Her friend Ina pushed her in my direction. Both girsl rolled their eyes. I am sure I will see much eye-rolling in the years to come.
The next morning I was so excited, realizing that from this point forward Natasha leaves the Internot for good and begins living with us, like a family . . . the way it should be for all kids.
I packed one set of new clothes for her. She leaves there with nothing. Not even a pair of socks.
When we got there, the mood was almost festive. All the girls and her teacher gathered around her and eyed her new clothes with approval. They all helped her change. It almost reminded me of a bride getting ready for her wedding with her bridesmaids. Hugs, kisses and tears among her and her friends. After she changed we took one last group photo, that is at the beginning of this post. As we headed out to the van, the water works really begain. Good-byes are hard, so we tried not to prolong things. I gave gifts to the class, teacher and director. Finally we were off.
Natasha was sullen and tearful. She would not look in my direction or have any physical contact. Momentarily I panicked, thinking she was changing her mind. But I have seen this mood of hers twice before, so I felt confident it would pass. She outlined a heart in the condensation on the van window. Inside she wrote UA 5 Love. I think she meant the 5 girls who were her classmates, roomates, family. She will miss them very much. We got there phone numbers. They have our phone number and address. I hope they will always stay in touch. I wish I could take them all home.
Slowly, during the full day of driving and stopping for passport and birth certificate business, she begain to relax. I gave her a diary and she wrote a bit in it, she read from a book I gave her and then played games on the laptop and phone. She took pictures when we stoppped. She really cenjoyed that. Finally we shared listening to some music on Mark's I-Pod. We laughed togetheras we took self-portraits on the phone camera.Towards the end of the visit she briefly wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned on me to rest. That was the best yet!
We arrived back in Kiev, got some groceries and settled into the apartment we will share for a week while we wait for her passport to be processed so we can come home. As soon as our faciltator finished helping us get settled and closed the door behind him, Natasha got this big grin on her face and literally ran over to me with a big, big hug! She seemed to be saying, "Yeah, we are a family now, I'm so excited!" The rest of the night went great. We had some silly fun, watched some TV and had a video call from Mark on Skype. We settled into bed for a good nights sleep
This morning I fixed us breakfast. I am going to see if I can break Natasha of the one-shower-a-week habit. Later today we will get out and about and see Kiev. She has only been here once before, and that was only to the Zoo. I hope this week we can both see the sights of the City together.
We went to her home room and waited a short while for the kids to come back from lunch in the cantina. As they came trailing in, I anxiously waited for Natasha, wondering how she would be after this 10 day break. When she came in she smiled and gave me a hug. In our embrace I said "I missed you" and she nodded in agreement. After a few short mintues she headed up to her room on the 3rd floor to change out of her school outfit. I brought to the visit a photo album we had put together of photos we took of the class during our first visit. While I waited for her I showed the photo album to the other kids in the class. It was a huge hit. They crowded around were jostling for position so they could get a good view of the book. There was a new boy, Vitali, in the class, and another girl who was not there during our first visit because she was in the hospital. I think her name is Natasha too. After Natasha came back and had a chance to see the album, we watche some Inspector Gadget cartoon. We were quiet, but I think she leaned into me, just a little bit. I was happy with our visit.
The next day we had a lot of running around to do for the new birth certificate and passport. We had to head to a town called Tulchin, which is the capital of the district were she was born. In Tulchin we did some kind of birth certificate business at the Civil Registry office. Then back to the court in Nemirov. We probably did more than that, who knows. I just rode in the van, read, and took pictures when we stopped. We briefly stopped at the Internot, just to let Natasha know tomorrow would be her last day there. Yikes! and Horray! I am sure we both felt equally nervous and excited. Natasha still is unsure how to act around me. During this brief stop, I saw here accross the yard. She was with friends. When she saw and heard me, she froze. Was she supposed to go over to me? Was she supposed to stay with her friends? Her friend Ina pushed her in my direction. Both girsl rolled their eyes. I am sure I will see much eye-rolling in the years to come.
The next morning I was so excited, realizing that from this point forward Natasha leaves the Internot for good and begins living with us, like a family . . . the way it should be for all kids.
I packed one set of new clothes for her. She leaves there with nothing. Not even a pair of socks.
When we got there, the mood was almost festive. All the girls and her teacher gathered around her and eyed her new clothes with approval. They all helped her change. It almost reminded me of a bride getting ready for her wedding with her bridesmaids. Hugs, kisses and tears among her and her friends. After she changed we took one last group photo, that is at the beginning of this post. As we headed out to the van, the water works really begain. Good-byes are hard, so we tried not to prolong things. I gave gifts to the class, teacher and director. Finally we were off.
Natasha was sullen and tearful. She would not look in my direction or have any physical contact. Momentarily I panicked, thinking she was changing her mind. But I have seen this mood of hers twice before, so I felt confident it would pass. She outlined a heart in the condensation on the van window. Inside she wrote UA 5 Love. I think she meant the 5 girls who were her classmates, roomates, family. She will miss them very much. We got there phone numbers. They have our phone number and address. I hope they will always stay in touch. I wish I could take them all home.
Slowly, during the full day of driving and stopping for passport and birth certificate business, she begain to relax. I gave her a diary and she wrote a bit in it, she read from a book I gave her and then played games on the laptop and phone. She took pictures when we stoppped. She really cenjoyed that. Finally we shared listening to some music on Mark's I-Pod. We laughed togetheras we took self-portraits on the phone camera.Towards the end of the visit she briefly wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned on me to rest. That was the best yet!
We arrived back in Kiev, got some groceries and settled into the apartment we will share for a week while we wait for her passport to be processed so we can come home. As soon as our faciltator finished helping us get settled and closed the door behind him, Natasha got this big grin on her face and literally ran over to me with a big, big hug! She seemed to be saying, "Yeah, we are a family now, I'm so excited!" The rest of the night went great. We had some silly fun, watched some TV and had a video call from Mark on Skype. We settled into bed for a good nights sleep
This morning I fixed us breakfast. I am going to see if I can break Natasha of the one-shower-a-week habit. Later today we will get out and about and see Kiev. She has only been here once before, and that was only to the Zoo. I hope this week we can both see the sights of the City together.
1 comment:
Hurray! Hurray! Isn't music a great, teenage, bonding medium? I'm sure that she'll also want to plaster her room with posters! As you know, I have plenty of those posters to pass on to Natasha. I can't wait till you guys get home! Auntie Dafna:)
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