A long, but productive, day ...

I'm typing this line after I've just completed today's post.  This took me hours to finish.  Sorry for "War and Peace", but I had a lot to get out, I guess ...

It's 11:30pm Monday night as I write this and it has been a long and busy and emotional day.  I am tired, but my brain is still too awake to even try sleep.  Good time to catch you all up on our day.

We started our day by walking to the only 5-star hotel in Donetsk for a work-out.  The Donbass Palace is one of the "Leading Hotels of the World" and is, of course, beautiful.  They have a spa and "fitness center", but in reality it's a small gym, but certainly workable.  I had a great run on the treadmill while Blake did his weights.  We're thankful that they allow those who aren't staying at the hotel to use the gym for a fee.  There's another larger, actual fitness center that we could use, but it's a good 25-30 minute walk and the Donbass is only about 10-12 minutes and a nice walk the whole way.  Going into the Donbass I, of course, wonder if I should try to finagle a deal for one of our future trips, but honestly I love the Azania.  I am sure the rooms here are at least twice as big, plus with so much personality and the small mini-kitchen - and at least 1/3 the price!  We really have become so comfortable here and I am incredibly thankful for that.

When we returned, we met our "substitute" interpretor/liaison, Katya.  Irina was in the middle of another adoption case when Konstantin called and asked her to take our case.  The other adoption was almost completely finished, but she needed to be in another region today for court.  So we have Katya for today and tomorrow while Irina finishes the case and travels back here.  Katya is very nice, striking and tall.  Her English is not quite as good as Irina's, but still very good.

We were to be at the orphanage at 2pm, so met with Katya to go over our case (our info & the girls' info) and left at 1:30p.  When we got to the orphanage, things seemed a little more hectic than usual.  I think I mentioned that the orphanage director was on vacation last week.  Well, because of that,  there was a lot going on.  We were to meet with her and the orphanage doctor at some point, in addition, of course, to seeing the girls. Lots of discussion back and forth as to who to see when, etc.  Within about 10 minutes Karina and Victoria were brought out to see us.  It was so good to see them.  They looked great!  We talked for a little while about what we each had done the day before and then were told that the girls had to go back somewhere and we were going to meet with someone -- it was kind of confusing. 

Eventually we were taken into the room where we always go for our visits with the girls.  I'll call it the meeting room.  I like that room alot because it has a comfy couch and table, but mostly because it doesn't have the awful smell of Ukrainian disinfectant (I think because it's carpeted.).  I am telling you, I first smelled it in the lav on the train, and then smelled it at the orphanage.  It is certainly disinfectant, but not like any I've smelled before and I honestly feel like I'm going to lose my cookies every time we walk into the orphanage.  I really have to concentrate to keep from gagging.  Blake always tells me to try to concentrate on the fact that it means the orphanage is very clean.  Which it is.  I don't have a lot of experience with orphanages, but as far as we can tell, this one is a top-notch one.

So, Blake and Katya and I went into the meeting room and waited for one of the staff members who we were to meet to come in.  And we waited.  And we waited.  We waited for almost two hours, which really became annoying and frustrating.  Annoying because they told us to come at 2pm, so we did.  Frustrating, because we couldn't see the girls while we were waiting.  As it turns out, the entire staff was in a meeting with the director.  The meeting took much longer than normal because the director had been on vacation.  Also, in this region &/or at this particular orphanage, children are not allowed to visit with prospective parents without a staff member present.  Katya and Irina have both mentioned that this is somewhat unusual after the first meeting and that it is customary for the children to visit as long as the interpretor (who is also a court liaison) is present.  But not the case here.  Which, although, it was somewhat maddening today, I have to appreciate. 

While we were waiting, Blake and I learned more about Katya and her family.  She's a warm and interesting person.  We also pulled out the good ole' game "Operation".  Remember that one where there are various plastic pieces that you need to try to "extricate" from the patient with "tweezers" without touching the metal sides bordering the pieces and getting buzzed?  We picked it up in Kiev and it had taken us this long to find AAA batteries here, so we were finally able to take it to play with the girls.  Fun game!  They have improved it with some funny sound effects.  It was good "research" before playing it with the girls! ;)

Finally, the meeting was out and our two favorite staff members brought Karina and Victoria into the room with us.  They were a little out of breath as they had been on a "nature walk".  We started playing Operation and the girls picked it up immediately.  Immediately!  Very good at it, too.  After a few rounds, we were told that the director could see us, so we left the girls with the game and said we'd be back in about 15 minutes. 

The director is a very busy woman.  It was good to have this chance to talk with her.  The first thing she said to us is that some children feel that the orphanange is their home and so they choose to stay and not to be adopted.  Expanding on that, we asked if she knew the reasons behind the girls' rejection of the two offers for adoption.  She said that actually one of the offers she herself had rejected because the girls were away in Italy for their hosting trip.  She invited the couple to come back after the girls returned, though, and they never did.  No western family, including the Italian family who hosted Karina and Victoria for two months, has attempted to adopt them.  (Which brings up an interesting sidebar.  Konstantin mentioned that Italians love to host orphans during the summer.  Far and away, they host more kids than any other country.  However, they adopt far less than the other countries who adopt from Ukraine.  Konstantin chalks it up to simply just the way Italians are.  He thinks they really love to have children around and to give them a fun summer, but they have no thoughts of adopting.  Meanwhile, Americans usually do not host unless they are considering adoption.  Just different thoughts and different cultures.)  Anyway, we learned that the girls are very highly thought of.  Karina is a leader, they are both very tidy and organized.  Karina is the hen, and Victoria is the chicken, according to the director.  It has always been our feeling that Karina will be making this decision as to whether or not they will want to be adopted by us or not, and the director said exactly that.  Before we knew it, we were out of her office (she had another meeting to attend to!) and on our way back to the meeting room.

The girls were finishing up with their probably umpteenth round of Operation, so we watched the final turns of that, and then brought out the huge coloring books (which are really as big as artist sketch pads) and markers we had brought.  The girls both chose a page from the Disney princess book- Victoria chose a page with Ariel and Karina chose Cinderella.  As they were selecting their markers, Karina noted that the markers were scented according to their colors.  The orange smelled like an orange, the purple like grape, etc.  I had used a few of the markers the night before and I never noticed that!  Sometimes it just takes a kid!  They are excellent at coloring, very particular and very neat.  Our favorite staff members who were in there with us reiterated how tidy the girls are.  You know I loved hearing that! ;)  I had also taken out the photo books I had brought for the girls and showed Katya and the staffers our dogs.  (I know we're crazy about our dogs, but the subject came up - I didn't bring it up!)  They loved looking through the photos and one of our favorites jokingly asked if we would adopt her!  They told us they really like us.  That made us feel good.

At 5pm it was time for the girls to attend to their studies (which they do every day from 5-6p).  Today, however, we were able to walk them back to their room to see it.  They were very proud to show us where they live.  Victoria took my hand right away and never let go for the entire tour.  Karina was beaming and kept looking at us to see what we were thinking - or maybe just sizing us up, which Blake and I feel she must be doing a lot of lately. 

I have to give credit where credit is due.  I gained even more respect for the director on that tour.  It is obvious that she runs a very tight ship.  It is also obvious that the people whom she's hired have a deep love for the children and that the kids are very well cared for.  They have a very structured schedule, but one that also includes fun activities and field trips as well as studying and responsibilites.  The place was very clean - immaculate - and the children's rooms were bright and neat and matching!  From room to room, each room had its own color scheme and every bed fit that scheme.  I was impressed.  

We also met a few of the kids during our tour, two of whom Karina introduced as her best friends, next to Victoria (aw!).  One, Julia, was a real crackerjack, I could tell.  She was positive that I had been her flight attendant on her trip to Italy the year earlier.  I decided to avoid explaining that that wasn't possible.  She was funny, though!  We could see that preteen girl talk is alive and well with those young ladies.

We finished our tour and gave the girls big hugs goodbye.  They are so dear and we feel more protective of them every day.  We truly want them to be happy and, of course, think we could make them pretty darn happy.  But honestly, I remember being 11 and I remember how close I was to my friends at that time.  If I had to make the decision that Karina will need to make, I truly don't know what I would have decided.  They are well taken care of and are surrounded by friends and people who love them.  I think if Victoria was to decide on her own, she'd definitely want to be adopted.  Just my thought.  Just the difference between 8 and 11 maybe. 

Blake and I have decided to officially extend an invitation to adopt Karina and Victoria on Wednesday, or possibly Thursday at the latest.  They still have not been told that that is really why we are here visiting them as we do not want them to feel any pressure, especially in light of their "adoption rejection" history.  But Karina is a smart girl.  We are confident that she knows exactly why we're here.  The orphanage staff is attempting to prepare the girls each day for the prospect of being adopted.

So, we shall see.  More than anything, Blake and I are convinced that this is all in God's hands.  We are not worried or stressed out (at least we try hard not to be!).  We truly do feel at peace to go forward with however it will turn out.  We feel peace and we feel clarity.  Now we are praying that Karina and Victoria will feel the same peace and clarity with whatever the decision is that they make.

xoxo