November 14, 2007

Following our appointment with the SDA yesterday, we were told by Sasha that he would try to find out about Y. Would she be adoptable? Could her documents be corrected? Could she be adopted now? In March? In a year? So we waited. We were still with the Wests, staying at Orphanage 21. Although we did not know them well previously, we grew to know and love them very much. They continue to have problems with their passport issue (stolen last week and to this point unable to get new ones), but I feel that God kept them here just to comfort us. Their newly adopted kids are wonderful and it has been wonderful to get to know them all. We were tired of the apartment after a while and decided to walk several miles away to the out-door market where you can buy all sorts of things: hats, gloves, shoes, makeup, wedding dresses, each being sold at separate vendors. The kids needed new boots, since there was still snow on the ground and their tennis shoes were soaked after a short time playing outside.
We received a call from Sasha at 4pm confirming that, after many conversations with others, Y. is not adoptable, probably because she has a guardian. Bobby and I had already discussed every scenario and new that with this information, we would be going to Zap… to get our other 2 children (K. and S.).. We had one hour to get back from the outdoor market, pack our things and be ready for Sasha to pick us up at 5pm. We made it back just as Sasha arrived. We threw things in our suitcases, hoping that we had gotten everything important. We managed to leave one very important item: our jar of peanut butter (Cecilla, we’;ll swap you one green mesh bag that we inadvertently took, for one jar of peanut butter).
We said our good-byes to the Wests and to Bogdan, the assistant director of the orphanage. He is a wonderful, Christian man, truly working at the orphanage as his ministry and helping the older children further their education and become skilled at different trades. If only every orphanage had a Bogdan to provide the motivation that these kids need….
After several stops (Sasha is the most efficient businessman and combines unrelated business transactions en route to others), we arrived at the train station to take the overnight train to Zap. We had so much luggage that we needed to ride 2nd class (the tiny room with 4 bunks), so that we would have 2 bunks just to hold it all. Hopefully, we will get a good night’s sleep because we need it after the stress of the last 24 hours. When we awaken, we should be in Zap.