Where to begin? Well, first I have to say praise the Lord for sunshine! We had a full day of it and along with a good night rest made Chisinau more appealing. Yesterday was a very hard day both physically and emotionally.
For some strange reason I can publish the blog and at least get some emails , but I can’t send any. This is really hard for an email junkie like myself. I feel so cut off from the rest of the world. Okay, enough about me. I know you want to hear more about Hope.
We visited with her again this morning but not until almost 11:00. Since they awake at 6 am, she was sleepy and a little lethargic. However, she perked right up when we brought out the sweet cheese and juice. Moldova has excellent juice in all kinds of flavors. We have to make her take a break from drinking. There was a new child in her group today who cried the entire time of our visit. This seemed to unsettle Hope a little.
We met the orphanage director today. We had been warned that she was very gruff and matter of fact person. I had this picture in my mind of this really large Russian lady who would speak very sharply with us. I was pleasantly surprised. She was kind and not “scary” at all. We have been told that she has done a lot for the orphanage since she has been there. We were told she was pleasant to us because she had been sick and did not feel well. By the way Dow, she thought you were very handsome in your picture and Beth, she loved your hair. In fact, when we show Beth’s picture to people, they always ask if it is natural! We asked the director what we could bring on our next trip and she said Desitin ointment! I can think of a few other things as well. In the visitors bathroom, there were strips of newspaper for toilet paper!
After lunch, we went to the “art square” where we bought some souviniers. Then we went back to the orphanage. There was a mother visiting the new child in the small room where we visit Hope. We were told that a number of the children have parents, but the parents just aren’t able to support them. We think this mom was visiting the new child who had been crying. It is really heart breaking. Hope’s group was going outside, so we tagged along. The children seem to always wear at least two layers of clothing inside. To go outside, they were dressed in coats and hats. Going outside with the children was an eye opening experience. You can see their playground in the pictures - not much to look at! Other than the “playground equipment,” there is nothing else. We brought a few toys for Hope and shared with the others outside. You would have thought it was Christmas! They loved them. Even an older group of children enjoyed playing with them. Toys will definitely be on our list to bring back on the second trip. They have very few toys in their room as well. There are no developmental toys. Hope really came to life more outside. We were so glad to see this. However, she kept coming back to me or Andy!!!
Our last stop for the day was dinner to discuss the court hearing. Albina has worked so hard for this adoption. There are some extenuating circumstances that have brought some challenges, but Albina thinks everything will work out well. Albina is still working on getting all of the extended family (to the 4th generation!) to sign off on the adoption. We will have our best and favorite translator at the hearing which is a blessing. The hearing is at 2:00 pm which will be 6:00 am your time. We would appreciate all your prayers!
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