Much of the day was spent getting Hope’s temporary visa, so she will be allowed into Romania to get a permanent visa. What we were told would take no less than five days will now be done in two. We are scheduled to pick her visa up on Monday at 3:00! Andy and Albina tackled this challenge and Andy having an American passport made all the difference. The embassy official was much more cooperative toward Andy than toward Albina. Once again, we are humbly grateful to be Americans! Our embassy appt. has been moved to Tuesday instead of Thursday - YEA! This means we should be home Wednesday night.
Finally, around 4:30, we picked Hope up from the orphanage. We took her around to several employees to say goodbye. One of her caregivers cried which was so touching to us. Our favorite caregiver was not there which was disappointing. When we took her to say goodbye to the doctor, she grabbed Andy and hung on tight. She did great on the car ride to the apt. She sat very still in Andy’s lap with her hands folded taking in all the sights and sounds. While she was very curious, she was not overwhelmed by sensory overload. She was just very calm.
At the apt., I quickly changed her into some what more fashionable clothing, and we headed to Andy’s Pizza for her first restaurant experience. Of course, we didn’t feed her pizza. Instead, she had a bit of soup and bread. She also had her first taste of Goldfish. She seemed to be a little shocked at first, but loved them.
On our walk home, we saw several cats. This evoked more excitement from her than we have seen. She was pointing and making sounds. We were so glad to see this. We tucked her in on a pallet on the floor, and she went to sleep with no problem.
For all of you who are wondering if I ever got to hold Hope today, let me just say yes but very little! She is attached to Andy and just tolerates me. I was prepared for this, so I am handling it fine. I do look forward to getting a little attention soon.
Thank you for all of your prayers. I was up at 4:30 a.m. with butterflies about the day. I am glad to report that I experienced Phil 4:6-7 as the day went on.
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