Mail 02 - May 26th
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Mail 02 - May 26th |
May 26
We have been to the famous
NAC (National Adoption Center) in Kiev. We were first in line there this
morning, with a beautiful bouquet of five (they do only odd numbers for bouquets
- even is bad luck) long stemmed red roses. The roses were from Holland, and
some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. I was hoping they were for me, but
they were for the woman at the NAC. She loved them, and we were called first.
:-) Well done, Dima. Molodiets!
We were given a small piece
of paper with some writing in Cyrillic and a picture of a pitiful, sad,
seven-year-old child. I was confused until Dima said the picture was taken of
Nelya when she was made legally available for adoption. (she was relinquished
much earlier, but paperwork wasn't done 'til she was 7) She was thin and pale,
with hacked off hair and dark circles under her eyes. The picture broke my
heart. We saved Neil's - I don't want this one. There was very little
information on the page - mother is dead, no info about father. The only
surprise is that she was born far from here in a small seaside town near Odessa.
No explanation as to why she is in rural northern Ukraine, practically as far as
she could be and remain in the same country. Dima is sweating this a little. If
no birth certificate is available for her at the orphanage, either the judge
will have to rule to make her a new one with Gorodnya as her birthplace, or
someone is taking a very long train ride to the shore. The judge in Gorodnya is
known for being difficult; capricious and unpredictable. We'll see, but I feel
confident it can be worked out in some manner (wink, wink). Nelya (also written
Nalya) is a nickname. Her name on her birth certificate is "Nely", which is what
we have been calling her to ourselves. Once she is adopted, her middle name will
be Margaret. I think Nely Margaret Delmatoff has a lovely ring to it! The
orphanage has more info about her history, and we will see that when we go.
We met Valya and Max today
- two children from her same orphanage who are being adopted this week. They are
beautiful children, polite and sweet. Valya is about 14, Max appears about 11.
Val (as she is being called) speaks Italian, so it has been really fun for me.
She speaks well, with an excellent accent. Since she doesn't speak English, we
have been just the chatty girls, giving info to her parents and getting info
about Nely, who Val says is pretty and kind. She also says they are "lo stesso"
(the same) size, except Nelya is a bit shorter. This helps, as I know now that
the clothes we bought will fit! We took them, and their parents, for the
aforementioned pizza. It was quite fun. The children have lovely manners - quite
different from mine in a restaurant, let me tell you! They have been adopted
into a really nice family, and all seem very happy. They are hoping to leave
early, and be home within a week. Monday is a Ukrainian national holiday, so
they hope to leave Tuesday, June 1. Neil & Bella are doing incredibly well with
the travel. They were angels on all the flights. People were even coming up to
us and saying how pleasant they were. Let's hope it
lasts!.
Bella really misses Polly. She tells everyone about her, and gets teary
when she talks about her. She said it was even harder to miss Polly than Auntie
Maggie, as Polly can't talk on the phone. Good point. She said if Polly and AM
where here, she would like to live here for awhile, but only if Granny and Pappy
move here too. She has it all worked out!
If the NAC finishes the
paperwork, we will be taking the three-hour, bumpy, no bathroom stop, nausea
inducing van ride to Gorodnya tomorrow. Dima plans to pick us up at 6 am, so we
can be there between 9-10. We will spend the day, and try to convince the
Director to let her come back to Kiev with us. If not, Dima will take the bus
out later in the week and bring her back then. He had to do this with Valya and
Max. It is difficult to get to Gorodnya, as Dima doesn't have a car and we have
to coordinate with the hired drivers. Either way, we expect to meet our daughter
tomorrow!!! We are going to go out for a walk around the city before it gets
dark. It is truly a beautiful place, and very accessible and easy to get around,
once you learn to read Cyrillic! I feel like I am in first grade again; sounding
out words letter by letter. Ss..t.o..rrr. Store! Yippee! More later, although
probably not for a few days, because we won't be able to access the internet in
Gorodnya. If you need to call us, we have a cell phone and home phone number
here; Mom has it. We love you all!
Almost parents of three,
Liz & Bill
We are in the
second day of our teenage daughter, and she is wonderful. She is bright, sweet,
compassionate and loving. The kids adore her, and she is so gentle and kind
with them. She is, however, a teenager - Brittany Spears, Shakira and Christina
Aguilara are all well known to her, and she LOVES to talk on the phone!
This feels very
right, and we are excited for you to meet her. Love, Liz & Bill