Mail 13 - June 10th
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Mail 13 - June 10th |
June 10
Last chance to get in your requests! ;-)
Today we go to the American Clinic for a doctor's check. It is quick and perfunctory - just a "no obvious communicable diseases" check. Then on Monday and or Tuesday, we process through the American Embassy here in Kiev, then Wednesday am, we board the plane for home. As a surprise for Nelly, we are stopping for a 4-hour layover in Newark, and her best friend, Alyona, who was adopted a year ago, will meet us at the airport along with her family. It should be really fun!
Nelly is really a great kid - we are very lucky. She is still very easily overwhelmed (even by a restaurant menu) and is afraid to give an opinion for fear of being wrong. She gets nervous, and just mumbles "I don't know". It wasn't Ok for her to be wrong in her orphanage, and she is terrified of looking stupid or having us lose respect for her. Making choices will be a challenge for awhile. She and Bella and Neil have bonded beautifully. There is a little sibling rivalry, mostly over who gets the most attention from Nelly. Neil has decided he no longer wants to marry Mama, he now wants to marry Nelly. Bella did not like this statement at all! :-) Bella told him, "fine. We'll just adopt a brother while we are here, and I'll marry him. So there!". No, we won't. I believe today is the last day of school and I am feeling a little nostalgic, not saying goodbye to my eighth graders or seeing the continuation ceremony. However, I am quite sure I will recover. I will be going back to work for a week when I return, so I will at least get to finish up any lapsed projects or paperwork and say goodbye to some of the staff.
Bill is working in summer school, so he will start a week or so after we return.
We are all really ready to get clean. Since we do laundry by hand and the water is less than pristine, we are pretty grungy. I am not bringing back any of the clothes we brought with us, other than what we wear on the plane. Nelly has a little pair of Old Navy denim capris (thank you Meghan Dilg) that she LOVES. She has outgrown them, and they are skin tight and leave red welts around her little tummy, but she insists on wearing them anyway. They were her first American outfit, and she wants to wear them everyday. They will not -oops - make it in to the suitcase. The kids and I all look icky; grimy, unkempt and sleep deprived, and Bill looks great. Somehow he continues to look unrumpled. I envy that.
I think Bella will miss her little friends, and everyone will miss the sour cherries, but other than that, we are ready to come home and begin getting ready for life as a family of five.
Besides, I missed the season finale of "Soprano's" and that is really tough to take :-). Adrianna got whacked, but after that, no news....c'mon Soprano's fans, help me out!
This has been an amazing trip - more heartbreaking and difficult than I expected. The orphanages are hellish, and the children are so beautiful and deserving. I only hope that more of them will find joy and safety and a family to love. That's all any of us can hope for, I guess.
Love to you all - Liz
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