We have made it to the airport in the northern section of Moscow, arriving at 2:30pm. Some people speak limited English, but everything is labeled in both English and Russian in this bright new airport. Our only suggestion is that internet access should be available. We miss our children very much! Once we are done with Kenny’s birthday trip of touring the world, we will be glad to be home.
After being rerouted to fly from Moscow to Tokyo to Chicago to Harrisburg, we had the opportunity to ride with Dmitri again! This time, we were picked up at the Moscow airport in the south and drove for two hours in Moscow traffic to the airport in the north. To better describe Dmitri’s driving ability in the ten lane traffic (five each direction), Kenny has noted that Dmitri makes the New York City drivers look like domestic house cats, that is - “pussycats.” To tell you that Dmitri is an aggressive driver would not be accurate enough. For example, he drives in the breakdown lane or turning lane, and then at the last second, he cuts over into the correct lane. On ramps and off ramps were exciting! At one point, I fell asleep, resting my head on Kenny’s lap. When I awoke, Kenny had his window down and only his undershirt on because he was so hot. Dmitri had a long sleeve black jacket on. I looked at Kenny and asked him what he was doing. He said the sun was beating down on that side of the car and he couldn’t stand the heat anymore. Dmitri just kept on racing.
We have made it to the airport in the northern section of Moscow, arriving at 2:30pm. Some people speak limited English, but everything is labeled in both English and Russian in this bright new airport. Our only suggestion is that internet access should be available. We miss our children very much! Once we are done with Kenny’s birthday trip of touring the world, we will be glad to be home.
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Yes, that’s right. My gift to Kenny on his birthday this year, today, April 16, 2010, is a trip almost around the world. Arriving at the airport at 10:00am after a six hour car ride from Nizhniy Novgorod, we learned that our flight to Washington, D.C. has been cancelled. We are ash-stranded! We had two choices. First choice - Stay in Moscow and fly out on Monday, April 19. Our second choice was the Pacific ocean route from a different airport in Moscow. We are in the midst of waiting for our driver to return to us only to take us to another airport here in Moscow. Sveta has been on the phone with him. He only speaks Russian and we only have skype. Sveta is our go between and we have one way calling. We have to call her. Once we arrive at the airport, our flight leaves for Tokyo at 7:40pm tonight (11:40am EST). We arrive in Tokyo at 10:00am on Saturday, April 17. At night, we fly out of Tokyo to Chicago and then to Harrisburg.
We had a celebratory On the way to see Julianna at the Children’s Home, which Sveta told us is not No. 56, Sveta was pulled over by a policeman. You can not even imagine what the driving is like in Russia. Sveta is very competent and obeys the “Russian traffic laws.” Why would this policeman be pulling us over?
The policeman came to the vehicle spoke to Sveta, arguing in Russian that she violated a traffic law. Sveta knew that she was right. She quickly called her lawyer friend who encouraged her to argue this situation which would require time today and on another day. Sveta knew she would win in court, as she has protested these unreasonable calls in the past. However, on this day, she asked the policeman, how much money he wanted. He told her 500 rubels. Sveta returned to the car and asked to borrow 500 rubels (or about $20). She gave the money to the policeman and off we went to the Children’s Home. Kenny guessed that he took the bribe. Sveta explained that these policeman pull people over knowing that most won’t go to court to fight the violation and for a certain amount of money, they will not write down the information, letting the person go. She explained that the system is very corrupt and this is how it works in Russia. Sveta also said that if we weren’t in a hurry to go see Julianna, she would have fought the violation and won. And that’s what greasing a pig is in Russia. Today’s visit to see Julianna was bittersweet, as today is the last we will see her until we come back for court in approximately two months. We were happy to see her and play for about two hours. She hugged us both when she entered the room. We were told by her caregiver that she has not stopped talking about her Mommy and Daddy. She has told everyone that she will be leaving and her Mommy and Daddy will be taking her on a plane to go home. The interesting thing about this is that we nor the caregivers or teachers have discussed this with her at all. We have never mentioned going on a plane. Julianna is a very perceptive little girl.
Julianna is a bundle of energy. She loves to play with balls! Her caregivers have told us that when it comes to physical activity, she never tires. She has a strong heart and from her medical records, Julianna appears healthy. She certainly eats the food that they give her, as she is a strong little girl. Everything that Kenny and I did today, she loved. Julianna modeled every action that Kenny made with the ball. When he would pretend to wind up, she would do the same. She threw the ball between her legs, over her shoulder, underhand, overhand, etc. And then…Daddy got out the infamous, “I-phone” out. Just like Angelo, Julianna was intrigued. She liked listening to the Sesame Street tunes. As she watched Kenny turn it on and manipulate this piece of technology, Julianna picked it up when Kenny put it next to her. She figured out how to turn it on. She would look at the picture of Mommy and Daddy on the front until it would fade. So, out of the corner of her eye while she colored, she would peek at the picture, then quickly push the button for the picture to return. This was priceless to watch. Julianna then took Sveta’s I-phone and transferred the knowledge that she gained from Kenny’s to Sveta’s. We showed Julianna all of the pictures that we took the last three days. The Deputy Director, Olga, had asked that we provide some pictures for a photo album that they are putting together for her to use in speech and language sessions until we return. In each picture, I would ask her, “Who is this?” and point to the people. She would say, “Momma” or “Yulia” or “Daddy”. She even identified the teachers and workers from the Home. She knew everybody in the pictures, even Sveta. Julianna was disappointed that we didn’t go outside to play but, Sveta said that it was too difficult for the other children to see Julianna with her parents while they had practically no hope of ever leaving the institution. So, in their best interest, we played only inside. The caregivers and teachers are very sad to see Julianna leave. They understand that she will be happy and have a family, of course a better life in the United States with many resources and opportunities. But for them, Julianna was a bright spot, a leader in her class, the model that all the other children followed. They could determine if their instruction was effective if Julianna could understand and do it. They could see great progress and success in their efforts with Julianna. So we said good bye to our new daughter and told her that we had to leave for many days. We told her that we could not come to play tomorrow or the next day. We promised to come back to get her so that she can leave on a plane with us to go home. She understood everything that Sveta translated. She looked at us with a sad face, expressionless and no smile. We quickly redirected her to a game of ball until we had to leave. We walked her to her “wing” in the home. Sveta had warned me, “Ann Marie, do not cry when you leave her. It will make it harder for her.” So, heeding Sveta’s advice, I fought back the tears when I knelt down to hug her knowing that it would be quite a few weeks before we could come back to get her. While hugging me goodbye, she reached around my neck grabbing at Kenny in a playful way. Kenny hugged her and kissed her, too. Then Julianna, the little love that she is, went to Sveta and gave her a hug goodbye too. We walked away, and who do you think was crying? That’s right, Sveta! I scolded her and said next time I wasn’t listening to what she said! After our guest lunch again, we went to the notary to sign adoption documents to petition the court for her official adoption. We also signed a power of attorney to a representative here who will go with Sveta next week to the MOE to file our papers and to gather other documents while we prepare at home in the coming weeks our trip to return. Mass today is at 6:00pm and we will be there to praise and thank God for the blessings that he has bestowed upon us during the last two weeks. By following God’s will, the path has been made clear. Our plan is to blog when we return to the states on Kenny’s birthday. Until then- thank you for your prayers and well wishes. God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good! P.S. As I finish this blog, we have learned today that all adoptions have been halted here between the US and Russia due to the recent incident. So, please, please, we need everyone to flood heaven with prayers so that Julianna and all the other children effected will have the families that God has intended for them. As previously noted, we have experienced the other children, pre-adolescence, and adolescence in the children’s home where Julianna lives right now. She is with one of the youngest groups. Julianna has eight to ten children in her bedroom. We weren’t allowed to see this room. We also learned that she has between eight and ten in her class or however many a teacher chooses.
At first when we took Julianna out, we saw the younger children out with their caregiver going for a walk. These children were age five to six. The sad little faces looked over at us. Kenny told me not to look, but I couldn’t help it. I asked Sveta to take some pictures of them so that we could maybe send the pictures to get kids placed on Reeces Rainbow. It was difficult to get individual photos. There were many, many older children that we saw at this home. When we were outside, Sveta heard the kids talking. They knew that we were their for Julianna and that we were her parents. The older boys, ages 14 - 16, were just hanging around Kenny. The one boy kept trying to talk to Kenny. He was so lonely. When we left outside, we initially forgot Julianna’s toys in the sandbox. The boys called to us, and Kenny ran back to get them. A boy handed them to Kenny and then the boy hugged Kenny. My heart ached to see all of these poor children who have been given the gift of life, yet they are castaways in a culture that is corrupt with alcohol, drugs, and politics. There was one girl who seemed to be physically deformed. She spoke to Svetlana and said “Hello” in English. You could see that she was not mentally disabled. She asked Svetlana how to say goodbye in English. Sveta responded and then the 15 year old girl with the shortened arms said, “Goodbye” and waved to us. We walked toward the door with Julianna. There were many older boys and girls who have been given jobs in this institution. They are actually “graduates” of the home who have been given employment and a place to live. Michael, the director of this home, is doing the best with what he has. It is sad that these children except for Julianna will never leave the confines of this place - a flashback to a 1920 school building. Thanks be to God, we saw no signs of abuse with these children. We are hopeful that this doesn’t occur. In earlier blogs, I described some of the people whom we have met here in Nizhniy Novgorod. As each day passes, we have developed stronger relationships with many of these people.
…Uri, our security guard, brought us a gift from his family to ours. Uri is 26, married, and has a daughter who is 7. Uri told us that he likes heavy metal American music. His mom was a teacher. Uri’s dad lives with him and cares for his daughter who is not in school yet. Uri has said to us that he will be sad when we leave. …Victoria, our favorite waitress at the café, asked us to go to a movie with her and her friend, Dasha, on her day off from the café and college. So on Thursday, we will go to a movie,…yes, in English. …Father Mario, the remarkable parish priest here in Nizhniy Novgorod. Father graduated with a medical degree in the 1970s. He then attended two years of fine art school in Madrid, Spain, where he studied paintings and icons. In the 1980s, he continued to hear the calling that was “so strong” he told us, and he attended the seminary, becoming a Catholic priest. We have been guests of Father Mario’s at the rectory and have reciprocated the generosity by taking him to dinner. Father introduced us to a Malaysian medical student/ Justin, in his fifth year at Nizhniy. When we all went to dinner on Monday evening, Father told us that Justin may also have a vocation as a priest. During our conversations with Father Mario, he has mentioned an Italian physics professor whom he knows that has five children, one diagnosed with Down Syndrome named Josephine. Last night after the 6:00pm Mass, we met this man, as he happened to be in town this week. Perhaps we will have further interaction with him in the next few days. …Svetlana, or as she prefers to be called, Sveta, is a sweetheart and our lifeline here during this adoption process. She is officially our translator, but she knows the ropes of how adoptions work. Sveta has a degree in English; she’s a teacher. Here in Russia, teachers do not get paid much. Starting salary is approximately $150 USD/month. Experienced teachers may make as much as $250 or $300 if you are lucky. In light of this fact, she opts for other employment that provides more revenue. Sveta is very savy. One would never know that she is only 27 years of age. Her maturity, sensibility, and worldliness are well beyond her years. She would like to visit the United States, however the US will not give her a visa. She’s young, attractive, female, and not married. We trust Sveta explicitly. She has demonstrated to us that she will do everything possible to assist us in the adoption process, including saving money when and where we can. Sveta is attending Mass tonight with us. We asked her to come, as she indicated an interest earlier in the week. After Mass, we will take her out for dinner. If Sveta were in the US, she would be within my circle of friends, as she has many of the same values and beliefs that I have. Kenny has been teasing her about different things the last few days. He, too, is fond of her. …Bill and Crystal Brady, the Catholic couple that found us last Friday, are here adopting two more Russian children. Their court date is today. We have prayed with them and for them that all goes well. By occupation, Crystal, who is 100% Italian, is a doctor. Bill, who converted to Catholicism after they married, is a computer geek like Kenny. They live in Texas and have had their share of Russian experiences. Kenny and Bill share the same birthday. Crystal said that their son, Nicholas has been bugging to go to Hersheypark. So, perhaps, we will see them soon. We will miss them when it is time to leave, but know that most we will see on our return trip. Traffic in Nizhniy Novgorod is like nothing that I have ever experienced; Kenny said pretty similar to New York City, but for me, worse because everyone is driving in little cars, some Russian made that break down easily. It is a traffic “free-for-all” a new word for Sveta. We were to be at the Children’s Home today at 10:00am. Instead, we were sitting on one of the four bridges that crosses onto the other side of the city. Sveta did not have the telephone number to call and say we were running late. I was concerned that they would think we weren’t coming.
At 10:45, we appeared. When we walked in the door, we were greeted by the Deputy Directors. They told us that Julianna was ready and waiting at 8:00am for us to visit. When we didn’t arrive, she cried and said, “Where are my momma and poppa?” I felt awful… Within minutes we saw her dressed in green today with a big red bow on her head come out of the door. She ran with her arms open wide down the big hall yelling “Momma.” I knelt down and caught her in my arms, hugging her while the tears filled my eyes. She quickly turned to Kenny and hugged him equally as long. We both hugged her again and told her we were sorry that we were late. She took us by the hand as we walked to the computer lab to get her coat, boots, and hat on. Today, we were playing outside. And she knew that we were her parents! Julianna doesn’t know how to zip her coat, but she knew how to put her hat on. We had to tie her leather boots for her. Grabbing the small sand pail and shovels, we gathered our things to go outside and play for only 40 minutes since we got stuck in traffic. She took our hands as we walked the steps. Julianna is able to alternate feet going up the steps, but goes only one step at a time coming down. Outside was interesting. We played in the sandbox. They took down the swings. There were wooden seesaws and two sandboxes. It appeared there was a crude pool that they fill with water in the summer. Julianna loved playing in the sandbox. We played with the red ball. She would tell me to throw it to her or to “Poppa”. We also blew bubbles outside and she really loved this, too. After about 20 minutes, we decided to go in to play in the computer lab for the rest of the time. Mommy felt uncomfortable because the caregivers brought other children outside to play. I will tell you about them in another blog. Inside, she took off her own shoes and coat. Sveta asked her in Russian to point to her Momma and Poppa. She did! We played hide and seek. Julianna liked the puppet book and started with the shape sorter again. Sveta told us that we only had 2 minutes left. Julianna did not want to leave us. We picked up her things and ours. We walked to her area and gave her big hugs good bye, telling her we would be back tomorrow. I pulled her back to me as she was walking away and kissed the back of her hand, telling her that I loved her. She looked at her daddy and extended the back of her hand to him for Kenny to do the same. Smart girl! The lunch today was less and only the one Deputy Director met with us. Sveta, Kenny, and I ate all of our food today - fresh cabbage salad, fish, potatoes, peas, candy, tea. Kenny gave the Deputy Director Hershey chocolate bars that we had wrapped with blue curling ribbon. He explained the story of Milton Hershey to her. We also bought the Director, Michael, a nice pen for his use. Finishing our food, we presented Michael his gifts. Sveta gave Michael the official papers to sign for Julianna. Then, Kenny and I had to sign that we “agree to adopt” Julianna. Sveta will take the paper and file it with Tatiana at the MOE. The Children’s Home No. 56 is preparing a photo album for Julianna. They asked us to supply pictures that the Speech and Language teacher will go over with her every other day in her therapy session. We printed off pictures of us from the last three days and brought some photos from home to give to them tomorrow for the book. We are very sad that we have to leave her here for awhile…I have a good feeling about the caregivers at the Children’s Home. They can see how happy she is and how happy we are. They will help us in any way that they can. The rest of the day…Mass with Fr. Mario at 6:00pm. We will meet up with our friends, Bill and Crystal. We invited Sveta to go to Mass with us…always evangelizing! Love to you all… we miss everyone and appreciate the many prayers you have offered for our intentions. But most especially for our new daughter… More later- Annie For those of you that have been following our journey, you have come to learn that our faith is at the heart of who we are as people, as a married couple, and as a family. When I tell you that God sent us another message of affirmation, you will understand that this is not a coincident. Only the Holy Spirit can work in such ways.
On Monday, April 12, when Sveta, Kenny, and I were sitting in Tatiana’s office at the MOE anxiously awaiting to hear the limited information about our daughter that the office had on file, we knew already that Julianna shared a birth month with our son, Dominic. Then, Tatiana’s assistant read to us, an exact birthdate of , “June 3, 2002.” I turned and looked at Sveta in disbelief. This was not just the birth month of Dominic, it was the exact birthday, only 9 years earlier that our first child was born on June 3, 1993. In my mind, I thought, “How appropriate. Dominic will be here with us when we officially adopt her in Russia.” But this is not the end of the message. Approximately two weeks ago when we were preparing for our trip to Russia, I considered in my mind the name that we would officially give to Julianna when we adopted her. I thought to myself, “Julianna is such a beautiful name and surely, there is a special middle name that has significant meaning for us that we will find to give to her.” The name that kept returning was that of my Godmother, Margaret, who was my mother’s sister. My mother also has an aunt named Margaret. I put the two names together, Julianna Margaret Licata. Hmmm….I thought…I like the sound of it. So, I said nothing at the time, and continued on with my preparations. So, as I sat in the office at the MOE on Monday and learned that Julianna’s birthdate is June 3, 2002, it was then that I put the pieces together. You see, my Aunt Margaret, who was my Godmother, died very early in life from cancer on June 3, 1992, exactly one year before Dominic’s birth. In that instance, it became clear to me why I wanted to give her the middle name of Margaret. Unknowingly at the time, our Julianna shares her special day with my Godmother. This was a message…another sign from God. Svetlana picked us up a bit early to head to the Children’s House, No. 56. This time, we did not need to take the social worker. She was pleased with the interaction she saw the day before.
We were welcomed to the home to go directly to the computer lab, which was probably the nicest room in the building. We played for 1.5 hours with Julianna. She really warmed up even more to us today. Julianna was laughing and giggling when Kenny and I played catch with a ball with her. She quickly knew how to get our attention with her gestures and hand motions. Julianna stroked Kenny’s beard; I think she’s quickly learning how to wrap Daddy around her finger and if not, Francesca and Gabby will give her tips when she gets home! This little angel is not severely mentally delayed. She has been deprived of a family and early intervention. The program that they have her in is quite interesting. I spoke with her speech teacher, who cried and begged me not to take her. The teacher explained the program and she works on identification of objects and two word sentences right now. She does have language skills! We heard her talking at the computer which was showing a video clip of the Christmas Party at the Children’s Home. We played with the lion puppet and shape sorter. Julianna didn’t care much for the stuffed bears we brought for her. So, we moved on to a few rounds of “Ring-around-the-rosy.” She knew after two times to drop to the ground at the end. Of course, going around in small circles made Mommy and Daddy dizzy, so we went on to other activities. Julianna showed us how to jump and hop and stand on one foot. She kicked the ball and caught the ball. Her hand-eye coordination looks very good. However, her close vision remains a concern. The “inmates” as these children are referred to do not have access to optometrist or ophthalmologist. So, Angelo’s Dr. McManaway will be seeing Julianna when we get home. She has four front permanent teeth. The others look like baby teeth. Kenny said he thought she had some cavities. Sveta said these children only see dentists when they have toothaches. So, Dr. Kramer will be paid a visit, too. After our visit with Julianna, we were invited to lunch with the Director, Deputy Director, Social Worker, & Computer Teacher. We were treated like royalty with Russian borscht -soup w/meat, cabbage, beets, celery, onions, broth, and we also had pork chops, potatoes, & corn. The director toasted wine to his “kind guests” or something like this…We also got gifts - two books of Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. The employees were concerned about where Julianna will go and what kind of care she would be getting. We took our book w/lots of pictures. They soon settled down when they saw for themselves what our family looks like…We explained the education system and the therapies she would receive in school. My education background helped them to feel better knowing that I would be able to advocate for Julianna. Praise God for a wonderful morning with Julianna and the people who give such kind care to the 180 “inmates”. Michael, the Director, should also be lifted up in prayer for the outstanding work he is trying to accomplish with little support. More to come in future blogs about our Catholic Church adventures and friends that we are meeting in Nizhniy Novgorod….stay tuned…Annie First move
Awakening early, we eagerly anticipated our day ahead. Today, Monday, April 12, we are of the belief that we will get closer to meeting Julianna. Kenny is still not certain that we will see her today due to the bureaucracy here that we have experienced. I, on the other hand, am focused on playing with her with some of the toys that we purchased. During breakfast, we reflected on the fact that the “normal” children that our friends were adopting appeared to be well kempt and the little girl’s hair was long and braidede Our little girl and many of the pictures of the other children that we have seen with down syndrome have short hair - actually just chopped or even some have shaved heads. I prayed a novena to the angels to watch over us and our Julianna today. Thanks to Sister Sue Ann, I used the suggestion that she gave me when I started my principal job at Holy Name. Before any important meeting, I ask my guardian angel to meet with the guardian angel of others in the meeting. And so…our guardian angels are meeting now as I write this, making clear the path for the events of the day. Move two spaces - 9:00am meeting at the MOE Our next move was to meet with Tatiana at the Ministry of Education. Before Tatiana took us in her small cubicle-like office, we waited for nearly forty-five minutes. To pass the time, I prayed the rosary and lots of other prayers. Finally, the three of us were invited in and sat in front of Tatiana’s desk. Tatiana reprimanded us for being American citizens! Unfortunately the anger and outrage that she had for the Tennessee mother who put her child on a plane back to Russia only four days ago was unleashed on us…What could we say? I tried the best that I knew how by thanking her for continuing to consider us for adoption and that we did not condone the actions of this woman. Tatiana did not buy it. She continued to lash out with Russian words that we could only imagine were worse than what Svetlana was translating. We sat and took it until she was done. Then, she said that we would continue to proceed because we were registered, and until the Russian government changes the laws she must allow us to continue with the process. She also promised no guarantees. We were shown referrals for four boys who were about one year older than Angelo. All were very cute boys, and according to their records, all were the healthiest children they could find. Tatiana’s assistant would read the information off the computer database in Russian, Sveta would translate, and I would write down the basic information. After the four referrals, we exited to the hallway to discuss the information. I was moved to tears not because we weren’t shown Julianna; it was due to the great need that there is in this country for children with Down Syndrome to find families. All of the boys would be good choices, but that was not who we had come to see. Svetlana is the best. She had printed out copies of photos of Julianna and another girl, Maria. We returned to the cubicle office, and Svetlana explained that the boys were cute, but that we were hoping to see older girls. So, I asked to see Maria’s information first. Tatiana’s assistant looked up her name and birth year and month on the database. She wrote something on a paper and handed it to Tatiana. Tatiana explained that Maria was up for adoption and here was the list of “problems” with this child. Tatiana turned the computer monitor toward us, showing us the photo and covering the written information with a piece of paper. We then asked for Julianna, or Yulia, the Russian name she was given. Tatiana and her assistant proceeded in the same manner. This time, Tatiana said, “She has a severe mental delay.” Our hearts sank! How could this be? Tatiana then found two other girls for us to consider that were older with Down Syndrome. Kenny and I looked at each other and of course we knew that we had to see Julianna. Svetlana encouraged us to go find out for ourselves if this is what we really wanted to do. Then we would know if she, in fact, was the child that God was calling us to adopt, or if God was leading us here to Russia for another child. We were still open to His calling. So within minutes, we told Tatiana we wished to have a “referral” for Julianna. Tatiana looked at us like we were crazy. Then she looked at Julianna’s picture from the database and looked at me. Svetlana translated, “ She has bright eyes. She looks like your child who has Down Syndrome. I understand.” I think, but am not quite sure, but perhaps that was Tatiana’s means of communicating that she really does care about the children - a soft heart beneath a cold exterior. Next move - The Referral Tatiana’s assistant gave Svetlana the paperwork to fill out for the referral. After translating the content and reading it to us, we were required to sign, indicating the names of the children we had been shown and the one that we had chosen to visit. Requested to wait in the hall on a bench, we chatted for about fifteen or twenty minutes until Tatiana came to Sveta and explained that the Minister was “gone to lunch” and that he would have to sign the referral before we could visit Julianna. Tatiana also said that they were calling the Director of the Children’s Home to inform him we were coming. We were asked to return at 1:45pm for a signed referral. Take two steps back - break for lunch Svetlana, Kenny, and I went to lunch at the Internet Café. Our favorite waitress, Victoria, was not working, but it was ok, today. We had Sveta with us. She translated the menu and we really got to know her better for the two hours that we ate and had tea. Sveta is a wonderful, wonderful person. We had the opportunity to talk about Down Syndrome, our experiences with Angelo, and life with Down Syndrome. Sveta was amazed (and maybe amused sometimes) by our life, our family, and our perspective on people with disabilities. She promised to pray for our family for the rest of our lives. (Sveta, if you read this, this is a reminder not to forget J ) We returned at 1:35pm to the MOE, a little early. We waited on the first floor in the hallway. Sveta went to the second floor, outside Tatiana’s office, to wait for the signed referral. Kenny and I counted the seconds that lapsed between people who walked by us. It was like Grand Central Station. Only one man spoke, or I should say, nodded in our direction. Svetlana came to us at 2:00pm and conveyed that the referral was not signed yet. We both thought that we were paying the price for the Tennessee lady’s actions. We agreed that if we didn’t have a signed referral soon, we were walking back to our hotel, only two blocks away. As if someone heard our statement, Sveta appeared with the document and said lets go. Get Out of Jail Free card Just like playing Monopoly, there are positives to being permitted to play the game again. We were headed to the Children’s Home, but not without obstacles. First, Sveta informed us that Tatiana’s assistant received negative reception from the Director when she called him. He did not want us to come; he did not want any of the children to leave his home. This home has NEVER had a child adopted from it…EVER! She said that the people in this Children’s Home will not know what to do. Sveta was miffed as we headed to that part of the city, about twenty minutes of Nizhniy “500” driving. Yet before we could go to the Children’s Home (No. 56), we had to contact the social worker, sort of like Children & Youth, to determine if they had a person who could go with us to the Home. This is a standard procedure in Russia. The social worker is necessary to observe the child and prospective parents. She writes a statement and submits to court later in the process. All standard procedure we were told. Riding “shotgun” in Sveta’s vehicle, I continuously tried to contact the agency using Sveta’s I-phone to no avail. Sveta pulled into this area that looked like large hi-rise apartment buildings that were all the same shade of yellow/green and in “ok” condition. She asked us to wait in the car as she ran in to determine if a social worker could go with us or if we had to wait until tomorrow. Kenny and I amused ourselves with the man’s hat that was on top of the dumpster wondering if someone was dead inside. Fifteen minutes passed and it was 3:00pm. Sveta returned to say that the Director refused to let us in until he received a personal phone call from the Minister himself. What were we to do? Sveta said that the social worker, whose name was also Tatiana, an older woman, was arguing (in Russian, of course) with the Director. We waited. Sveta grabbed a water at a local stand. While she was gone, Kenny spied our social worker, or the lady we thought was our social worker exiting the building and looking for someone. Sure enough, Tatiana got in the front with Sveta, they talked in Russian and we drove down the road about two miles. The Minister of Education had a conversation with the Director. Sveta, Kenny, and I were nervous to meet this guy. Tatiana indicated that he was a “little nutty.” Proceed to Baltic Avenue - The Children’s Home Once we were allowed in through the huge padlocked wrought iron gate, Sveta parked quickly and we followed Tatiana inside this very big two two story run down building. It smelled of something inside. I saw a larger boy, approximately age 16, with down syndrome out of the corner of my eye, as Tatiana motioned for us to enter the office of the director. I had to remember that I was not here to sightsee, so I followed behind Sveta with Kenny trailing. There were two or three younger woman (like my age J ) sitting in the room in chairs lined up against the wall of a long skinny office that was bout 16’x8’. Kenny told me later that he didn’t sit in the chair next to me initially because there was something wet in the middle of it and then on the floor next to it. We think that it was urine of some sort. Kenny explained that the women ushered the chair out of the way and pushed another one next to me. I was too befuddled with this very large man sitting behind a desk with mountains of paper stacked around him. Sveta and the Director (Michael, I think) began to speak. Michael told us all about himself and his umpteen degrees from various universities. His mid-60’s look with graying beard and short hair cut was intimidating. Sveta politely interpreted everything Michael said, adding that he’s telling us stuff that we don’t really need to know. She also told me to smile and say nice things about how impressed I was with his knowledge. Ok, I knew what we had to do. Needless to say, Kenny let me do most of the talking. Michael mentioned how cute Julianna was and what a nice girl she is. He continued to explain the system that they have in his Children’s Home. He has created a small community. Michael said that he has not followed the rules in Russia because the 180 children ages 4 and up need more than what the government dictates. So Michael has created a community for these children. They get training and schooling from an early age. They get speech and language each week. They have a computer lab with 8 or 9 new MacIntosh computers where they teach the children starting at age 9. This home teaches the children life skills and provides jobs as early as age 14 within the confines of the wrought iron fence. The children earn money. When they get a little older, Michael’s staff members help these individuals to get jobs outside of the community and even live there as they get older. You guessed it. Michael was my kind of person - an intellect who countered the society norms to do what was best for these children…This was the best that he could do. This was within his control…the best the culture could offer. I sincerely praised him for his work, kindness, and caring for these kids. It was then that he invited us for a “traditional” Russian lunch the next day. And so we went to the computer lab…to meet “the medical doctor.” Lose a turn - Gathering limited information from the specialists Ok, so we were this far and we were eager to hear about Julianna’s health. The first word’s out of the doctor’s mouth were “I disagree with this!” She didn’t look at us. She was mean and stern….Svetlana translated this statement. I asked “why?” Svetlana said not to worry because she has no control. Everything was about the director, and we had managed to win him over. In Russian, the director told the doctor to be quiet and just answer questions. This was not pretty. However, everyone knew that Michael was the boss. He was well respected. The doctor continued to answer questions that Sveta asked. I was befuddled and confused by all this translation stuff…where was Kenny…and then.. Pass Go - Collect $200 Walking into a room of about a dozen adults, a little girl who looked like our Angelo appeared. A big yellow bow in her hair and a child’s gold skirt suit that felt like someone’s corduroy velour sofa, Julianna looked at us innocently. She immediately walked over to us when asked by our translator and sat across from us at the table. Wiping away the tears of disbelief, I quickly pulled a shape sorter toy out of my bag for her. She immediately began to pick up the shapes and place them in the right holes. Now, I was really crying. I lost track of where Kenny was and Sveta kept talking to the adults in the room gathering information for us. The little girl that was the recipient of so many prayers was finally next to me. The next thing we pulled out of our bag was a coloring book and markers (Russians do not make or sell crayons). To our amazement, she picked up the marker with her right hand, pulled off the cap, and held it with a perfect pencil grip. She leaned down very closely to the coloring page, almost touching it with her nose, and began to color perfectly within the lines, slowly and meticulously…better than most children her age. We switched off colors only after I initiated. She was perfectly content to color for what seemed like forever. Kenny and Svetlana started to take pictures. I moved around to the other side of the table, next to her, because I just wanted to squeeze her and hug her. Kenny and I managed to take the marker away from her as we redirected her to the small book with the attached lion finger puppet. Immediately, she was intrigued by the lion and understood that my finger made the lion move. She tried the lion and made it growl after we modeled it for her. She loved the attention. I pulled her up on my lap and she even let me hug her. We learned very quickly that she is ticklish. Before we knew it, our time had ended. We asked her if she wanted to play with us again. She answered “da” which means “yes” in Russian. We left promising to return the next day @ 9:30am. We dropped off the social worker, Tatiana, at the agency on the way home. This had been a remarkable day. And as usual, God made clear the path. It was God’s desire for us to meet this precious little girl. What joy she had brought to us in only a short period of time. Unknowingly to Julianna, she had already begun to change minds and melt hearts, as our translator, Sveta, was enthralled with her first ever encounter with a person with Down Syndrome. Sveta, too, fought back tears during our brief time with Julianna. Sveta commented that she couldn’t wait to tell her mom about the experience. Thank you, God, for all who have entered our life on this journey. |