First Meetings

So much has happened since we arrived in Gorlovka on Thursday night, that I hardly know where to start.  On Friday morning, we met with two social workers to discuss our suitability to adopt from the Gorlovka orphanage.  There were lots of questions about our background, our families, our home, the school system in our city, and what training we were required to take for our home study.  While the questioning was nerve-wracking at first, these women truly have the children’s best interests at heart.  They explained that they became attached to each child and how happy they were that one of them would now become part of our family.  Laughter and smiles were pervasive throughout the interview, and we left with a very good feeling.

Next, we visited the orphanage and were asked many of the same questions by the Associate Director and the psychologist.  After two hours, we had told our full story three times, and we still hadn’t met our potential daughter yet.  A headache was coming on, and I felt like I was on an extremely important job interview for the role of adoptive parent and I wasn’t sure if I would get the job or not. Finally, though we got to meet our girl (she had been in school).  It was a bit awkward due to the large crowd, including translator, social worker, Assistant Director, psychologist, and the three of us.  We showed her photographs of us, our home, our family and our friends.  We also gave her a letter we wrote introducing ourselves.  The letter included lots of questions of things we would like to learn about her – her favorite foods (not eggs), favorite color (yellow), favorite subject in school (history), favorite movie (Peter Pan), etc.  We were so happy that she asked us questions too.  She asked us what we liked to do for fun, what kind of movies we liked, who our favorite authors are, etc.  She really liked our house and our dogs from the pictures.  And she seemed very comfortable with us!  The first day didn’t result in an immediate yes to the question of adoption.  But, she clearly wanted to spend more time together, which made us very happy.

Over the weekend, we’ve had two great visits to the orphanage.  On one hand, we feel a bit sorry for our girl, as most of the kids are away at camp right now (only 5 kids remain in the entire orphanage).  We are the cause of her staying behind.  But, she doesn’t seem to mind!  We’ve mostly spent time in a small room with no heat and only minimal light, but it is private and has a sofa, chairs, and table in it.  The orphanage caretakers are all friendly and seem genuinely happy for her.  Thankfully, our translator has been able to come with us for these visits, and she is very good with explaining everything in English and in Russian.  On Saturday, we talked some and then played Uno and Yahtzee.  On Sunday, we talked some more and then made some beaded jewelry.   On Saturday, she mentioned that she loved art, on Sunday she had a sketchpad with her to show us some of her artwork.  That was very special that she thought to do that, and she is an excellent artist.

Tomorrow we have the important paperwork to do.  There are some additional documents needed because of a family situation (which I will explain later), and she still needs to write a letter saying she wants to be adopted.  Hopefully, once those things are done, we can file for a court date.  We aren’t sure when it will be, but we are obviously hoping for as soon as possible.

While visiting the orphanage and doing paperwork has been our primary focus, it has been very fun to have another family here in Gorlovka and we have made the most of it.  We’ve had great fun at breakfast and dinner getting to know each other better.  This morning, we were all able to go to a local church service run by some missionaries from Florida.  They have been in Gorlovka on and off since 1992 (mostly on for the last 10 years.  It was wonderful hearing praise hymns like “Shine Jesus Shine” in Russian!  In addition to an extensive mission through a baby hospital they helped establish, this couple also works with the orphanage we are adopting from (Hope Orphanage).  They set up sponsors for the kids there and take them shopping periodically and buy them gifts for holidays like their birthday and New Years.  They also stock a small store on site, so the kids can buy small items like Cokes and shampoo using credit they earn from chores.  Finally, they have activities at the church for them, like a spring tea.  This is a wonderful ministry, and I am sure the kids love the individual attention!  If you are interested in sponsoring a child (right now 19 out of 53 currently need sponsors), check out their blog at http://sparrowshope.blogspot.com/.   We can tell you more when we get home, too.

Finally, tonight was really fun.  We came back from the orphanage to find the staff and our friends sitting together in the common area, sharing a cake in honor of Ira’s birthday.  Ira works at the front desk and is young, beautiful, and speaks excellent English.  This was such a treat to be a part of their celebration and talk with all of the people here more.  They were so welcoming and there was lots of laughter!  I loved it.

So far, despite gloomy weather, we have had wonderful days in Gorlovka, thanks to the kindness of friends (old and new).  We are truly lucky! 

This store is very popular in Gorlovka - sort of like a SuperWalmart.  One of my favorite snacks to buy is still the Bacon-Flavored Peanuts!  Lots of interesting snack choices here and some wonderful fruit.  About a 15 minute walk from our hotel.  

Christmas shopping at the Amstor - other than the Cyrillic letters on this signs, I might think I am in America!