I will say that being 8 hours ahead of everyone is difficult....especially when I need to sleep and just can’t. So, now it is around 1pm here and it is almost 5am back home and I so need a nap! We went to the orphanage again this morning. I was able to talk with the psychologist (who is wonderful and has obviously done a lot of work with M). We talked about M’s birth family and why she was given up. It was honestly not a big surprised, but still very sad. I also got to speak with her doctor and her physical therapist. I learned a lot more about her physical needs and condition. I can honestly say, that I am a little disappointed in some of the things I learned....but at the same time I know we have great doctors and professionals in the US that will do everything possible to ensure she is at her potential. It will just take getting her home and getting her into see the right people. The doctor was very happy that I was adopting M....she couldn’t stop smiling at me and commented on how much we (M and I) look a like. The PT was also wonderful and agreed to make figures of the exercises that they do with M daily so that I can have one of our PT’s take a look at it. We spent from about 9:30-11:30 with M. Her friend also came in for part of that time. He is so sweet and was very insistent on listening to music (or musica as he says it). They got to have some chocolate that I brought and were very happy about that. We also spent time working on a bracelet and looking at pictures on my laptop. M continues to be very interested in everything. They have said that she is listening closely to everything I am telling her and has many questions, but just isn’t asking them yet. She is very good at recognizing people from the photo album that I sent her. She did see a few pictures I had taken at the office (one of my co-worker Michelle with another co-workers' son Eli and a more recent one of Amy (another co-worker) and her mittens). She continues to use more of her English with us....a few words here and there. This morning she said “goodbye” instead of ciao. We came back to the hotel and went to a restaurant near by for lunch. Now, some time for a quick nap. By the way, we are consistently hearing music from the US over here....it is all in dance mix though, still nice to hear something that is a little familiar. Will type more later.
We visited again this afternoon from about 3:30 to 5:30 tonight. We were greeted again by the psychologist and social worker. Both are warming up to us very nicely. Our translator is trying to help us make plans to meet M’s teacher tomorrow and talk about arranging additional English lessons during the waiting period between trips. We got to the room and M joined us very quickly. She had mentioned that she likes dresses, but didn’t have any (so, glad I had that last impulse buy at the beginning of the month and got her a dress and a skirt). She loves clothes and hair items. Our translator had even bought her the kind of chocolate bar that she said was her favorite. My friend also (unknown to me) had bought M and I matching bracelets and gave them to us tonight. We played around on the computer (wish we would have had Internet to show her more things in Iowa). We also did a lot of talking. She knows that there are many people back in the USA who are very excited about meeting her and getting to know her. She also knows that she will be going to a regular school with other kids her age (super excited about this one). She did have several questions about school....she really hasn’t asked many questions, so it was wonderful that she did ask some. She is also very interested in other children that she will get to know and meet. I also talked with her about her name and if she wanted to keep M as her first name or as a middle name. She wanted to keep it as her first name. Tonight I finally asked her if it was ok to give her a hug.....I got the best hug ever....she didn’t want to let go. It was great and I almost cried. I told her I would see her tomorrow. Tomorrow is our last day here. I thought that we would be staying till Thursday, but on Thursday I have to go to the notary in Sofia to have some documents signed. But we will be able to see her twice tomorrow and will be taking all our donations to the orphanage also. So, tonight will most likely be a quick dinner and packing up our items to prepare to leave Stara Zagora. M knows that when I leave there will be several weeks/months before I can come back to pick her up. The orphanage has said that I will be able to email her and send her pictures during that time. They truly want what is best for her and are so excited for her. I know tomorrow will be hard for both of us, but I also know there is much still that I must do so that she can finally come home.
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| Christmas lights in Stara Zagora |
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| These were really cool lights...but it was hard to capture |
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