Day 4

12/21 Wednesday
Started out the day with all our packed donations in tow as we went to the orphanage.  Ok, we had so many that they fit in one of our big suitcases and we had an extra bag besides.

Hats that Dora Beth's friend made

Hats and gloves that Dora Beth bought

Hats and gloves I bought for the orphans

Socks that Dora Beth brought

Some underwear for the orphans and items for the caretakers gifts.

Getting ready to put together the caretakers gifts

Finished gifts for the caretakers

 I had a separate bag of gifts for the Director, Psychologist, Social Worker, PT, Doctor and nurses that work closely with Maria.  They logged our donation and we also gave them 250 Lev to buy needed items for the children.  Plamena and one of the orphanage drivers went to get the diapers the director requested.  Now, they were able to get 16 packs of diapers for 250 Lev....right now 1 US dollar is worth 1.50 Lev.  So, that is pretty cheap compared to what diapers cost in Iowa....and no I will not bring anyone home any diapers.  During this time Dora Beth and I were trying very hard to communicate with M.  We were able to let her see pictures of Horace Mann school thanks to some friends back home.  Plamena eventually joined us and so did the Director.  He came in and started talking to M about how he had told her this day would come and how happy he is for her.  He shook my hand and thanked me for wanting to adopt M...He started to tear up and even cried while he was saying how this is a dream come true for many of them.  Plamena was crying, I was crying....M was sitting there watching us crazy adults get all emotional.  I let the director know that I want M to have pictures of him and the staff because they have been such an important part of her life and have loved and cared for her so much and that I want to be able to send pictures to them of her, so that they can continue to see her grow and become the amazing girl I know she will be.  He gave M a hug and ended up leaving.  We continued to talk about the school and answer M’s questions....the social worker was also very interested to know what her school would be like.  So, I know I will need to get some pictures of her at school once she is home to send to them.  We attempted to paint her nails, but she still had polish on them from her birthday and didn’t seem to want to change it, which was fine.  We also learned how much she is loved....not only did they have a special birthday party for her, they also allowed Maria and her friend to pick out gifts they wanted for Christmas....I haven’t heard of this happening with many other children.  M did ask when I would be back for her.  I told her that I hoped that it would be sometime in April or May.  She seemed fine with this.  I also learned that she LOVES ice cream and was thrilled when she heard her new Baba (grandma) makes homemade ice cream.  She asked what time of year Baba makes ice cream and I had to tell her when ever she wants.  This got a HUGE smile....guess there will be plenty of M and Baba ice cream making dates :) We left the orphanage and went back to the hotel to finish packing our bags and check out.
The hotel was wonderful and allowed us to store our bags there until we left this evening.   We ended up walking towards the post office....Dora Beth had several postcards she wanted to send out.  We were walking through a central park and I decided to stay there and take some pictures.  There were many interesting things to see, many monuments (I think most were about Russia and communism, but still a part of M’s culture).  Not to make anyone jealous, but it has been nice enough in Stara Zagora that we really haven’t needed our coats much this week.  In fact there were flowers in bloom in the park!

Then off to eat lunch.  At the end of lunch I looked down the street and saw some men in traditional Bulgarian costumes doing some dances.  Plamena told us to go and get some pictures while she asked for the check.  We went down and got some pictures and video of the men...it was very neat to see.  One man played something similar to a bag pipe...but without all the extra pipes and one of the dancers had a long sword...a couple other were collecting money.

After that we went and saw the Orthodox Church (more like Russian Orthodox than Greek).  We were not allowed to take pictures of the inside, but got several of the building’s outside.  After this we went back to the hotel to prepare for the final visit.  While at the hotel Plamena shared with me more about the Director.  She said that she had heard that he was very strict and not easy to work with, but that she was surprised when she came back from getting the diapers because he started talking to her about M and how it was a miracle when she started walking at 5 years old and Plamena said it just hit him that M was really going to be adopted, that I was really going through with it.  Plamena confirmed I was serious about adopting M and the Director told her that they must go and thank me now.....this would have been when the Director came into our visit in the morning.  Plamena also apologized for crying and said that the Director crying had really moved her.  I agreed it was a very emotional and important moment for all of us.  Thinking about this interaction with the Director, still makes me tear up...it was very important moment for all of us.
We then went to the orphanage for our last visit.  I was allowed to speak with M’s teacher.  I found out that she is working on multiplication and division for 2 hours a week, but she is doing the same amount of work that the students in traditional school are doing in 4 hours a week.  The teacher said that M is perfect in all her areas of study.  She is even willing to work with M more on her English and wanted to know what I would like her to know.  The agency was willing to pay for extra English lessons, but the teacher said she would do it without pay.  I was very happy to hear this.  I also have asked that they write a little summary of what skills she has worked on and where she is on those skills.  The teacher really doesn’t want her to leave before their school is over for the year at the end of May, but I’m bringing her home as soon as I can!  I know I have enough resources to make sure that she will do just fine in school next year.  The teacher was also interested in knowing about the school system in Iowa and what kind of school M would be in.  She was happy to hear that Maria will be able to go to a regular school and be with her peers.  We then went and spent more time with M.  I gave her my last gift....the cat I had made at Build A Bear.  She just hugged that cat and rocked it the entire time.  I gave her a last hug and kiss goodbye and told her that I would be back hopefully in April or May to bring her home.  We watched her go up the stairs, yes I held it together no tears....I know she is with people who love her and will take special care of her until I come back.  I also have the orphanage’s address and the director’s email so I can send her pictures between the trips and little messages too. We went back to the hotel to collect our bags and then off to the bus station.  We took the bus back to Sofia where Stephan picked us up and brought us back to the apartment we were in the first night.  Tomorrow should find out more about when I will need to go to the notary and we will most likely have some time to explore Sofia on our own.  I will say that everyone here has been so great about trying to speak English around us, even if it is only a phrase or two.  They have never been upset or rude that we haven’t known enough of the language.  The cities are a wonderful mixture of old history, Communism and modern times.