So we hopped in their car and we saw some interesting buildings and old houses out our windows. Our first stop was at the monastery. It was very cool. We went inside and there were a lot of people in there lighting candles and praying to saints (or whatever they are doing...I have no idea). It was very ornate and lovely, though.
After the monastery stop, we headed toward the artillery museum. This is the city where they used to manufacture all the artillery weapons for this country. We were outside quite a while looking at all the old tanks and missiles, and I seriously thought I might freeze to death! It was about -11 degrees F through all of this. SO COLD!!!!!!
After the artillery museum, our kind hotel ladies took us to the main hotel in this city that is sort of the city center. There was a mall acoss the street as well as gift shops in the hotel. We looked around and bought a few presents for our kids, then we needed to find lunch. Well, at the bottom of the mall there was a McDonald's. Seriously, even though the food there isn't the best, it is always nice to be able to walk into some place that doesn't understand you and you don't understand them, say "Big Mac", and be able to get food! This McDonald's was funny. The drive-thru was really a walk-thru!
We came home form our outing and got ready to go to the Education Department! You are supposed to look nice when you go there, so I put on a skirt and Quin wore a suit. We had a fun chat with Alena, who is the young woman that owns the hotel with her mother. She loves meeting new people and practicing her English. She is so very kind!
Once Oksana got here, I got yelled at for my shoe choice. They were simple flats, but both Alena and Oksana felt it very foolish to go out in weather like that with those shoes on. They can't have me catching pneumonia, after all! The funniest part of this is that the walking required was so very minimal! Just from one building to the car, then from the car to the building. I'm sure I could have handled it, but my Sorrel's with my skirt it was ;)
The Education Department was somewhat intimidating to me. They gave us our referral along with a picture. The picture is interesting. We'll have to see how tomorrow goes. Either she is quite delayed, or it's just a bad picture. Time will tell! We asked why she got referred to us, and they said because it's the only girl with Ds in the region under 2 that's available for international adoption at this time. There are more boys and older girls, but just one under 2. There is a baby that was born in May that will be eligible February 5th, but for now, we just have the option of the one child. This is very stressful to me. I'm sure it will be fine and in all honesty, every child needs a home. I just need to keep the faith that we have been led in this direction for a reason. We got asked a billion questions as to why we are doing this. It made me very, very, very sad. They just don't see the point in rescuing one of these children. We told of our friendships with adults with Ds, our friendships with other families that have children with Ds, the educational opportunities where we live, etc. They asked several times about our family support and just couldn't believe that everyone is on board and supportive. We answered all their questions, then were told at the end that they aren't sure how the judge will respond to this. They had to legally give us the referral, but the judge does not have to pass us in court. Also, the law pending about banning all U.S. adoptions here could affect us. We need lots of prayers in the coming months!! We also found out that our original little Victoria wasn't adopted after all. She's still in foster care. I am so overwhelmed with emotion tonight for so many reasons. Hopefully I get a good night's sleep tonight so the whole orphanage scene doesn't just push me right over the edge ;)
We talked some with Oksana about the situation for people born with Ds in this country. She said she knows of two families that kept their children and they are both adults now. There just simply wasn't the resources available to them.
After heading back to the hotel, we went to the grocery store to prepare for tomorrow. Juice boxes and bananas to go meet our girl tomorrow!!
We stopped at this hat shop in the way home from the store. We may or may not have purchased a present for our son there ;) I made Quin try this hat on just for fun. He looks like he's having fun, right!?
When we got back to the hotel, we told Alena that we wanted to try some palmini for dinner. They are dumplings that are a specialty here and we wanted to try some. Well, Alena's grandmother makes these and then they freeze them so they can be served to guests when they come! We ate a delicious, homemade dinner of palmini tonight. Yay! Here is cute Alana joining us for dinner.
Well, the day we've all been waiting for is tomorrow!! At 9:20 am, our facilitator will pick us up and we will head to the orphanage to meet with our child, the orphanage director, the doctor, and the nannies!!! Wish us luck!!
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