Last week, Ruslan, our soon-to-be-official son's friend, whom we've mentioned already, gave us a note with a misspelled word. The note said, I want nothing from you, I just want you to ...... me.
We thought it might have said adopt me, but all week he's been avoiding us. The alternate translation was I want nothing, I just want you to stop it with me. Interestingly, his older sister, Nadia, has walked by daily, and after we invited her to play volleyball with us and our Sasha, she's appeared at each of our visits and has needed only the slightest encouragement to spend time with us. She speaks less English than I speak Ukrainian so it's been a challenge for both of us, but I can see that she is a good girl, kind and loving to the younger kids and considerate of others.
We went to church again yesterday with the orphans. Once again, it was hot so Mark and I spent the last half of the service on the porch in the fresh, cool air. Naturally, many of the teens were also out there and it was remarkable how well behaved they were. At the end of the service, there was a procession outside to bless the water of the well. The church is still being built and the well looked new. As the priest sloshed everyone with holy water I could see his love for the children and got a glimpse of his sense of humor, too. Priests always seem to enjoy getting you a little too wet!
After church we walked back to the school surrounded by happy little children vying for our attention. There was a quiet moment while the little ones were changing into play clothes and Nadia took advantage of it to tell me that she wants us to be her parents. I couldn't begin to explain the complications of adoption or even our mystery concerning her brother so I just hugged her. It is dangerous being here. The children want a family so badly. I am sure that there are others who want us to be their parents too. The sad part is that most of them will never be adopted because they are teenagers and that scares off people who haven't met them.
Luda, our translator, arrived yesterday after we returned from the school. We showed her Ruslan's note and she couldn't read it either. She said the important word was so misspelled it didn't make sense! Anyway, we were very busy all afternoon. We went to the market, which had many individual stores in metal stalls, and bought more clothes for Sasha. We also bought fruit and ice cream bars for a going away party for his class. We drove to the school and arrived shortly before dinner. We gave the children in Sasha's class each a banana to enjoy while we washed the fruit. Ruslan saved his to share with Nadia so we gave him two. He was giving us sweet smiles today and was being very helpful with the party preparations while the others kids played with our iPad.
Luda took Sasha aside and asked him about Ruslan. Sasha told her that Ruslan thought he wanted to be adopted by us but then decided he didn't because he has a family that visits sometimes. Ok, mystery solved, apparently I misunderstood Nadia, but that didn't seem possible. A few minutes later, Luda was alone with Ruslan while he was helping with the fruit and she asked him about it all and he said he wants us to be his parents. He said he knows his mother will never take him out of the orphanage and he wants a family and he likes us very much. She told him that we can't take him right now but that we like him very much too. This seemed to relax him and he seemed happier.
The class went to dinner. We sat with them and our thoughtful Sasha brought each of us a thick piece of bread topped with a square of scrambled egg. Mark was good and ate his, I ate my bread and discreetly disposed of the egg. Ruslan gave Mark his own drink. Towards the end of the meal, we passed out platters of grapes and strawberries for the class. They ate them all up and clearly enjoyed the fruit as a special treat.
After the end of meal prayer, we went back to the hallway outside their rooms and passed out the ice-cream bars. They have a new classmate so we were one short. Ruslan first tried to give his ice cream to Mark and after much insisting, not wanting to hurt his feelings by rejecting his loving gesture, Mark took a bite and gave it back. When Ruslan saw we were one short, he then tried to give it to Sasha who had passed them all out and was not complaining that he hadn't gotten one. Sasha wanted Ruslan to have it. I'm not sure if they shared it or what, but the last I saw they were each insisting the other have it. These kids don't get ice cream very much and the other kids were savoring every mouthful. The littlest one, Vanya, who is the sunshine of the class, took little licks and enjoyed it for so long I was amazed it didn't melt before he finished.
Sasha seemed to be on top of the world. He is so happy he just sparkles. He filmed the kids eating ice cream and goofing around. We were playing a game of balloon volleyball when Nadia and the 14 year old Sasha joined us. The older Sasha is very polite, friendly and would be a delightful son also. Nadia and Luda had a long talk by the window and cleared up everything. Nadia was able to interpret Ruslan's misspelled word which can be translated as take- I just want you to take me with you. I imagine they've been talking a lot this week.
After we left the school, Luda explained that because Nadia will be 16 in a couple weeks, if we or anyone else wants to adopt her, the paperwork would have to be done now, before her birthday. So we need to decide right away and get moving on it.
We came here thinking that ten was older than we would want to adopt and suddenly here we are adopting a nine year old and seriously considering coming back for a 13 and 16 year old. Life is full of surprises.
A group of happy friends at Sasha/Andrew's going away party (Ruslan is on Sasha's right)
A great picture of a happy Tato and son!
A great picture of a happy mama and son!
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