Today was pretty rainy but later in the day the rain subsided. Christina and I went to the Maxima grocery store first thing because she didn't have any cereal and we also needed a couple of other things. On the way back we hit the french bakery and picked up some croissants. Christina loved them and said she hadn't eaten them before. She was happy to hear that we can get them all over in America.
After we ate our breakfast, we went on a walk to find a bookstore. Christina wanted to have something to read on the plane. We finally found a store that had some educational books and there was one that had children's stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" etc. in Latvian and English. We decided that would be a good choice because it would help her to learn English. Next we went on a search to find a Christian bookstore because Christina lost her Latvian bible that we had given her last summer. After walking and checking bookstore after bookstore (none of them had bibles), we had to break down and call our friend, Helen Vipass, to ask her where one was. It turns out there was one right near our flat but we had walked almost to the other side of town. Christina was happy to pick out the bible that she liked and she also picked out a bible story book and a small card. I wasn't sure what she wanted the card for but when she asked if we could get it I just said "yes." I thought maybe it was for one of her friends.
A short time after we got back to the flat, she came up to me and gave me the card. It had 3 red roses on the front and was blank inside, but she had written that the 3 roses represent her, me and Robert. She also wrote "I Love You" and said the we are a new family of three. Talk about melting my heart. Of course, it made me cry. I told her it was so meaningful because it came from her heart. I said I will keep it with me always and she lit up with that beautiful smile of hers. I think it's so good that I came by myself on this trip. By that I mean without a travel buddy. The perfect situation would be for Robert to be with us too. Christina and I are having some really good bonding time and we're able to really talk about things as they are happening.
When we got back to the flat, Daiga came by and brought the school documents. It was basically one or two pages which really amounted to almost nothing so I felt bad that we were all scurrying over town for this. Oh well. At least I have it now. She also brought a document that the director, Ilga G., needed me to sign when I was at the children's home but she also forgot to ask me about that.
Soon after Daiga arrived, the doorbell rang and it was a soaking wet Olegs with a huge grin on his face. It had started raining again. I'm glad I was at the flat because he arrived at 3:00 but was supposed to arrive at 5:00. He got there 2 hours early! Daiga visited for awhile and then had to go. The rest of the afternoon, the kids and I played Uno. Olegs also painted with his sun catcher art kit that I brought him while Christina read her new book out loud to all of us. It was just a great day for us to just be together.
When Ilga finished work, she and Janis came to pick us up and we went to dinner at a place called Pica. I had a spinach and cheese lasagna. It had a dill sauce on it which I had to scrape off, but otherwise it was delicious. I'm finally branching out a bit on this trip. I think I'm over Lido now. LOL! We had a great dinner and Ilga was able to help me talk to Olegs again just to make sure he understands that there will be children from his children's home coming to the U.S. for the summer hosting, but he won't be coming this time because other kids deserve to have a turn. Plus, we're waiting to see what the court will say about the possibility of us traveling for his adoption case. We expect it to take a few more months before any decision will be made by the courts but you never know.
After a great dinner together, we walked Olegs to his bus. I gave him a big hug and kiss and put him on that bus. It was so hard. The bus sat there for awhile before it left, so I kept clowning with him and walking back and forth in front of his window and waving. He kept trying to hide from me and smiled. Then the time came for the bus to drive away and my tears started flowing. I tried to keep my smile on my face but my huge red eyes gave me away. I think Olegs could tell and I hope it didn't make him sad. When we got back to the flat, Christina saw my eyes were read and said "Why you cry?" I said, "because I miss Olegs" and then it made her tear up too. She said, "You cry and it make me cry." Then we laughed that I looked like an alcoholic with my big red face and eyes. That isn't really funny but it was funny at the time and helped make me stop crying and start laughing. LOL!
As you can imagine, I am very homesick. I call Robert everyday but it isn't the same. I want to be home. At the same time, I'm sad about leaving Riga because I don't know when we'll return. This city has really grown on me and I hope we can come back every now and then for a visit. This place will always have a special place in our hearts.
Christina and I will be heading out the Warsaw tomorrow. I hope to have internet access there. If it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I'll try to keep the blog updated. Please say a prayer that our meeting at the U.S. embassy goes well on Thursday.
Atta ("goodbye") for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment