It's official. I'll be leaving for Latvia on May 3rd and returning with Christina on May 12th (the day before Mother's Day). What an awesome Mother's Day it will be. I've already told Robert that he needs to teach Christina that children in America are supposed to treat their mothers like queens on that day and shower them with gifts. We'll probably let her slide this year, but only because it will be her FIRST full day in America as our child. LOL!
Only one parent has to travel for the second and third trips and in our case that 's me. I had a travel buddy who was gonna go with me on this trip, but she can't go now. So it'll just be me and Christina. I was a little nervous at first, mainly because I have to go through Warsaw for the immigration process. The more I think about it though, the more it may be better because it will give me and Christina some personal bonding time together. She'll probably be experiencing many different emotions and we'll have plenty of one on one time to talk about things.
It still hasn't sunk in that this is real. It'll sink in real fast when Christina is sitting beside me on the plane back to the U.S. We can't wait!!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
4/12 - Latvian Girl on a Sugar High!!
Well, we called Christina today and she was in rare form...joking, making obnoxious noises into the phone, etc. She was definitely bouncing off the walls!! When she first got on the phone, she thought she'd be clever and trick us into thinking we were talking to her friend, Agnese. It was obvious to us that it was Christina but we played along. We asked "Agnese" where Christina was and she said, "Mmm, I do not know. She not here." That got old after awhile so we finally said "okay, we know it's you, Christina!" She just laughed and made more obnoxious noises. [Big sigh here]. We told her that we can tell she must have been eating candy. She was smacking away on something so that was the dead giveaway. She just giggled.
Next, the real Agnese got on the phone and said "hello" to us. She's such a sweetheart. We asked her a few questions and got the usual "yes, yes" answers. In other words she has no clue what we're saying. It was a very short conversation.
Then Christina got back on the phone so we asked her if she's happy I'll be coming to Latvia soon. She replied, "No....Yes....No....Yes.....I joke!" She finally admitted she was happy. Olegs was right there but again didn't want to talk on the phone. It's funny...he doesn't want to talk to us but he's right there to see what we're saying to Christina. We told Christina to tell him that we love him. Hopefully she said what we wanted her to say. She was in a silly mood so she could have said anything. Oh well. Can't worry about it.
Next, the real Agnese got on the phone and said "hello" to us. She's such a sweetheart. We asked her a few questions and got the usual "yes, yes" answers. In other words she has no clue what we're saying. It was a very short conversation.
Then Christina got back on the phone so we asked her if she's happy I'll be coming to Latvia soon. She replied, "No....Yes....No....Yes.....I joke!" She finally admitted she was happy. Olegs was right there but again didn't want to talk on the phone. It's funny...he doesn't want to talk to us but he's right there to see what we're saying to Christina. We told Christina to tell him that we love him. Hopefully she said what we wanted her to say. She was in a silly mood so she could have said anything. Oh well. Can't worry about it.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
4/10 - Today is Final Judgment Day!
Today we received confirmation that the judgment is officially final!! I think in adoption lingo this would be our "gotcha day." That means that the waiting period is over and the court has entered it's final judgment in our adoption case for Christina!! WOOHOO! Our attorney submitted the paperwork today to have Christina's new birth certificate issued. Her new birth certificate will have her new name and list Robert and me as her parents.
When reality hits, sometimes we have what we call "what have we done" moments. We have a daughter that lives in Latvia. One of these days we'll have to go get her and bring her home. What would happen if we changed our minds and just decided not to pick her up? LOL!! Not a chance!! Christina has felt like a part of this family from the very beginning. There's no turning back now. We can't wait to bring her home!
When reality hits, sometimes we have what we call "what have we done" moments. We have a daughter that lives in Latvia. One of these days we'll have to go get her and bring her home. What would happen if we changed our minds and just decided not to pick her up? LOL!! Not a chance!! Christina has felt like a part of this family from the very beginning. There's no turning back now. We can't wait to bring her home!
Saturday, April 07, 2007
4/7 - Happy Birthday to Christina!
Today is Christina's 12th birthday so we were determined to talk to her today. After calling a couple of times this week around 8pm her time and missing her (each time we were told she was out shopping...whatever!), we switched tactics and decided to try calling first thing in the morning. We called late last night at 1am our time (8am her time) and FINALLY got her. They had to wake her up to come to the phone and she was pretty groggy but we got to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. She giggled and especially loved it when we got Winston to bark into the phone to give her his canine birthday greeting.
She didn't have too much to say...mainly kept telling us she was tired. Poor baby. At least she knows we didn't forget her birthday. It was important to us to make sure she knows we're thinking of her today. So we're hoping our girl is doing something fun to celebrate. It's hard to be so far away sometimes, but that will all change in just a few weeks!
She didn't have too much to say...mainly kept telling us she was tired. Poor baby. At least she knows we didn't forget her birthday. It was important to us to make sure she knows we're thinking of her today. So we're hoping our girl is doing something fun to celebrate. It's hard to be so far away sometimes, but that will all change in just a few weeks!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
4/4 - Counting Down the Days!
We've been told that the official "judgment day" for Christina's adoption case is April 10. I think that means that's the day the Latvian court will officially stamp the adoption decree as final and confirm that the waiting period is over. WOOHOO!! After that, our attorney needs a couple of weeks to prepare our paperwork for the American Embassies in Riga and Warsaw. The Riga Embassy must complete the preliminary "orphan investigation" and verify that Christina meets their requirements to be classified as an orphan. Then, they will forward their report electronically to the Warsaw Embassy. Christina will also have to undergo a physical exam by an Embassy-approved doctor in Riga. Our attorney is handling this for us and will have the medical report ready for me as part of the paperwork prep.
So, while we're waiting, I've been working on planning my travel to Riga and my travel with Christina the rest of the way to Warsaw and back home. Looks like I'll be traveling the first part of May to bring her home. Robert and I called Christina last week and finally got to talk to her. This was the first time we'd talked to her since I got back from Latvia. Each time we'd call, they'd tell us she and Olegs were "out" with their friends.
When we got her on the phone, we asked how school was going and she said she was out for nine days for Easter break. Since this was last Friday, it seemed a little early to me so I just said, "Easter?" She cracked us up when she replied, "Yes, you know....egg and rabbit?" We had to explain that "yes" we know what Easter is but that it seemed early. We then went on to tell her that I will be returning to Latvia at the beginning of May to pick her up. There was dead silence on the other end of the line. We asked her if she's happy and she quietly said "yes" but then in her whiny voice said that she'll miss all of her friends in Latvia. It's really starting to sink in for her that this is really happening. In a little over a month from now she'll be living with her new family in America. We just tried to reassure her that she will still be able to keep in touch with her friends through email and letters, maybe even the occassional phone call. Plus, she'll make new friends once she's here.
We called the children's home yesterday and were told that Christina was out shopping. This was about 8pm their time and our little girl was out on the town. How nice. She'd better get it out of her system now, because those days are coming to an end!! That's one big challenge we have to face. The children at the children's home are pretty much allowed to go wherever they want as long as they come back at a certain hour. They are given a lot of freedom and don't have many rules they have to follow. She's in for a big surprise when she gets here. Thankfully, since we hosted her twice, she knows that she won't be allowed to do many of the things she did in Latvia. She sort of knows what to expect.
We found out that Olegs got to go spend time with some of his relatives during this school break. We're always happy when they take interest in him and want to spend time with him. We just pray that when he's with them it's a good and loving environment for him. It' always hard to understand why he continues to live in a children's home if he has family around. We just have to leave it in the Lord's hands.
Please say a special prayer for Olegs. We found out that he's gotten into some trouble. I won't share the details here, but he really needs the guidance of a family to keep him on the right path. He's such a great kid with a loving heart. We want so much to provide him with a loving family. We're continuing to wait for the decision of the court to determine whether he can be cleared for adoption. We've been told that the claim has been submitted and the next step is for the court to assign a date for the hearing. If he does become free for adoption, it will still take many months before we can be assigned our first adoption court date for him. It's hard to even imagine traveling again right now. We'll have our hands full for awhile helping Christina get adjusted.
We're just continuing to take things one step at a time and trusting the Lord to guide our path.
So, while we're waiting, I've been working on planning my travel to Riga and my travel with Christina the rest of the way to Warsaw and back home. Looks like I'll be traveling the first part of May to bring her home. Robert and I called Christina last week and finally got to talk to her. This was the first time we'd talked to her since I got back from Latvia. Each time we'd call, they'd tell us she and Olegs were "out" with their friends.
When we got her on the phone, we asked how school was going and she said she was out for nine days for Easter break. Since this was last Friday, it seemed a little early to me so I just said, "Easter?" She cracked us up when she replied, "Yes, you know....egg and rabbit?" We had to explain that "yes" we know what Easter is but that it seemed early. We then went on to tell her that I will be returning to Latvia at the beginning of May to pick her up. There was dead silence on the other end of the line. We asked her if she's happy and she quietly said "yes" but then in her whiny voice said that she'll miss all of her friends in Latvia. It's really starting to sink in for her that this is really happening. In a little over a month from now she'll be living with her new family in America. We just tried to reassure her that she will still be able to keep in touch with her friends through email and letters, maybe even the occassional phone call. Plus, she'll make new friends once she's here.
We called the children's home yesterday and were told that Christina was out shopping. This was about 8pm their time and our little girl was out on the town. How nice. She'd better get it out of her system now, because those days are coming to an end!! That's one big challenge we have to face. The children at the children's home are pretty much allowed to go wherever they want as long as they come back at a certain hour. They are given a lot of freedom and don't have many rules they have to follow. She's in for a big surprise when she gets here. Thankfully, since we hosted her twice, she knows that she won't be allowed to do many of the things she did in Latvia. She sort of knows what to expect.
We found out that Olegs got to go spend time with some of his relatives during this school break. We're always happy when they take interest in him and want to spend time with him. We just pray that when he's with them it's a good and loving environment for him. It' always hard to understand why he continues to live in a children's home if he has family around. We just have to leave it in the Lord's hands.
Please say a special prayer for Olegs. We found out that he's gotten into some trouble. I won't share the details here, but he really needs the guidance of a family to keep him on the right path. He's such a great kid with a loving heart. We want so much to provide him with a loving family. We're continuing to wait for the decision of the court to determine whether he can be cleared for adoption. We've been told that the claim has been submitted and the next step is for the court to assign a date for the hearing. If he does become free for adoption, it will still take many months before we can be assigned our first adoption court date for him. It's hard to even imagine traveling again right now. We'll have our hands full for awhile helping Christina get adjusted.
We're just continuing to take things one step at a time and trusting the Lord to guide our path.
Friday, March 23, 2007
3/23 - Have You Considered Hosting a Child this Summer?
If you would like to host a child this summer, now is the time to sign up. I believe the deadline is April 21st. If you would like more information, click here to email Jennifer Peters at Simple Obedience Ministries. She can provide you with the pictures and bios of the children. We have seen the pictures and can tell you firsthand that the kids are absolutely adorable. Also, you can host even if you're not pursuing adoption.
Please also feel free to email Robert and me by clicking here if you have questions about our hosting experience. We promise you this experience will change your life (in a good way).
Please also feel free to email Robert and me by clicking here if you have questions about our hosting experience. We promise you this experience will change your life (in a good way).
3/23 - Happy Birthday to Olegs!
Today is Olegs' 12th birthday (fyi, Christina's is on April 7th) so we called the children's home to wish him a happy birthday. We had no idea whether he would take our call or not but we had to at least try. We called and got a really nice woman on the phone (a teacher, I think) who speaks a little English. At first, she said Olegs wasn't around but then she said "wait a minute" and she went to get him. Next thing we knew, he was on the phone. He answered, "Da?" and we immediately launched into our rendition of the happy birthday song. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Olegs, Happy Birthday to you."
Well, halfway through the song a recording came on the line indicating that our call had been disconnected. Immediately, our minds started racing. Was it our singing? Did he just not want to talk to us? We had no way of knowing whether he hung up on us or if it was a glitch with the phone line. We immediately called back and got some child on the phone who just said "Olegs out." We tried to explain that we had just talked to him but got a generic response, "yes, yes." Clearly we were getting nowhere. Then the child hung up on us. We tried calling again later and got the same story, "Olegs out." Then the teacher who knows some English got on the phone again and she also said Olegs wasn't there. We tried to ask her what time we should call and she replied, "yes, it is nice day in Latvia." Clearly she didn't understand what we were saying.
To make a long story short. The only word we heard from Olegs was the "da" we got when he answered the phone. We tried asking for Christina too but she was out playing too. Granted it was about 8:45 p.m. Latvia time so no telling what they were doing outside. They'll be in for a big surprise when they come here to live because they'll be in their PJ's getting ready for bed by 8:45 in America.
Anyway, we're sorry that we didn't get to say more to Olegs but at least he knows we didn't forget his birthday. I'm happy that I was able to give him his presents and celebrate with birthday cake last week when I was in Latvia.
Well, halfway through the song a recording came on the line indicating that our call had been disconnected. Immediately, our minds started racing. Was it our singing? Did he just not want to talk to us? We had no way of knowing whether he hung up on us or if it was a glitch with the phone line. We immediately called back and got some child on the phone who just said "Olegs out." We tried to explain that we had just talked to him but got a generic response, "yes, yes." Clearly we were getting nowhere. Then the child hung up on us. We tried calling again later and got the same story, "Olegs out." Then the teacher who knows some English got on the phone again and she also said Olegs wasn't there. We tried to ask her what time we should call and she replied, "yes, it is nice day in Latvia." Clearly she didn't understand what we were saying.
To make a long story short. The only word we heard from Olegs was the "da" we got when he answered the phone. We tried asking for Christina too but she was out playing too. Granted it was about 8:45 p.m. Latvia time so no telling what they were doing outside. They'll be in for a big surprise when they come here to live because they'll be in their PJ's getting ready for bed by 8:45 in America.
Anyway, we're sorry that we didn't get to say more to Olegs but at least he knows we didn't forget his birthday. I'm happy that I was able to give him his presents and celebrate with birthday cake last week when I was in Latvia.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
3/18 - WOW! Are We Really Parents?
The flights home were uneventful. I stayed overnight in London last night so I had a good night's sleep before heading the rest of the way. Thankfully, I can't remember even one embarrassing incident. I guess I made my quota on the way there. LOL!
It is such a relief to be home! It hasn't really hit me that I went to Latvia and back over the weekend. I felt like I was just a few hours away because I had my phone and was able to call Robert whenever I needed to.
The reality of things is gradually starting to sink in for Robert and me. It's still hard to believe we're officially Christina's parents now. After the twenty day (business days) waiting period is up, it will take a couple more weeks for our attorney to gather the necessary documents we'll need and have them translated for the immigration process. I expect to be going back to Latvia at the end of April to bring Christina back.
This next trip will be a little more challenging as we'll have to return through Warsaw so that Christina can have her immigration interview at the U.S. Embassy there. I'm up for the challenge and have recruited a friend to go with me for moral support. Hopefully, there will be no problems.
Will keep you posted.
It is such a relief to be home! It hasn't really hit me that I went to Latvia and back over the weekend. I felt like I was just a few hours away because I had my phone and was able to call Robert whenever I needed to.
The reality of things is gradually starting to sink in for Robert and me. It's still hard to believe we're officially Christina's parents now. After the twenty day (business days) waiting period is up, it will take a couple more weeks for our attorney to gather the necessary documents we'll need and have them translated for the immigration process. I expect to be going back to Latvia at the end of April to bring Christina back.
This next trip will be a little more challenging as we'll have to return through Warsaw so that Christina can have her immigration interview at the U.S. Embassy there. I'm up for the challenge and have recruited a friend to go with me for moral support. Hopefully, there will be no problems.
Will keep you posted.
3/17 - A Little More Fun Before Heading Home
This morning the kids and I had some time to ourselves before we were to meet up with Ilga and Janis again. They invited us to a children’s play/variety show at their church. Today the kids were hungry for their cake so we got to have our mini birthday celebration for both of them together. It was cute. Christina and I sang “Happy Birthday” to Olegs and then Olegs and I sang to Christina. They pretended to blow out candles and then ate some pieces of cake. I forget what the cake is called but Ilga says this is her son’s favorite cake. It reminded me of a nutty bar. It had wafer layers and peanut butter and chocolate in it. It was delicious but very rich. You know it’s rich when Christina says she doesn’t want anymore because it was too sweet for her. LOL!
After our cake breakfast, we had time to play Twister and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots before Ilga and Janis came to pick us up. Christina also enjoyed doing some painting while we hung out. The plan today was to go to the church play first and then Ilga and Janis would take me to the airport and the children back to the children’s home. The kids were happy about that because they had full backpacks and plastic bags with toys so they didn’t want to lug all of that on the bus.
Ilga and Janis picked us up in time to get to the church at 1:00. One of Christina’s friends named Elizabete (“Liza”) came and met us there so that was a treat to see her. Liza is a beautiful and sweet girl Christina’s age who was hosted at Christmas and is now being adopted by friends of ours. We are so happy that she will be another Latvian friend that Christina will have here at home. After the show was over, the kids had tickets that they could exchange for free gifts. The line for the gifts was a mile long so Ilga broke the news to them that they would have to take the bus/tram back to the children’s home since they’ll be staying awhile longer. We had to leave now if Ilga and Janis were going to get me to the airport on time. The kids weren’t too happy because that meant they would have to lug all their loot home on the bus. Oh well. At least that wasn’t my decision. That was Ilga’s call.
So at that point we said our goodbyes and I gave them hugs and kisses before leaving for the airport. I got a little nervous when we were leaving town because there was a big traffic jam. Ilga and Janis couldn’t figure out why the traffic was so backed up on a Saturday. It turns out there was some big exhibition of some sort that was causing the backup. Luckily, it didn’t last too long and we were on our way.
We got to the airport with a little time to spare so we decided to get a bite to eat. I might as well not say where because there’s only one place we’ve been eating when we eat out. Yes, Lido! They are everywhere, even in the airport!
After our cake breakfast, we had time to play Twister and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots before Ilga and Janis came to pick us up. Christina also enjoyed doing some painting while we hung out. The plan today was to go to the church play first and then Ilga and Janis would take me to the airport and the children back to the children’s home. The kids were happy about that because they had full backpacks and plastic bags with toys so they didn’t want to lug all of that on the bus.Ilga and Janis picked us up in time to get to the church at 1:00. One of Christina’s friends named Elizabete (“Liza”) came and met us there so that was a treat to see her. Liza is a beautiful and sweet girl Christina’s age who was hosted at Christmas and is now being adopted by friends of ours. We are so happy that she will be another Latvian friend that Christina will have here at home. After the show was over, the kids had tickets that they could exchange for free gifts. The line for the gifts was a mile long so Ilga broke the news to them that they would have to take the bus/tram back to the children’s home since they’ll be staying awhile longer. We had to leave now if Ilga and Janis were going to get me to the airport on time. The kids weren’t too happy because that meant they would have to lug all their loot home on the bus. Oh well. At least that wasn’t my decision. That was Ilga’s call.
So at that point we said our goodbyes and I gave them hugs and kisses before leaving for the airport. I got a little nervous when we were leaving town because there was a big traffic jam. Ilga and Janis couldn’t figure out why the traffic was so backed up on a Saturday. It turns out there was some big exhibition of some sort that was causing the backup. Luckily, it didn’t last too long and we were on our way.
We got to the airport with a little time to spare so we decided to get a bite to eat. I might as well not say where because there’s only one place we’ve been eating when we eat out. Yes, Lido! They are everywhere, even in the airport!
3/16 (part 2) - Time for Fun With the Kids!
Olegs and Christina arrived at the flat at 2:00 (right on time). They both had full backpacks so that meant they were spending the night. YIPPEE! I greeted them both with big hugs and kisses and asked them how their day was at school. We visited for a few minutes before Christina asked what we would be doing. They always have to be doing something, you know. Sitting around visiting just isn’t cool. I decided not to bring up the court session unless they asked about it. It’s not an easy time for Olegs right now so I didn’t want to make him sad. This was our time to have fun. Christina did ask me about it later and I told her that Robert and I are officially her new parents. She just gave me a big smile and then we moved on to something else.
I went ahead and gave them their birthday presents so they’d have something to do while hanging out at the flat. Robert and I got them each an outfit and a fun item. We got Olegs “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” which is a game consisting of two plastic robots in a boxing ring. You make them punch each other and the one who makes the other robot’s head pop up is the winner. Anyway, it’s one of those classic games that never goes out of style. We got Christina some paint-by-number paintings to work on since she loves art. Olegs was happy that I brought his Twister game and some of his other toys. He was a little disappointed that I didn’t bring his remote control car so I promised him I’d bring that next time. I wasn’t sure if I should bring that since it eats up batteries. I guess maybe we can send him batteries every so often for it.
We tried meeting up with Ilga to go to the party she told us about earlier but we were unable to reach her. It was fine though. We still had plans to meet up with her and Janis for dinner. I needed to go to the Maxima grocery store to purchase some more minutes for my Latvian cell phone, so that gave us some time to do that since I needed the kids to help me. We tried calling Ilga again but couldn’t get her so we decided to go to Rimi, the nicer grocery store, and pick up some things for them to eat for an afternoon snack. Christina picked out a piece of baked chicken at the deli and Olegs decided he wanted a cheese sandwich so he got cheese and bread. Ilga had already helped me buy a birthday cake for them so that was going to be a surprise for later.
When Ilga got off work, she and Janis came to pick us up for our evening outing. They took us to a fun place called Go Planet Fun & Games where we got to see a 4D movie and wear the funny glasses. The kids were all excited to go to this place because they had never been but heard all about it from their friends who went. The movie was only 15 mins. long but it was an adventure. It was an animated futuristic underwater movie set in the year 2080 (or something like that). There were underwater spaceship things and mermaids, etc. At various points of the movie there would be earthquake scenes and our seats would shake, then there were creatures that would swim toward us and spit water on us, at which time water would shoot out from somewhere and hit us in the face. Then there was air that would blow on us and make us feel like we were part of the movie. Very fun!
After our movie, we walked around and looked at some of the other fun stuff like the go-carts, etc. I’m sure the kids wanted to drive them but they were expensive and I think they were too young to drive them anyway. We were getting hungry so the next stop was Big Lido. I know, I need to try food at some other restaurants but it’s just so good at Lido and there are so many choices. Big Lido is the one where they have the ice skating rink but we didn’t skate this time. We all ate ourselves sick and then went back to the flat. Nobody wanted cake so hopefully we can enjoy that tomorrow before I leave.
I went ahead and gave them their birthday presents so they’d have something to do while hanging out at the flat. Robert and I got them each an outfit and a fun item. We got Olegs “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” which is a game consisting of two plastic robots in a boxing ring. You make them punch each other and the one who makes the other robot’s head pop up is the winner. Anyway, it’s one of those classic games that never goes out of style. We got Christina some paint-by-number paintings to work on since she loves art. Olegs was happy that I brought his Twister game and some of his other toys. He was a little disappointed that I didn’t bring his remote control car so I promised him I’d bring that next time. I wasn’t sure if I should bring that since it eats up batteries. I guess maybe we can send him batteries every so often for it.
We tried meeting up with Ilga to go to the party she told us about earlier but we were unable to reach her. It was fine though. We still had plans to meet up with her and Janis for dinner. I needed to go to the Maxima grocery store to purchase some more minutes for my Latvian cell phone, so that gave us some time to do that since I needed the kids to help me. We tried calling Ilga again but couldn’t get her so we decided to go to Rimi, the nicer grocery store, and pick up some things for them to eat for an afternoon snack. Christina picked out a piece of baked chicken at the deli and Olegs decided he wanted a cheese sandwich so he got cheese and bread. Ilga had already helped me buy a birthday cake for them so that was going to be a surprise for later.
When Ilga got off work, she and Janis came to pick us up for our evening outing. They took us to a fun place called Go Planet Fun & Games where we got to see a 4D movie and wear the funny glasses. The kids were all excited to go to this place because they had never been but heard all about it from their friends who went. The movie was only 15 mins. long but it was an adventure. It was an animated futuristic underwater movie set in the year 2080 (or something like that). There were underwater spaceship things and mermaids, etc. At various points of the movie there would be earthquake scenes and our seats would shake, then there were creatures that would swim toward us and spit water on us, at which time water would shoot out from somewhere and hit us in the face. Then there was air that would blow on us and make us feel like we were part of the movie. Very fun!After our movie, we walked around and looked at some of the other fun stuff like the go-carts, etc. I’m sure the kids wanted to drive them but they were expensive and I think they were too young to drive them anyway. We were getting hungry so the next stop was Big Lido. I know, I need to try food at some other restaurants but it’s just so good at Lido and there are so many choices. Big Lido is the one where they have the ice skating rink but we didn’t skate this time. We all ate ourselves sick and then went back to the flat. Nobody wanted cake so hopefully we can enjoy that tomorrow before I leave.
Friday, March 16, 2007
3/16 - It's a Done Deal!!
Greetings from Riga, Latvia! I just came from the court session and it was quick and painless. They ruled in our favor so Robert and I are officially parents. WOOHOO!!
I was wondering which way this trip was gonna go from the very beginning. I had arranged to have a cab pick me up from work. The cab that first showed up turned out to be someone else's. The driver loaded up my bags and everything and then decided to confirm who I was..."Elayna?" Well, I had to tell him no I'm not Elayna so he unloaded my bags as the real Elayna appeared from around the corner to take over her cab.
Next, when I got to the airport, my shoe got stuck in the conveyor belt as I went through security. As you can imagine, the line started to back up and the security agent had to retrieve my shoe for me. I boarded the plane without incident so I thought I had turned a corner. Not so. Shortly after take off, I noticed something dripping on my arm. It turned out to be condensation from the air conditioning vent above my seat. I asked the flight attendant if I could switch seats but there was nowhere to go. It was a full flight. She brought me a wad of paper towels and told me that it should eventually stop. Thankfully it did, but it was about 30 mins. later.
After watching an inflight movie, I thought I might try to get some sleep but I wanted to take my Airborne first. Airborne is that powder that you dissolve in water and it helps prevent you from catching a cold or flu bug if you're going to be around lots of people. I had a bottled water that was half empty so I poured the Airborne in there and shook the bottle to mix it up. Well somehow my bottle became filled with pressure without my knowing it. I went to remove the lid from the bottle and it shot off like a champagne cork. It shot up and hit the ceiling and then came down and hit the lady in the seat behind me. A couple of flight attendants were right there with their cart serving drinks and food. I heard one ask the other, "What in the world was that?" For a moment I thought about keeping my mouth shut, but in this age of terrorism I knew I'd better confess. One of the attendants thought it was hilarious but the other was not amused. I profusely apologized to the poor woman behind me. She was pretty dazed as she had been sleeping and was awakened by the clunk on the head. Thank goodness the thing didn't poke her in the eye. As you can imagine, I was mortified. Talk about wanting to disappear.
So far, the rest of the trip has been going perfectly. Our friend, Ilga picked me up from the airport and took me to the flat before going back to work. I had to pick up the key from the watchman at the flat so Ilga helped me with that since the watchman doesn't understand English. Ilga and I went out to dinner after she got finished at work. Yes, we went to Lido but at least we went to a different Lido. LOL! There are so many dishes to choose from that you can try something different every time. I had some kind of breaded pork dish with cheese and tomatoes on top, along with a potato pancake and sauerkraut. It was delicious as usual! After that, we walked to the grocery store so I could pick up a couple of things. It was an early night. I was in bed by 8:00 so I could be rested for court.
Today's court session was a breeze. I met Daiga (our translator) early and we took a bus to the court building. We had time to go over some of Christina's documents while we waited for the others to arrive. Ilga G., the children's home director came soon after and greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. Ruta, the orphan court representative, was another familiar face as she was one of the inspectors who visited us when we were here on our last trip for the official bonding time.
The judge and prosecutor who were in attendance wore long black robes but other than that, it was even less formal than the previous court sessions we went to. I was so relieved because I expected to be grilled with tough questions. This judge asked me only a couple of questions. She asked how we met Christina so I told her about how we hosted her last summer and this past Christmas. Then she wanted to confirm that I was also representing Robert's interest in this case. Next she asked Ilga G. and Ruta questions. They had nothing but positive things to say. The prosecutor said she had no objections so that was that. The court was really backed up with cases so they didn't see the need to take additional time since everyone supported our adoption case. The judge, prosecutor and court reporter left the room and we waited for them to return. Soon after, the judge opened the door, poked her head out and told us she has ruled favorably and that we were free to go. That was it!! Robert and I are now officially parents!! This session was so quick that I didn't even have time to be nervous or even cry. I know your prayers had a lot to do with everything running so smoothly.
It's such a relief to be finished with the court session. Now I can focus on having fun for the rest of my time here. This afternoon both Olegs and Christina are coming over to spend the night. Christina had told Robert and me that she didn't want to stay overnight with me. I asked Ilga G. (their children's home director) about that and she said that Christina told her just the opposite. She told her that both she and Olegs are excited about spending the night. Who knows? I brought their birthday gifts with me since they both have birthdays in the next couple of weeks. They'll probably open their gifts when they first get here and then we'll meet up with Ilga L. She invited us to a party that they are having at the Salvation Army Day Center where she works. Then I think we're going to a movie and dinner with her and her husband, Janis, this evening.
It will really be good to see Olegs along with Christina. I wasn't sure if he'd want to see me since he hasn't been wanting to talk on the phone. It's hard to know what's going on with him sometimes. Hopefully, he really wants to see me and isn't just coming to pick up his Twister game. LOL!!
This will probably be my only post from Latvia before heading out tomorrow. I'll be spending the night in London on Saturday night before returning home on Sunday. It's really hard being here without Robert. I can't wait to get back home where I belong. The exciting thing is that next time I'll be coming to Latvia to pick up our new daughter. WOW! We officially have a daughter now. How awesome is that!
I was wondering which way this trip was gonna go from the very beginning. I had arranged to have a cab pick me up from work. The cab that first showed up turned out to be someone else's. The driver loaded up my bags and everything and then decided to confirm who I was..."Elayna?" Well, I had to tell him no I'm not Elayna so he unloaded my bags as the real Elayna appeared from around the corner to take over her cab.
Next, when I got to the airport, my shoe got stuck in the conveyor belt as I went through security. As you can imagine, the line started to back up and the security agent had to retrieve my shoe for me. I boarded the plane without incident so I thought I had turned a corner. Not so. Shortly after take off, I noticed something dripping on my arm. It turned out to be condensation from the air conditioning vent above my seat. I asked the flight attendant if I could switch seats but there was nowhere to go. It was a full flight. She brought me a wad of paper towels and told me that it should eventually stop. Thankfully it did, but it was about 30 mins. later.
After watching an inflight movie, I thought I might try to get some sleep but I wanted to take my Airborne first. Airborne is that powder that you dissolve in water and it helps prevent you from catching a cold or flu bug if you're going to be around lots of people. I had a bottled water that was half empty so I poured the Airborne in there and shook the bottle to mix it up. Well somehow my bottle became filled with pressure without my knowing it. I went to remove the lid from the bottle and it shot off like a champagne cork. It shot up and hit the ceiling and then came down and hit the lady in the seat behind me. A couple of flight attendants were right there with their cart serving drinks and food. I heard one ask the other, "What in the world was that?" For a moment I thought about keeping my mouth shut, but in this age of terrorism I knew I'd better confess. One of the attendants thought it was hilarious but the other was not amused. I profusely apologized to the poor woman behind me. She was pretty dazed as she had been sleeping and was awakened by the clunk on the head. Thank goodness the thing didn't poke her in the eye. As you can imagine, I was mortified. Talk about wanting to disappear.
So far, the rest of the trip has been going perfectly. Our friend, Ilga picked me up from the airport and took me to the flat before going back to work. I had to pick up the key from the watchman at the flat so Ilga helped me with that since the watchman doesn't understand English. Ilga and I went out to dinner after she got finished at work. Yes, we went to Lido but at least we went to a different Lido. LOL! There are so many dishes to choose from that you can try something different every time. I had some kind of breaded pork dish with cheese and tomatoes on top, along with a potato pancake and sauerkraut. It was delicious as usual! After that, we walked to the grocery store so I could pick up a couple of things. It was an early night. I was in bed by 8:00 so I could be rested for court.
Today's court session was a breeze. I met Daiga (our translator) early and we took a bus to the court building. We had time to go over some of Christina's documents while we waited for the others to arrive. Ilga G., the children's home director came soon after and greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. Ruta, the orphan court representative, was another familiar face as she was one of the inspectors who visited us when we were here on our last trip for the official bonding time.
The judge and prosecutor who were in attendance wore long black robes but other than that, it was even less formal than the previous court sessions we went to. I was so relieved because I expected to be grilled with tough questions. This judge asked me only a couple of questions. She asked how we met Christina so I told her about how we hosted her last summer and this past Christmas. Then she wanted to confirm that I was also representing Robert's interest in this case. Next she asked Ilga G. and Ruta questions. They had nothing but positive things to say. The prosecutor said she had no objections so that was that. The court was really backed up with cases so they didn't see the need to take additional time since everyone supported our adoption case. The judge, prosecutor and court reporter left the room and we waited for them to return. Soon after, the judge opened the door, poked her head out and told us she has ruled favorably and that we were free to go. That was it!! Robert and I are now officially parents!! This session was so quick that I didn't even have time to be nervous or even cry. I know your prayers had a lot to do with everything running so smoothly.
It's such a relief to be finished with the court session. Now I can focus on having fun for the rest of my time here. This afternoon both Olegs and Christina are coming over to spend the night. Christina had told Robert and me that she didn't want to stay overnight with me. I asked Ilga G. (their children's home director) about that and she said that Christina told her just the opposite. She told her that both she and Olegs are excited about spending the night. Who knows? I brought their birthday gifts with me since they both have birthdays in the next couple of weeks. They'll probably open their gifts when they first get here and then we'll meet up with Ilga L. She invited us to a party that they are having at the Salvation Army Day Center where she works. Then I think we're going to a movie and dinner with her and her husband, Janis, this evening.
It will really be good to see Olegs along with Christina. I wasn't sure if he'd want to see me since he hasn't been wanting to talk on the phone. It's hard to know what's going on with him sometimes. Hopefully, he really wants to see me and isn't just coming to pick up his Twister game. LOL!!
This will probably be my only post from Latvia before heading out tomorrow. I'll be spending the night in London on Saturday night before returning home on Sunday. It's really hard being here without Robert. I can't wait to get back home where I belong. The exciting thing is that next time I'll be coming to Latvia to pick up our new daughter. WOW! We officially have a daughter now. How awesome is that!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
3/13 - I'm Off to Latvia Tomorrow!
Believe it or not, I think I'm ready for this trip. We called the kids today and Christina told us that she's looking forward to my visit. She also made sure to tell me that Olegs wants me to bring some other toys of his in addition to his Twister game that he left here at Christmas. At least Christina knows that she'll be coming to America soon so she'll have her toys here.
Christina also informed us that she doesn't want to spend the night with me when I'm in Riga. She said that since she's already stayed there before, it's "not interesting" to her anymore. Forget the fact that her new mom is traveling across the world to see her!!!!! She said that she'd explain later and that she couldn't explain over the phone. I think it may have been boring for her at the flat last time since the TV stations were in French and there's only so much Uno we can play before going nuts. Robert and I decided that we won't push her on that. I'm sure we'll spend time together during the day and then she can go back to the children's home at night. We try to put ourselves in her shoes and think about what this process must be like for her. She has told us in the past that some of the other kids at the children's home have given her a hard time about being adopted. Then there are other friends that she hasn't even told yet because she's worried about what they'll say. It has to be so hard. She will be leaving everything she knows and starting over in an entirely new country. The next trip when I bring her home will be a difficult one for her.
So, I'm off to pack. Please say a prayer that all goes well on Friday and that I don't have a heart attack when the judge asks me questions in court. Actually, I think it will be okay. I don't even want to think about the possibility of having one of my nervous laughter attacks in court. That would not be cool! It will be fine...I hope. :-)
Stay tuned for the next post from Riga. I'll be staying near the internet cafe again, so I'm gonna try to keep the blog updated.
Atta ("goodbye"), for now!
Christina also informed us that she doesn't want to spend the night with me when I'm in Riga. She said that since she's already stayed there before, it's "not interesting" to her anymore. Forget the fact that her new mom is traveling across the world to see her!!!!! She said that she'd explain later and that she couldn't explain over the phone. I think it may have been boring for her at the flat last time since the TV stations were in French and there's only so much Uno we can play before going nuts. Robert and I decided that we won't push her on that. I'm sure we'll spend time together during the day and then she can go back to the children's home at night. We try to put ourselves in her shoes and think about what this process must be like for her. She has told us in the past that some of the other kids at the children's home have given her a hard time about being adopted. Then there are other friends that she hasn't even told yet because she's worried about what they'll say. It has to be so hard. She will be leaving everything she knows and starting over in an entirely new country. The next trip when I bring her home will be a difficult one for her.
So, I'm off to pack. Please say a prayer that all goes well on Friday and that I don't have a heart attack when the judge asks me questions in court. Actually, I think it will be okay. I don't even want to think about the possibility of having one of my nervous laughter attacks in court. That would not be cool! It will be fine...I hope. :-)
Stay tuned for the next post from Riga. I'll be staying near the internet cafe again, so I'm gonna try to keep the blog updated.
Atta ("goodbye"), for now!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
3/6 - Next Week, We'll be Parents!
It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'll be traveling to Latvia NEXT week. All of this waiting and now time seems to be flying by! I'll miss having Robert with me on this trip but at least I'll only have to be gone a couple of days. Once the court rules next Friday (assuming it's in our favor), Christina will officially be our daughter. WOW! This is really happening! The last step will be to go back and get her once the 20-day waiting period is up.
This week we were surprised to get a letter from Christina and Olegs. Actually, Christina told us last week to be expecting it. This was the first letter we've ever received from them so we couldn't rip it open fast enough. Since Olegs still isn't speaking to us when we call, we're fairly certain that Christina wrote the letter and signed his name. The letter was short and sweet, but she wrote that she loved and missed us and said she enjoyed the time we spent in Florida at Christmas. This letter is one of those things we'll save and cherish forever.
When we talked to Christina yesterday she sounded great. Last week, she was still getting over the flu but this week she's much better. Again, Olegs was MIA but Christina told us that he did manage to ask her to ask me to bring his Twister game when I come to Latvia. Of course, Robert and I said he needs to ask us himself. Christina says he's not angry with us, just doesn't want to talk. Whatever! We can't get all emotional about it. We still love him and want him to be our son. All kids go through a funky period and this must be his. Plus, we know it's not easy for him to see Christina being adopted while he doesn't even know if he'll be cleared. We're just taking things as they come and trusting the Lord to work it all out. Lord knows we'll drive ourselves crazy if we allow ourselves to get back on that emotional roller coaster again. No thanks!
Now that we've been to Latvia and back, all of our conversations with Christina since have been great. We're really feeling a special bond developing with her now. Before, Robert and I felt like we'd have to start from scratch each time we talked to her. Now we just pick up where we left off and she's able to speak a lot more English. We have our family jokes that we laugh about, etc. We told her that it's important to do well in school or she'll wind up living in a box and have to eat grass and make french fries at McDonald's. LOL! No, we're not gonna let the girl live in a box! She knows we're kidding and she kids right back by telling us that she loves grass and she'll set her box up in the backyard. That's what's so great. I think now that we've been to Latvia, everything is becoming so real to her and she's learning to trust us and be herself.
One final note: Thanks for all of the prayers for my 98-year old grandmother, who was in the hospital with pneumonia and then in a rehab/nursing facility for a few weeks. She is now back home with us where she belongs and doing much better with the new caregivers that stay with her now. We call her our Energizer Bunny!
This week we were surprised to get a letter from Christina and Olegs. Actually, Christina told us last week to be expecting it. This was the first letter we've ever received from them so we couldn't rip it open fast enough. Since Olegs still isn't speaking to us when we call, we're fairly certain that Christina wrote the letter and signed his name. The letter was short and sweet, but she wrote that she loved and missed us and said she enjoyed the time we spent in Florida at Christmas. This letter is one of those things we'll save and cherish forever.
When we talked to Christina yesterday she sounded great. Last week, she was still getting over the flu but this week she's much better. Again, Olegs was MIA but Christina told us that he did manage to ask her to ask me to bring his Twister game when I come to Latvia. Of course, Robert and I said he needs to ask us himself. Christina says he's not angry with us, just doesn't want to talk. Whatever! We can't get all emotional about it. We still love him and want him to be our son. All kids go through a funky period and this must be his. Plus, we know it's not easy for him to see Christina being adopted while he doesn't even know if he'll be cleared. We're just taking things as they come and trusting the Lord to work it all out. Lord knows we'll drive ourselves crazy if we allow ourselves to get back on that emotional roller coaster again. No thanks!
Now that we've been to Latvia and back, all of our conversations with Christina since have been great. We're really feeling a special bond developing with her now. Before, Robert and I felt like we'd have to start from scratch each time we talked to her. Now we just pick up where we left off and she's able to speak a lot more English. We have our family jokes that we laugh about, etc. We told her that it's important to do well in school or she'll wind up living in a box and have to eat grass and make french fries at McDonald's. LOL! No, we're not gonna let the girl live in a box! She knows we're kidding and she kids right back by telling us that she loves grass and she'll set her box up in the backyard. That's what's so great. I think now that we've been to Latvia, everything is becoming so real to her and she's learning to trust us and be herself.
One final note: Thanks for all of the prayers for my 98-year old grandmother, who was in the hospital with pneumonia and then in a rehab/nursing facility for a few weeks. She is now back home with us where she belongs and doing much better with the new caregivers that stay with her now. We call her our Energizer Bunny!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
2/28 - Next Court Date is March 16th!
We heard from our attorney this morning that our next court date will be on March 16th! Seems like we just got home and now it's time to go back again. I'll be traveling alone on this trip...leaving on March 14th and returning on March 18th. I'm a little nervous but not too bad. We found a great deal on a flight that goes through London again so I'll be traveling the same route Robert and I traveled together last time, staying in the same hotel in London.
I'm a little nervous about this next court session because I've heard that this court is very stern and cold. I'm told the people in this court do not smile and they make you stand when you address them. I only pray that when I open my mouth to speak that something at least a tiny bit intelligent comes out. When I get nervous, all bets are off. No telling what's liable to come out...could be a squeak or could be jibberish! I'm sure all will be fine but I can't help but be a little nervous.
The awesome part of this trip is that after this court appearance, Christina will be our daughter. The last step in this process will be to go back once more and pick her up. The Latvian government imposes a mandatory 20-day waiting period after this court rules so once that's up, I'll go back to get her.
Sometimes it hits us and we have to just stop and ponder the magnitude of what we're doing. We are adopting an 11-year old (soon to be 12) from Latvia. WOW!! Looking back on all of this, we can't help but see God's hand in the entire process from beginning to end. Everything has just fallen into place and even though we had to wait longer that first expected, it's actually turned out to be better. Christina will have some time to have fun in the summer, learn English and get used to her new life in America before having to adjust to school. She'll be able to start school in the fall just like all the other kids.
We plan to call the kids tomorrow to give them the news of this latest court date. Christina probably already knows. She has a way of getting the news before we do!
I'm a little nervous about this next court session because I've heard that this court is very stern and cold. I'm told the people in this court do not smile and they make you stand when you address them. I only pray that when I open my mouth to speak that something at least a tiny bit intelligent comes out. When I get nervous, all bets are off. No telling what's liable to come out...could be a squeak or could be jibberish! I'm sure all will be fine but I can't help but be a little nervous.
The awesome part of this trip is that after this court appearance, Christina will be our daughter. The last step in this process will be to go back once more and pick her up. The Latvian government imposes a mandatory 20-day waiting period after this court rules so once that's up, I'll go back to get her.
Sometimes it hits us and we have to just stop and ponder the magnitude of what we're doing. We are adopting an 11-year old (soon to be 12) from Latvia. WOW!! Looking back on all of this, we can't help but see God's hand in the entire process from beginning to end. Everything has just fallen into place and even though we had to wait longer that first expected, it's actually turned out to be better. Christina will have some time to have fun in the summer, learn English and get used to her new life in America before having to adjust to school. She'll be able to start school in the fall just like all the other kids.
We plan to call the kids tomorrow to give them the news of this latest court date. Christina probably already knows. She has a way of getting the news before we do!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
2/25 - Waiting for Next Court Date
Sorry I haven't posted any updates since we got back. There's really not a whole lot of news. Our attorney says we should hear our next court date by the end of this week. To be honest, we're really in no hurry. Once we get Christina home, we'll have to figure out what to do with her all summer. I'll be able to take a lot of time off from work so that helps, but I won't have the entire summer off. Rob can probably take a day or two here and there but the summer is usually a busy time for him so we'll see. We're ooking into getting Christina signed up for a fun camp or something and also a vacation bible school program. Things have fallen into place so far, so we know these remaining details will work out. I've already contacted the school Christina will be going to so we'll be setting up a meeting with the principal to discuss our situation and get their recommendation for Christina's grade placement. We're thankful we have all summer to get her tested, etc. before school starts next year.
We've talked to Christina twice since we've been home. She has been very talkative and sounds so excited about coming to America. She said she's only told her closest friends about her adoption because she doesn't want other kids to pick on her. This last time we talked to her she was very sick with the flu and said she had to miss school. She mentioned something about an ambulance coming to the school to take some of the sick kids away. We didn't totally understand what that was about. We have heard that when kids have a serious case of the flu, they are sent to a sanitorium (sounds scary at first, but it's not like what a "sanitorium" is here). My understanding is that their sanitorium is a place to be quarantined and cared for until they are better. Christina said she's been there before and was able to be out of school for the entire two weeks while she stayed there. Of course, she liked the part about missing school.
Olegs is a different story. He did take our call the first time we called after returning home, but we think it's only because the teacher that answered the phone yelled at him to talk to us. We could hear her screaming for him to get to the phone. He wasn't very talkative but we were at least able to tell him that we love him and miss him. He's not as open about his feelings like Christina is so it's hard to pinpoint what's going on with him, especially over the phone. We feel that he's probably sad to see that things are progressing with Christina's case while he has to wait. There's still a possiblity that he won't be cleared for adoption at all and there's nothing any of us can do about it. When we called last week, he didn't want to talk to us so we just told Christina to tell him we love him. We've just left it in the Lord's hands and will continue to try calling him and writing him. Even if he won't take our calls, we feel it's important for him to know that we won't stop trying.
It's hard to believe that the summer will be here before we know it. There is a group from Simple Obedience Ministries in Latvia now meeting with different children's homes and selecting children for this year's summer hosting. If you know of someone who is interested in hosting, please have them contact Jennifer Peters at Jennifer@SimplyForLatvia.org. For us, hosting has been one of the most rewarding experiences and it has changed our lives for the better.
We've talked to Christina twice since we've been home. She has been very talkative and sounds so excited about coming to America. She said she's only told her closest friends about her adoption because she doesn't want other kids to pick on her. This last time we talked to her she was very sick with the flu and said she had to miss school. She mentioned something about an ambulance coming to the school to take some of the sick kids away. We didn't totally understand what that was about. We have heard that when kids have a serious case of the flu, they are sent to a sanitorium (sounds scary at first, but it's not like what a "sanitorium" is here). My understanding is that their sanitorium is a place to be quarantined and cared for until they are better. Christina said she's been there before and was able to be out of school for the entire two weeks while she stayed there. Of course, she liked the part about missing school.
Olegs is a different story. He did take our call the first time we called after returning home, but we think it's only because the teacher that answered the phone yelled at him to talk to us. We could hear her screaming for him to get to the phone. He wasn't very talkative but we were at least able to tell him that we love him and miss him. He's not as open about his feelings like Christina is so it's hard to pinpoint what's going on with him, especially over the phone. We feel that he's probably sad to see that things are progressing with Christina's case while he has to wait. There's still a possiblity that he won't be cleared for adoption at all and there's nothing any of us can do about it. When we called last week, he didn't want to talk to us so we just told Christina to tell him we love him. We've just left it in the Lord's hands and will continue to try calling him and writing him. Even if he won't take our calls, we feel it's important for him to know that we won't stop trying.
It's hard to believe that the summer will be here before we know it. There is a group from Simple Obedience Ministries in Latvia now meeting with different children's homes and selecting children for this year's summer hosting. If you know of someone who is interested in hosting, please have them contact Jennifer Peters at Jennifer@SimplyForLatvia.org. For us, hosting has been one of the most rewarding experiences and it has changed our lives for the better.
Monday, February 12, 2007
2/12 - We're Home!!
It's true that there is no place like home!! We finally made it home last night after a long and excrutiating flight from London! Our flight from Riga to London on Saturday was pretty uneventful and only lasted 2 hrs. & 20 mins.
Early Saturday morning, Robert and I went to the bakery to pick up some pastries for breakfast. Ilga and Janis came by and shared them with us and we had a good visit before time to go to the airport. Evita, one of the ones who picked us up from the airport when we first got to Riga, came by right on schedule to take us to the airport today. We got there extra early so we had some time to kill. We were so excited to find that there is a Lido restaurant in the airport so we enjoyed our last Lido meal together while we watched the planes land and takeoff. It was so nice not to have to rush.
When we got to London on Saturday night we stayed in a hotel since our flight home didn't leave until Sunday morning. Everything was super until we got to our gate Sunday for our 9 hour flight home. Robert and I were sitting and talking as we waited to board our flight, just commenting about how smooth everything has been on this trip. I should have known that would "jinx" us because at that moment we noticed a rowdy group of about 30-40 preteen kids coming towards our gate. We instantly attempted to pray that somehow God would intervene and keep them walking right on past us to another gate. No such luck. They began congregating at our check-in counter...it was obvious they were going to be on our flight. OH NO!!! Well, as we boarded the flight we kept our eye on this bunch as they scurried to their seats like a bunch of ants.
To make a long story short, it was all we could do to keep our cool. We had two of these monsters sitting behind us, yelling at the top of their lungs and bumping the backs of our seats. Hour after hour this went on. Robert was about ready to roll up his Sky Mall Magazine and start beating them but instead tried reason. He politely but firmly pointed out to them that they were sitting right next to each other so there really was NO REASON TO YELL to each other!!! They calmed down for a little while but then cranked up the volume again to yell across the plane to their friends. Then, I just started to fall asleep when I awoke to feel my seat shaking like we were going through heavy turbulance. Instead it was our little friends behind us again. This time, I must admit I freaked out and probably looked a bit crazy when I came over the back of my seat at them and yelled, "WOULD YOU PLEASSSSSEE STOP SHAKING MY SEAT!!!!!!" (all the while shaking the seat myself to add to the dramatic effect). This seemed to work for a little while. They both looked at me like they were scared to death!!
The other passengers were clearly annoyed, as well. The flight attendants tried to keep order and warned the chaperones (who were seated all together away from the kids, by the way) that they'd better keep control because other passengers were complaining. One of the chaperones came and talked to the thugs behind us so they did eventually get better but it still was miserable. Robert was still not feeling well and fighting a fever at this point so this was pure torture. As you can imagine we were so thankful to finally land and get out of that flying tin can! WHEW!
So, as you can imagine, we're exhausted. I don't even want to think about when the next trip to Latvia will be. I'll be traveling on my own for that one. We're expecting it to be in about 4 to 6 weeks. At least that trip will be for a much shorter duration so maybe it won't be so bad. Our attorney will notify us of the date as soon as she hears something. As of this moment, I'm in no hurry!
Early Saturday morning, Robert and I went to the bakery to pick up some pastries for breakfast. Ilga and Janis came by and shared them with us and we had a good visit before time to go to the airport. Evita, one of the ones who picked us up from the airport when we first got to Riga, came by right on schedule to take us to the airport today. We got there extra early so we had some time to kill. We were so excited to find that there is a Lido restaurant in the airport so we enjoyed our last Lido meal together while we watched the planes land and takeoff. It was so nice not to have to rush.
When we got to London on Saturday night we stayed in a hotel since our flight home didn't leave until Sunday morning. Everything was super until we got to our gate Sunday for our 9 hour flight home. Robert and I were sitting and talking as we waited to board our flight, just commenting about how smooth everything has been on this trip. I should have known that would "jinx" us because at that moment we noticed a rowdy group of about 30-40 preteen kids coming towards our gate. We instantly attempted to pray that somehow God would intervene and keep them walking right on past us to another gate. No such luck. They began congregating at our check-in counter...it was obvious they were going to be on our flight. OH NO!!! Well, as we boarded the flight we kept our eye on this bunch as they scurried to their seats like a bunch of ants.
To make a long story short, it was all we could do to keep our cool. We had two of these monsters sitting behind us, yelling at the top of their lungs and bumping the backs of our seats. Hour after hour this went on. Robert was about ready to roll up his Sky Mall Magazine and start beating them but instead tried reason. He politely but firmly pointed out to them that they were sitting right next to each other so there really was NO REASON TO YELL to each other!!! They calmed down for a little while but then cranked up the volume again to yell across the plane to their friends. Then, I just started to fall asleep when I awoke to feel my seat shaking like we were going through heavy turbulance. Instead it was our little friends behind us again. This time, I must admit I freaked out and probably looked a bit crazy when I came over the back of my seat at them and yelled, "WOULD YOU PLEASSSSSEE STOP SHAKING MY SEAT!!!!!!" (all the while shaking the seat myself to add to the dramatic effect). This seemed to work for a little while. They both looked at me like they were scared to death!!
The other passengers were clearly annoyed, as well. The flight attendants tried to keep order and warned the chaperones (who were seated all together away from the kids, by the way) that they'd better keep control because other passengers were complaining. One of the chaperones came and talked to the thugs behind us so they did eventually get better but it still was miserable. Robert was still not feeling well and fighting a fever at this point so this was pure torture. As you can imagine we were so thankful to finally land and get out of that flying tin can! WHEW!
So, as you can imagine, we're exhausted. I don't even want to think about when the next trip to Latvia will be. I'll be traveling on my own for that one. We're expecting it to be in about 4 to 6 weeks. At least that trip will be for a much shorter duration so maybe it won't be so bad. Our attorney will notify us of the date as soon as she hears something. As of this moment, I'm in no hurry!
Friday, February 09, 2007
2/9 - Okay, It's Bitterly Cold & We're Ready to Come Home!
The weather here is freezing now!!! All of a sudden my puffy goose down jacket and Land's End boots aren't cutting it. Every time we go outside, we feel like we're slowly morphing into ice cubes. We're just ready to get back home to our nice warm house and our dog and kitty cats.Today has still been a great day despite the freezing temperatures! We just returned from taking Kristine back to the children's home. She wanted to go back a little early because she has missed her friends. Robert and I were actually a little happy because it seems like we haven't had much time to relax together. Finally, no more running to and from the bus and no more appointments to go to. Our final task will be to make it to the airport on time tomorrow. We took a cab to the children's home today because Kristine had her suitcase and we weren't sure of the bus schedule during the middle of the day. It's entirely too cold to be waiting for a bus! Our cab driver was Russian and didn't speak a word of English so thank goodness for our little translator, Kristine. ((Oh, by the way, she has decided that her new American name will be "Christina Michelle" so I need to get used to writing "Christina" now. We just loved her name so much that we didn't want her to change it altogether. She came up with the new spelling herself. It's actually because she likes Christina Aguillera but that will be our little secret. We're just thankful she finally gave up on being "Britney Spears")). Anyway, back to our taxi ride. Our cab waited outside for us while we went in and said hello to Christina's children's home director, Ilga G. About all we could say to her was "hello" and "thank you" but that was all we needed to say. She gave us a big smile and wished us well. We can tell she really cares about Christina and all of the kids under her care. We can imagine her job isn't an easy one for sure.
This morning at 9:45 we had our second orphan court session where the four court panel (two of the four women were different this time) asked us additional questions about our time with Christina and if we still intended to adopt her. They also asked us to leave the room so they could talk to Christina. Thankfully, they were also satisfied with her answers so we were relieved about that. You never know what that girl will say! The women on the panel were much friendlier this time (they gave lots of smiles) and were happy to tell us that they approve of our adoption and will recommend that the district court grant our adoption of Christina. The social worker from Christina's children's home forgot all about the session and missed it altogether. Luckily, it didn't affect the court's decision or delay things. Thank goodness Daiga, our translator, was there. WHEW!
After our court session this morning, we had to go to the notary office again to have a Power of Attorney document drawn up for Daiga to handle certain matters for us. Our attorney just had a baby so she isn't able to handle as much right now so she's delegating. We have nothing but great things to say about everyone who has helped us so far. This trip has been problem free from the moment we hit the ground at the airport.
Here's a recap of the time since my last post...
2/7 - Our attorney, Agnese, came by to meet us and brought her newborn baby, Esther Anne. This is the first time we've met Agnese in person. Agnese is a beautiful young woman (maybe early 30's) with jet black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She speaks a little English so we were able to communicate just fine in person. The phone calls are a little more challenging though. We went over some specifics about our case and talked about the procedures for our next trip. She assures us that all should go as planned. Agnese has taken care of every detail for us and even though we won't see her much during this trip, she's behind the scenes working hard to make sure that the correct documents are submitted on our behalf and that our translator is there when we need her, etc. Little Esther Anne was bundled up in the cutest little puffy white snow suit. The cold didn't seem to phase her one bit. We all kept our distance from her since we've been fighting the sore throat bug lately and didn't want to pass it along.
Robert was feeling really sick today with the painful sore throat that we've all had at some point on this trip. He stayed in while I went to pick up Christina at the bus stop, but was able to participate in the meeting with Agnese. We had all made plans to get together with Ilga this evening but Robert just wasn't up to it. Christina and I went on our own to meet Ilga. Our original plan was to go walk around the Art Nouveau district but since Robert couldn't go (and it was too cold anyway!), we changed plans and Ilga took us to the Laima chocolate store (chocolates made in Riga) and the special honey store. We had mentioned that we wanted to get a few gifts to take back to our friends. Our first stop was the aptieka or "drugstore". Each time I mention that one of us is sick, Ilga insists on taking us to get just the right medicine. We've accumulated various herb teas and cough drops, bee pollen etc. LOL! This time, we got some kind of throat spray that has antibiotic in it and as of this moment it seems to be working. Robert's feeling much, much better.
We set out on our walk to the chocolate store first. As we passed each block I thought surely it will be at the next corner. Well it was all the way across town and my feet were practically frozen solid!! I was so jealous that Robert was at the flat all warm and toasty in bed. The cold didn't seem to phase Ilga as she shuffled us down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. She and Janis have been so sweet to us. They have done so much to help us learn our way around and have shown us so many things. They are truly great friends that we know we'll have for a lifetime. Finally, we made it to the chocolate store where I was overwhelmed with all the choices. Robert wanted me to pick up this certain candy that he wanted and all he remembered was that it was in a blue wrapper and was a chocolate covered wafer. I tried to describe to Ilga what a wafer was and ended up saying "cookie." I think I got everyone confused. Well, I ended up getting a different candy in a blue wrapper that turned out to be the wrong one and was the one that we remembered we didn't like. The wrapper looked familiar to me so I thought it was safe. Oh well! While at the candy store, Janis showed up to meet us since his work is nearby. Both he and Ilga kept recommending various kinds of candy so they kept putting different things in my basket for us to try. I finally said I'd better not get anymore because I had no idea what it all would cost and had no clue what I was getting. It turned out not to be that much so we were fine.
Our next stop was the honey store. Once Ilga and Janis found out we like honey, they insisted we go to this special store. I just like basic natural honey. I wasn't prepared to choose from the many varieties at this store. We walked in and there were just too many choices. I just wanted a basic jar of honey. They were treating it as if we were picking out a fine wine or something. I'm just as happy with the plastic honey bear with the squeeze top that you can get at Publix. Finally, I just picked a couple of jars that were on the cheaper side and Janis said they looked like good choices to him. He also suggested I get this special bee pollen for Robert. It's supposed to have lots of vitamins, etc. Robert's taken it once or twice since then, along with the herb tea, etc. and he's feeling better. The last thing we want to do is be sick while we're here.
We began the long walk back towards our flat and I asked them if they knew of a good bakery. The walk back was just as agonizing as the walk to the stores. The company was great, but the weather was FREEZING! Poor Christina refused to wear the long johns we brought her so she was especially cold. We were in the middle of Riga's rush hour so the sidewalks were just full of people weaving in and out in between each other and walking a million miles per hour in all directions. All of a sudden we came upon some kind of accident. We couldn't tell what had happened but saw a police officer interviewing people and writing up some sort of report, his tiny police car pulled up on the sidewalk. Next thing we knew, the crowd we were in the midst of was slightly detouring and shuffling past something on the sidewalk, still walking at a million miles an hour. Well, as we came upon it, Ilga turned back to us (while still walking) and said, "Be careful. It's dead." It didn't register what was happening until we were almost past a dead body lying there next to our feet and covered by a tarp. I don't know if this person got hit by a car while walking across the street or what but it was just such a disturbing experience to see. Someone lost their life here and people were just shuffling by without skipping a beat. It seemed like we should be having some moment of silence or something...a human being just died here!! Ilga and Janis continued guiding us towards the bakery and tried to make us feel better by changing the subject to what we wanted to get at the bakery. We got some fresh pastries at the bakery, said our goodbyes and Christina and I headed back to the flat. When we got back to the flat, Christina and I just hugged each other, taking deep breaths and trying to make sense out of what we saw. Sometimes we don't understand why things happen the way they do. Robert and I only wish we could have somehow protected Christina from witnessing this. She has already seen and experienced so much hurt in her life. I think we were officially ready to go home at this point.
2/8 - The main event for today was our second inspector visit. The inspector, Arte, and another woman named Ruta (a very nice older woman...maybe Arte's supervisor) arrived before our translator, Daiga. Arte and Ruta began asking Christina questions while Robert and I sat there not understanding a word. I did understand when Christina told them her new name "Christina Michelle" so that was good. If she's picked out a new name, that tells them she wants to be adopted. They all kept looking at us and smiling so we felt they were either laughing at us or Christina was saying nice things. Thankfully, it was the latter. Arte was the same woman who came the first time and she was very warm and friendly. She assured us that they support our adoption and that they are just going through their procedures so that everything will be in order. Ruta was also very friendly and at times took the lead asking us questions (Daiga had since arrived by this time to translate). Christina was so interested in Ruta's hair which was a deep burgundy color, a bob style with bangs. The questions we were asked weren't too difficult, much like those we were asked in the beginning. They mainly want to confirm whether we still want to adopt Christina and confirm that we're all getting along. We were all so relieved when it was over and we got our official invitation to come to the court session on Feb. 9th. WHEW!
Please keep Olegs in your prayers. We didn't get to see much of him since last weekend. He has some relatives in town that he's been spending time with. We've been okay with it since this trip we're supposed to be focusing on Christina anyway. We're always happy if he's getting attention whether it be from us or from his relatives. It's been hard on him to see things happening with Christina now while he has to wait. Since we saw him last, he has said he doesn't want to take our calls. He obviously is trying to distance himself from us because he's hurting. We mentioned this to our friend Helen and she offered to take him a letter for us. She is so busy herself but took the time to drive all the way to Olegs' children's home and read our letter to him herself, translating it for him. Now that is a true friend! We just wrote Olegs a heartfelt letter telling him that we are happy that he's getting to spend time with his family and that we will always love him and be his American family no matter what happens. It's just hard because we still don't know which way the court will rule in his case. As time passes, he may decide he doesn't want to be with us. Robert and I have just given it up to the Lord to sort out. We can't control any of it anyway. All we can do is keep writing and trying to call Olegs. We just want him to really understand how much we love him.
Other random things...
I made the mistake of buying water w/gas (as Latvian's call it) or what we'd refer to as sparkling water at the store. The bottled water is either spring water like we're used to or the sparkling water. Well, I just grabbed a bottle and got the wrong kind. Very frustrating!
We also tried Kvass which is the drink people here try to pass off as Latvia's version of Coca-Cola. Well, let me tell you it is NOT anything close to Coke. It is just plain NASTY and tastes like some kind of licorice tea or something!! We're told that most Americans don't like it and Robert and I are now officially on that list. We did have a friend of ours describe it as tasting like dirty, sweaty gym socks. We should have just taken her word for it and left it alone. Christina insisted that we try it so we did. She loves it. YEEEEEUUUKKK!!!
I don't know if I mentioned that when you purchase things at any store here, you don't just hand the money to the cashier. You have to put your money or credit card on a small tray at the check-out counter. You'll get funny looks if you try to hand the money directly to the cashier. It seems inefficient to me, but what do I know. They must have a good reason for doing things this way but I can't figure out what it is.
With that, this is will be my last post from Latvia. Tomorrow, Ilga and Janis are coming over for a goodbye breakfast and Evita (the woman who helped reserve the flat for us) will be taking us to the airport at 1:00. We're flying to London and will spend the night in a hotel this time before traveling the rest of the way home on Sunday. We are so thankful we've survived our two weeks without problems! We know that's in large part due to your prayers! Stay tuned for the next post from American soil! Boy do we appreciate and miss our country!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
2/6 - Having Fun but Homesick
This morning was pretty crazy. For some reason our alarm didn't go off and we woke up at 7:20!! Well, Kristine has to be at the bus stop at 7:50 to catch her bus for school!! As you can imagine, I shrieked in panic as soon as I saw the clock. We all jumped out of bed and scurried around as fast as we could to get her ready in time. We are so thankful that she's a morning person. We haven't had one problem getting her to wake up and get ready in the mornings. She got dressed in a flash, ate breakfast and we were out the door. We even got to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare! WHEW!! Talk about an adrenaline rush!!Here's a recap of the last few days. I'm at the internet cafe, so I'm trying to hurry. Actually, the cost isn't that expensive but I still don't like to pay one penny more than we have to. It costs about .50-.60 lats per hour..about $1 per hour in US dollars. This particular internet cafe is located at 75 Elizabetes Iela. This might be helpful to you if you'll be traveling to Riga without a computer. Our flat is on Terbatas iela so this cafe is very convenient for us.
Okay, here's the recap...
2/2 - This day, we woke up to our typical morning race to the bus. Robert and I had thought we'd have plenty of time to relax but there's not much time for that between getting Kristine to and from school and trying to get out and see the city in between. There was snow on the ground again and the shop owners were already out on the streets shoveling the snow from the sidewalks into neat piles. It really is interesting to see all the locals going about their daily routines...parents taking kids to school and workers heading to work, etc. For a moment, we feel a part of it until the strange stares start happening again. One thing we have to be careful about is the traffic here. This is not a pedestrian friendly city. You almost just have to run across the street with your eyes closed and pray that you make it to the other side. We mainly cross when the locals cross so at least then we feel that we have a fighting chance. I'm so glad we didn't rent a car. There is no way we would be able to navigate these streets with the snow and sludge and the other wreckless drivers. You basically have to do everything defensively here and you'll be okay.
Robert, Kristine and I are all fighting sore throats. There must be something about the air here. Ilga helped us get some good medicine and herbal tea that is helping so we're taking that. The last thing we need is to be sick. This day was pretty uneventful. I guess the most exciting thing that happened was when a big clump of snow fell off of a building as Kristine and I were walking home from the bus stop after school. It just barely missed hitting us. Robert stayed at the flat that day so he missed that excitement. While I waited for Kristine at the bus stop after school, I got more stares. As one of the buses stopped, I noticed a young guy on the bus nudge his friend sitting next to him and they both looked at me and started laughing. It was all I could do to keep from sticking my tongue out at them. Instead I just smiled and decided that they must just be jealous...jealous of what, I don't know but it made me feel better anyway.
2/3 - Saturday was a fun day. Olegs got permission to spend the night with us so we met him at the bus stop at 11:30 a.m. Ilga & Janis arrived a few minutes later in their car so they could take us around. Our first stop was the HUGE market in old Riga. This market is housed in gigantic hangar buildings that were used during World War II to house zeppelins. We would estimate the size inside these buildings to be about three or four football fields put together...HUGE!!. There are maybe four or five buildings and each specializes in a different product. For example, one is strictly meat, one is dairy, etc. We had thousands of items to choose from in each specialty. Thank goodness Ilga and Janis were there to steer us towards the best products. They pointed out that if there is a line at a particular counter, that means that the products sold there are better. In the area outside the hangars, vendors had all types of boothes set up with clothing, shoes, souveniers, fruits & vegetables...basically, a giant flea market. 
Olegs had lost the gloves we bought him in the US so we found him some gloves at the market. We tried to find Kristine some shoes, but she couldn't find anything she liked so we had to abandon that plan after trying almost every booth. Robert found a Russian style hat made of rabbit fur that a friend had asked us to find. I forget the name of it but it's one of those traditional old style hats that you'll see a lot in old Russian movies, pictures, etc.
Our best acquisition was the kilogram of crab meat we purchased for about $3.00 (US amount). This was just the crab meat without the shell too. We also got some other type of smoked fish that had cheese in it. We finished up by getting some smoked chicken legs and wings and some fresh butter. When we got home, we melted some of the butter and dipped the crab meat into it. Talk about being in heaven!! One other item we got was a small jar of chopped of seeds of various kinds. The woman selling those had spread the seeds over a slice of bread with butter. It sounds so simple but is actually quite delicious.After our trip to the market, Ilga and Janis drove us out to their flat in Jurmala. This is the resort area where there is a beach on the Baltic Sea. The flats look much like houses you'd see in any beach town. There are some really big ones and small ones, etc. Our first stop was the Baltic Sea. The water was very choppy and huge waves were crashing on the shore. It was such a unique experience to see a beach with ice and snow on the shore instead of white sand. Robert, Olegs and Janis had a snow ball fight with each other and that was fun. The sand there, at least what we could see in between the ice and snow, is actually a beige and grey color. The weather was bone chilling cold that day and the wind was whipping right through us. This was a high point on our list of "must sees"...how cool it was to see the real Baltic Sea!! Ilga said that when the weather is really cold, the entire sea freezes over. She talked of times when she used to go lay on the ice and was able to hear certain sounds of creatures underneath the ice swimming in the sea. WOW!
After we left the beach, we went to Ilga and Janis's flat which is actually on a river that flows near the sea. There was lots of snow and sludge on the ground and on the road. It is so amazing to us how Janis and Ilga are able to navigate their small Ford Fiesta through this stuff without even coming close to getting stuck. On the way to the flat, we saw many fisherman out in the river fishing. We walked out to the river bank to get a closer look but had to turn away because the area was marshy with ice and sludge. There were maybe 15 or so men out there fishing and Robert would've loved to have been one of them if we had more time and if the weather had been just a tad warmer.
We were all starving after our big day of sight seeing so we finished up by eating at a place called Big Lido. This place has the same type of food as the smaller Lido's I mentioned before but there are maybe 3 floors to this place. It is a huge log cabin type building all decorated in lights. They also boast that they have the largest outdoor ice skating rink in the Baltics. One thing to mention about this place is that they only take cash. The smaller Lidos take credit cards but for some reason this place doesn't. If you eat here, you'll want to have cash with you when you check out. They do have an ATM at the front door so it's not a problem if you have your ATM card with you.
After stuffing our faces with more authentic Latvian cuisine washed down with an American Coca-Cola, we ventured out to the ice skating rink. Robert and Janis decided to watch rather than skate themselves. I actually got out there and tried it (my very first time ever ice skating) and am proud to say I only fell once. Olegs was a pro and went up on the high ice banks on the edge and flew down the side. Kristine was a little slower so she hung out with me some. Ilga had her own skates and was also a pro. This was nothing new to her as she had skated hundreds of times since her childhood. Kristine asked me to rent her a "penguin" which was actually partly for me too. At the rink they have three foot tall fiberglass penguins with handles on each side of their heads that you can hold onto to keep from falling. You skate behind the penquin and hold onto the handles. You'll see mostly young kids with these but I used it quite a bit myself. I had to bend a good ways down at the waste to hold onto it but it did help me stay up and keep from falling. I was able to go faster too. I got a few laughs but I didn't care. We were having fun so that was what mattered!! We skated about an hour and then it was time to go. We were pretty pooped after a fun day. Ilga and Janis dropped us off at the flat.2/4 - Today we had met up with Ilga and Janis again so we could attend church with them. It turns out that Olegs had some relatives in town so we put him on a bus early to go meet them. Any time he can see his family we encourage that of course. It's hard to understand how he can have family, yet he has to live in a children's home. We just pray that what's best for him will happen. We can't control anything anyway so that's pretty much all we can do. We just don't want him to grow up in the children's home. If his family can't care for him, then we want to so badly.
Ilga had told us beforehand that their church service would be three hours long but it actually didn't seem that long once we were there. They had headphones that we could wear so we could hear an English translation of the service. It was much like our services at home except ours is just an hour. A couple of the songs they sang were actually Latvian versions of songs we sing at our church. That was neat. It was just special to see all of these people worshipping freely, knowing that just a few years ago they would have never been able to do so without persecution.
On a side note...Kristine had decided she wasn't going to talk to us that day so we had to get Ilga to talk to her yet again. She did and things got better later. After church, Ilga and Janis took us for a stroll around Old Riga. Basically, the city is separated into two major sections, New Riga (where we're staying) and Old Riga. The Daugava river is the dividing line between the two sections. The real historic buildings can be found in the old section. What an amazing (sorry to use this word so much but it just fits so well) place. Many of these buildings date back to medeival times...back to the 1200's. Robert and I love the history that can be found here. We just don't get that in America since our country is so young. We saw beautiful cathedrals, parliament buildings, etc. I'll try to do a more detailed post about the places we saw. I don't have my notes with me so I forget the names of many of the places. We're finding out so much about the struggles the Latvian people have faced over the years to become an independent nation. This country has spent so much of it's existence being occupied by other countries, including Germany, Switzerland, the USSR, etc. It was only just a few years ago in 1991 that this country became truly independent. Just knowing this helps us understand why the society may appear cold to us. These people have been through so much and were lied to for so many years, it's probably not easy to trust. One place that Robert and I want to return to is the occupation museum. We stopped there with Ilga and Janis but didn't have time to go through the exhibits since the museum was closing. We did purchase a book that includes details about the years of persecution the Latvians endured. It only makes us love and appreciate this country even more. We want to learn all that we can since this is such a big part of Kristine's heritage.
2/5 - The only thing on the agenda for today was to get together with Helen Vipass, a British missionary here in Latvia who had been one of the chaperones who accompanied the kids when they came during the summer. We had a scary experience when we first got to Helen's office. I was on the phone calling her to come outside and meet us when all of a sudden a terrible car crash happened before our eyes. I told Helen and she immediately ran outside to see what was happening. The wreck was between a small SUV and another smaller car. The SUV flipped over on it's side just a few feet in front of us. A crowd had gathered and Robert ran over to try to help get the guy out. Thankfully, he was okay and was able to climb out on his own. The other person was also okay and able to get out of the car under his own power. It was amazing that no one was killed. What was even scarier was that Robert and I had just crossed that intersection only a few minutes earlier. The locals, trying to be helpful, pushed the SUV back upright but then it started to roll and hit another car. At that point, the drivers all began shouting at each other so Helen, Robert and I decided we'd better go inside before a fight ensued.
Once we all calmed down, Helen told us more about her work in Latvia. She is one of the founders of Hope for Children, which is an organization that runs day centers and foster homes for children throughout Latvia. There are thousands of children who live in children's homes here and even more who live in horrible abusive, family environments with no encouragement or love. Helen talked of how she had no plans to start such a mission but it came about after she began talking to children one by one as she saw them on the street. After hearing each child's individual story, she grew to love them so much and sought to do anything she could to help. First it was by buying an individual child something to eat for the day and later it grew into something much bigger. She showed us pictures of many of the children she's helped and shared their stories with us...some have happy endings and some don't. It's hard to describe here but it was just such a moving experience to see what a difference she has made in her own small way.
We took Helen to lunch and then went to the bus stop to meet Kristine. We told Helen we'd bring her back aftewards so she could see her. It turns out that Kristine got out of school early because the teacher for her last class had to go to the doctor. She was at the bus stop when we got there but said she'd been back and forth between the bus stop and the flat looking for us. We told her it was very smart of her to go back to the bus stop and wait. The last thing we need is to lose the girl. We have our second inspector visit on Friday and we don't this to come out. Everyone says it's okay for the kids to come home by themselves from the bus stop. We've been walking Kristine to and from the bus stop everyday anyway. I think Robert and I will be so glad to get home to the US where we might get some much needed rest. LOL!!
One more note, we were so excited to see that the Colts won the super bowl. YIPPEE!!! Robert stayed up until about 2 a.m. to watch the game. After surfing the millions of channels on our satellite, he finally found a German channel that was showing the superbowl. He couldn't understand anything the announcers were saying but at least he could see that plays. I went to bed early that night because I was just as happy to find out the winner in the morning. Ever since Tony Dungy left the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, we've been hoping he'd get his super bowl win. He is a class act so we were so happy for him!! My fingers are about worn to nubs after this post. Robert is here on the computer next to me and says "Hi". It's almost bus time so we'd better get motoring to get Kristine.
Friday, February 02, 2007
2/2 - Adjusting to Latvian Life!
Things are going almost too perfectly (except the locals still make fun of us :-)). We had our first meeting with the orphan court inspector on Wednesday afternoon (1/31). It turns out that this woman was the woman who headed the court session on Monday. This meeting was very informal and she was extremely nice. Our translator, Daiga, was there once again to help us all communicate. The questions were rather routine. The inspector wanted to know how we were spending our time with Kristine. We told her we've been spending most of our time taking Kristine to the bus stop for school and picking her up afterwards. We did mention giong out to eat once or twice and said we spent time with our Latvian friends, Ilga & Janis (it was good to name drop Ilga's name because the inspector knew of her). The woman asked why we didn't request to have Kristine miss school while we were here. We told her that we had been told that she must attend school so we didn't think keeping her out of school was an option in our case. We added that we thought it was important for her to keep up with her school work so she agreed. It's actually been nice having her go to school because it gives Robert and me some time to catch our breath. The only pain is that we have to pick her up around 2:00 so it's hard for us to go exploring to far because we have to make it back in time. We plan to do some fun things this weekend.
Okay, back to the inspector visit....
The inspector asked Kristine some questions and we were stunned when Kristine told her that she didn't feel comfortable asking us for food. WHAT???!!! Of course, Robert and I jumped in and reminded her that she didn't appear shy when it came to asking for fruit rollups, cereal, juice, bananas, sausages, or the many other things we've let her pick out at the grocery store. The last thing we need is the inspector thinking that we don't feed the girl. Kristine later clarified her statement and said she was shy on the inside. WHATEVER!! That made absolutely no sense and the inspector just chuckled and continued with her questions. The inspector went on to ask Kristine certain questions about her past and the tone of the conversation began to change. Kristine began to become withdrawn somewhat. We had to remind her that the orphan court is only looking out for her best interest so they have to ask her all kinds of questions. She understood and reluctantly continued answering the questions. All in all, it was a very positive meeting. Daiga called us afterwards to tell us that she had a good talk with the inspector and she is very supportive of our adoption. She was concerned that we might be worried that things didn't go well. Actually, we weren't worried at all because but it was nice of her to take the time to reassure us.
This morning we met Daiga at a notary office so we could sign the Power of Attorney document allowing me to handle things on Robert's behalf since I'll be traveling alone for the next trip. The notaries here are not like those in the U.S. Here they are more like attorneys and also have the power to draft and negotiate agreements. Our process this morning was quick and painless. Daiga was there to translate the document for us so we could be sure all was in order. We are so thankful for her help and would be lost without her!
Yesterday evening, we met with the children's home director, Ilga G. We met our friend, Ilga L., at her work so she could drive us from there to the children's home. This was a good time for us to deliver some gifts we brought for the director, her staff and the children. We brought the director some coffee and chocolates and brought the kids some board games and candy that they could all share. Our meeting was really nice and informal. We mainly wanted to know if there was any additional information in Kristine's background that we should know about. The orphan court had asked us if we had reviewed her documents and at that time we hadn't. We want to be able to state that we have seen her documents when we have our next court session on Feb. 9th. The director pulled Kristine's book which includes documents about the circumstances surrounding her arrival at the children's home, etc. It turns out that Kristine has already shared most of the information with us but it was good to hear it from an official source. The director was very supportive of us and a kind woman. It helped that she and Ilga L. are friends so we could all talk informally. Kristine's case is pretty straightfoward and she sees no reason why things won't move along as planned. We also used this opportunity to ask about Olegs. She reassured us that she has submitted the documents to get him cleared for adoption. The court that handles those cases is very backed up so it could still take 6 months to a year for him to be free. When it's time for Olegs' case to be heard, he will be asked what he wishes so he'll be able to say that he wants to come with us. He will have his 12th birthday in March and once kids turn 12 they have more say in the process and their wishes are given more weight by the courts. We just told Ilga G. that we already feel like a family and she shared that she noticed such a big change in the children after they spent time with us. She agrees that it would be a positive thing for us to adopt both children. She even commented that we already look like family. We finished the conversation by inviting Ilga G. to America. Ilga L. is trying to convince her to learn English so she can be a chaperone for one of the future hostings. We told her we'll be happy to show her America if she comes one day. It was just so nice to meet her and for her to see in person how we interact with the kids. Kristine was with us and then Olegs popped into her office for a hug and kiss before we left. I think she can see that we all share a genuine love for each other and hopefully, she can share this with the court when the time comes. One other happy thing is that she surprised us by saying Olegs can spend the entire weekend with us. She had previously said it would be better if he didn't stay overnight. That means he gets to spend the night on Saturday!! We are SO excited because it's been hard on him knowing that Kristine is with us while he can't be. We'll be meeting him at the bus tomorrow morning along with Ilga L. & Janis. Ilga & Janis are going to show us around Jurmala, the beach resort area where they have a vacation flat. We won't be venturing out into the water, but it will be neat to see. Then we're supposed to go to a huge restaurant called Big Lido where they have an ice skating rink. I've never ice skated before but told them I'd try. I figure everyone's already laughing at us anyway, they might as well laugh at me while I try to skate. So far, Robert said he's not going to skate but maybe if we apply some heavy peer pressure he'll change his mind. :-))
Here's some random info about our experience. I'm at the internet cafe trying not to take too long so this is in no particular order.
We've tried lots of new foods. Kristine introduced us to something called "doctor sausage." That's the English translation...not sure how to say it in Latvian. She showed us how she melts the pack of butter by setting it on the radiator. Then she'll spread the butter on a sandwich and add slices of the meat. We've had those sandwiches almost everyday. Robert says it reminds him of braunschweiger (sp?). Kristine also picked out some really good frozen ravioli things that are stuffed with pork instead of cheese. She said she has them with white sauce but it turns out the sauce she eats them with is sour cream. We actually tried it and it's pretty darn good. Ilga introduced us to karums, which are large chocolate covered squares with cream cheese in the middle. They are very popular treats here and they come in all types of flavors like vanilla, chocolate, nut, coconut, etc. So far, Robert and I like the chocolate ones the best. Kristine says people eat them for breakfast but we've been eating them like dessert.
Our grocery store experiences are always interesting. The store called Rimi seems to be more like our Publix in that the food selection is better and the fruit & vegetables are fresh. The other grocery, Maxim, is much lower quality but it's closer to us. The other day we went to Maxim and the checkout lady was trippin' on us big time. As she was scanning our items, she'd glance down and then look up at us out of the corner of her eye (never making eye contact) and staring. Then she'd look down again. She seemed so nervous. I don't know if she thought we were going to rob the place, or what. She even looked scared. I thought she might go get security. Good grief!!! When these people stare at us I just want to yell at the top of my lungs, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT???!!! It made matters worse that I was paying by credit card (everyone else paid cash) so the line backed up. Then we got home and found out that the toilet paper we bought was actually paper towels. ARRRGGHHH!! I was in no mood to go back to the store, so I just told everyone that they'd just have to use the paper towels and I'd go back out the next day for the TP.
Robert had a similar incident when he went to a fishing store down the street. He went intending to talk to the locals about fishing in the area. Well, they wanted nothing to do with him. He wandered around the store and went downstairs where it turns out they had firearms for sale. He was just looking and checking prices when the clerk down there started watching his every move. He'd go to one end of the store and she'd go to the opposite end. Finally, she yelled to the other male clerk upstairs to come down so she could go upstairs. Clearly she was scared for some reason. So then poor Robert had a man staring at him. Latvians need to learn that if they want to sell things in their stores, it might be good business to actually talk to their customers and be nice. What a concept!!
Robert also had a staring contest with the guard at the American embassy. He stood across the street and the guard there stood on his side of the street just watching him. He had fun with it this time and decided to see if he could make the guard look away first. Finally, the guard did look away and was probably tired of all this nonsense. We're both trying to have more fun with it and we're staring right back at people when they stare at us. We can play that game too!!
Robert finally did have a good experience when he stopped to talk to the people who worked at one of the local optical shops (which are all over the place, by the way). He met the optometrist there and she spoke some English. They were able to talk about the products sold in Latvia versus the products sold in America. Many of the products are similar such as Acuvue contacts, etc. It was just a very nice experience and so different from the prior ones. I guess if we keep trying, sooner or later we're bound to make a friend or two.
Kristine says we talk too loud and that might be why people stare at us. When she and I go out together we play a game where I pretend to be Latvian and she'll talk to me in Russian or Latvian and I'll pretend to understand and reply in a simple "Da" ("yes") or "Nyet" ("no"). We usually get so tickled that we both wind up drawing even more attention to ourselves rather than blending in. Robert has this habit of whistling at times and it drives Kristine crazy because people stare. People in Latvia just don't whistle.
Oh, another interesting thing is that we keep hearing these birds that sound like seagulls. It's just strange hearing them here because it's so cold, but they sound just like the ones at the beach in Florida. Also, we've seen a couple of Latvian kitties. The cats don't play around either. They all have a place to go and have their thick wool coats on. Even the kitties look at us strange and run away from us. We're just Americans and there's no way to hide it, even the animals can sense it.
I don't have time to reread this so it's probably full of mispellings, etc. Gotta go get ready to pick up Kristine at the bus stop!
Atta ("goodbye"), for now!!
Okay, back to the inspector visit....
The inspector asked Kristine some questions and we were stunned when Kristine told her that she didn't feel comfortable asking us for food. WHAT???!!! Of course, Robert and I jumped in and reminded her that she didn't appear shy when it came to asking for fruit rollups, cereal, juice, bananas, sausages, or the many other things we've let her pick out at the grocery store. The last thing we need is the inspector thinking that we don't feed the girl. Kristine later clarified her statement and said she was shy on the inside. WHATEVER!! That made absolutely no sense and the inspector just chuckled and continued with her questions. The inspector went on to ask Kristine certain questions about her past and the tone of the conversation began to change. Kristine began to become withdrawn somewhat. We had to remind her that the orphan court is only looking out for her best interest so they have to ask her all kinds of questions. She understood and reluctantly continued answering the questions. All in all, it was a very positive meeting. Daiga called us afterwards to tell us that she had a good talk with the inspector and she is very supportive of our adoption. She was concerned that we might be worried that things didn't go well. Actually, we weren't worried at all because but it was nice of her to take the time to reassure us.
This morning we met Daiga at a notary office so we could sign the Power of Attorney document allowing me to handle things on Robert's behalf since I'll be traveling alone for the next trip. The notaries here are not like those in the U.S. Here they are more like attorneys and also have the power to draft and negotiate agreements. Our process this morning was quick and painless. Daiga was there to translate the document for us so we could be sure all was in order. We are so thankful for her help and would be lost without her!
Yesterday evening, we met with the children's home director, Ilga G. We met our friend, Ilga L., at her work so she could drive us from there to the children's home. This was a good time for us to deliver some gifts we brought for the director, her staff and the children. We brought the director some coffee and chocolates and brought the kids some board games and candy that they could all share. Our meeting was really nice and informal. We mainly wanted to know if there was any additional information in Kristine's background that we should know about. The orphan court had asked us if we had reviewed her documents and at that time we hadn't. We want to be able to state that we have seen her documents when we have our next court session on Feb. 9th. The director pulled Kristine's book which includes documents about the circumstances surrounding her arrival at the children's home, etc. It turns out that Kristine has already shared most of the information with us but it was good to hear it from an official source. The director was very supportive of us and a kind woman. It helped that she and Ilga L. are friends so we could all talk informally. Kristine's case is pretty straightfoward and she sees no reason why things won't move along as planned. We also used this opportunity to ask about Olegs. She reassured us that she has submitted the documents to get him cleared for adoption. The court that handles those cases is very backed up so it could still take 6 months to a year for him to be free. When it's time for Olegs' case to be heard, he will be asked what he wishes so he'll be able to say that he wants to come with us. He will have his 12th birthday in March and once kids turn 12 they have more say in the process and their wishes are given more weight by the courts. We just told Ilga G. that we already feel like a family and she shared that she noticed such a big change in the children after they spent time with us. She agrees that it would be a positive thing for us to adopt both children. She even commented that we already look like family. We finished the conversation by inviting Ilga G. to America. Ilga L. is trying to convince her to learn English so she can be a chaperone for one of the future hostings. We told her we'll be happy to show her America if she comes one day. It was just so nice to meet her and for her to see in person how we interact with the kids. Kristine was with us and then Olegs popped into her office for a hug and kiss before we left. I think she can see that we all share a genuine love for each other and hopefully, she can share this with the court when the time comes. One other happy thing is that she surprised us by saying Olegs can spend the entire weekend with us. She had previously said it would be better if he didn't stay overnight. That means he gets to spend the night on Saturday!! We are SO excited because it's been hard on him knowing that Kristine is with us while he can't be. We'll be meeting him at the bus tomorrow morning along with Ilga L. & Janis. Ilga & Janis are going to show us around Jurmala, the beach resort area where they have a vacation flat. We won't be venturing out into the water, but it will be neat to see. Then we're supposed to go to a huge restaurant called Big Lido where they have an ice skating rink. I've never ice skated before but told them I'd try. I figure everyone's already laughing at us anyway, they might as well laugh at me while I try to skate. So far, Robert said he's not going to skate but maybe if we apply some heavy peer pressure he'll change his mind. :-))
Here's some random info about our experience. I'm at the internet cafe trying not to take too long so this is in no particular order.
We've tried lots of new foods. Kristine introduced us to something called "doctor sausage." That's the English translation...not sure how to say it in Latvian. She showed us how she melts the pack of butter by setting it on the radiator. Then she'll spread the butter on a sandwich and add slices of the meat. We've had those sandwiches almost everyday. Robert says it reminds him of braunschweiger (sp?). Kristine also picked out some really good frozen ravioli things that are stuffed with pork instead of cheese. She said she has them with white sauce but it turns out the sauce she eats them with is sour cream. We actually tried it and it's pretty darn good. Ilga introduced us to karums, which are large chocolate covered squares with cream cheese in the middle. They are very popular treats here and they come in all types of flavors like vanilla, chocolate, nut, coconut, etc. So far, Robert and I like the chocolate ones the best. Kristine says people eat them for breakfast but we've been eating them like dessert.
Our grocery store experiences are always interesting. The store called Rimi seems to be more like our Publix in that the food selection is better and the fruit & vegetables are fresh. The other grocery, Maxim, is much lower quality but it's closer to us. The other day we went to Maxim and the checkout lady was trippin' on us big time. As she was scanning our items, she'd glance down and then look up at us out of the corner of her eye (never making eye contact) and staring. Then she'd look down again. She seemed so nervous. I don't know if she thought we were going to rob the place, or what. She even looked scared. I thought she might go get security. Good grief!!! When these people stare at us I just want to yell at the top of my lungs, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT???!!! It made matters worse that I was paying by credit card (everyone else paid cash) so the line backed up. Then we got home and found out that the toilet paper we bought was actually paper towels. ARRRGGHHH!! I was in no mood to go back to the store, so I just told everyone that they'd just have to use the paper towels and I'd go back out the next day for the TP.
Robert had a similar incident when he went to a fishing store down the street. He went intending to talk to the locals about fishing in the area. Well, they wanted nothing to do with him. He wandered around the store and went downstairs where it turns out they had firearms for sale. He was just looking and checking prices when the clerk down there started watching his every move. He'd go to one end of the store and she'd go to the opposite end. Finally, she yelled to the other male clerk upstairs to come down so she could go upstairs. Clearly she was scared for some reason. So then poor Robert had a man staring at him. Latvians need to learn that if they want to sell things in their stores, it might be good business to actually talk to their customers and be nice. What a concept!!
Robert also had a staring contest with the guard at the American embassy. He stood across the street and the guard there stood on his side of the street just watching him. He had fun with it this time and decided to see if he could make the guard look away first. Finally, the guard did look away and was probably tired of all this nonsense. We're both trying to have more fun with it and we're staring right back at people when they stare at us. We can play that game too!!
Robert finally did have a good experience when he stopped to talk to the people who worked at one of the local optical shops (which are all over the place, by the way). He met the optometrist there and she spoke some English. They were able to talk about the products sold in Latvia versus the products sold in America. Many of the products are similar such as Acuvue contacts, etc. It was just a very nice experience and so different from the prior ones. I guess if we keep trying, sooner or later we're bound to make a friend or two.Kristine says we talk too loud and that might be why people stare at us. When she and I go out together we play a game where I pretend to be Latvian and she'll talk to me in Russian or Latvian and I'll pretend to understand and reply in a simple "Da" ("yes") or "Nyet" ("no"). We usually get so tickled that we both wind up drawing even more attention to ourselves rather than blending in. Robert has this habit of whistling at times and it drives Kristine crazy because people stare. People in Latvia just don't whistle.
Oh, another interesting thing is that we keep hearing these birds that sound like seagulls. It's just strange hearing them here because it's so cold, but they sound just like the ones at the beach in Florida. Also, we've seen a couple of Latvian kitties. The cats don't play around either. They all have a place to go and have their thick wool coats on. Even the kitties look at us strange and run away from us. We're just Americans and there's no way to hide it, even the animals can sense it.I don't have time to reread this so it's probably full of mispellings, etc. Gotta go get ready to pick up Kristine at the bus stop!
Atta ("goodbye"), for now!!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
1/30 - Spending Most of our Time at Bus Stops
This morning we took Kristine to the bus and it came right on time. They don't play around. You'd better be ready to get on the bus or it will leave without you.. Rob had to even pry the door open as the driver tried to close it before Kristine could board. I guess part of that was our fault because we were hugging and kissing Kristine goodbye before we'd let her on the bus. She was totally embarrassed by the way. LOL! Another funny thing...we had told her that she needed to get up at 6:45 a.m. to get ready but she insisted that she not get up until 7:00 instead. Our solution to that was to set the alarms for 6:45 anyway and just tell her it was actually 7:00. Problem solved! :-) We enjoy the morning walks to the bus because it's usually snowing and so beautiful. We get to see all of the locals heading to work or school, shoveling the snow off the sidewalks, etc. and for a moment we get to pretend we live here. The strange stares from the locals, remind us that we'll never blend in. Oh well. We're just the American freaks as far as they're concerned.
We were a little nervous about putting Kristine on the bus by herself but she insisted and her children's home director and Ilga said it was okay. Rob and I were actually glad to have a little time to ourselves. I'm a little embarrassed to say that instead of sight seeing, we went back to the flat and went back to sleep. We had been up late the night before so we were exhausted. By the time we woke up, it was almost time to pick up Kristine at the bus stop again. YIKES! She said she could come back on her own but we insisted.
In the meantime, we got word from Leila that Olegs said today was a "special day" at school so he would be getting out early and could catch the bus to our flat earlier. Rob and I chuckled because he had never mentioned this before and we think he may have found a way to skip a class so he could come be with us. It's not for us to say though. If they say he can come over then we want him to come over and hang out with us as much as he can. So we had to be at Kristine's stop at 2:20 and Olegs' stop at 2:00. That meant Rob and I had to split up. He waited for Olegs and I waited for Kristine. I waited and waited for Kristine as buses with her number came and went. It turns out that her bus had already come and she had gone looking for Olegs. Finally, since she couldn't find him, she came back to her normal stop and met up with me so we could walk back to the flat.
A short time later, Rob and Olegs arrived at the flat. Olegs was so excited to be there. We all had an afternoon snack and he helped me work on our puzzle while Kristine did her school work. Afterward, we went to the grocery store so Kristine could get some paper and paint that she needed for her art class. This was a frustrating trip because we realized after we got back to our flat that we had all of our groceries but somehow the paint didn't make it into our bag. We got on Kristine's case about this so she started pouting, etc. AAARRRGGHHH! We finally decided we had no choice but to head back out to get more paint. We told her to be more careful because we had to pay for the paint twice!! While we were at the store, the kids helped us get extra minutes for our Latvian cell phone. Thank goodness they were able to figure out how to add the minutes to the phone for us. We would never have been able to figure it out.
Once the pouting finally subsided we took the kids to Lido again for dinner. This time we had fruit, sausages, etc. and I had this awesome chicken dish with cheese and spices and crispy things on top. We were all in heaven. By the time we finished, it was time to get Olegs to the bus back to his children's home. This has actually worked out pretty well. Since they kids have school ID cards, they get to ride the buses for free. That's a tremendous bonus!
We were a little nervous about putting Kristine on the bus by herself but she insisted and her children's home director and Ilga said it was okay. Rob and I were actually glad to have a little time to ourselves. I'm a little embarrassed to say that instead of sight seeing, we went back to the flat and went back to sleep. We had been up late the night before so we were exhausted. By the time we woke up, it was almost time to pick up Kristine at the bus stop again. YIKES! She said she could come back on her own but we insisted.
In the meantime, we got word from Leila that Olegs said today was a "special day" at school so he would be getting out early and could catch the bus to our flat earlier. Rob and I chuckled because he had never mentioned this before and we think he may have found a way to skip a class so he could come be with us. It's not for us to say though. If they say he can come over then we want him to come over and hang out with us as much as he can. So we had to be at Kristine's stop at 2:20 and Olegs' stop at 2:00. That meant Rob and I had to split up. He waited for Olegs and I waited for Kristine. I waited and waited for Kristine as buses with her number came and went. It turns out that her bus had already come and she had gone looking for Olegs. Finally, since she couldn't find him, she came back to her normal stop and met up with me so we could walk back to the flat.
A short time later, Rob and Olegs arrived at the flat. Olegs was so excited to be there. We all had an afternoon snack and he helped me work on our puzzle while Kristine did her school work. Afterward, we went to the grocery store so Kristine could get some paper and paint that she needed for her art class. This was a frustrating trip because we realized after we got back to our flat that we had all of our groceries but somehow the paint didn't make it into our bag. We got on Kristine's case about this so she started pouting, etc. AAARRRGGHHH! We finally decided we had no choice but to head back out to get more paint. We told her to be more careful because we had to pay for the paint twice!! While we were at the store, the kids helped us get extra minutes for our Latvian cell phone. Thank goodness they were able to figure out how to add the minutes to the phone for us. We would never have been able to figure it out.
Once the pouting finally subsided we took the kids to Lido again for dinner. This time we had fruit, sausages, etc. and I had this awesome chicken dish with cheese and spices and crispy things on top. We were all in heaven. By the time we finished, it was time to get Olegs to the bus back to his children's home. This has actually worked out pretty well. Since they kids have school ID cards, they get to ride the buses for free. That's a tremendous bonus!
Monday, January 29, 2007
1/29 - Greetings from Riga, Latvia!!
Well after wandering around aimlessly for the first couple of days, we finally found an internet cafe near our flat so I'll be able to post updates regularly. I have a bored Kristine looking over my shoulder so I'll have to make this brief before the pouting starts. :-)
We had an exhausting trip to Riga on Friday/Saturday. The first leg of our trip was to London where we had an 8 hour layover. We were so happy we got an emergency exit row for this part of the trip so we had more leg room. However, when we got to our seats we found we were right next to the bathrooms. UGGGHHHH! Needless to say we got NO sleep whatsoever!! We just sat there and listened to the constant flow of passengers coming and going to the bathroom...the door contstantly slamming and opening. Then there was the turbulance that didn't help. Whatever!! When we got to London we hadn't made plans to really do anything. We were scared to venture too far because we didn't want to miss our evening flight. We wandered around Gatwick airport and ended up at the Hilton where we crashed in the lobby...still no sleep. We got something to eat, wandered around somemore and FINALLY it was time to board our 6:00 flight. The flight from London to Riga was uneventful. Thankfully, it wasn't a full flight so we didn't get claustrophobic. I guess all in all the whole trip took us about 22 hours to get to Riga and we didn't get a second of sleep. When we got to Riga, they were having a snow storm. It was a winter wonderland and so beautiful! When our flight landed, we had to walk in the snow to get from our plane to the airport. Rob and I were in awe as there were maybe 6 or 8 inches of snow on the ground. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
When we got to Riga, our ride was there as planned. A gentleman named Robert owns our flat and he was there with his translator, Evita. He is from France believe it or not so he needed a French translator. Luckily, he had a decent sized SUV for our many suitcases. They drove us around to show us where the grocery store is, restaurants, etc. It was about 11pm Latvian time by the time we got to our flat. It is an absolutely beautiful place...spacious and clean. Just perfect!! There are a few things that we have to deal with like the washer/dryer having French control settings. It's one of those machines that's a washer and a dryer so it would be difficult enough to figure out even if it were in English. Thankfully, my Robert was able to figure it out so we're able to wash clothes now. It just takes all day to do one load. Oh well. We're thankful for what we've got.
We were also happy to have satellite TV but soon found out that the satellite is mainly for access of French channels. It's a little odd being in Latvia and watching French TV. We aren't watching too much TV because as you can imagine the culture here is much more liberal than the US and it's not uncommon to see porn at all hours of the day. We pretty much keep the TV off now and hide the remotes from Kristine. There's so many other things to do anyway that we don't even miss it!
Sunday afternoon (1/28), Ilga and Janis (our Latvian friends) came to take us to Kristine & Olegs' children's home so we could pick Kristine up since she'll be staying with us. We took the public transportation which is the most efficient I've seen. There are all types of trams/buses, trolleys, etc. and they're all flying across the city in a precisely choreographed manner. The bus ride gave us a real chance to see how the locals get around. We felt quite awkward as they all seemed to look at us as if we had two heads. They don't make eye contact either. We could see out of the corner of our eye that they were looking at us but as soon as we'd look at them, they'd look away. It became quite funny actually.
When we got to the neighborhood where the children's home is, we saw older soviet era buildings, many with graffiti on them. We walked from the bus stop to the gate at the front of their property. Their children's home is set back from the street and we probably would have never found it without Ilga and Janis. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and it just looked so peaceful and beautiful. The entrance was around back and Rob and I held our breath as we didn't know if it would be an opressive place or not. As soon as we went in, Kristine and a couple of her friends were there to meet us with hugs and kisses. She led us upstairs to see Olegs and their other friends. Their home is actually pretty nice, considering. It's an older building but okay. They each have small rooms with bunk beds, but they are decorated very cute with posters and drawings. There are three to four children to a room. Things weren't dark and dreary at all. Olegs ran out to greet us and gave us more hugs and kisses. It was so good to see them and for them to see that we kept our promise to come to Latvia. After meeting Kristine's friends and their hamster and guinea pig, we were off again. Olegs got to leave with us and spend the afternoon with us.
After we picked up the kids, we dropped Kristine's things off at the flat. We could sense Olegs was a little sad because he wasn't allowed to stay with us too. That's very hard for all of us, but it's just how it is right now. We have to follow the government's rules. He understands that we will arrange for him to come visit us as much as we can. It was dinner time by this time, so we took Ilga and Janis out to a place called Lido. It is the most awesome place!! They have Latvia's version of down home cooking and it's cafeteria style.. They have all types of pork, chicken and fish dishes. This night we had pan fried potatoes and pork & chicken shish-ka-bob's. It may sound simple but it was to die for. Thankfully, between the kids and Ilga, we were able to communicate what we wanted. After dinner, Ilga and Janis went with us to the grocery store to help us pick out some food items. I'm so glad they did because the pictures on the labels aren't true representations of the contents.
I guess this post is turning out to be a little longer. Oh well. Kristine is being quite good, actually so I'll keep going. Today was our first orphan court session and we didn't think (at least I didn't) we'd be nervous until we got there. Our translator, Daiga, met us at the freedom monument for the walk to the orphan court. It took about 10-15 minutes. Let me add that the people here are all speed walkers. If you're not going with the flow you'll get pushed aside. It's much like those people who go 80 miles an hour on I-75. You have to keep up or you'll cause an accident. Anyway, we got to the court office which is a rundown building in Old Riga. You would never know that behind this huge wooden door in the old building is an orphan court uness you knew exactly where you were going. A few minutes after we arrived, Leila, the social worker from Kristine's children's home arrived. She is a young woman, maybe in her twenties, who has taken Kristine under her wing and really looked after her. We all sat and waited in the waiting area until we were called. When our name was finally called, we filed into this big room with long tables behind which a panel of four orphan court representatives sat and watched us without any expression whatsoever. I was immediately terrified and they say this is the EASY court. The room was very bland and old, without any artwork on the walls or anything. Daiga sat between Robert and I so she could translate. The head person asked us a few questions about our child rearing experience, how we got to know Kristine, etc. All the time she asked questions, the other three reprensatives just stared intently at us, trying to size us up I suppose. I got pretty nervous when they looked at my passport and the head representative got a puzzled look on her face. My passport was originally issued before I got married and was later amended to change it to my married name. She asked about that and then saw on the amendment page that all was in order. WHEW!
Kristine had to leave the room while they asked us questions and then we left so the court could talk to Kristine. After it was over, they officially granted us temporary custody of Kristine for this two week time period. I was so filled with emotion, I started to tear up. Just hearing the words spoken out loud hit me unexpectedly. We gratiously thanked the court and this time they smiled back at us in approval. What an experience!!
After court, we hung out at the flat most of the day. I brought a puzzle that we worked on for awhile and then later we went walking around again. We went to confirm Kristine's bus stop so we'd know where to take her to catch the bus for school tomorrow. Now that she's officially under our care, we can't screw it up by allowing her to miss the bus. We're all just so relieved that we survived our first court session. The next step is for a court inspector to visit us at our flat. That will take place on Wednesday so hopefully all will go well and there will be no embarassing incidents.
We had an exhausting trip to Riga on Friday/Saturday. The first leg of our trip was to London where we had an 8 hour layover. We were so happy we got an emergency exit row for this part of the trip so we had more leg room. However, when we got to our seats we found we were right next to the bathrooms. UGGGHHHH! Needless to say we got NO sleep whatsoever!! We just sat there and listened to the constant flow of passengers coming and going to the bathroom...the door contstantly slamming and opening. Then there was the turbulance that didn't help. Whatever!! When we got to London we hadn't made plans to really do anything. We were scared to venture too far because we didn't want to miss our evening flight. We wandered around Gatwick airport and ended up at the Hilton where we crashed in the lobby...still no sleep. We got something to eat, wandered around somemore and FINALLY it was time to board our 6:00 flight. The flight from London to Riga was uneventful. Thankfully, it wasn't a full flight so we didn't get claustrophobic. I guess all in all the whole trip took us about 22 hours to get to Riga and we didn't get a second of sleep. When we got to Riga, they were having a snow storm. It was a winter wonderland and so beautiful! When our flight landed, we had to walk in the snow to get from our plane to the airport. Rob and I were in awe as there were maybe 6 or 8 inches of snow on the ground. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
When we got to Riga, our ride was there as planned. A gentleman named Robert owns our flat and he was there with his translator, Evita. He is from France believe it or not so he needed a French translator. Luckily, he had a decent sized SUV for our many suitcases. They drove us around to show us where the grocery store is, restaurants, etc. It was about 11pm Latvian time by the time we got to our flat. It is an absolutely beautiful place...spacious and clean. Just perfect!! There are a few things that we have to deal with like the washer/dryer having French control settings. It's one of those machines that's a washer and a dryer so it would be difficult enough to figure out even if it were in English. Thankfully, my Robert was able to figure it out so we're able to wash clothes now. It just takes all day to do one load. Oh well. We're thankful for what we've got.
We were also happy to have satellite TV but soon found out that the satellite is mainly for access of French channels. It's a little odd being in Latvia and watching French TV. We aren't watching too much TV because as you can imagine the culture here is much more liberal than the US and it's not uncommon to see porn at all hours of the day. We pretty much keep the TV off now and hide the remotes from Kristine. There's so many other things to do anyway that we don't even miss it!
Sunday afternoon (1/28), Ilga and Janis (our Latvian friends) came to take us to Kristine & Olegs' children's home so we could pick Kristine up since she'll be staying with us. We took the public transportation which is the most efficient I've seen. There are all types of trams/buses, trolleys, etc. and they're all flying across the city in a precisely choreographed manner. The bus ride gave us a real chance to see how the locals get around. We felt quite awkward as they all seemed to look at us as if we had two heads. They don't make eye contact either. We could see out of the corner of our eye that they were looking at us but as soon as we'd look at them, they'd look away. It became quite funny actually.
When we got to the neighborhood where the children's home is, we saw older soviet era buildings, many with graffiti on them. We walked from the bus stop to the gate at the front of their property. Their children's home is set back from the street and we probably would have never found it without Ilga and Janis. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and it just looked so peaceful and beautiful. The entrance was around back and Rob and I held our breath as we didn't know if it would be an opressive place or not. As soon as we went in, Kristine and a couple of her friends were there to meet us with hugs and kisses. She led us upstairs to see Olegs and their other friends. Their home is actually pretty nice, considering. It's an older building but okay. They each have small rooms with bunk beds, but they are decorated very cute with posters and drawings. There are three to four children to a room. Things weren't dark and dreary at all. Olegs ran out to greet us and gave us more hugs and kisses. It was so good to see them and for them to see that we kept our promise to come to Latvia. After meeting Kristine's friends and their hamster and guinea pig, we were off again. Olegs got to leave with us and spend the afternoon with us.
After we picked up the kids, we dropped Kristine's things off at the flat. We could sense Olegs was a little sad because he wasn't allowed to stay with us too. That's very hard for all of us, but it's just how it is right now. We have to follow the government's rules. He understands that we will arrange for him to come visit us as much as we can. It was dinner time by this time, so we took Ilga and Janis out to a place called Lido. It is the most awesome place!! They have Latvia's version of down home cooking and it's cafeteria style.. They have all types of pork, chicken and fish dishes. This night we had pan fried potatoes and pork & chicken shish-ka-bob's. It may sound simple but it was to die for. Thankfully, between the kids and Ilga, we were able to communicate what we wanted. After dinner, Ilga and Janis went with us to the grocery store to help us pick out some food items. I'm so glad they did because the pictures on the labels aren't true representations of the contents.
I guess this post is turning out to be a little longer. Oh well. Kristine is being quite good, actually so I'll keep going. Today was our first orphan court session and we didn't think (at least I didn't) we'd be nervous until we got there. Our translator, Daiga, met us at the freedom monument for the walk to the orphan court. It took about 10-15 minutes. Let me add that the people here are all speed walkers. If you're not going with the flow you'll get pushed aside. It's much like those people who go 80 miles an hour on I-75. You have to keep up or you'll cause an accident. Anyway, we got to the court office which is a rundown building in Old Riga. You would never know that behind this huge wooden door in the old building is an orphan court uness you knew exactly where you were going. A few minutes after we arrived, Leila, the social worker from Kristine's children's home arrived. She is a young woman, maybe in her twenties, who has taken Kristine under her wing and really looked after her. We all sat and waited in the waiting area until we were called. When our name was finally called, we filed into this big room with long tables behind which a panel of four orphan court representatives sat and watched us without any expression whatsoever. I was immediately terrified and they say this is the EASY court. The room was very bland and old, without any artwork on the walls or anything. Daiga sat between Robert and I so she could translate. The head person asked us a few questions about our child rearing experience, how we got to know Kristine, etc. All the time she asked questions, the other three reprensatives just stared intently at us, trying to size us up I suppose. I got pretty nervous when they looked at my passport and the head representative got a puzzled look on her face. My passport was originally issued before I got married and was later amended to change it to my married name. She asked about that and then saw on the amendment page that all was in order. WHEW!Kristine had to leave the room while they asked us questions and then we left so the court could talk to Kristine. After it was over, they officially granted us temporary custody of Kristine for this two week time period. I was so filled with emotion, I started to tear up. Just hearing the words spoken out loud hit me unexpectedly. We gratiously thanked the court and this time they smiled back at us in approval. What an experience!!
After court, we hung out at the flat most of the day. I brought a puzzle that we worked on for awhile and then later we went walking around again. We went to confirm Kristine's bus stop so we'd know where to take her to catch the bus for school tomorrow. Now that she's officially under our care, we can't screw it up by allowing her to miss the bus. We're all just so relieved that we survived our first court session. The next step is for a court inspector to visit us at our flat. That will take place on Wednesday so hopefully all will go well and there will be no embarassing incidents.
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