Back on the road.... The roads in the main city where our hotel is located were pretty clear- a little slush here and there but not bad. But the farther we drove, the worse the conditions became. I really wish I had snapped some photos of the deterioration of their condition. This was one thing I was concerned about for this trip- remembering how bad the roads were leading to the orphanage when we were here on our first trip- before there was any snow and ice. I knew fair well that there would be no road crews going out to this remote area to treat any of these dirt roads. Thankfully it wasn't quite as bad as I had anticipated. Cars here have snow/studded tires so they handle much better than ours at home would.
It didn't take long for the roads to become snow covered, but they did appear to be treated with salt/sand/dirt. Something brown. LOL But as we trekked on maybe an hour into our drive, there was no treatment other than being packed down by the previous cars traveling by. Another half hour and there were two ruts where one car's tires could pass through. Oh how I prayed no one else would come the other way because there was nowhere to go! But we had no worries there- for this area is so remote that there really isn't any traffic to be concerned about. At all.
After a little slipping and sliding toward the end of our commute, we made it to the orphanage. Whew! We first go to the director's office to meet with her before going to see Lina. I gave her the shopping bag full of new clothes we brought for the children as well as a box of toothbrushes our dentist had donated. She was much appreciative. She asked if we had any questions for her- my only question was regarding what she would want for a donation to the orphanage when we return for our third trip to bring Lina home. She showed me a couple catalogs with texture boards- large boards to be installed on the wall of Lina's groupa so the children can manipulate and feel the different textures. Since this is something that obviously won't fit in our suitcase to bring with us, our facilitator told us this is something we could definitely order in the city.
Next, the director warned us that Lina will probably be scared when we see her as she won't remember us since it has been 4 months since our last visit. We then walked down to Lina's groupa.
When we first walked in the room- the first thing I saw was three little girls with CRAZY hair-do's!! The caretakers styled their hair all the same- with a bazillion pigtails all over their little heads- I about died! Quickly we saw little Lina who gave us a big smile when she saw us and immediately sat down in a chair to wait for us to come to her. She knew who we were! She knew we were there for HER! :) <3 Melt. Our. Hearts. She even leaned forward for me to nuzzle noses with her as I had done four months ago. The director and social workers were amazed that she had remembered us after all. We headed up to the psychologist's office for our visit just as we did before.
The two social workers followed to observe how our visit went, for they would be testifying in court regarding our relationship with Lina, how she reacts to us and how we react to her actions. One social worker is from the orphanage and the other is from the government agency that oversees adoptions. Both ladies were very nice and gave us our space- they didn't stay in the room too long but hung around just outside the door.
And a photo of the back of her head so you can see just how *intense* the hairstyle was ;) and see that I really don't have a moustache LOL
I also brought a babydoll for her- part of my thinking was to see how she treated the baby which could indicate how she will react to Evan. When she first picked up the doll she immediately cradled it in her arms and rocked it gently. :) Such a sweet little mama! She then took it over to the sliding board. She held the baby's legs and made the baby climb up the ladder (SO cute) and then she slid down the slide with the baby.
She did pause to tend to the baby's needs- putting the pacifier back in her mouth, and she was insistent on tucking the baby's dress into the diaper. hee hee! She did that a few times- dang dress just wouldn't stay in! I also brought some little baby bottles for the doll and she first wanted to try to drink it herself (since it was the kind you can see the liquid) and then fed it to the baby.
Fixing the binky that didn't want to stay in her mouth
She enjoyed playing with the rope lights a little while- this black cord has a switch that controls the lights and she knew just how to work it! Mike and I were a little concerned when she wanted to play with the electric cord but she quickly proved she knew what she was doing. ;)
These are pretty much the only photos we got- we knew this would be our only visit with her this trip and wanted to soak up as much as we could. I did get this short little video of her playing with the rope lights:
As you can see she has no problem expressing what she wants! :) She seemed so much bigger than the last time we saw her- I swear they must have fed her twice as much while we were gone. Our visit went by very quickly and it was soon time to head back to the hotel.
On our way back to the hotel, our translator read our speeches to our facilitator who offered us feedback on subjects we should include and some things we could shorten. She also asked us a bunch of possible questions the judge could ask- questions she has asked other families who have gone before us. This gave us ideas of what more to include in our speeches, and gave us time to think about how we would answer these questions if she asked us. It was a little overwhelming but a HUGE help to us. She assured us that we had *wonderful* documents, and that while they were very nervous for us, hopefully all would go well. This still is kind of uncharted territory for Lina's region- we are only the fourth family to pursue adopting a child with Down syndrome from this region, and the first family was denied, having to then go to the Supreme Court to appeal the decision in which they won. :)) The second family to go to court here had to come back to court a second day to provide more documentation. The third family finished court in record time- a mere three hours.
We had no idea how our court session would go, especially since the judge never requested any updated documents from us. Typically in Lina's country- court documents are only valid for three months. We prepared our documents as soon as we got home from our first trip- back in November. By now our documents are all 4 months old. Usually the judge will make requests before court regarding which documents she wants updated or if she needs more documentation whether it be regarding finances, home ownership, or anything else, and families bring these updated documents with them to court. We were hoping she wouldn't decide at the last minute that she wanted something and we would have to try to contact someone at home to try to get something for us. It has happened in the past. So many unknowns of what to expect!
We arrived back at our hotel and were told to meet our facilitator at 9:00 the next morning to go over more court prep, and then head to court- to begin at 10:30. We noticed when we entered the hotel lobby that there was dance music playing in the restaurant- there was a private party so the restaurant was closed. We went up to our room for a granola bar and some peanutbutter crackers, snacks we packed from home for such occasions, mostly for lunches.
A couple hours later we came back downstairs- party still going strong. There was a little cafe/bar next to the restaurant, but all the tables were full. Ugh. We tried one or two more times and just gave up. Protein bar for dinner it is... just like breakfast. We edited our speeches some more and practiced reading them to each other, and then settled in to bed to try to rest up before our big day!!
Tomorrow's post: COURT!! Yes, there was some drama in the morning...
Aahh! She is so adorable! I can't believe how big she's gotten! I absolutely LOVE that 3rd picture of her, she's just so spunky! I wish I could see the video, but for some reason the computer I'm on didn't load it. :( Oh well. Those pictures were enough for me!
ReplyDeleteOH Amy! Lina is so amazingly comfortable with you both! She is so very precious! I have to say, those pigtails were over -the- top ! If you are lucky, Kaylin won't ask for them too! I cannot wait for Lina to come home to her family!
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