Final day at the Boarding School.

Last photo with the Assitant Director.

So long...Farewell....Alwiederzien...Goodbye.

We scurried around all day on Thursday like a bunch of busy mice. It was our last full day in Petropavlovsk and there were many last minute errands, gifts, and souvenirs. We did some MORE paperwork in the morning and then went back to the market again before going out to the boarding school for our last visit. The day before we took the girls to the market and let them pick out some white embroidered sheer cloth. I only told them that they needed to pick something that they liked and I would keep it for a long time. On the walk back to the hotel, I asked Nadia to explain to Yulia that I would save it for when they decided to get married. My idea is to make all or part of their wedding veil out of it. Hopefully, they will want a veil and if not then maybe we can find a way to incorporate at least a small piece into the dress. Since marriage can be an occasion of uniting families, it struck me that it would be a very special thing to also have some sort of remembrance and token of where they came from and who they are. We don’t know if they will want to remember any of it right now, but at some point it will enrich their lives to cherish the good things and heal and learn from the not so good. I sincerely hope that by the time they do take the marriage step, that they will have done this and take with them the strength of their ancestors and current family with them into their new life.

So as soon as we got back from the market on Thursday, Igor and the RBS Director, picked our whole family up in the school van to go purchase the gift we were giving to the school. It is customary to give gifts to the orphanage you are adopting from as well as the Regional coordinator, translator, caregivers, and social workers. The orphanage gift is by far the biggest and we asked the director what he wanted that was around $300. He said that his office staff could really use a scanner/printer/copy machine. It was very cool to see that as soon as we arrived at the school, that the secretaries had already cleared a place and had it going lickety split. They saw us in the hall and came out saying “spaciba, spaciba!” They were just so happy! We also stopped by the temporary shelter on the way out to the boarding school to take some pictures of the place where the girls were for a couple of months before being transferred out to the orphanages. I am sure glad that Guy had this on his agenda because I just don’t think I would have thought about going there or out to Poulindino where Olia had been before coming to the RBS. But the girls are so happy that we did and I am sure will always be glad to have a record and visual reminders of those places. It really is amazing the kind of system they have here to care for the children. So many loving caregivers, warm beds, good food and education. There are a couple of really remote orphanages that have it tough, but for the most part, the ones located in populated areas are really havens compared to the circumstance the children where in before entering the system.

Saying Goodbye.

Once we finally made it to the RBS, we had a little bit of time with the social worker and the girls to get some more pictures for the court files. Apparently they didn’t like the fact that the other pictures had dates imprinted on them, so I had to turn that function of and go again. Then Guy and I were whisked off to have a customary lunch with the director, assistant director and one of the social workers, Tatiana. Man what a lunch! You just can’t go wrong with freshly prepared food cooked up by their very own Chef Helga. And there was plenty of it to go around. There were also some toasts given and some chattering, through Igor our interpreter. Usually they toast with a shot of some alcoholic something or other, but we stuck to the juice. They all laughed over it of course, but it was all in good fun. It was good to be part of the event and experience the generosity of the staff.

So Sad.

The saddest part was that as soon as we were done, we had to get the boys and go. It was already 5:30 pm and the van had to get us back to the hotel. This was the moment I hadn't been looking forward to all day. The boys got some final play time with the girls but Guy and I didn’t even get more than 15 minutes with them. But, we had to go and say goodbye. Of course, Guy was held together with the idea that we will come back and bring them home for good. This did not work for me, I was still a wreck anyway. Little Olia and I shed our tears and even Yulia, trying to be tough, could not keep them all back. The sweetest part was to experience them tenderly wiping the tears off my face and giving me hugs of comfort. We didn’t drag it on too long. We left them our love and went on to the hotel.

Last supper.

That night we had a fun evening at a German restaurant with Igor, Nadia and our other adopting American friends, Paul and Erin. It was good fun only to be followed up with a bunch of packing before going to bed that night at the hotel. It is time to fly home!

deb