Visit to Orphanage

The orphanage

Once we arrived at the orphanage we were led to an office to meet with the director of the orphanage, Irina. On our way, we passed by one of the kids rooms and we were going up the stairs when a little blond haired head peeked out and yelled "Hi! Mama!" It was Grisha!! He ran up the stairs with a big smile on his face and gave me the biggest hug. It was so awesome!! All of my worries about how he would react were all for nothing. I cannot explain the warmth and tingling I felt in my heart at that moment. And that all of the papers we filled out and fingerprints we had done were all worth it for this moment.

Grisha was able to accompanying us as we talked with Dimitry and Irina and at one point we were asked if we were sure we wanted to adopt Grisha. I responded with Da! Da! Da! Which means Yes! Yes! Yes! in Russian. And we signed the papers to petition to adopt Grisha and name him Grisha Edward Francis.

Dimitry, Irina, Nina

After the formalities we were taken to a room that was set up for lunch. There was Borsht soup, which was pretty good, mashed potatoes, peas, and some sort of cooked ground meat patty. Grisha got to sit with us as we ate as he had already eaten. Had we not been there he would have been in nap time so he said he was happy not to be in nap time.

After lunch we were given a tour of parts of the orphanage, including Grisha's playroom and nap room. All of the staff was very friendly and I think a bit curious about us. We met Grisha's main caregiver, Svetlana. I could tell she truly cared about him as she enjoyed telling us about Grisha and his likes and dislikes.

Svetlana

Then, we were taken to a small classroom and offered a kid size seat at a kid size table. It was there that we were given time just to be with Grisha. So, basically we watched as Grisha played on my iPad because I have lots of kids games on it and he loves to play on it. In fact, it amazes me how quickly he learned how to use it and how to play the games. He is so smart!

They brought us a folder full of Grisha's artwork and some photo albums that had pictures of when he visited America last summer. One picture he drew was of a family and my heart was moved. The Director said he has been wishing for a family. And as we were looking at the picture he said I was the Mama, Ed was the Papa, and Grisha was the little boy. (Oh! Boy! Did my heart melt). Grisha gave me permission to bring the artwork home and I feel like a proud Mama and wish I could hang them all up.

Soon our visit was over because we had to catch the car ferry. I was sad to leave but couldn't wait to go back the next day. So, we went back to the hotel and invited Dimitry to dinner with us. He obliged and took us to a restaurant down the road. We told him to order for us since the menu was in Russian and I had some baked turkey, and Ed had what looked like fried cube steak. We also shared a bottle of wine and had some good conversation. Then, back to the hotel to get some rest from our busy, emotional and wonderful day.


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