Another Visit to the Orphanage

Playing Puppets
The entrance in the orphanage

The caregivers make these murals out of flour dough.
They are all throughout the orphanage

Look at that natural talent!

Breakfast

Hotel Restaurant

Karina's group

This morning was great. We started our day by talking to our boys on Skype. We miss them so much. Then after a nice breakfast, we were able to chat with our dear friends and catch up as if we weren't miles away. Skype has been a life-saver and has been working pretty consistently.

We climbed into our driver's car and headed into the abyss once more. This time, as it was 10 degrees warmer today, our windows were not completely frozen over and we were able to see out of them. The drive goes by in a flash, as I find myself meditating and talking to God.

As soon as we opened the door to Karina's room today, she gasped in excitement and ran into my arms. It was such a warm welcome after wondering if she would remember us or not. We had the opportunity to talk with her caregiver and find out about her personality, likes and dislikes, and routines. Her caregiver, Olga, was very reassuring. She was honest and forthright and had a great deal of love for each of the kids. They call her mama. During this time, all the children in her group quietly played and rarely disrupted us. They run a tight ship around there! All the children are so sweet. It is hard to not want to bring them all home with us.

We played in the music room and had more quiet play today. She is getting very good at recognizing her brothers, mama, papa, dog, and her room. Everytime she sees the picture of the boys at the beach, she has said that she does not like to swim, but today she decided that maybe she could try. Towards the end of our visit, she began playing the piano with Mike and I think I see some natural talent!!

After our visit, we had lunch at another Turkish Pizza House (yes they have two). It was quite good. Mike had a Hawaiin pizza, and I had the American (salami, sausage, and corn). Then we went to the mall. I was surprised to see such expensive clothes and jewelry. We bought some toys and coloring books to use during our visits. We also bought six gift bags to put our gifts into and the paper gift bags cost as much as all the toys we bought. I guess gift bags are in short supply around here.

Thanks Josh for staying up until 2am to chat with us on Skype. That is a true friend!

Mom, she is still clinging to her doll and you will notice the doll even played piano with her!