Day 4: Nyet

Nyet.  It means no.  We said that a lot today.  Charlie's favorite activity, as I said before, is playing on our phones.  But we don't want to spend the entire two hour visit playing on a phone.  It's not something we like to do with the girls and not a precedent we want to set with Charlie.  Though we did pack some toys, we weren't sure what his interests would be exactly and we had to pack what would fit in our suitcases.  On top of that we have been stuck in one small room filled with nothing but gym equipment that only kind of works.  Add the two together and that makes for some very long visits after four days.  Nevertheless we came armed today with a game plan that we were gonna stick to, darn it.

And the minute we walk in the room...Charlie asks for the phone.  =/

We told him no.  He did not like that much.  He was definitely testing us today to see if we meant what we said.  Anyone that knows us knows that we do and, once he saw we weren't giving in, he decided to see what else we had brought with us.  We ended up playing for quite awhile and let him have the phone for the last half hour.  Our facilitator was here today so he went over our family photo album with Charlie so he could explain in more detail who everyone was.  We did ask, since the weather is supposed to be nice, if tomorrow we could venture outside.  We were given a tentative yes so I'm really hoping they allow us to play outdoors, even if it's just for half an hour.  We walked to the local toy store and bought a soccer ball and some puzzles so that we would have new things to do over the weekend.  We've also brought the snacks recommended by the orphanage and while he loves the juice, he has no interest in the bananas.  Charlie's teacher allowed him to walk with us to the gate today - further evidence that they are preparing him for things to come.

I asked our facilitator today on the way back to the apartment what he thought of the orphanage.  We are the first family to adopt from this place so he had never been here before.  He, like us, was pleasantly surprised at the conditions, especially considering how rural the location is.  This has been a huge blessing as I had steeled myself for some really horrible things and we haven't seen any.  We hope that, by sending pictures and letters of Charlie blossoming at home back to the orphanage, they will be open to listing other children there so that they, too, can find families.  Currently Charlie is the only child there who is available for adoption and there are 120 boys and men who live at this institution.

Our facilitator took us around town for one last sweep of the shops after our visit.  We wanted to have someone who could help us pick out good local foods and such to cook over the weekend.  We took a long walk around the town and took some pictures along the banks of the Dnieper River.

Our facilitator offered to buy some bus tickets for us so we could travel into town over the weekend and check out the local fare but we were terrified we'd never find our way back on our own.  Our last visit this trip will be Monday and we hope to fly home mid-week.  We've truly enjoyed meeting and spending time with Charlie but we are ready to go home.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we wrap up this trip.  Pray for a safe trip home.  Pray that Charlie has been well prepared for our absence and doesn't think we've abandoned him.  Pray for our girls at home who miss us as much as we miss them.  And pray for my poor mother who is holding down the fort and probably needs a really large, stiff drink by now.