April 25, 2008

The Hrenko Family

Adoption Journey to Kazakhstan

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A Good Day

This morning started out very cold and raining.  We have been very lucky as our first few days here have been very nice weather.  Mariya picked us up this morning so we could shop for gifts for the children and do some business at the internet café and post office.  We needed to print a letter and form to send to immigration for the approval of 3 children and then send it express mail.  Kazakhstan does not use fed ex so we had to use their priority mail.  We were told it might get there in 5 days but it probably would be 10.  We were given a phone number to call and told this is the only person that has the web site address if we want to track the mail.  And this cost us 6500 tenge (about $55 US dollars) Thank goodness for our translator, I don’t think we could have done any of this without her.

We decided to go to the book store to get a journal and pen for Alyona and books for Victor and Kristina.  You should have seen Nick checking out the book store.  The entire store could fit in one Barnes & Noble Café.  The books are not set out for you to look through; you have to ask a worker to get one out of the glass counter or from the shelves behind the counter.  It is quite a different experience.  When we mentioned this to Mariya she said yes, she knows as she saw the book store in the movie “You’ve Got Mail.”

We were dropped off back at the apartment and told they would come and get us in about 1.5 hours.  We ate lunch and tried to get on the internet, which is always a gamble if we will or not.

Mariya and Sasha were very prompt, as usual, to pick us up and go get Alyona.  We pick Alyona up at the boarding school right after school is out and they have finished snacks so there are always a lot of children running around.  This boarding school has about 220 children from age 7/8 to 17.  We were told that because this boarding school (actually an orphanage also) is older children everyone always knows why you are there and who you are coming to see.  We see lots of very curious eyes checking us out.  Some of the children come and sit by us and smile and giggle as we are waiting for Alyona.  They are all so cute and so well behaved!  Well, I guess they are not all well behaved as Alyona said someone set a fire in the boarding school yesterday but it was caught early so there was no damage.  Alyona sleeps in a room with 12 girls, but they actually have 14 so her and another girl sleep in a room that is supposed to be a kitchen.  We get a chance to talk with Alyona on the way to the orphanage and back since it is about an hour drive.  Alyona was very worried about her aunt and concerned that she was just leaving her.  Her aunt called her back last night and told her this is an opportunity she must take and that if it were on her plate she would take it.  It seems that this is what Alyona needed as today she was much more open and happy.  I think she is now comfortable that she is going to America and will have a new family.

When we arrived at the orphanage the sport room was being used by one of the groups of children so we were taken to the music room to play with Victor and Kristina.  Everyone had a good time.  We played ball and Alyona read books to Victor and Kristina.  We were all very surprised when Victor started reading the book by himself.  Children in Kazakhstan do not begin school until age 8 and they are not taught to read in the orphanage until they reach the boarding school.  Alyona said they had started working with Victor on his letters when he was 5, but she did not know he could read so well.  We thought Kristina might need to go to the restroom as she kept tugging on the back of her skirt.  Mariya asked her and she said no it is just that her stockings are too big.  Kristina is very good at catching the ball but one time she missed it and it looked funny so we all laughed.  She started crying and was upset because she missed it.  We were able to tickle her back into her beautiful smile.  Soon it was time to go and bring Alyona back to the boarding school also.

Nick and I decided we would try to venture out tonight and eat at a restaurant.  We were both a little tired of bologna or muesli.  We went to a Slovanian restaurant because it was in walking distance and Mariya told us they have menus in English also.  It was nice to have “real” dinner for a change.  We might even try the Italian restaurant soon.

Nick and Alyona

Victor

Kristina

Nick and Kristina