May 12, 2008
Alyona come back from visiting her Aunt
Alyona had gone to her aunt’s village with a friend on Friday to visit her aunt and family. These visits always make me and Julie nervous as to how she will be when she comes back. She was supposed to come back earlier but told Mariya her aunt got sick and had to go to the hospital. Mariya had talked with her several times by cellphone and found out Alyona was getting a ride back to Petropavlovsk from her grandfather.
Mariya and Sasha picked us up at 2PM today and while waiting for Alyona to get back we went and purchased our airline tickets to get us to Almaty on Sunday. We have to go back to Almaty to complete some paperwork at the US Consulate. We are hoping for confirmation that this will take only one day and we can get a 3AM flight Tuesday morning to Frankfurt then Orlando. After purchasing tickets and a couple of shopping errands we went to the boarding school to wait for Alyona. Waiting and patience are not my strengths. I went and played basketball with some of the boys at the boarding school while Julie and Mariya waited in the lobby. After the boys wore me out (it did not take long) I came back to see if we had an update on Alyona. Mariya told me she just got dropped off by her grandfather and was a 10 minute walk from the orphanage. I went out front and waited for her to arrive. Upon seeing her walk up with her friend I had noticed she changed her hair color. As we were soon to find out this is not the only thing that changed.
Our second biggest fear had come to be. She had changed her mind and decided to stay in Kaz and not come with us. We listened to her reasons. She told us of conversations with the aunt and grandfather. She also thought she saw her mother while she was on the bus passing by another village. We know what a huge decision this is for her. She has very strong opinions and when her mind is made up it is difficult to try to influence. We do not want to change her mind if she really believes in her mind, heart and gut that she should stay. All of the adults in the orphanages are advising her that it would be best for her to come with us. Our concern is if she is thinking this all the way through and is she getting advice from some that may not have her best interest in mind (her friends). She told us her plans of going to school at the town where her aunt lives and then going to university schooling in the medical field. She has this thought out about as well as any 16 year old could. We hope she understands that making this decision today she has until Wed to change her mind. Court is on Thursday the 15th. The door for this opportunity is now open but will close in a couple of days. At her age we had to get permission from our Government to adopt her. She turns 17 this fall.
We all hugged and said good bye and asked her to think about it tonight. We will be back tomorrow for a visit as they have a “sibling reunion day” in which Victor and Kristina will be brought to visit Alyona. We will see if Alyona is still set on staying in Petro. As we mentioned earlier this is our second biggest fear. Our first is that we lose all 3. She has told us she thinks it would be best for Victor and Kristina to come with us.
She could still veto this option. We do not think she will but you never are certain. She also has to tell Victor and Kristina her decision. We have no idea how that conversation is going to go and what their reactions will be. It will be another interesting day.
She could still veto this option. We do not think she will but you never are certain. She also has to tell Victor and Kristina her decision. We have no idea how that conversation is going to go and what their reactions will be. It will be another interesting day.
The Hrenko Family
Adoption Journey to Kazakhstan
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