May 13, 2008

Sibling Reunion Day

Mariya and Sasha picked us up at 12:30 today to take us to the boarding school.  Today was sibling reunion day and any of the kids at the orphanage in Poludino that have siblings at the boarding school are brought over to spend the day together and visit.    When we arrived at the boarding school the children had already arrived from Poludino and were in the dining room eating lunch.  We were brought to the lunch room so we could say hello to Victor and Kristina.  Victor waved and gave us a great big smile but I think Kristina was too busy eating as much food as fast as she can that she didn’t even notice that we were there for several minutes.  There were about a dozen children from Poludino but not all of them had siblings.  The orphanage brought other children because they were going to have a performance for us to see.

When the children were finished eating they went with their sibling, or other child that was assigned to them if they didn’t have a sibling, to their room to spend some time playing.  We walked with Alyona, Victor and Kristina to their room.  Nick, Mariya and I were invited to lunch with the Director of the boarding school and his administrative staff and staff from Poludino.  We had a fabulous feast with lamb, potatoes, carrot salad, cabbage and so much more.  During the meal the Director thanked everyone and thanked Antares, an American non profit organization that supports orphans in Petropavlovsk.  Antares supports the sibling reunion day and makes it possible.  The best part though was the great company we were with.  At the end of our meal it was time to go upstairs for the performance.

The room upstairs looked just like a miniature theater.  There was theater style seating, chandeliers on the ceiling and curtains to go across the stage.  Kristina was taken to the back room and when we saw her again she looked just like a Princess.  She was in a white frilly dress with bows and sparkles and looked beautiful.  Victor was in black slacks, nice white shirt and black bow tie.  He was very handsome.  All of the children in the performance were beautiful.  Kristina had two performances, in the first she sang and two other little girls dressed like bunny rabbits hopping around her.  We could not understand a single word, but it did not matter and we were both beaming from ear to ear.  In the second performance she danced with an adorable little boy.  Victor sang a song with another little boy that is being adopted and getting ready to go to Spain.  Nick and I enjoyed all of the performances and were very happy that we were invited and able to see them.

After the performance we went to the lobby of the boarding school and spent time just playing with Alyona, Victor and Kristina.  While we were there a group of girls came in and were wearing medals.  They were the girls soccer team at the boarding school and had gone to a national type of championship in South Kazakhstan and took third place.  Victor and Kristina told Nick they wanted to go outside and play so they took off and I stayed and talked with some of the other children from the boarding school.  Apparently some of the kids outside had found a gecko and they went to check it out.  Nick said it was about 5 inches and pretty big.  Not like the little lizards we are used to seeing in Florida.

We had a great time playing with Victor and Kristina and talking with the other children.  Alyona told us she has decided she wants to stay in Kaz.  We spent some time talking with her, but her mind is set.  We are not sure when but she told Victor and Kristina she would not being coming to America with them.  She said they were upset at first but when she told them it was for the best they were ok with it.  We wish Alyona would come with us but I do not think she will change her mind.  It is not official until court on Thursday so maybe there is still time.

The Hrenko Family

Adoption Journey to Kazakhstan

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