ROLLERCOASTER...

I knew things were going too smoothly...
Everything is wonderful with Mattea Olena. We continue to visit twice a day, all of us in the morning and just me in the afternoon. She is slowly opening up, and the visits get more interactive every day. I brought her some type of berry or grape juice today and she got very excited to have it! And she had to explore Papa's beard. She was also more interested in the babies today, reaching out several times to interact.
Our court date is next Wednesday! Unfortunately, due to the holidays, even if we have the ten-day wait waived, everything will shut down before we finish, so we are probably all coming home on the 18th, next Thursday. The problems started when we called Delta yesterday to try to change our flights. Just the change of dates was going to cost us $4000! Which we do not even have. So I spent the rest of the day spiralling downward trying to figure out what to do. At least one of us would need to get home to pick up the other kids and take them home for Christmas. If only we were a little richer. If only I had a few more weeks of vacation time. Then the solution would have been easy. So I just spent 2 hours on the internet, and finally found us some one-way tickets for a total of $2900. Still pretty bad, but at least I could pay for them. I did have to use my entire savings that was supposed to pay for my return trip though, so I sure do hope I can find some overtime shifts when I get back.
We have learned much from our visit here.
Did I mention that neither of our apartments has had a washing machine? Mom, we have been handwashing all of our clothes since Day One! That is definitely a humbling experience. The detergents they sell at the store actually are marked with a special symbol if they are appropriate for handwashing, and have hand and machine washing instructions on the box.
We are eating less, walking MUCH more, and once we got over the jet lag, we have been getting along much better than we even get along at home. We travel to the orphanage by taxi twice a day. Our facilitator set it up that the driver shows up at set times. If we need to stop somewhere, we either point to a list or we call the facilitator and she translates to the driver for us.
The babies have fully adjusted to the time change, thankfully, and they are both also learning how to walk longer distances. At first, Estuardo insisted upon being carried, I think because he was frightened of the unfamiliar surroundings. Now he is walking 90 per cent of the time. And he is so cute when he tells our taxi driver "Spasiba!" as we are getting out!
I am feeling homesick the past couple of days. I guess everyone has gone through this? And yesterday was very frightening when it felt like we were abandoned here with no way home. But I am feeling a little better now that we have tickets home.
Mom, Serena, and all, Hi and BIG HUGS! We will be there very late on Dec. 18 thanks to Aerosvit and Jet Blue airlines.