After Brian and I agreed that we were both interesting in getting more information about "H" I started emailing my friends who are NHFC host families and volunteers. I found out who was hosting her and we started email communication. At the same time I contacted NHFC via email to get more info and to make our interest known since we expected other families to be interested in such a sweet girl!
H and a friend listing to my ipod at the train station in Kiev
H's host mother and I become instant friends! I told her about our family and that we hosted a girl the same age last summer, how that led to our decision to adopt, and that I was currently in Kiev with our newly adopted son. After a couple of days, she told me that a total of 4 families shared their interest in meeting H for potential future hosting. We kept in contact and continued to share information about our families and of course all the info about H they could give me!
Finally, the day had come that H would have to return to Ukraine. I asked her host mother once again if a family had committed to hosting her yet. She said one of the families had met her, but that was it ... and that family was already hosting another teen girl and was waiting to know if she would like to be adopted by them. So, that left us!
Now keep in mind this was the night before Dennis and I would be going to America ... and we would need to get up before 4am to make our flight. Also keep in mind that H had left America the day before, flown overnight to another country (not sure where they txr'd at), and finally arrived in Ukraine ... tired ... hungry ... still hauling luggage ... emotionally unsure of what would happen in her future ...
Then this strange American woman with a Ukrainian/Russian speaking little boy arrives to meet her! I am a total stranger to her and (almost) everyone around her. The translator has to go do something else, so she brings me to H and then leaves! Now I turn to the two adult women who are nearby and they speak even less English than the children around them! :)
I told her I am a friend of her host mother, but the children mis-understand the word friend and think I am her sister-in-law! I got out our photo album (mostly from hosting) so they can see the kids in their NHFC shirts and know we are at least a NHFC hosting family. Now they being to look for my husband in H's photo album ... thinking I am married to her host mother's brother! No, no I said ... FRIEND ... oh ... they figured it out and then we just looked through my photos for fun. I told the girls who everyone in the photos are ... including D's biological sister, Snezhana. H asks D some questions and I think they figure out she isn't coming with us to America. I offer H my ipod and she smiles and takes it and share it with a friend nearby as they finish looking at my photos and show me theirs.
Now I find out their train doesn't leave until after 11pm and it's about 8pm at this time. I asked if they were hungry ... several teenage faces smile at me! Of course they are - they are teenagers! :) So, I motion for the H and the friend she has been sharing my ipod with to come with me. They follow and the adult chaperons don't seem to care. A couple more kids follow ... and we enter a fast-food type joint similar to McD's. As I start to look at the menu board on the wall, I notice that ALL the children are now inside this small restaurant with me! I ask if they want chicken and Coca Cola and they of course nod heads with excitement.
With chicken nuggets, french fries, and cokes in hand, they disperse and find seats in groups of 2-4 children per table. I realize that the host families back home might like to see some last minute shots before returning to their schools, so I snap a few. I sat D with H and her friend and I go about the business of getting napkins and ketchup for everyone. The left over food, if you can believe there was any, was offered to the 2 female chaperons and they accepted it gratefully ... might have been a while since they've had a decent meal since they've been traveling for probably more than 24 hours.
When I finally get back to the table and prepare to eat some chicken nuggets, D is silly from the soda and H and her friend are easily entertained by him. H notices that he cannot read the letters on the box of chicken nuggets, so she begins to teach him the letters, their sounds, and how to make them into the word. He cheers loudly and says the word incorrectly and both H and her friend giggle and D smiles at them. They chit chat about who knows what and I can see the children are all very tired. D and I have to get up early, so I need to leave.
I returned the children to the chaperon and said goodbyes ... D hugged H as we left and they spoke a few more words in Russian to each other before we left.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment