Stahlke Adoption

Trip to the Black Sea

Yesterday was a long but successful day. We left at 7:45 am by car, with Andrei driving and the orphanage director riding in the front seat. We arrived at the camp on the Black Sea at 1:00 and she went to talk to Ruslan. She had tried to telephone ahead to let him know we were coming, but the cell phone connection didn't go through.

She talked with him and his caregiver for about fifteen minutes, and then we received word to come meet him. He is 11 years old, very tanned from his time at camp, and with his blonde hair cut very short. It was hard on him to receive such huge news with almost no notice, and at first he was too shy to talk to us. But we pulled out the camera and showed him photos of his brothers and sisters, and then we tried the photo album of our house and environs in Chicago. He was still pretty apprehensive, so we next tried playing ball. He perked up a little, and eventually ran to his room to retrieve a soccer ball.

Ruslan, Jonathan, Andrei, and I all played soccer for about 30 minutes. Despite my dress and sandals, I kept up ok. All those soccer practices back in high school were worth every minute, preparing me for this day. Ruslan loves sports, and after the soccer got too hot, he took us to the beach to swim. We hadn't brought bathing suits (thinking we would be at the camp only 30 minutes), so I stuck to wading. But I'm very proud of Jonathan--despite several difficulties, he went swimming with Ruslan and Andrei. It was a critical moment.

Jonathan asked Andrei (all of this in broken phrasebook Ukrainian!) if he should attempt to swim with Ruslan, and second, if it was ok to swim in his underwear. Andrei asked Jonathan what kind of underwear he was wearing. Jonathan showed him his white, jockey (Fruit of the Loom) underwear and got his approval. So off with the jeans and almost everything else and into the water, only to find that this beach is home to lots and lots of "Medusas" (jellyfish). Ruslan loved to grab the heads and turn them over, being careful to avoid the tentacles. Jonathan managed to avoid the medusas, not get too sunburned, and at Ruslan's suggestion even opened his eyes underwater despite the salt. Jonathan told me to write that these are all signs of a desperate man! They had a good time, and Ruslan seemed to relax a little.

After swimming, his caregiver took Ruslan to a picnic table and helped him write out the official letter saying that he would like to be adopted. It was quite lengthy, and he wrote it all out himself in cursive handwriting. We finished the visit by taking his photo to show his siblings, helping him buy some souvenirs for them, and giving him the gift of a soccer ball that we had hidden away in the trunk of the car. He was still pretty scared, even as we left, and I'm sure he has a lot to think about this week. We'll see him again next Monday when he returns from camp to the orphanage.

We drove home, arriving at 11:00 pm after a long, but very successful day!

posted by Stahlkes @ 8:27 PM