By this time next week we will be home in San Diego. Wow,
has that much time really flown by? I guess it has. We have one more court visit on Tuesday, a
court hearing on Wednesday and an Embassy visit on Thursday, a Visa pick-up on
Friday and then we are done. I can’t
believe how much different this adoption was than Sanija’s. There is nothing
even remotely the same except for friends and we’re in Latvia. But other than
that…..,,,,,,,nope! That’s it. Sheri and
I have said many times that the way this trip has gone so far was what we had
anticipated our first trip with Sanija was going to be like.
With Sanija it was a constant rollercoaster ride with backstories
and obstacles at every turn. Those old FP really made life difficult and so
confusing for our poor Sanija. Unlike this adoption, Nata was ready to be
adopted the moment we landed in Latvia.
From the first HUG she accepted us as her forever Mommy and Daddy and
there was never a doubt in her mind.
With this adoption we never had to worry about if we were bonding with
her. We did that back in San Diego during the hosting period.
Basically, this was a visit to spend the required amount time
in Latvia. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy our time here (including time with Ilze
and her beautiful family) and I think for Sheri, she not only gets to spend time
with the girls but also gets her away from her 14 to 16 hour work days.
Anyhow, today would be an exciting day for the girls. Today,
we were meeting up with Nata’s new foster family and Ilze was joining us at Big
Lido. I think I’ve mentioned Big Lido before but it’s a huge buffet and
carnival type rides and attractions outside. Yes, o u t s I d e !!!
The girls all cleaned up we headed for our nearby taxi stop.
Let me give you a little advice. If you ever travel to Riga. They have several
taxi cab services. Be careful who you choose. Let me give you an example. When
we drove out to Ilze’s yesterday (white cab company) it cost us $15 euros but
to get home (Panda) it only cost us $5 euros. The lesson here: use Panda.
Anyhow, back to my story. As we were nearing Big Lido I
asked Nata if she was excited to see her new foster family again and she shook
her head and said, “no”. She then smiled and said, “I’m excited to see Ilze”. Both Sheri and I looked at each other in a
bit of disbelief. Since we set up this
meeting two weeks ago, she said she was excited but now, she didn’t really
care. On the ride home she did say she was glad to see Vanessa and Anastacia.
Both were other foster girls at the house.
We entered BL about the same time Ilze did and upon the
girls seeing her, they both took off on a sprint to give her a hug. What the
girls had obviously forgot was Ilze had a bad back and was still in pain. We
got a little chuckle as we saw Ilze kind of back up against a pole as two
screaming girls charged her.
Soon we found the other family and sat down to the buffet. I
was hoping that our two girls and her 5 foster children along with the adults
would mix it up a little bit. But, nope. They sat at one end of the table and
we sat at the other. We would have thought Nata would have sat by her old
foster brother and sisters but again, Nope! She sat between Sheri and Ilze and really
didn’t interact with their family very much. Sheri, Ilze and myself tried to
make conversation with the foster family but it was more work than a free
flowing conversation. I was sitting next to Vanessa who speaks broken English
pretty well. I like Vanessa and wish we could do more for her. She’s 16 and at
any time could leave the foster care program. But she really has nowhere to go.
Near the end of lunch, ansay (as best I can spell it) (younger
foster girl) started to again make eye contact with me as she did when we
visited the foster home for the first time. Soon, Anastacia joined in and we
played a little hide and sink via eye contact. Soon all the kids went outside
to play while the adults stayed in the warm building. Before long the
conversation stalled and I suggested we go visit the kids. We had earlier given our girls 20 euros a
piece for rides and game to be used on all the kids. As there were three “older”
kids and the younger kids, Sanija wanted to take off with one of the boys and girls
to do their thing. This left the youngers with us and immediately Anastacia took
to me. Although she spoke no English Anastaca grabbed my hand and led me off
leaving the others wondering where we were going. She wanted me to take her to
the galloping toy horses. Well, that was that! Anastacia did not leave my side
for the next hour. She held my hand, wanted me to pick her up, wanted hugs,
would turn around and wait for me, wanted to be picked up again. To be honest, I felt kinda bad. Not only to
my girls (who I hope were watching and getting jealous) but to the foster
mother who was actually adopting Anastacia.
Thank God for that or we would be pursuing a third adoption.
The feeling I was getting from the foster mother is that she
didn’t really care for the generosity that Sheri and I along with our girls
were giving their kids. I had offered to pay for many games but the FM would turn
it down. I think I understand. Maybe she was trying to control the kids’
expectations, Maybe a cultural thing, maybe it was an American thing with
money. I really don’t know but I do understand she had her reason.
After about an hour, the foster family headed home. We
stayed around with Ilze as the girls still wanted to play a few games. I’m not
sure of this magical power that Ilze has but our girls really love her. In
fact, on the ride home Nata asked if she could go back with us to San Diego.
The day was still early and the girls started to play with
some of the prizes they won at BL. The
girls turned into popsicles when they spent 45 minutes on our balcony blowing
bubbles and watching them float throughout the street below. The best part was
watching all the people below looking up and then waving to our two girls. So
cute!
Having a little time to ourselves and Sanija wanting to
practice babysitting, Sheri and I did something we have not done in a long
time, except for those vacations to Italy, we went on a short but sweet date.
Down the block was a wine bar Sheri wanted to try out since we got here. What a
great idea, a self-serve wine bar. Basically your given a card which you insert
into a wine machine. You pick the wine you want, out of a bottle, press how
much you want (S/M/L) and waala…your wine glass is filled. At the end you give
your card to a cashier and she rings you up. I think our entire bill was less
than 17 euros. By the way, you’ll love this, at Big Lido we paid for our family
(4) plus the foster family (7) at an select an item buffet, which means you pay
for what items are on your plate and the entire bill was……..a wopping 41 euros.
Can you believe that. In the grand ol’ USA that meal would have cost over $200
buck-a-roonies.
Before tucking in our two wild creatures tonight, it was
decided that we need to own 100 minions. Of course, this was after watching “Despicable
Me”.
You probably noticed that the blog was particularly long
this evening. That’s what happens when I have time in the day to write rather
than at 9:30 at night when I’m tired.
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