Day Twelve or...

Finally Some Tears

We were running behind schedule this morning, so had to leave before our porridge was brought to the table. We drove to the Shelter for Katya. While there, we gave our donation to Galina. The donation was the result of the "Shelter Shower" we held at our church. The money will be used to fix up some of the rooms. We held back a little money to buy gifts for the children, for Katya to hand out.

From there we went to the Baby House. So many memories as we walked up the steps to the orphanage. One of the first people we saw was Dr. Ludmilla, Cameron's doctor. Everyone is so surprised that Cameron only speaks English. We then saw Dr. Rimma, going into her office for a short talk, before she was off running someplace else. It was such a joy to see her. She told us that it was as if we had never left! Hard to believe that it was two years ago.

We were all hungry, as Katya's breakfast was fish(!) soup, bread and milk. So, we went to the pizza place for lunch. The pizza was very good. It was a thin crust with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and tomatoes. Tom and Katya had cheeseburgers. Katya didn't like her cheeseburger. I had a taste of it. While it was okay, it didn't quite taste like our American burgers. So, we still have hope for our girl.

Then it was back home again, for Cameron's nap. Katya worked on an English lesson. As a reward, we watched Tom & Jerry while Papa took a nap.

At 4:30 p.m. Marina returned. Katya was busy playing solitaire, and we had to shut the computer down to get her to stop. This made her a little angry, but it turned into an opportunity for her to tell Marina some of her fears about learning English, flying on a plane etc. The minute the first tear fell on her cheek, Mama starting crying a bit too. We talked a lot about how it is okay for her to be mad at Mama and Papa, that we still love each other even when we are mad at each other. Papa also told her that he would also always be there for her, and protect her. In the end, there was a lot of hugging, and I think everyone felt better.

Then it was time to return to the Shelter, so Katya could have dinner, and so could we.

We learned that Katya had done some swimming in the river, Ishim, which flows along the edge of town. But she had never been in a pool before.