Seeing the children again

Saturday morning, November 25th

We were told by Tanya yesterday that we would have a different translator for the rest of our stay as she (Tanya) was meeting a family coming in today and preparing them for their court hearing on Monday.

We met Tamarra, our new translator in the hotel lobby this morning and asked her to ask the hotel if they could provide us with more and clean towels, they apparently told Tamarra they would. Tamarra explained to us what the agenda was for the day and we left for Katia's orphanage. We met Katia in the large "music" room of the orphanage. Again, Katia was very shy but was willing to play. Her caregiver placed her in one of those "ball pens", the kind that is a large tub with hundreds of colorful balls in it. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, but with a little coaxing by Gail and myself, we got her to start throwing the balls at Gail. It's my impression that these kids just really do not know how to play, they are extremely regimented by the orphanage staff and the staff does their best, but these children do not know how to relax and just have fun. We finally pulled her out of the ball pit and got one of those large exercise balls and started playing with her on that, finally a smile! and a giggle!!! She seemed to really enjoy that. After a while, we pulled out the "try on clothes" that I had brought and she knew exactly what to do: stripped down and put on her new clothes all by herself, she looked adorable! She is a very "prissy" girl and could not get to a mirror fast enough to see how she looked! We then had to fix her hair and put new ponytail holders in with butterflies and she was just beaming! We felt like we were playing "beauty shop"! We pulled out the photo album of all the people and pets waiting for her when she gets home and she was totally engrossed in it. This child totally gets that I am going to be her new mommy. After about 2 hours, we walked her to her "group" for her to have lunch and then on to a nap, again the big tears came, knowing that we were leaving; Tamarra and the director swept her up and explained to her that yes, I was going to be her mommy and promised to come back for her in a few weeks, but that she will just have to wait. Okay, this is now breaking my heart again just typing this out! I can't stand it, I want this baby home with me!!!

Jane