Oct. 20, 2011

Emily dancing on the stage



I did absolutely nothing today before going to the orphanage. I sat around watching some TV and playing on the computer. Because I let Emily keep my iPod to work on her English, I didn’t even have music to listen to.

Again, Emily was the first child in the room when I arrived. She walked right up to me and embraced me in a tight hug. Then, Emily told me she misses her mom. She cried and laid her head on my shoulder as I held her.

As has been the pattern the last several days, the first thing Emily wanted to do was to text her mom. She wanted to tell her she loved her and that she missed her. Emily needed no help with typing “I love You.” She knows this English phrase already. With all the other messages, I just told Emily what letter to type and let her type the messages herself. The educational apps Emily has been playing on the iPod have been effective. When I told her the letters to type, most of the time she knew which ones they were.

Then, Emily wanted to text her sisters. I told her they were still asleep. So, we would have to text them another time. Then, she wanted to text her Aunt Jeannette and her Grandma. Emily texted back and forth with Jeannette for a little while but her Grandma was still asleep. Emily is so excited about her new family. She asks me about everyone. Soon, she will be home with a large extended family who loves her dearly. She is such an amazing young lady and she deserves all the love she gets.

Emily’s excitement about going home is similar to the excitement she experienced just before court. She can barely contain her excitement. She expected to leave the orphanage on Sunday because that is the tenth day after our court date. I explained to her that it would actually be Tuesday before would have the court decree. Then, I told her that it would probably be another two days before I could get her because Victor and I have to travel to the region she was born in to get her birth certificate. Emily acknowledged me but she wasn’t happy about it. She showed her displeasure with just a mild frown.

Emily, Masha, and Vanya performed on the stage for the parents again while I took pictures. Then, Emily asked if someone could record her performing for her family in the Unites States. One of the other parents had a camera with video recording capability and they recorded it. As soon as she was done, Emily asked me to send the video to her mom. Emily also asked if I could put the video on the internet so everyone at home could see it. The internet connection with my wireless modem was too slow so I told her I would do it later.

Emily and I finished the visit watching a movie on the computer. When the time to leave arrived, Emily helped me gather my things and she walked me out to the van. Emily and I hugged, kissed, and said “I love you.”