Clarke:
Today we’ve booked our final legs to DIA for the arrival at
6:46 pm this Friday!
Each hour that goes by, Natalie is sharing more words with
us. She has taught us about a dozen words in Russian. Each baby step of
progress is extremely rewarding. She actually will repeat a word three or four
times until we get it right. However, everything is very much on her terms.
Even though she is capable, she refuses to speak anything when we ask her to.
Believe me, she understands and knows what we mean.
Setting our sights on the clean Holiday Inn bathrooms
awaiting our arrival in Warsaw, we have opted to skip the screaming episode of bath-time today. She is starting to forget when she is in public, she is
actually yucking it up in front of other people. Finding time to write is a bit
more challenging with a three year old keeping us at bay. Of course, we could
skip our nap we take when she naps…but Na…
Our cab ride to the NAC (National Adoption Center) and LOT
airlines provide us with the expected entertainment of people. Our taxi driver
was proud of his newer Volga sedan and plush dark green velvet like interior.
The interior was remarkably similar to a nineties American car with a few
exceptions. The headline still off white ribbed style with tiny holes like the
ones we used in the 60’s the dome light looked out of place and old compared to
the newer lines of the dash board. Finally, the car was modern, but was still a
manual transmission on the floor with an awkward long angle and clutch and
brake pedals that stuck out like a truck.
From the moment we got in the car,
Georgiy started talking passionately like a television evangelist until we
pulled up to our first stop. We bought our last silly “bribe” gifts of flowers,
chocolate and cognac. (150.00 hryena) before stopping in to visit the NA.C. We
merely wanted to show off Natalie, but it ended up we had to bring gifts to
wedge our foot in the door. Valentin was pleased to see her. Trembling all the
time, he came over and put Natalie on his lap. He spoke softly to her and
smiled so sincerely. A brief “spa ceba” (thank you) and we were out of his
office. We worked our way down the Scooby-do hallway, passing all the anxious
parents in waiting. Kris and I looked at each other without saying a word and
knew how glad we were to not be in their shoes right now. We step into the
Director Olga’s office to present her the flowers and show her Natalie. She is
somewhat cordial and professional, but clearly not rewarded in anyway, or able
to share in our happiness. We all smile and give each other thank-yous. 
Out in
the hall, Kris and I now voice our relief for not being parents in waiting as
all of these couple around us. A wonderful couple from Berlin greets us. They
are warm and kind. This prompts a brief chat in the taxi about the apparent
German/Russian hatred not being universal.
We head back to our hotel. Georgiy came to our room to give
us present to take back to Mark and Kristen from Connecticut. We thanked him
dearly, and said our goodbyes. It was very touching.
Kris:
Today we visited the NAC and presented them with gifts. We
visited LOT Airlines to change our tickets. Natalie napped well. We visited the
Internet café and ate dinner at McDonald’s and then finished packing up for our
trip to Warsaw tomorrow!
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