Last Day in Odessa

Today was a mellow day here in Odessa. Temperatures continue to drop and the rain set in. I made it to the internot early this morning to check Kristina out. She literally jumped into my arms when I showed up. After changing out of her school uniform, we walked the looonnnnnggg distance to the bus stop and made our way into the center of the city. We took care of some offical things like passport photos on Deribasovskaya Street. We found a little passport studio off of one of the side alleys. The place was no larger than 6x10. I pointed to the passport picture on the wall and indicated I need Kristina's photo done. He turned to Kristina and indicated in broken English that she should sit in the chair. She did as she was told as he continued to give her instructions like "move your chin up, push your hair back" in broken English. She said to him, "I speak Russian too!" At which point he looked surprsed and she was tickled. She thought it was great that the guy thought she was my daughter (well, you know what I mean) and only spoke English like me.

She decided she wanted pizza for lunch so we make the trek down to Pan Pizza (yes, Pam, it is the best in town!). She was full of questions the whole way. Can I see High School Musical movie when we go to house? Will I get married and have children one day? Can I play soccer in America? Sara, I asked her if she was nervous about coming to America and she said not at all. She's been waiting a whole year! I truely think she is ready for this transition. We will have our bumps along the way, but she is ready to come home.

After lunch we went back to the apartment and she played on the computer for awhile before we went back to the internot. I spent about two hours with the children. I know I'll be back in a few weeks, but I will miss them terribly in the meantime. At one point, I had four boys snuggled in next to me on the couch holding my hands. There are so many wonderful boys at this orphanage. It is my prayer that more families will be moved to adopt older children. What a blessing they are! We batted around a balloon and snapped photos until it was time for the children to go to their study period. Kristina got a little sad, but I reminded her that the sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back for her. I am relieved to be returning home for a short while. I need to time and environment to recharge before finishing this journey. Pray for traveling grace for us tomorrow. We'll post again when we get home.