We arrived at the orphanage this afternoon and after meeting with the director and social inspector (social worker) were introduced to two boys, who seemed sweet but weren't right for us. They then brought in the tiniest two year old girl named Veronika, who was stiff as a board with fright. We'd been warned by others who had been in Arkalyk before us and met Veronika that this might be the case, but they each assured us that she in fact was a spunky, healthy, little girl with a bad case of stage fright.It took only a few moments on the orphanage director's lap before Veronika slipped out of her grasp and started edging her way over to where Tom was sitting. She hesitated a moment before taking the piece of the toy he handed her and then retreated a few paces, before coming a little closer and taking another piece. Soon she was sitting in our laps and engaging with both of us. She was certainly wary, and she's not speaking much, but we both think with some good loving and personal attention she'll come into her own.
We have spent all these months in prep for this trip and now finally being in the moment it is way more monumental then I ever imagined. We have traveled across the planet to this very obscure region to visit an orphanage and have them show us several children; we are at their mercy to decide which one will be right for us and our family. What did I say in an earlier blog entry? That I will be very Zen about it all, well maybe so but when presented with the reality-- it is so hard. We know intellectually nothing is perfect except in our dreams when we imagine how things might be or how we can make them better. I think in this situation we are going to make a decision to help make things better for this adorable child and she in return will blossom into the daughter we have imagined for our family and sister for Aidan.
