Day 1 of the 10 day wait

First, I want to say thank you for all the comments and following along on our journey. It makes me feel closer to home than I really am!

Last night none of us got to sleep before midnight. Ryan was up first around 5:45 AM then Kiara at 7:45 AM and I slept in until 8:30 AM. Needless to say, Ryan is pretty tired right now! I think he will be checking in early tonight.

V met us outside our apartment today at 11:15 AM to take us to the orphanage for a visit with Vera. Ryan really didn't like all the walking we had done 2 days ago, so he figured out a route where we walk half as much. We do have to make 2 transfers, but V helped us figure out the system today and I think Ryan has it down. We will see tomorrow when we do it ourselves! Kiara loves riding the Metro, that is definitely a plus versus being driven to the orphanage. It isn't as boring for her.

When we got to the orphanage, the orange room was locked and it turns out there was a dignitary from Cyrus in there who is adopting a child from Vera's group. So, we were taken to the medical room, or V called it the therapy room, for our visit. Vera was still eating lunch, so we waited a bit to see her. A caretaker brought her in and she had a Tinkerbell sweatshirt on and looked adorable. Kiara thought it was pretty cool that she was wearing Tinkerbell! Early afternoon is definitely a good time of day for Vera. She was pretty smiley and she looked pretty comfy sitting her daddy's arms.

These 2 pictures are of the room we were in today.

It was probably our best visit with her. I think she enjoys the attention. She has started to make a few more sounds and show us more of her personality. When our visit was over, we got to take her back to her room. We even got to step right inside the door. She got really happy when she saw the caretaker who took her from me, so it is good to know that she has attached to at least one of them. There is a decent size open room where the kids play. There was a table where it looks like they feed 2 of the children at a time. One little boy was sitting in there and there were 2 kids in this soft fenced in area playing. There was at least one other child in there, too. To the left they said is where they sleep and I could kind of see cribs through the glass. I got the impression on the other side of the room there is a room where they bathe them.

It is harder and harder to leave Vera there everyday. I just want to take her with us. V talked about the plan for us picking her up a week from Tuesday, December 23rd, so I am not counting on getting her early. :( A week from Tuesday seems so long from now! Hopefully, it will go by quick.

The next 2 are videos. Click on the arrow to play.

Vera's dancing

Playing with Vera

When we got back to the area where our apartment is, we went to Sbarro for dinner. It was pretty good. Ryan thought it was the best meal he has had since we got here. Then, we went to the grocery store that we went to on our last trip so that Ryan could get some Mountain Dew. The grocery store that we have gone to that is closer to our apartment doesn't have it. So, now we are back at the apartment relaxing and getting ready for our next hike to the orphanage.

Some posing on our way home from the grocery store!