There is absolutely nothing at all in my or our lives that could prepare us for what we are experiencing -- from when we met the girls two days ago to where we sit right now...
Friday, October 8
We arrived at the orphanage at 3:30 and the girls were brought in -- they were full of life and smiles and as was with our first meeting -- Yuli ran into my arms and Fana ran directly to Gunther. Fana was just over the moon to see us -- laughing and so happy! She looks like a different child altogether -- her skin and her facial expressions are relaxed...no signs of the stressed tone of former Fana. For this, our deepest wishes were realized. Yuli looked beautiful...there is no shortage of cute with this child (ok, maybe until she starts acting like one -- as per below :-)
We were asked to change them into their new clothes which we did and then we signed a bunch of release documents. We said our good-byes to the staff and were more or less motioned to go. Fana took Yuli by the hand and led her out the front doors of the orphanage which was very poignant. You could see the caregivers were sad to see the girls go but they kissed them good bye and off we went back to the hotel. Family Roehlig crusing back to the hotel feeling good...
Fana LOVES cars and Yuli also likes to look out the window as well. We got back to the hotel and the four of us went upstairs to just hang out in our hotel room. We read books and the girls were just ripping around the room going through all of their new clothes, books...i think they touched every single last thing in the room! We went downstairs to meet everyone for dinner and quickly realized that having two young ones in a restaurant was going to be quite the challenge (we knew this but now it was the real thing!) Gunther and I took turns running after the girls as we tried to also spend time with the people here in Bulgaria who made all of this a reality! Somehow we managed to do it with only breaking one wine glass (Yuli)...and a major pee accident on the bathroom floor (Fana) The girls ate everything that was on the table -- and then some. It's like there whole new world has opened up and they want to touch and taste and feel everything. Everyone said to let them do this so we did...we just wanted the girls and everyone to regard this celebration and special moment. Galia and her husband gave us a beautiful package containing pictures and charms with their initials and a host of Bulgarian items. Before we knew it, it was after 10:30 and I took Yuli up to get ready for bed. Gunther followed about 30 minutes later with Fana...while everyone was still in the restaurant.
So we have the girls in their pajamas and are trying to get them into their beds...and it was at this point that the wheels came off the cart -- the girls went absolutely nuts! OK, we knew that no nap, eating sausage and everything under the sun two hours past their dinner time was going to be a recipe for disaster! It was. The girls screamed at the top of their lungs (thank goodness we were the only ones in the hotel) for an hour and ripped through the room like a couple of tornadoes. Things got thrown and by the time they actually settled down and fell asleep -- the room looked like the Rolling Stones had just partied until dawn in it sans booze bottles. Lesson learned.
The good thing is that they slept like rocks all night. Gunther and I had a beer and a glass of wine and looked at each other like "what have we got ourselves into in a kidding kind of way." We both slept really poorly -- Fana and Yuli joined us in bed at around 8 a.m. and we read books and hung out. Gunther gave them both a shower which was HILARIOUS -- these two girls LOVE WATER. We got dressed and all headed down to breakfast. FACTOID: Fana likes to eat a whole plate of just one thing and if you try and take it away from her -- out come the lungs!
After breakfast we packed up and paid our hotel bill (including 50 bucks for a broken chair) and off we headed for Sofia...as we said Ciao Yambol as we crossed the city line and we all felt a certain sense of something coming to an end really. Even Yuli said Caio Yambol and I think they both understood what was happening. They were fine for the first half an hour and then the wheels came off the cart again. They wouldn't sit in their seats and just screamed for an hour or so. It was very stressful -- complicated by the fact that Fana was now a pooing machine. We had to keep her in pull-ups to avoid accidents (we've now gone through about 20 pull-ups...so we're off to the Chemist to try and find some medicine.) so the car pretty much was very stinky and noisy. The first (or I guess second) of many, many tests of patience. They finally calmed down and we arrived into Sofia around 3 p.m. Rather than stay in a hotel we are staying in this old apartment building (circa 1940) in the heart of the city center. It's concrete walls and thick doors are PERFECT because the girls are just bouncing off the walls. This is a weird analogy but it's like two animals that are free from constraint for the first time and they're running in every different direction, thinking they can get away with anything. Thank GOD we have Rosi. Fana is still going through pull ups like mad. Actually as I write this update Fana has just crapped all over everything. She is clearly not well with all of this pooing. We're in the midst a complete shit show! More to come on rest of Satuday...in next post...and pictures too...
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