Article 5

We hit another major milestone while we were in Bulgaria. Our steps since accepting our referral have been: 

• submit i800 to U.S.
• i800 approval 
• i800 approval goes to the U.S. Embassy
• Article 5
• Minister of Justice Signature
• Court Day
• Travel Dates Issued
• Pick up trip

We received our article 5 the Friday we were in Bulgaria. This is something families are not typically in Bulgaria for and something our NGO here took care of for us. It's pretty rare that we were there for it. 

So next we'll be waiting for the signature of the MOJ. This is where we could use some prayer. Usually the wait is 4 weeks for a signature, but there are families who have been waiting since February. It is only a signature. Nothing more...she doesn't have to look over anything, she can't approve or deny...it's only a signature. Apparently she is very busy. 

We pray not only for our case, but for the other families who are waiting. This will be the big step that determines if we'll be able to get through court before the government (including the courts) go on break in the month of August and early September. We need her to sign in the next four weeks to still have hope of making it happen. 

We're ready to bring our daughter home. We have been joking that while we have been praying for our hearts to be prepared for leaving her that day, we failed to pray for the days following. I'll admit - I've been known to stare at her photo - a lot.

Saying Good-bye - Day 5

We have known all along that doing two trips was part of the deal. We have been preparing our hearts for a long time to leave her here. We both were anxious heading to the orphanage, but The Lord blessed us with a great morning with her. 

When we got there, we were invited upstairs to see where she eats, sleeps and plays. We got to take a photo of her crib. It's exactly how you would picture it, cribs packed in so tight they are touching. We saw where they shower them and the room where they play and do their therapies. We took a photo of the three of us so we could print it out when we went to have her visa taken. 

The workers didn't like what she was wearing, so they changed her clothes before we left. I think even the workers were nervous about us leaving to have her photo taken. She is very senstitive and doesn't like change. We were all happy to see that she was fine for the car ride...epecially us. When we pick her up we will have to drive four hours back to Sofia. All of us piled in a car - the caretaker had Anche on her lap, me next to her and our case worker next to me. Rob is the front and the orphanage driver...well...he drove us. I guess they have two drivers and that's all they do at the orphanage. When we got to the photo place, we went in and the caretaker held Anche up while the photographer, caretaker and our case worker all tried to get her to smile. We stayed out of the way, but I turned to Rob and asked him if he ever felt like our life was a movie. I can't explain how surreal it was to be in this run down old shop with all these people speaking Bulgarian trying to get our little Bulgarian to smile for her visa photo. Pretty sure I'm dreaming. 

It is very important to them that she smile. They don't like photos of her crying. In fact, every time she cried the caretaker felt the need to explain to our case worker so she could translate to us why she was crying. Finally our case worker told her that we are fine with the crying and that we are not concerned. 

We also had an opportunity to have our case worker tell the caretaker thank you from us and express how grateful we are for the care she is getting. The caretaker responded by saying that they are doing the best they can. 

Anche looked for us while her caretaker was holding her. and when she was down and I would hold out my arms, she would walk right in. She is ours and we cannot wait to go back to get her. We see her in our house. We see her playing with our boys. She is a part of our family now. 

When we got back to the orphanage, our case worker went to check on another child and The Lord gave us great memories of our time with Anche. She let me hold her for a long time, we rocked and I got to give her a lot of kisses. I would kiss her head and then she would look back at me and lean in wanting another one. She was trying to make the smacking noise with her lips, but couldn't quite get it out. She really looked like she was more comfortable. 

Handing her over was so hard, but necessary. Now we pray like mad that the process is smooth and quick. 

After we left Bourgas we drove back to Sophia. We stopped by the agency to pick up the person who was taking us to the new apartment. Unfortunately, our last apartment was booked and so we have to stay in an apartment that is very far from the city center. It' not a big deal. It's getting late and we're hungry and tired and they'll pick us up in the morning to take us back to the downtown area to visit the notary. From there we will likely just stay and take the subway back. And as a plus, our apartment looks like it's straight out of HGTV. 

After we had eaten dinner we walked one block past our apartment to see where the U.S. Embassy is since we have to be there at 10:30 for our visa interview tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the start of the process to get Anche's visa to enter the U.S. Naturally, I'm trying to document the whole process in photographs so without thinking about it, I took a photo of the U.S. Embassy. Right after, Rob read a sign that said there are no photos allowed. Just then we see a man walking toward us. He explained that he saw that we just saw the sign (meaning we didn't know better), but that we would have to delete our photos. I pulled out my phone and he watched me delete them. Then he told me we would have to come up so they could check out credentials. It was quite the process...about 15 minutes worth...of him talking to the guards (with machine guns) and then them having to talk to their boss inside and then their boss having to call their boss on the phone. After that we thought it was best to just go back to the apartment so I didn't get us arrested. 

 

We're Cooking Now - Day 4

We felt so much better going back to the orphanage today. Anche is doing awesome. We're learning things about her and she is slowly learning to trust us. We felt like she was already doing a couple of new things today. She was clapping and boy did Rob have her belly laughing while he was driving a little car up her leg. It seems she's quite ticklish. 

The orphanage here is very good. We've been told it's one of the best in Bulgaria. The workers are all so friendly. The director is very friendly. But we're learning the people in Bulgaria in general are very friendly. It's very similar to North Dakota EXCEPT they don't smile and say hi on the sidewalk. 

We left our blanket, photo book, doll (although she doesn't care for it), duck, recordable story book and we plan to have a photo printed of the three of us when we go to get her visa photo taken tomorrow. All of that we should get back when we pick her up. 

They asked us today what we plan to name her and they say that from now on they will call her Emily. They seem committed to the transition. We were told by our agency that they will read her the stories we gave her every day. 

At the end of our visit they told us we could go up and feed her. She did not like that idea at all. The brought her tray out to the entryway and plopped it down on a little table. It was completely out of the ordinary for her and she protested, but at least we got to see what she eats. This will help us prepare for when we go pick her up. It was all mush. It reminded us of Gerber 3rd stage foods, so we'll probably bring some of that back with us. One of the challenges we will face is not being able to prepare the foods that she is used to.  

After our morning visit we went back down to the pedestrian area at lunch and ate in a little nicer of a place. I had two small salads. I couldn't decide, so I ordered both. 

Rob had pork and we got a small bottle of wine. The manager was our server, I suppose because he is the one that speaks english, and he opened the first bottle, didn't like the cork and took it back. He came with a second bottle, which he opened, poured himself a little glass and took a taste before he poured ours. He told us to wait five minutes to let it breath and walked away. A couple of minutes later, he came back saying our wine was not good and wisked our bottle away and brought a different brand. When he took it back, Rob said, "He doesn't know we sometimes drink wine from a box." After lunch, we walked to the Turkish Bakery that is so popular among adopted families who visit Burgas. The lady didn't speak very good english, but when rob said we were looking for something sweet, she said, "Dis." And pointed to a pastry looking thing in the back. "Dis ... sugar." We bought one and walked out. When we got back to the hotel we realized it was plachenda, a German pastry my mom and her sisters make once a year around Halloween. It's pumpkin and sugar wrapped in a pastry shell. It had a sprinkle of sugar on it. It wasn't quite what we were looking for (I was thinking chocolate), but still good. 

Before our case worker picked us up, we Facetimed the boys.  We've been calling them at 3pm, which is 7am central time. It's been working out well. We have commented so many times how amazing technology is. It is so hard to believe that we have been so connected to everything at home. Having a Facebook group has been a great way to quickly update and create a memory log for ourselves. Facetime has been a great way to connect with the boys and our parents and having multiple camera options has allowed us options. With our phones we have been able to subtly take photos and videos in places where we didn't want to have the big camera out. Also, Anche was scared by the large camera and the loud clicking it made. It's worked out beautifully. 

Our afternoon visit we spent outside pushing Anche in the stroller. She is definitely more irritable in the afternoon, but we aren't there long...only about one hour. She loves the outdoors and especially loves trees and plants. We think Auntie Beth will have a lot to teach her and they will share in their love of trees. 

In the evening we walked down on the beach and picked seashells and waded in the Black Sea. It was cold, but manageable. We ate at a restaurant right by the water that was a little nicer. The food was so good and the bread here is delicious. I ordered Tarator soup which is a traditional Bulgarian cold soup made of yogurt, cucumber and dill. I have seen it in a few Bulgarian cookbooks so I figured I should try it. I'll let the pictures describe what i thought of it. The first photo is when they first brought it to me and the second is when I sent it away. 

The Warming - Day 3

Today we drove to the orphage with a lot of anxiety about the day. 

Because we've decided to be very transparent in this process, I'll be honest and say that we didn't sleep very well. We went to the orphanage on Tuesday with a plan that we would ask to monitor her in her own environment. As it turned out, we didn't need to for the reasons we thought! She cried a tiny bit when her caretaker came in and put her down and then she didn't cry again for the entire three hours. She played, she made quite a few sounds, she really warmed up to Rob. 

She loves music. I'm not just saying that. I know that's what you're thinking. She loves this little light up piano and she really loves holding a drumstick and beating on this little toy drum and xylophone. She also really loves plants like her Aunt Beth. It also seems like she's a lefty. She prefers things to be in her left hand. 

It didn't take her long to figure out Rob is fun...especially when they were jamming to Santana. She danced and danced and danced. After awhile she even let him pick her up to look out the window. She rubbed his beard a little and had a pretty surprised look on her face. 

She has the funniest expressions she makes. She has a surprised face that is pricless. Whever we've given her a stuffed animal or a doll, she gets eye level with it as if she's going to have a conversation. 

Tuesday after our morning visit we walked to the pedestrian area downtown and ate. The food here is very good and very fresh. Then we did a little shopping. We met the most entertaining shop owner in one of the pottery shops. He was so proud of his pottery and he knew very little English, but he used every bit of vocabulary he had to tell us so. He kept taking a scissors and rubbing it supper hard on the pottery to show us how strong it is. "Bulgaria pottery, no scratch. No break." We really liked him.

In the afternoon we played a little more and in the evening we walked down by the seaside. There is huge park that expands the length of the beach and there are probably 30 restaurants in the area. They all have people in them, but they are not busy at all. It's hard to believe that this many eating establishments are able to make it, but summer is coming and Burgas definitely has a lot of summer tourism. 

 

 

Meetcha Day - Day 2

It's so hard to believe the day that we have been wishing for is finally here.

Our translator/driver/case worker picked us up from our apartment in Sofia and we drove four hours across Bulgaria to Burgas. It was a nice drive. It's very beautiful here. It's green and very mountainous in some areas and very flat with farmland in others. We noticed that livestock are never on their own, they always have a shepard or two with them. They also have a lot of livestock that pull carts. 

We noticed they have the most beautiful weeds (we're guessing) in the roadside. The ditches are filled with red, yellow and purple flowers. A very pretty sight. 

On the way out of town the translator stopped at a gas station and helped me order coffee. It's very good...much stronger than in the U.S. and the cup is much smaller...maybe 8 oz. In Bulgaria, if you order coffee, you get espresso. If you want coffee more like what we have in the U.S. you order a latte or a capachino. It's still stronger, but it has milk added to it. It's very good. 

When we got to Bulgaria we drove right to the orphanage. We were so nervous. The whole experience is full of awkwardness. Being in a new country, meeting the director and communicating through a translator, asking a ton of questions and then meeting your daughter for the first time...all awkward. We got there after Anche had already gone to bed but they woke her up to bring her to see us. 

They took us to a little room next to the front door that was filled with toys and there we asked the director our questions.

I thought my heart was going to stop when there was a knock on the door and a nurse brough in our sweet Anche. She somehow looked a little older than the photos we had of her from just the month before. The nurse put her down and she started crying. I got down on my knee and touched her hand, but she wouldn't have anything to do with me. The nurse wisked her away pretty quickly, telling us we should come back after naptime at 4pm. 

Our translator took us to one of her favorite resturants and we walked downtown in a pedestrian area that was as wide as a street, but only for walking and each side was lined with shops. She told us which places she recommends for eating, dessert and for shopping. 

When 4pm came around we traveled back to the orphanage where we were met in the hallway by the nurse and Anche. She saw us and immediately started crying. The nurse told our translator in Bulgarian that I should just take her...so I did. We took her outside to the park and she was very upset. She spent a good majority of the time crying, but we would get her to quiet down for about 5 minutes at a time before she would start crying again. It was awful. She was basically inconsolable. 

The poor thing had a tough day, understandably. She was thrown into the deep end of a situation that she didn't have control over. We look different, smell different and talk different. We are different in every way that she is familiar with. 

At one point, we opened the gerber puffs and gave her a puff. Everyone told us that children in orphanages always like two things...snacks and toys that make noise. I put a puff in her mouth thinking that she would taste it, stop crying and like us. That is the exact thought that was going through my head. I was so wrong. What really happened was she freaked out that she had something in her mouth, it stuck to the roof of her mouth, she freaked out some more, she gagged on the puff, kept crying, gagged some more and then threw up on me. 

Seriously, it was a rough day, but this is the reality of this awkward situation. We left pretty defeated, but convinced that day 2 would go better. 

That night we walked down along the waters of the Black Sea. There is a gorgeous park that has dozens of resturantes and double that in the number of gelato carts. For dinner, Rob asked the waitress what she recommended for fish (after all, a person should have fish when they're so close to the ocean) and she pointed at one and said she liked it because it was fresh. What he got were a bunch of tiny fish, whole, piled on his plate. The look on his face was priceless. After he was done he used motions and gestures to find out how he was suppoed to eat it. Good thing he was right... you don't eat the head. Until tomorrow... 

Day 1

Our flight over was uneventful. We did end up running a little in the Chicago airport. When we checked in for our flight in Chicago the airline worker told us he could only find one bag in the system. We were cutting it close getting through security so he told us to go through and that he would find our bag for us and make sure it was loaded. We were so happy (and a little suprised) to see both our bags make it to Sofia. 

We used quite the methods of transportation to get to get to Bulgaria. It started on Saturday morning and went something like this: van-plane-tram-tram-train-bus-train-bus-train-train-bus-train-tram-plane-plane...and we're here!! A long day. 

After we got here on Sunday the agency owner picked us up, took us to exchange money and gave us a little tour of the area around our apartment so we would know how to get back. Very important stuff. 

After he showed us the apartment (above is the view out our window) and left, we ventured out to find dinner. He recommended this place near here so we just went there. We had shopska salad (Bulgaria is known for this) which is tomatos, cucumber, cheese w/ olive oil and spices. I've made it at home and am so excited to be eating it here in Bulgaria. We'll be doing that more this week. We also had amazing handmade pizza that had a sort of cream cheese on it with figs, I had a coke zero and Rob had a beer. Our total bill was 22 leva, which is less than $15 U.S. This was a pretty upscale place too...similar to going to eat downtown at the Peacock Alley. Food is good and very inexpesive here - it really is Rob's dream country. 

After we ate, we checked out some of the local shops and then went to catch the free Sofia tour that starts every day at 6pm. There we met another family from the U.S. who is here to meet their 13 year old daughter from another city. So nice to catch up with another adoptive family. We'll hopefully get to see them on Friday when we're all back from our trips out-of-town. 

We made it to 9pm and then crashed. Today we meet sweet Emily! The translator that is with us the rest of the week will pick us up at 8am and we'll drive four hours to Burgas where we'll stay until Thursday night. Since we won't be arriving until naptime, it is unlikely we'll meet her before 4 today (that's 8am central time). So excited to be here! 

Bulgaria or Bust

Tomorrow's our day. We'll be leaving for Bulgaria on Saturday morning at 6am and flying in on Sunday at 1pm (5am central time). 

Thoughts we're having as we prepare to leave tomorrow:

 

- We are 96% excited and 4% terrified. 

- I can't believe we will meet our daughter in four days. The magnitude of that is not lost on me. 

- Don't forget the passports.
- I hope Pitch Perfect is playing on the plane. 
- I hope the boys are good for the grandparents.

- We're going to try not to offend the locals. 

- Does Bulgaria have ice cream?

- I hope we have the timing right and the wifi capabilities to Facetime with the boys a lot. 

We absolutely value your prayers. You've carried us this far... don't quit on us now! : ) 

Can't wait to be reporting from Bulgaria. 

Nicole