Back to the orphanage

Maia's birthday is Saturday. She will be four. Tomorrow, we're having ice cream and cake (no icing--a school rule) for her at her preschool.

When and if she ever looks at this, I think it may be the orphanage, Shymkent and Almaty that interest her most. So I'm going to put up more pics of those places.

The top one is of the orphanage from May 3, 2004. I think the young woman you see here with the children--the one without the hat--was herself an orphan. Not sure why I think that. Something about how she acted with them and with us. I had the feeling that she very much wanted us to adopt Maia, but for Maia's sake, not any other reason. The children all seemed to like her, and she seemed to understand them.



This is Maia smiling at one of our interpreters/facilitators. How could anyone disappoint that face?

I have very mixed feelings about our interpreters/facilitators. They made their money from adoptions, and they pressed hard to close the deal. That's a crude way to put it, maybe, but it's the truth. Adoption in Kazakhstan is not for the faint of heart.



This is Maia with the Director of the orphanage. The Director had described Maia as a beautiful little girl who was missing an ear. With that introduction and our previous experiences at the orphanage, we had been ready to leave. We stayed mostly to be polite and considerate.

But when Maia was introduced to us, she stole our hearts. Maybe you can see why from these photos.

Still, it wasn't easy. To a person, family and a number of professionals from back home--doctors, nurses--discouraged us in the strongest possible terms.

But my mother changed her opinion, and Kristina's mother did, too. And there was one doctor to whom we had sent photos of Maia and a translation of her medical records who was just brilliant, positive and wonderful in an hour long conversation with us from Seattle. His name is Dr. Julian Davies. Here's a link: http://www.adoptmed.org/



This is a Babushka in a little courtyard that the children slept in during the summer when it was hot. After we had committed to Maia, the Director of the orphanage warmed up to us and acceded to our request for a tour. I ended up liking the Director. A tough old bird, but I think her heart was in the right place.



This was the play room, and next is the music room. The Director was very proud of these rooms.



That's Kristina, the Director, and one of our interpreters. This young woman had been to school in England, was very pretty, spoke impeccable English and was very sweet. She was also the daughter of the Minister of Education, who had jurisdiction over orphanages. One day, as we went into a grocery store, a young boy's jaw literally dropped open when he saw her. His father had burst into laughter and swatted him on the head.



The laundry. This operation ran all day long. I'm not sure how many children were at the orphanage. I would guess in the range of 50. Easily enough to keep the laundry going.



The nursery.



Sometimes, people probe a little on the issue of whether it might not have been better for us, or whether we might not have preferred, to adopt an infant.

I think Kristina and I wanted this process to be as unscripted as possible. Neither of us is particularly religious, but Kristina is spiritual, and I'm inclined to trust that things will happen as they should. Maia needed us, and we needed her. She is perfect for us. I hope we're good for her. I can't imagine life without her.



This was Maia a few days after we got back. She was jumping off the box that her stroller came in into Kristina's arms. She's always been an imp and a risk taker. Once when Kristina was scolding her, she looked at me, grinned and said, "I funny." (In pidgin--the local version of English--the copula is dropped, and Maia is learning pidgin at her preschool.)



This was Maia tonight. She was turning Kristina's face towards the camera and saying, "Say, 'Cheese'!"



Happy Birthday, Sweetness.

Thursday, July 13, 2006