Old Friends!

Well, not really old friends, but friends we have known longer. Our translator, Maggie, who was so wise, wonderful and supportive last trip met us in the hotel lobby at 7:00 this morning. We had already checked out and loaded the car, and so we hit the road. The drive to Lom is really a very easy one, and we made it to the Center for Family-Type Accommodation to pick up Emily Cate by 10:00. When we got there, she was watching for us out on their deck, and was SO excited that we were coming. As I've said before, the staff at the center in Lom is just fantastic, and they do everything they can to make the adoption process work. The Director was willing to give up some of her Sunday morning to meet us and take care of the paperwork to help us minimize the time and expense of this trip. We left a gift to help them continue the work they are doing there, and we're so excited to find out on Monday that they had already used it to buy a dining table and chairs big enough to accommodate all of the children, a wardrobe for one of the bedrooms, and some paint to freshen up the center a bit. It was so rewarding to hear that they had put it to such good use to fill some needs, and especially that they had done it so quickly.

Emily Cate got to change into a new outfit we brought with us to leave the center in. It included a pink top and white shorts, and her mommy has decided that with her beautiful dark features, pink is a stunning color on her. I would have to agree; she looked beautiful and glowed with excitement. She said goodbye to her friends and the staff at the center, and we hopped in the car and headed for Shumen. I have to say, I hate that trip! When we did it last winter, it was the worst car trip of my life. Without the snow, it was a little better, but it still seems to drag on forever. A lot of it is small secondary roads in poor repair and a lot of small towns. I'm not sure how you would ever navigate it without a live GPS to show exactly where you are at all times, because the roads are not well labeled and it is easy to get lost in the towns. There are one or two places that are dicey even with GPS. We left Lom at 10:30 and got to Shumen at 6:30 with about a 30 minute break for lunch and a few comfort breaks for various reasons. Emily Cate was a trooper. She talked to Maggie, played computer games, and rode peacefully the whole way. By the second half of the trip, the road conditions, the time in the car, and the fact that she wasn't used to traveling in cars at all, much less for 8 hours at a stretch, started to get the better of her tummy, so that half of the trip was especially hard on her.

We started so early to try to get to Shumen in time to meet up with Darin and Yordanka for dinner that evening. We wanted to spend some time with them, and we knew we would be in a hurry on Monday morning, so dinner would give us a chance to visit for a longer period of time. We had scheduled to meet between 7:30 and 8:00, so we were in a push to get there in time. When we finally arrived, we got checked in, got Emily Cate settled, and Carolyn spent some time resting her back, which quickly turned into a nap. I spent some time with Emily working jigsaw puzzles on the iPad, which gave us a chance to restore our relationship from last winter. Up to that point, she really hadn't warmed up to me during the course of the trip. After a little time winding down, we strolled out to the little park and playground in front of the hotel (one of many reasons I really wanted to go back to the Hotel Choice), to wait for her new sister. Maggie came out right behind us, and we weren't there but a few minutes before we saw Darin, Yordanka, and Madelyn walking up the street waving at us. The first meeting between the girls was so precious. I wish I had gotten pictures, but I was too involved in the reunion to be worried about snapping photos. With no prompting whatsoever and really no introduction, Emily Cate figured out who they were and ran up to Madelyn and scooped her up with a big hug. As soon as they finished the embrace, they were off and running across the playground like they were best friends and had known each other forever. We let them play for a few minutes while I caught up on life with Yordanka, then headed back across the street to dinner at the hotel restaurant (another of many reasons I wanted to go back to the Hotel Choice). Darin, Yordanka, and Maggie went to the restaurant out in back while I took the girls upstairs to get mommy. When we entered the room, Carolyn was asleep, so I had Madelyn go wake her up as a surprise. She then freshened up a little with the girls' help, and we went down for dinner.

 

Dinner was a fantastic time. We got to spend a relaxed evening talking to Darin and Yordanka, enjoy some of the best food anywhere, and watch the girls get to know each other. The way they interact is very similar to the way Caroline and Elizabeth interact at home, and it was a joy to watch them. The restaurant is in a garden atrium behind the hotel, and provided a wonderful atmosphere for children. There was another group of diners there with three or four kids of similar age that were running around the garden, and after they had finished a sufficient amount of food, Emily Cate and Madelyn joined them and had a wonderful time playing and running. We spent probably an hour and a half or so visiting, then it was time to say goodbye and go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day! Our first night alone with Emily went very smoothly. A little trouble understanding each other, but we worked it out. She was supposed to sleep on the couch, but was having trouble settling herself down while I was in the shower, so I spent some time working jigsaw puzzles with her again and that calmed her down. She didn't seem to want to stay on the couch, so we moved to the bed, worked a couple more puzzles, then turned off the iPad to go to sleep. After a few minutes, she decided she wanted to go back to the couch, so we moved her over, and that's where she ended up sleeping. All in all, a very good first night.