I'm going east; Beverly and Katya are going west :o(

Today Beverly and Katya got on a train with Karol Saner and her new son Zane. They are heading back to Sevastopol for a week. I wish I was going with them. I know Beverly does too. I am flying to Kyiv today at 6:30pm. I will be there for two days. One day will be spent doing US Embassy stuff pertaining to the adoption.
I stood out side the train car and waved, and say "Paka paka" to them (bye bye in Russian). Katya didn't seem too concerned that I was going. She did give me a big hug before she got on the train. She is definitely not a "needy" kid, in the sense of clinging to either Beverly or me. That is good, I think, because she will need to fend for herself in a strange country and school system that is totally different than she has ever experienced.
Beverly is "hanging in there" even though she has two more weeks to go. She feels like she has spent the last two months away from home.
Katya in many ways is the kind of kid we expected, but in other ways she is different. Like any teenager, or adult for that matter, she has a selfish streak to her. Especially when it comes to food and ICE CREAM !!!!

She and I had a little "test of wills" yesterday. I think I won, but with the language barrior, it is hard to say. I know I mentioned this before, but she does get over things quickly and doesn't seem to get in a funk. Our taxi driver, Sasha, heard her complain about having to wait for something (I think it was ice cream), and he said if she would like, he could drive her back to the Uglegorsk orphanage. She kind of laughed because she knew he was teasing, but I think she got his point. Beverly and I are are determined not to ever even mention sending her back. We want her to know that we are committed to her for the long haul.

I think it has finally sunk in to Beverly and I exactly what we have gotten ourselves into. I told Beverly that we can't get hung up on "making" her into anything, but to do the best we can at giving her a life of love and support to launch her into the life ahead of her.

I asked Shasha at lunch today if he has seen what happens to the kids that "age out" of the orphanage, and he said most boys end up in jail and most girls in prostitution. We had heard this from websites and other sources, but I wanted to hear it from a local who lives near the orphanage and has gotten to know some of the kids in the last two years.
Below are some pictures of some of the last 2 weeks. The last two are my favorites, because she is sitting on a bed sorting out little gifts she bought for friends at the orphanage. She even gave away things we bought for her ! ! ! The other one is outside the court building where the adoption was approved ! ! ! Some of you will recognize Avie Carlisle in the 4th picture. The lady sitting next to her is Ira, a friend in the Sevastopol church.

She has experienced so much in the last two weeks because we have had the opportunity to take her with us during the process and been able to actualy have a fun vacation with site seeing, swimming, eating out in restaurants, riding bumper cars, riding in a boat, etc.

I am so anxious for her to learn english so that we can communicate. I know she gets frustrated when we don't understand what she tries to tell us something, and I would just love to be able to know how she feels about her new life with us and what is going on inside her head.

In the last two days, she has started trying to say some English words. We bought a book in the book market the other day that has Russina and English words with Russian phonetics. She prounounced a few words on her own and came very close in most cases.

Well, I guess I'll close for now.

We miss everyone back home. Beverly and Katya's arrival in Norfolk is scheduled for 7:27pm August 24 on Delta Flight 973 from Atlanta.