Crawling out of the hole

WARNING - this will be a whiny post! Travis, this is NOT one for the kids to read!

You always hear that things will get better, that every cloud has a silver lining. You know the song, "The sun will come out tomorrow!". Well, my sun has gone missing.

First, I found out that I wouldn't be able to get the girls out of the orphanage on Friday. Since there is a holiday on Sunday, everyone will take off Monday too, then we have to do paperwork and travel to another region, so the earliest I will be able to break Nastya and Moira out will be next Wednesday. I had always heard that you can pay extra and get the child's passports in one day. Well, not in my region, nope, it takes a full week, not including weekends. Will I ever get home?


I heard from the grapevine that my neighbors at home are saying really hateful, terribly mean things about my family while I have been gone. I try not to care, but it really hurts. They pretend to be nice when they see us, but it's just a lie. These are people who go to church every week, but yet they are slandering my family!


I am so worried about Nastya and Moira. They are so painfully thin.

I am haunted by the children in the orphanage. I feel very honored that the caregivers trust me enough to allow me to hold the other children.

The caregivers in Nastya's room are wonderful. They call the children "son" or "daughter". They have such an important job and they only make about $100 a month.

This is "Michael". He is in Nastya's group. He is available on Reecesrainbow for adoption. He is such a love. He would snuggle all day, but he spends much of his time alone.

Can you see him here? He mostly lies on the floor.

He would look so deeply into my eyes. He would lay his little hand on my chest.

Then, two days ago, I got food poisoning. Everyone orifice in my body was spewing something at the same time. For hours upon hours. Then, I got a fever. I was hallicinating about dancing Gatoraide. I was getting scared. I heard of a Peace Corp guy who got food poisoning here. The hospital tried to operate on him and wanted to remove several organs! I was running out of bottled water and I live 6 floors up. Now I know why I never see anyone handicapped around here. They can't make it down their stairs!

The culprit.

But, the sun did rise again today. I am a little better. I have stopped throwing up. I am still so, so tired. My friend, Anya, brought me some water and bananas. My dad took my kids to the mall at home. My friend at home, Carol, is going to my house tomorrow to spend time with my kids. My mom managed to "baby me" from five thousand miles away.


They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Let's hope so!