What a precious sight...

Today at 4:00 pm, my life and Rob's life changed forever. In a small upper room, outside of the social worker's office at the orphanage, Rob and I finally met our little boy. He was napping when we arrived, but someone was sent to wake him and to tell him that he had guests. He came into the room holding the social worker's hand and then looked around in amazement at all of the toys in the room. He seemed to barely notice me and Rob because he was so curious about this new room and all of the toys.

The social worker then asked our little boy to sit in a small chair pulled up to a glass table in front of us. Rob and I tried to get him to play with the stuffed dog that we brought for him or the small fire engine, but he was not interested. I also tried to get his attention using some mini m&ms. He did not know what to make of those either even with Rob demonstrating how yummy they were. Finally, he took one but instead of eating it he pulled the red candy coating off the m&m.

Rob and I then decided to pull out a small soccer ball that I had purchased only the day before our trip. That was the ticket! Our little boy loved the game of catch that he played with Rob. We actually got to see him smile and even hear him laugh. He got especially excited when Rob dribbled the small soccer ball on the floor and when I spun the ball on the floor like a top.

He also enjoyed playing with a Doodle-Pro magnetic drawing board that the orphanage had. At one point, he let me trace his hand on the board. I also think he enjoyed erasing things on the board just as much as he liked scribbling on the board.

Tomorrow, Rob and I will get to go to the orphanage again to visit our little one. This time our visit will be about two or three hours in the morning and one hour later in the afternoon. And yes, the soccer ball will make another apearance tomorrow.

We have arrived in BG!

Rob and I finally made it to Sofia, Bulgaria about 2:00 pm Sunday after almost 21 hours of travel time and not a lot of sleep. Our driver, Julian, took us to our apartment for the night, helped us to exchange some money and also took us to a great little pub for dinner. After dinner, Rob and I headed straight back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. Even though it was only 6:00 p.m., it was dark outside, and we were two very weary travelers. Both of us slept well until about 3:00 a.m. and then we got up to have a snack and read a book. I later went back to sleep for another hour or so, but I was worried that we would miss our driver coming to get us at 7:00 so I did not sleep well.

Our driver, Ettie, arrived at 7:00 a.m., and we joined her and another couple from Oregon in the car for the three hour journey north to the town where our son is located. We arrived before our room was ready at the hotel so Rob and I were on our own for a while. Our translator and driver took the couple from Oregon to meet their daughter who is at a different orphanage in town than our son. We will not be able to meet our son until later this afternoon when the director of his orphanage will be available.

While our translator was gone to the first orphanage, Rob and I decided to take a small walking tour of the city. Our hotel is very close to a park, the mall and several historical churches. We took several pictures of the park, the churches and some monuments, and then we decided to return to the hotel for lunch. The hotel has a very nice restaurant with very reasonable prices and more importantly, a menu in English.

Rob had a large skewer of grilled chicken and lemons while I had a skewer of pork loin and vegetables with a green salad that was tossed with a lemon juice and olive oil mixture. The food was very good, and the restaurant also fed our caffeine habit by having Coca Cola and Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke). Our translator and our driver returned to meet us in the restaurant and informed Rob and I that we would be able to see our son for the first time in about three hours.