What was that she said.....oh yeah, PAPA!

Yesterday was amazing! Everday we arrive at the orphanage we never know what to expect. We had a great day on the day before, but we've had a few days with one step forward and two steps back. Yesterday was 100 steps forward.

When we arrived, the kids were awake and playing. When our daughter saw us, she didn't run away, she didn't lower her head, she smiled big and waved to us. She was looking at us, interacting with us, smiling for pictures with us and seemed happy to be with us.

Our coordinator had to leave for a while, so Kim asked our Daughter if she wanted to go outside? She nodded yes. Wait a minute, Kim asked in English and she understood. We went outside, and played. We all played together. Our daughter was playing directly with Jacob. She wanted me to give her Gummy Worms, it seems I always carry candy for her and the kids at the orphanage. I would try and bribe her to say Dah, or Mama or Papa, she was stubborn, and wouldn’t give in. Of course I would give in and give up the candy. I think I’m in trouble when this child becomes a teenager.

She enjoyed climbing the equipment, and having me throw her in the air, spin her around and catch her when she would jump to me from the top of the playground equipment. I was doing both for her and Jacob, and I’m not going to lie, my back was a little sore this morning (worth every ache).

Every time she wanted me to do something she would make hand signals, nod her head or tap her foot on the ground. I would say, say Papa, she would shake her head “no” huh, did she understand what I was saying in English?
Finally, she could see I was getting tired, but she really wanted me to pick her up and twirl her around. Then it happened, she said “Papa” I couldn’t move for a moment. All of the sudden I wasn’t so tired. I picked her up and spun the child around, I said say Mama, and she did. We continued to play, at one point she was laughing so hard and wanted me to stop spinning, she said, “nyet, nyet, no more, nyet.”

What a great day. Kim and I have come to the conclusion that our little daughter has been holding back more than just her voice. She understands some English.

When our driver showed up about 15 minutes early, our daughter’s smiles went away. Kim said, “We still have time to play, we’re not leaving yet.” She smiled and continued to play. When it was time to go, she became very sad, and we were as well. We told her we’d back tomorrow, and that seemed to help. I can’t wait to get this part of the adventure over with, I can’t wait to bring my daughter home and really start to have fun. This little girl has no idea what a wonderful world a waits her.

I want to end this by thanking all of you for your kind emails, comments and prayers. It really has gotten us through some tough times. Some of you have asked how you can help the kids here. There is a non-profit group called Hadassah’s Hope. We’ll post the contact information. The group originated from our church, and has already done some amazing things in Orphanages in Kazakhstan. As I’ve said, we intend to buy a lot of clothes, shoes and jackets for our orphanage. The good news is that kids clothes are relatively inexpensive here, and with the money Rick and Pam have contributed, and what we have we’ll be able to help. I can’t think of a better way to spend our money. Please don’t feel obligated to contribute, we just wanted to respond to those who felt the desire to help these kids out. As we progress, I’ll probably make you feel guilty…just kidding.


Today’s Blog, Part Two: Rick and Pam’s Excellent Adventure

In addition to the wonderful events that Jeff talked about above, a few other interesting things happened today. Most importantly, we got to talk to Amber and Mitchell through the yahoo instant messenger with video. We could hear their sweet voices perfectly clearly and see their great big smiles. They couldn’t really hear us, though, so we disconnected and just talked on the phone. What a great way to start the day!!!!

Remember how I said that my parents had probably completed the worst part of their journey yesterday by getting off the Soviet train? Perhaps I spoke too soon. They did make it through the train just fine, and arrived at the train station in Almaty at around 8:30 in the morning. They got off the train and waited for the Almaty coordinators to pick them up. They were expecting them to be there at the train station, as that was what we were told to expect by them. Well….they waited and waited, and no coordinators. After about half and hour when the train station was deserted, they decided to take a taxi to the hotel that they were told they would be staying at for the day, the same one we stayed at before. Since none of the taxi drivers speak English, and they didn’t know the Russian name of the hotel, they pulled out their digital camera and showed the driver the picture of all of us standing in front of the hotel – good thinking! The driver took them to the hotel and dropped them off. They went inside and were more surprised to find that, no, there was no reservation for them there, and that the hotel was full. They were directed to a hotel next door where they were able to find a room. Still no word from the coordinators. We had given them our cell phone number to call us from the hotel and tell us how the train ride had been. My mom called in the morning and I was laughing when I picked up the phone waiting to hear some war stories about the train. Instead she told me that they had not been picked up or even found the coordinators yet. They were borrowing the cell phone of the guy that worked at the internet café at the hotel they thought they were going to stay at. I hung up and called our coordinator here, who sighed a huge sigh of relief when she heard that I had heard from my parents.
It turns out that she had been in contact all morning with the Almaty coordinators who were frantically searching the city for my parents. They didn’t want to call me yet and scare me until they knew what was going on. They had showed up late to the train station, after my parents left, and they had feared the worst. They had sent someone to look for them at the train stops before Almaty, and filed a missing persons report with the police. Turns out they also had announcements blaring over the loudspeakers at the train station in English asking for Richard and Pamela Goacher to please report to the train station. They also told our coordinator here that while they told her initially that they were going to have my parents stay at the same hotel in Almaty, the hotel was full and they made reservations elsewhere. I told our coordinator where they were staying and they were quickly found, praise God. My parents were laughing about the whole adventure, but seriously, it could have been a really bad situation. Hopefully they were taken to the airport at midnight last night. I haven’t heard otherwise, so they must be on their way back home now.