Day 2 at Orphanage

Today we were able to see the children twice at the orphanage for about 1 -2 hours at a time.  Snizhana seemed to take to Jennifer immediately as a big sister, while Ilya had gravitated more towards Diana on that first day.  However,  by the end of Friday afternoon, he was reaching to grab my hand with no prompting.  My initial impressions of Ilya from the video that was made of them when they were hosted last summer was that he was a bit introverted.  Compared to his sister, most people would probably be as well!

Diana brought a few elementary school workbooks for them to work on their English skills.  At this point, Snizhana seems a little more advanced in her english.  Hopefully, their adjustment to American schools will not be too difficult for them.

I can certainly empathize with both of them if they have a little trepidation about going to a new land, new school, and dealing with a foreign language.  I certainly feel the frustration of feeling helpless  where the conversations are in a foreign language as well.  It is also a bit frustrating in being able to fully bond with them both, since I cannot have a real conversation due to the language barrier.    Having Diana translate for me is a blessing, but it does limit the ability to freely communicate.  I would love to be able to freely hear their conversations and be an active participant.  It definitely is a challenge!