A Night on the Train; a Day at the Orphanage

It's 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, June 17. It has been an eventful 24 hours. Yesterday we took the night train from Kiev to Dneprodzerzhinsk, which we call Dnepro for short. The train left at 11:30 p.m. and arrived at 6:10 a.m. It was kinda fun. We stayed in the same cabin as the Bensons. We each had our own little bunk, and it was fun sleeping to the swaying and clackety-clack-clack of the train. We all awoke about thirty minutes before we needed to disembark and watched the beautiful landscape go by. It was raining, and there were miles and miles of beautiful little vegetable and flower gardens growing in rich, black, fertile soil. People, holding umbrellas, were walking along paths from their homes, going who knows where? Possibly the train station? It was a picturesque scene.

After arriving at the train station, Oleg carted our luggage to our apartment, and we took a taxi. Then we went to the inspector's office and then to the orphanage. Michael and I were both so nervous. We knew we would meet a boy or boys today that might become a part of our family.

We followed the Bensons into a room, where Nastia and Masha were waiting for them. Jen started crying, and I started snapping pictures. As I was snapping away, Lena came and whispered in my ear, "Your boy is sitting at the side of the room."

What? I thought we were going to be more subtle than that. I nervously glanced over, and there was this little boy sitting there watching me taking pictures.

He was so cute sitting there looking nervous. We went over to talk to him. He was so tiny that his feet didn't touch the floor as he was sitting in this chair. This little boy is Ruslan. He has been an orphan since 2007. His mother lost parental rights and has since died. We immediately fell in love with him. His little clothes were so dirty, and his fingernails looked like he hadn't had a bath for so long, but his spirit is so sweet. The workers told us he has been longing for a family for a long time. He didn't let us out of his sight for the next two or three hours. We spent time talking to him and getting to know him and playing with him.

Here is a photo of the boys' bath tub in the orphanage. Is there any wonder why this little guy is so dirty?

We'll take lots more pictures tomorrow. We're going to be at the orphanage all day tomorrow , and we'll when we get back to the apartment.