Day 12-Back on Track, I believe...

Maria's View-

So it seems that the city is back on track as far as I can tell.  No one seems concerned about yesterday's events and everyone is out doing their normal thing.  We did our normal thing as well.  Orphanage, mall for lunch, pick up a few items at the grocery store, home, blogging until it's time to go back to the orphanage, etc.  We definitely have a very predictable routine going on right now.  I LOVE seeing our little guy but I wish I could go ahead and take him home so that we can all be under the same roof.  I miss my girls so much and it is getting to me a bit. 

It is getting pretty warm here!  I wish I packed more short sleeves so I may have to go buy one.  There is definitely a transition in the 2 weeks that we have been here.  People were still in winter gear and scarves when we first got here and now everyone is in tank tops and shorts!  Our little dude was wearing shorts and knee socks yesterday and was absolutely adorable!

We took him outside this morning like we usually do and let him play in his play shed until the groupas start taking them over.  A nanny had left a basket of toys in one of the sheds and we let him go to town with them.  He was throwing them out of the play shed and all over the place!  He's probably been longing to have a basket of toys all to himself!  So he destroyed it!  Soon, we noticed the groupa making their way over so we quickly gathered everything up and moved on.  We went to a different swing since our usual swing was being occupied by another little boy with Down syndrome.  Next to him in a walker was another child with some type of dwarfism.  They were both so adorable.  We swung for a good long while while he gnawed on "Giraffe Meat".  After that, we moved on to another play area that has a slide attached.  We let him play in that and we noticed him inching his way to the slide on his tummy.  So I moved to the bottom of the very short slide and waited to see if he would be brave enough to take the plunge.  YEP.  He slid on down right on his belly and right into my lap.  He laid there for a few seconds before popping his head up with a smile.  I imagine he has never done this before!

We took our usual laps around the orphanage, occasionally putting him down so that he can practice his walking.  He's getting pretty good at it!  You can tell when he's on a mission because he walks with purpose.  Other times, we kind of have to use his hands as we hold them to pivot him so that his legs will make the steps. 

The evening visit went very well.  We did our usual thing and when it was time to drop him back off to the nanny, she reached her arms out to him, and he didn't budge.  She made a motion for him to go to her and he still didn't budge and actually turned his face away. haha.  The nanny then gave me a look that said, "see?  he's yours now!"  I think they like to see that happen because it's a sign of bonding...

Chris just went to the grocery store to see if he can find hot dogs.  We are both craving some American food.  The food is actually pretty good here, much more flavorful than food in Germany... McDonald's is actually better than the ones in the states to me!  But anyway, thank you for reading... thank you for praying for our safety from yesterday's events... Please keep praying!  I miss my girls dearly and want to see them so bad.  This momma's heart is WAY torn.

Chris's View:

As promised, here's the blog on the fairy tale art inside the walls of our little dude's orphanage compound.  Like I had said, as we sat there looking at them one day, I wondered if they were depictions of fairy tales.  It turns out they are, though not all of them are of this culture, some of them are generic fairy tales, but nonetheless, here's the run down.

The one we see everyday is a depiction of Grandpa and the Enormous Turnip.  The story goes like this... a farmer, Grandpa, grows a turnip one day that he cannot pull up.  He enlists the help of grandma and all them folks, which the story usually includes animals too, and eventually they pull the turnip up.  The story teaches the value of team work.  It is of Russian/Slavic origin.

The next image is of Riaba the Hen.  The story, which to me is a very odd tale, is about a hen, Riaba, who lays a golden egg.  The old man and old woman (not pictured) try to crack it, but they cannot.  The mouse runs by the egg waving his tail and it falls and breaks.  The old man and woman begin to cry.  The hen says not to cry that she will lay another egg, not a golden one, but a regular one.  That's it... that's the story.  I do not know what it is supposed to teach, but it is of Russian origin.  Maybe it is similar to our "don't cry over spilt milk" thing, but in today's economy, I'd cry over a broken golden egg too!  LOL!

This last one is of the Frog King.  Basically the girl loses her most prized possession, her ball, in a lake.  A frog on a nearby lillypad offers to get the ball for her in exchange for her being his companion.  She accepts and gets her ball back, but is reluctant to follow through on her end of the bargain.  When all is said and done, it turns out that the frog is actually a king's son, and they are married.  This is actually a German fairy tale.

There are others, but these are honestly the highlights.  It is neat that they had someone paint these, even if they are not the best works of art.  I hope the kids enjoy them as much as I did learning about the stories!

See ya'll tomorrow!