A Sentimental Journey - by McP

We knew when we decided to bring the kids with us to Kazakhstan to get Cal that we would be crossing some of the same paths that we made in Almaty six years ago. We talked to Alina about going to visit Almaty's Baby House #3, where we first met and became parents to our wonderful daughter. Alina has been expressing some curiosity recently, so we felt it was a good opportunity to go, not only for us, but to show the caretakers there what a smart and beautiful girl little "Alinka" (their pet name for her)had become.

A flood of memories came over Alison and I as we drove up the road to the orphanage. There had been many renovations - a new playground, a new sign, but it was instantly a familiar place to me. We entered the same door as we had in November, 2000, on what was then our first morning in Kazakhstan.

Just as then we went into the office of the Administrator, Lupina. She has since our first meeting visited the U.S., and even came to Chattanooga and Ringgold, where she joked that our house was the "Kazakhstan Embassy." We have flown the Kazakhstan flag along with the U.S. flag at our home since returning with Mac and Alina. She was very happy to see Alina, and asked about Mac (whom she had met back at home).

While Alison was showing some pictures from six years ago on her computer, I saw Alina walk toward me as I was trying to video everything. She asked me something about if things were different. I realized that I was at that moment standing at the exact spot as I was standing six years ago, the very spot where I had first met her. On that day in November, 2000, we showed up to meet and to begin our first visit with the little girl who we only knew through pictures and a brief referral video. On that morning I had been hoping to video our first meeting, but the interpreter told us that baby Alina had been sick and was sleeping. Luckily, I had continued to let the tape roll as the director and interpreter read from her file. Suddenly, the door opened and a caretaker came in holding our beautiful baby girl, in a little blue bonnet.

I have told Alina this story so many times, usually when tucking her into bed, of how she suprised us on that morning with a grand entry -much befitting her personality and style. When suddenly I realized that I was standing in the very spot where I had first laid eyes upon her, I could no longer form words and the catch in my throat was not allowing me to even finish the sentence I had started. Alina looked at me and smiled. She knew the rest of the story.

We got the full tour. The room where Alina slept (including the same beds), the infamous (and now greatly remodeled) Music Room, where we conducted those visits with her before our court date - all looked a bit more modern in equipment and paint. But there were some unmistakable references to the past as well. In a stairwell a mural of a Snow White character (one can never be quite certain in Kazakhstan) was still there. Baby Alina used to gaze at it on our way to the Music Room each day. In the Music Room several Tweety Bird stuffed animals were still there. I used to make Baby Alina laugh by pretenting to beat up the birds with her little hand.

We also met the blond haired doctor who helped care for Alina, and from whom we found out six years ago that Alina had been very sick just before we came. This accounted for how weak and unhappy she had been in our first visits.

All of the staff and caretakers showed genuine emotion to see what an impressive kid little "Alinka" had turned out to be. They were telling each other stories of their memories. Our interpreter only related a few of them. I wish I could have heard and understood them all.

As we left, the director gave Alina a little wooden doll as a gift. We announced that we wanted to buy a gift for the Baby House. There was some discussion and it was requested that they needed an iron and a vacuum cleaner. We plan to get it this week, and then drop by for a shorter visit and to let Lupina see Mac.

As Mac is from a thousand miles to the North, in Kokshetau, we will not be able to let him see the Hospital where he lived from birth until he became our son. I hope to bring him back whenever he expresses the desire to come.

Before coming back to the rest of our family (Mac, Cal and Liza), we stopped at the Ramstore and did some grocery shopping with a very happy Alina. I asked her what she thought of the Baby House. She had seen first hand the conditions of the crowded orphanage, along with many babies and small children napping in the small beds lined up in the bedrooms, including the very bed she used to sleep in for the first eight months of her life. She told me she was happy to have visited it, but I could tell she was even happier to be enjoying some individual time with her Mama and Daddy. - McP