Sunday & Monday - Meeting Moise

Sunday was our first full day in the Congo. We slept in through the morning after all of our traveling fun. Around noon, we headed out to the orphanage. We first stopped for food and took in the local market with John as our guide. We bought beans, rice, oil, and sugar for their porridge plus a few tomatoes that John suggested. Later on, we stopped for some bananas as well. The closer we got to the orphanage the more my heart thudded in my chest. I was sure everyone in the car could hear it. We drove past the truck (I had heard about the truck) and we were there. John and Niko video taped for us and took pictures which was so awesome of them.

Then they called Moise's name to come here.  Moise!  Moise!  and I swallowed tears that swelled in my throat.  I had promised myself not to cry as I did not want that to be my first impression - a teary eyed, masacra streaked ma ma.  It was perfect… not awkward as I had feared.  He did not cry or push me away -- but gently embraced me.  I whispered Ny linga yo minga in his ear - I love you very much in Lingala.  I let him down pretty quickly so Craig could also embrace his son.  While I talked to Helene inside Craig handed out bananas to the kids.  I followed soon after with Twizzlers.  Something good for them and something sweet.  The rest of the afternoon was very enjoyable.  We talked and played with the kids -- so many I knew from pictures.  It was almost surreal being there, in this place my mind had wandered to so very often.  Craig soon had Moise laughing over a game we dubbed "pick pocket".  He would stick a Wal-Mart bag in his pocket and Moise would come and "sneak" up on him and pull it out -- and then Craig would swivel and say "Hey, what are you doing?"  Moise would laugh and laugh.  I quickly gathered that they shared the same sense of humor and have since confirmed that.  Moise is very funny and ornery.  More about that later.

After playing a bit he would still come to me, climbing into my lap, holding my hand.  In my pre-orphanage pep talk I had told myself to be relaxed and not cling to him, to not overwhelm him.  To observe him at play.  So it was such a reward to this mommy's heart who had waited to be in the moment for him to come to me.  He knew we were there for him and that we were his ma ma and pa pa.  He rarely left our side.  Craig started playing soccer with the older boys and they laughed heartily when he kicked the ball very hard and into the corn field.  Ohh the kids loved Craig.  Also while there we sampled some ground nuts -- what we would call peanuts.  They pulled them up for us and shared.  I only ate one but Craig was more adventurous and ate several.  He also tried a small piece of the fruit on a tree growing nearby which John called a Paw-Paw fruit.  It had many seeds.  There is a lot of weird fruit here.

The children were great.  It took awhile but soon Jeremie came over and began to play with Moise who stayed very close to us.  They were being so goofy and funny.  Blowing kisses.  I learned here that they do this kiss thing with their fingers that means "Good. Good. Very Good."  The boys were doing this with both hands.  I thought they were blowing kisses.  I later learned different.  

It was such a pleasant afternoon until a conversation brought out that Helene did not want Moise to go home with us that day.  A call to Julia and all was settled.  We would get him the following day when Helene brought him to the hotel.  When Moise learned of this via John's translation he was very sad.  He started to cry and it was then I broke my vow not to cry.  I ended up crying… but left knowing he would be in my arms tomorrow, trusting John's words.  Indeed he was.

Before we went home were were able to also visit OLJ and ohhh what a welcome.  I was overwhelmed by their love.  Sister Petronille was so sweet to us as well.  Such a different spirit at OLJ then AFDECO.  I delivered the Harvey's present and Patrick's reaction to his camera hit my heart like a sledgehammer.  Such JOY!  All the kids gathered for a picture and one of the girls slipped her hand right into mine.  Only God's strength is keeping tears at bay -- because so many times I have wanted to weep like baby in such moments.  The kids think we are blessings and it is so reversed.  They are most definitely the blessings.

I just want to thank you for your prayers.  It is hard sometimes here to comprehend a very different way of life.  Moise was brought back to me as promised and is now sleeping soundly.  I want to make it clear that though complications have happened as they do sometimes in adoption -- I have found our agency to be amazing.  Julia has been a constant support, working things out all times of the day.  John is as solid as they come with a gi-huge-ic heart.  I could write a whole post alone on how awesome John is.  I wrote frantically at first because my emotions were running very high - and I am thankful that my agency has my back.  I have talked to a family here who did not have a good experience with their agency and was having even more complications then we were.  It is easy to trust when all is well, but true colors show through in a time of need.  This process can be so unpredictable so I am thankful to have an agency that stands through with us.  

So, Moise is with us and we are moving forward positively.  Ohh what a great day to get to know my boy.  We played with balloons and let the air out of them so they would fly around the room.  He loved this.  He loves buku (books).  I bought him a picture book 100 first words which is kind of a baby book but he loves it.  Very basic words are in there with pictures and so this has helped me to teach him English as he looks at the book.  

I have to insert *pout* here because I knew this would happen-- but I am pretty sure he likes Craig better then me.  Our first issue happened when Dad left to make a phone call.  He started whining and did not stop whining until Craig returned.  It was very mild though with some rolling around on the bed -- he was very verbal with this helpless whine that went on for quite some time.  At first I held him but this seemed to aggravate the situation so I just got up and pretended not to notice.  Before I knew it he was looking at his book again and the whining dwindled.  Then dad came back shortly after and he was fine.  He likes me and turns to me for comfort -- but dad is the cool guy that makes him laugh and picks on him.  It is so neat to see that bond so quickly emerge.  

Moise is so funny.  A definite comedian and very, very ornery.  He got very mad at me because I tell him often No, No, Tay, Tay--  because he likes to push all the buttons on the computer.  Other then that he has been very good.  He has a really amazing laugh.  He also is very smart, figures out things quickly.  I thought he wanted to eat the "baby formula" we have in our room.  He kept talking about it and I kept trying to tell him it was for the babies at the orphanage.  Later on, he got a bit braver and went over and started stacking them making a tower.  Craig and I were quite impressed and I said "Ohh he wants to play with them, not eat them."  Language is getting better after learning a few more key phrases in Lingala with Pa Pa John over Pizza at the City Market.  

I was really dreading bedtime after today's earlier "whine" episode but he drifted right off.  Such a big day of playing truly wore him out.  He ate pizza for the first time tonight and loved it.  I had to choke back tears though as he picked every crumb left on the cutting board where the pizza had been.  He was not going to leave even a crumb.  

I think my favorite part of the day was when Craig and him put on their sunglasses and were laughing and dancing.  For some reason when you wear sun glasses you are very funny and it makes you cool enough to dance.  I tried dancing and he said "No, No" and made me put on his sunglasses so I could dance.  

A very good day…  It is only your afternoon back in Missouri but my day is coming to a close.  We are hoping to visit another orphanage tomorrow and have been invited to John's for lunch and some good Congolese food.  

Please continue to pray that our VISA will be waiting as promised on Wednesday and that all goes well with the exit letter at the DGM.