"Grumpy" - And we don't mean the Dwarf!

We checked out of the Hotel Shumen at around 8am this (Friday) morning. I can’t say that I was terribly sad to leave the hotel, but it did provide a roof over our head and a warm shower each day, along with breakfast for the week. After stowing our luggage, we headed off to the park for our final visit.

Olivia saw us and ran straight to Jason for a good morning hug. We let her play on the Merry Go Round and money-operated rides (just like you see inside the malls) for a little bit.

Later on, she discovered a “bobo” (dog). There are many homeless dogs that roam the streets of Shumen. She followed the dog, and Jason watched very carefully to make sure she didn’t get too close. As 3 year olds can be, she was very quick, and made her way toward the dog and was “hitting” it. When I say hitting, I mean just as any toddler would do. A very strong pat. When Jason gently scolded her, she got very upset. At that point, we made our way to the playground equipment.

We played for a little bit, but we could tell she was sleepy and a bit grumpy…..hence the title. I’m sure the week has been tiring for her. She saw another mom holding a bouncy ball for her daughter, and Olivia took it out of her hand. The mom didn’t seem to mind. Olivia played with it for a few minutes, and then the little girl wanted it back. I guided Olivia over to the little girl so we could return it, and another tantrum broke out. Just like a typical 2-3 year old. I guess some things are the same, no matter what country you’re in…

After getting her distracted with my “tick tock” (watch), she became calm again. She remained focused on the watch for quite some time, keeping it with her until we said goodbye. Once she was put in the swing, Olivia started singing to herself, as she has done in the past. Then, her foster mother got her Barbie ball out of the car. Olivia loves to kick the ball and is fascinated by older children. She’s going to have lots to watch and imitate when we get to bring her home.

We had to catch a 2:30pm bus to Varna, where the airport is located. So, around 12:30, we said our goodbyes. I told myself to hold it together, but when I tried to tell the translator to tell the foster mother, “Thank you for taking care of her while we’re away…” All I could get out was “Tell her….” then I began crying. There were many kisses, and when the foster mother realized I was crying, she hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks as Europeans do. I thank God every minute that Olivia has such a wonderful, loving and caring foster mother. We could not have asked for a better caretaker for her in our absence. As Olivia was buckled in the car, we blew kisses and waved goodbye. Four to six months is just too long!

Once we caught our bus, we arrived in Varna around 4:15pm. We got a cab to our hotel, which is a bit better than the previous one. We will leave the hotel tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 3:30am, that’s 8:30pm on Friday night EST in the US. It will be a 24 hour day for us, and we’ll try to keep you updated during our layovers.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement during our trip. What would we do without the internet and email?