Week 2 Summer Hosting

Week 2 :
After Tina's recovery from motion sickness, she warmed up to us more and more each day. Slowly but surely. Our Russian friends O. and V. delivered a few traditional Russian dishes for Tina and Alexander. Russian crepes were on the menu, as well as meat dumplings, real borsht,....  Each day T&A joined our children for their Taekwondo practices in town. During these times, especially Tina enjoyed many conversations in Russian with O. and V.   Consequently, the transition to US became more graceful for them. Gradually they began to remove their walls  and relax. The teenagers need more time to adjust than younger hosting kids, understandably.
Immersion in English was complemented by Pimsleur English for Russian speakers. Thrilled and excited, Alexander joined in on fishing day and caught a few trout at the local fish hatchery. However, Tina was appalled by the fishhooks attached to the trout mouths of caught fish , she decided to assist our kids with the concession stand. Despite her Eastern European background, Tina dislikes meat. Occasionally she will consume a small morsel of chicken or so. She commented the fish (trout) in America is "No good" , " In my country : Good".
During one afternoon early in the week, Tina discovered a bicycle in the garage : "Whose bike is this?", she asked. "Yours", I  answered. "Mine?" Tina looked at me in disbelief. Moments later she was trying out her bike and loved it. Evidently she had never owned a bike and her biking skills proved to be those of a beginner. She was delighted with her own bike! On their second weekend here,the majority of our family toured around our lake, a 7-mile loop. Although Tina's biking abilities were basic, she absolutely loved it and only took a few minor falls. On the other hand, Alexander is a "professional" biker, no hands, tatataaa, you get the picture. Thrilled about their biking tour around the lake, they shared their experience with O. and V.
Finally, Tina was also settling in. Alexander was on California time schedule from day one, he settled in immediately and enjoyed himself every day.

We are family

Everyone is disoriented at my house. Breakfast at 10.30hr ??? Unheard of. Most of us are early birds. Even our 12-yr-old ate late. His hosting brother : on the other side of the world now. Sister too. We all feel it. It hurts. Alot. Shocking to the system, saying  byes and s.y.soons.
Our SF group was the last one to depart. Sad faces, tears, hopes.
 For some of the hosting children we, as hosting families, are the only ones on this earth who love them,the only ones who care enough. I cannot imagine what they are feeling. To have to return to an empty world, with no one who cares. Pretty rough rides for some of these precious ones. All of the USA hosting kids hosted through Heart for Hosting are blessed to visit another country, to experience another culture. To know they are LOVED by us and by God. Even if they never return, their hearts are fuller. Their flames rekindled.
Some people claim it is cruel to host and not adopt. Is it?  When I put myself in those kids' shoes, as much as possible, I know what I would choose. Who would choose  not to be loved for six weeks over being loved by a family in the USA? For the rest of their lives, they know someone , somewhere cares about them. Undoubtedly this could save them.
 As a teenager, a grownup man I never met, I believe he was a fairly young pastor, saved my life, my soul. For a while,1-2 years, he was my anchor. I believed what he told me and this pulled me through. I will probably never be able to really thank him. It is truly astounding how one person's words and presence can literally save someone's life in every way. I was  in touch with this man only once a week or every few weeks, by mail. Imagine what effects six weeks will generate . To know a person who believes in us  transforms us.

After departure, day 2

Blah is not a feeling. Or is it? How about emptiness? Some-one, or some-two I could say, missing parts of our family feels, well.... empty.   Only  one day and two nights ago they were in my arms. The house is so quiet without them. Two pieces of my heart I will not see for another 41/2 months for certain. Forgive me if I seem incoherent.
Alexander tried so hard to hide his tears. He kept his distance from us after hugs and see-you-soons at the airport.  "A. is a big strong U.", my husband would say.
Both are such amazing kids. Unexpectedly (to me) our bio kids became instant best buddies with them. Surprised at their similarities with our bio kids, I was and still am.
 I am in awe of God, the orchestration of all this has been miraculous to say the least. Last year, Alexander was on the summer hosting list. When he was one of three unpicked from the photolisting , I was baffled. How could no one pick this sweet boy with the most beautiful eyes and a splendid bio, who was additionally recommended by the director? For winter hosting, he remained on the list again. Finally this past winter/spring the summer hosting list showed him again. I kept my eyes on him. His lovely sister was added to the list this time. At some point she was on hold, alone. A few weeks later, she was available again, because she only wanted to be hosted with her brother. The rest is history.
Wondering whether I would ever be able to feel the same for non-bio children as for our bios, my heart opened fully and embraced these two precious ones as our own. Instantly. God's divine plan evidently varies for all the hosting kids who visit the USA. Who am I to say what is right for any of them? Who is anyone to say?
All I can do is follow God's will . Follow my heart.

Week two coming up soon.

Summer hosting 2013

Racing all day and driving 5-6 hours to greet our hosting kids at SF airport , held an entirely different outcome than expected. No one in our family wanted to host this summer, except me. I knew we  had to. It was in my heart. I had already set up a meeting with a local journalist to advocate for a forever family for the kids, plus connections with others to proceed along these lines. Several people were planning on assisting with this.
The preparations had been many and the help with items etc. , what can I say, everything was provided for by God's grace. Thank you Irma, Mary Linda, Lisa, and all others who opened their hearts to our summer hosting children.
People donated bikes, sleeping bags, clothes, food!! yes food!, a season pass to the lake, free eye exams for both by Dr. Larsen , plus a pair of reading glasses for A , free dental exams plus a few fillings by Dr. Mc.Gaughy, free haircuts by L. from "The Look", etc. ...
The very moment I laid my eyes on Tina and Alexander, I felt I was greeting our son and daughter!
A week later my husband admitted to similar thoughts on our drive back home from the airport.

Week one : Our eldest met A. , thoughts of " Oh he seems really nice, things will go well this summer" popped up.   Upon seeing T. she exclaimed: " Oh I love her, we are going to be best friends forever, she is my sister. " Not out loud.
Both T. and A. kept their distance while everyone got to know each other. Alexander was on California time schedule from day one. So resilient ! For the first three days, Tina had terrible jetlag and was still puking occasionally!  Massaging essential oils on her neck and back eased her nausea. Bed is where she remained and took some time to recover, while A immediately started to learn more English . Thanks Jeff !   Alexander and our bio son, Michael, hit it off immediately. We noticed the boys had common interests and even enjoyed  similar humor, which is quite unique to say he least :).  Needless to say, the boys were often heard laughing. Alexander 's English changed from extremely limited to basic and not-so-basic in a matter of days. Bonding happened fast with Alexander during our first week with him. We swam  in the lake , rode bikes, walked and kept quite low key.

After Tina was fully recovered, the Fourth of July celebrations were in full swing. She was able to eat and walk the famous two-mile 4th July walk in our town. People from all over the USA and even some from across the globe travel here for the festivities. After the walk, we  watched the parade, visited our local Russian friends as we noticed both Tina and Alexander open up and enjoy speaking to someone in their native language. Besides some interesting tidbits, we discovered they live in a small town , about the size of ours.
In the late afternoon, our bio daughter Rose and Tina finished their fourth of July creation in the kitchen. Tina and Alexander enjoyed their first Independence Day dinner and the fireworks over the lake with us and another family.
It had only been a few days and people were already commenting on how much T&A looked like they belonged with us, they resembled us, they appeared to have always been with us, etc. ...