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| [9:38 pm] |
| Subject: Here come the judge |
| Mood |
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 exhausted |
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Another milestone completed! Wa-hoo-wah! We got up bright and early, dressed in our Sunday best, and headed over to the court house for our pre-court thing-a-ma-jig. If you’re envisioning a court room with a judge and robes and a stenographer and that whole bit, just stop right there. Picture instead the head counselor’s office at your local high school. Sarah and I went first today, accompanied of course by Eugene. J.J. from the custody office and Irina the orphanage director were also there. For the prosecution, the state’s attorney was there, and also the judge.
The whole thing was a rather tense affair, but I think we made it through just fine. Even though everyone there in a position of authority is female, I, as the man, had the full responsibility to respond to questions from the judge and the attorney. Sarah did not say a word. Fun! The line of questioning was a bit of a curve ball, as one of the first things the attorney asked was, “What did you learn about Kazakhstan prior to coming here?” I think I b.s.’d nicely through that one. Other questions included, “Why do you want to adopt? Why did you choose to come to Kostanai? Are friends and family supportive of your decision to adopt? Did you research the adoption agency prior to choosing them? Where did you get those fabulous shoes? Are you aware your child is Asian, and is that okay?” We’re still on for real court next week, so I guess my answers were all honkey-dorey.
The most peculiar question referred to a very sad recent rape case in the U.S. involving an internationally adopted child. The judge asked what I thought about it. I’m hoping she got the answer she was looking for when I responded that it is a very, very, very bad thing. There were no questions about our backgrounds, our child raising abilities or methods, or how we were getting on with Asella. It was all a bit weird. The Cashettes were asked those more personal questions in their session following ours, so maybe at real court they will switch it around.
The important thing… It’s done. We passed the audition. See ya next week, same time, same place. So what else to do but go to the coffee house for celebratory dessert! Yippy! (We forgot to get pictures outside the courthouse. Hopefully we’ll remember next week.)
We had lunch in the apartment today, of course running down to the corner mart to get some bread to go with our Indian spinach in a pouch that we brought from home. It was pretty good.
As you can see from the pictures below, today was daddy’s turn to do the feeding. While I think I look quite snazzy in my baby-feeding get-up, Asella was less than impressed, and only ate half her lunch. Now before you jump to conclusions, Asella’s food today has some foul smelling orange things in it (cooked carrots we believe), and just like her mommy, Asella nearly gagged with every spoon that went into her mouth. Even when the caretaker took her away to show me how it is done, she got the same response, so I felt vindicated.
Of course, they chose the day I feed her to give her what seemed to be the most hated child food in the history of the world. I’m sure I’ll get to try again. The little munchkin is still getting over a cold, so she wasn’t terribly active today, though she did want to spend an inordinate amount of time standing up at the little table. Hopefully they’ll shoot some more garlic oil up her nose so she’ll be better for us tomorrow. (They actually do this.)
She and Grant were resplendent today in their matching vests. Though they did not feel stylish enough to want to pose very long for the cutesy baby picture.
The weather is warm, though windy, so we took a walk down to the mall to look for souvenirs. I was the only person out in short sleeves. Everyone is still bundled up. It was almost 70. We just don’t get it. Today also seems to be national clean the dang place up day. Everyone is out whitewashing the curbs and tree trunks, raking up leaves, and organizing their spare dirt into piles. Each person seems to do their part, which is nice.
This evening we headed out of town (15 minutes) to a “fancy” restaurant called 444 to celebrate our victory in pre-court. It’s just off the highway in the middle of nowhere, but it was a very neat place with a windmill and interesting décor. They are known for their kabobs, so here we are about to enjoy some meat on skewers. You can barely make out Sarah’s kabob, which consisted of a whole tomato, a whole onion, and a whole zucchini on a skewer.
It was pretty good, and very expensive at $15 plus $5 for dessert. We were also treated to some live singing and a brief dance by costumed young ladies. The ride back to town was pretty eventful as a large brush fire was erupting all over the place. Kostanai is on the other side of the river from here, so we should be very safe, but there are some houses that will get wiped out if this fire jumps the road. Pretty crazy.
So, as promised, a more eventful day. Tomorrow we’re going to sleep in and get back to the usual routine: Lunch. Baby. Dinner. Stay tuned… |
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