Next Stop, Karachev — Nov 16

After leaving Klintsy, we drove the two hours back to Bryansk, and then continued on another 45 minutes in the opposite direction to the town of Karachev. These were two lanes rural roads. We passed through forests and farmland. No snow on the ground; cloudy, with occasional sprinkles. I had to squeegee the moisture build-up on the inside of window with my glove. Our driver seemed quite adept at passing. Good thing, as he was always passing. Zipping out into oncoming traffic, then squeezing back in, just in time to avoid a head-on collision. We tried to divert our attention elsewhere, so as to avoid screaming.

It was getting dark. We huddled in the back seat and reviewed the photos and video just taken of Bethany. Again we restarted the discussion of the independent medical evaluation. Once more, we reasoned through our options, and finally decided that we would not have Bethany further evaluated. It was tough to let it go. We wanted to “do the right thing”, but in the end, we are comfortable with our decision. We relaxed and looked at the photos again.

Finally we arrived at Karachev. Should be exhausted, but the adrenaline was keeping us charged. As before, up a stairway and down a hallway to wash up in a narrow examination room. We had arrived too late to meet the Director and staff. We would just see Andrew. There were no chairs, so we stood. With no delay, a caregiver carried him in. We only had a few minutes. He is so cute, but is much shyer than Bethany. Gayle held him a little. We had brought a small stuffed bear rattle, again to amuse and test. He was not too interested and soon he wanted back into the arms of the caregiver. She demonstrated his near walking skills. We were told that there are no men in this orphanage, so he’s not warm and fuzzy about seeing me. It was his dinnertime, so we left and to return the next day for a longer visit.

Again snuggled in the backseat, speeding through the cold night air back to Bryansk, we reviewed the photos and video of Andrew. One last time, we continued our discussion with Olga and decided in the end, to rely on the orphanages medical assessments and to trust Olga’s judgment, bolstered by our meager observations. There would be no independent medical evaluation of either child. We took that “leap of faith”, that before the trip I thought equated to lack of effort and planning. It looked different from our new perspective.

We asked Olga to dinner, but she still had more business to conduct before the day ended. We had a late, leisurely meal in the hotel café, then retired to our room for a much needed rest. Of course, our shifted time zone caused us to wake at 2am. We stayed up for about an hour to discuss the day’s events, before drifting back to sleep. Another long day is ahead for us tomorrow.