Author: Virginia

September 20, 2015

Quick update…

We celebrated our one week anniversary with the boys with a swim at Mauch Chunk Lake and dinner at Molly Maguire’s in Jim Thorpe.  Nolan and I are enjoying having the boys here very much.  For me, everything about it seems lovely.  I especially love hearing them laugh.

We went to an orientation at the Newcomers Academy in Allentown.  What a wonderful program – the boys will be there for one year to get intensive education in English, math, science and social studies to help to get them prepared to go to public school next year.  The boys are disappointed that they won’t be with “American boys”, but Nolan and I are sure that this will be a wonderful experience for them and will help prepare them for next year.

Abdulghani (Sam) worked in a mechanic shop in Afghanistan where they moved the driver’s side controls to the opposite side in cars imported from Japan.  Sam was responsible for the electrical systems, so he knows a lot about the electrical systems of cars.  He also has the packing gene which is very helpful right now.  J  He is very thoughtful and meticulous, and though quiet, as kind and gentle as can be.

Hedayat (James) should be called smiley.  He is the social butterfly.  He doesn’t know his birthday or how old he is.  When he arrived in Jakarta, they guessed his age at 10, so he would be 11 now.  But he seems bigger and more mature than 11 and is very concerned about being put with the little kids at school.  I assume that when we get him in to the doctor for a physical, she will be able to help us get a better guestimate of his age.

Both boys can read and write in Dari and Farsi.  They can also read and write in English.  Nolan has been working on learning Dari, so at mealtimes especially, we get some Dari training.  We find a lot of the sounds really challenging.  Abdulghani’s friends all call him Ghani.  But the “g” is soft, not like Jonny but something deeper in the throat and subtle and so far, impossible for me to pronounce correctly.  So this morning when the boys saw a squirrel and we gave them the name for it, I was amused that they had a tough time saying squirrel.  We actually found a sound that they had trouble pronouncing!

The boys go for inoculations on Tuesday morning and then as soon as we have the keys to the new house, they can start school.

Closing on the new house is delayed.  We expect to close Wednesday, but don’t have a firm commitment yet.  It is delayed because our mortgage company failed to request the correct documents and such in a timely fashion.  We are more than a little angry about it, but squeaking doesn’t seem to be getting the wheel any grease.

Despite the frustration and anxiety over the closing of the new house, we are all doing great.  The boys have been a wonderful help and seem to be having fun.  They are looking forward to getting the keys to the new house, and to playing soccer, ice skating, and swimming.  I was quite surprised about the ice skating.  Evidently the boys went to an ice skating place in Jakarta and they loved it.  (And they have some video to prove it!)

I still have the kilns going and in between packing and calls and emails related the house, I am working through a few last minute batches for Celtic Fest – which starts Friday.  Yikes!!!  Our show schedule is packed for the next month, then we get a slight break before all the Christmas festivities start.

We are looking forward to being moved in to the new house and having lots of visitors, and to lots of fun field trips!

Virginia Ellen

 

“Risk, the willingness to accept an unknown future with open hands and happy heart, is the key to adventures of the soul. Risk stretches us to discover the rest of ourselves – our creativity, our self-sufficiency, our courage.  Without risk we live in a small world of small dreams and lost possibilities.”

— Sr Joan Chittister in Between the Dark and the Daylight

We got the call last Friday afternoon.  I was as calm and matter of fact as you can please, but I have to admit that I was in a bit of shock.  I wasn’t expecting the call – we hadn’t been officially informed that we were approved, so I was really taken by surprise.

Two boys, one 11 the other 16, from Afghanistan, living in a sort of rescue home in Indonesia.  Two boys, what the heck are we going to do with two boys?  So Nolan and I talked about it over the weekend, and of course, we are both so ready to do this.  I am sure that we are not prepared in a bazillion ways, but we have been wanting to do this for such a long time…  we are ready to jump in with both feet.

We are going to need a lot of stuff, including a bigger new car.  We have been looking for a new car – I really wanted a prius, but it is clear we are going to need something a little bigger.  And we are going to need desks, and books (all our books are in storage – long story), and they will need all sorts of things like sneakers and raincoats and socks.  I have no idea what sizes they are, so I just have to wait until they get here.

When are they coming?  Yes, that is a good question – no one knows yet.  And no one knows when we will know either, so all we can do is wait.  Any number of things can happen I guess, so it is possible that they won’t even come to us.

We have an extended family vacation planned for the end of July.  It is Nolan’s parents’ 50th anniversary, and we are going with them and Nolan’s brother and his family for a week at the beach in DE.  Luckily, the house will sleep 10, so if the boys come before the end of July, they will go with us.  So they will need swimming lessons.  I am quite sure they didn’t get to do much (if any) swimming where they are from.

We know just a little about them, but I am not sure how much is appropriate to share, so I won’t share much of the story as it has been conveyed to us.  I will say that they both are taking English classes where they are now.

Our caseworker is great.  She and the other woman who are working with us from Lutheran Family Services are quite competent and we feel comfortable knowing that they will help us through all sorts of things, like enrolling the children in school and figuring out their medical care and such.