Bulgaria Recap

As promised, I will give a recap here about our week in Bulgaria. It will likely be too much detail for most, but I am trying to preserve it for Emilia.

11/11 Rex, Craig and I boarded a plane to start our journey to Bulgaria. We were a bit apprehensive about how Rex would handle the travel, especially the transatlantic flight, but he was a super trooper. I remember waking up at one point on the plane from Dulles to Vienna and looking over: Craig was asleep and Rex was sitting in his seat between us and quietly and happily playing with his toys. I couldn’t be more proud of this child and how far he has come.

11/12 We arrived in Sofia in the early afternoon and were taken to a hotel for one night. It was the Art'Otel on Uliza Gladstone and I can highly recommend it for anyone who is looking to stay at a hotel. They have modern rooms, a great breakfast buffet and the staff is very helpful. We tried to take a nap, but Rex had other ideas, so basically none of us got any sleep. We called the Boyds and went over to their apartment to meet them for the first time. Picked up some dinner at a little grocery store on the way back to the hotel, ate, and then basically passed out.

11/13 All three of us woke up at a normal morning hour, got ready and headed for breakfast. After that we went for a walk with the Boyds and saw Alexander Nevski Cathedral and some other sights. Lunch at Subway because it was there. Then we had to hurry back to the hotel to be taken to our apartment which was literally a minute walk from the hotel. We loved the apartment, very nice location, very clean and just about any amenity you could want. Headed to the supermarket with Stephanie Boyd in the afternoon to stock up on supplies and then had dinner with the Boyds and the Mussers who were also in Bulgaria to pick up their daughter.

11/14 Four months to the day from when we took Rex out of his orphanage, I left Sofia at 6:00 am to be taken to Dobrich by car to pick up Emilia. I was ride-sharing with a very nice Italian couple on their way to meet their 10 yo son. We got to Dobrich about 1:00, I met with the social worker and doctor, offered my donations and gifts, and finally Emilia was woken up and dressed and brought out to me. She was so precious in her too big clothes, smiling at me and stretching up her arms to be held. Just before 3:00 pm, Stefan (our driver), Emilia and I headed back to Sofia. It could have been a terrible six hour drive with a screaming or scared toddler, but it wasn’t. Emilia played with me, then slept. When she woke up, it had gotten dark and she spent the rest of the ride looking out of the window at the lights. She never shed a single tear. We arrived in Sofia around 9:00 pm to a very excited Craig and a sick Rex who was running a high fever. I gave me little guy some loving and then we all headed to bed.

11/15 After burning up all night, Rex’s fever finally broke in the morning. It didn’t take long for him to perk up again and start taking food. Emilia was incredibly scared when she woke up in a strange environment to strange people, but she came around quickly. She and I were picked up at 10:00 to go to the police station to apply for her passport and then to the clinic for the embassy medical exam. I met another family, the Wasingers, there with their new little 4 yo girl. Emilia and I got back home just after 1:00 pm. We had some lunch and a family nap and then met the Boyds for an evening walk.

11/16 We had the day off and took a walk to an underground “mall” with the Boyds in the morning. Got some nice souvenirs there and saw a few more sights… only from the outside, of course. The kids were holding up okay though we were starting to be ready to get home and into a more normal routine again, especially for Rex who needed it, we could tell. We took it easy in the afternoon and stayed put.

11/17 We had the US Embassy interview at 3:00 pm. It was a very easy process and didn’t take long at all. We enjoyed one last pizza dinner with the Boyds at our apartment before their departure the next day. We were so thankful that they were there when we were, just a block or two away, to spend the idle hours together and provide support to each other.

11/18 I started to pack our suitcases and we headed for a walk on Vitosha Boulevard in the afternoon. We wanted to spend our last Lev, so we bought some souvenirs and gifts for Emilia. Emilia's passport with her visa and her USCIS immigration package were delivered to us in the evening. We put the kids down very early which, surprisingly, worked. They slept all night until it was time to wake up and they did so in a happy mood.

11/19 We were picked up for the airport at 5:45 am. We were ready to go. The first flight went fine, Emilia slept and Rex just sat in his seat. We met up with my mom at the Vienna airport for the remainder of the trip. Rex was rather restless on the transatlantic flight. He wanted to be moving about, so we walked the aisles, we played, we sang, we had snacks… and managed to keep the tears contained to just a few incidences. Emilia was quiet the whole way and slept a lot or played with her toys. We were thankful for a very smooth immigration and customs and re-check process at Dulles. The last leg of the trip to Cincinnati, both of the kids just slept from sheer exhaustion. We got home around 8:00 pm.

Next I am going to post some photos from our trip which should be more exciting than this entry.