For those who come after us to Bulgaria

I am writing this blog to help others who follow later in the process to adopt thier blessings can have some idea of what it is like here in Bulgaria.... for many you already have adopted from some of the places we have too like Russia and Ukraine... maybe Mexico. I wanted to share some things I have seen or noticed about the process to help others... since today is a down day it would be a good time to share.....

First if you have not picked up on it yet but we have had a wonderful time here in this country... we feel safer, cleaner, more accepted- people are very friendly, not to diff. looking ( more heavier people, who dress similiar to us),the food has been outstanding ( at least for our tastes) - usually in the other countries we were cautious about trying the new food.. and often did not like it ( and we are obviously not picky eaters), the food we have eaten has been very tasty... we also get ice in our glass when we order it... the other countries we would not have ordered the ice because we were told not to for the worry about getting sick. The service in the restaurants have been super as well. We get a free breakfast and have the whole time because we are staying in hotels.... very clean and they have wonderful ac.... also they have free internet acess in the rooms.. so we have been able to use the computer easily all from our room... the hook up has been quick. Hotel rooms have been from 45 usa dollars to 120 here in Sofia a nite ... this has included a delicious breakfast in the price. We eat lunch for no more than 10 to 10 dollars for both of us and dinner has been 25 to 30 dollars. The tip rate is 10 %... We do drink bottle water and it is readily available but we brush our teeth with the hotel water.... We have traveled with Toni our lawyer/facilitator and her team which have been very sweet and accomadating to our needs... Since we are going to be here for 14 days... we have had some laundry...we have washed our own in the rooms and hung them in the room to dry... underwear has dried easily overnite and some lite cotton and silk things do... others have taken the full day to. There have been laundry services at the hotels ... we just don't want to pay for them... like 12 dollars for shorts, and 5 dollars for a shirt... it has been ok to wash them ourselves. I bought a small concentrate of All soap ( sold at the check out ) at Target in a travel size and that will be enough for our trip. I also use a fabreze clothing spray to freshen them after we take them off.. and hang them up overnite so we can wear them again.... the exchange rate has been about 1.4 lbgn or leva to 1 dollar. They also use Euros which the exchange rate has been also 1.4 dollar to 1 Euro.... We are finding it reasonable.

Now on to the orphanges here... they look like the ones we saw in Ukraine and Russia... very old, falling apart on the outside especially... walking can be a challenge to watch out for broken building or road pieces around the orphanage... it does not seem to be as dirty here... we always

had dusty feet on our previous travels.. not as bad here. They had a bathroom that I could use that was not bad at all and it had tolite paper too. We have not needed our stash of tolite paper kleenex like we did in Ukraine or Russia :) Even the use of sanitizer has been less... they have clean sinks with clean soap and paper towels to dry hands on... so not like the other countries. The staff have been very friendly and talkative... the director was as well. We went to dinner with the director and she was open and sharing about the needs there... some I would question but overall and as a plus to Joseph and the rest of the kids at our home... she was skinny- our kids noticed that all the kids in the videos of Bulgaria looked to skinny ( which is somewhat correct- more so in Dancho's group) but all the workers and directors were fat. They were telling me that their directors and caregivers always had enough to eat and then some :(

but not always the kids.. Also in Bulgaria the majority of the orphans are of gypsy decent.... gypsies are not to highly thought of so you can imagine the treatment this children get in the orphanage... Dancho is one example. He was a healthy and chubby looking baby in the first pic that we got... just like the little girls I showed on Friday... but they are not fed enough or given any attention and they become lost into themselves.... that is why I cried out to all of you to seek what you can do to help.... it is hopeless for these children if we don't help them... and yes we adopting does help but we can do even more... I am still praying about my plan of action but you will be hearing more from us about this.....

I hope this has helped and if you have any specific questions about our experience or just a question write it and I will try to answer it for you....

Here are some pics of Sofia.. the capital of Bulgaria and what we did this am before it got to hot... the one with the white coated soldiers is in front of the presidents building ( where he works not lives) it is of the changing of the guards.... Enjoy