Friday, June 25 2021

Big day today! And I don’t think that this day could have gone any better than it did! So far, the three of us are having an incredible time together! The day we’ve not only waited for for eight months since our first trip to Bulgaria to meet Meagan, but also the day since we started her adoption a little over two years ago. We finally got to bring Meagan into our family today!

I slept about as well as I thought I would, which was not very well at all. Too much excitement combined with the jetlag doesn’t bode well with the six hours of driving that we have to do today. But I’ll live. I did watch the sunrise while having my breakfast this morning from our apartment balcony. It was a nice metaphor for the day today.

Our FNA representative Petya met us at the apartment just before 7am. None of us were too thrilled about the time, but excited for the day nonetheless. We walked to where the car was parked and started our drive east out of Sofia. The drive was just less then 3 hours. The views across the Bulgarian countryside are amazing! Mountains that rival the Smokies, sunflowers and other beautiful wild flowers, and charming little villages were all along the way. On the drive out I felt like the lack of sleep was going to be a problem today. There was much excitement on the way out for me to get tired, but it did take a toll on the way back to Sofia.

Our first appointment was at the social workers’ office in Kazanluk. Meagan would not be at her home (which is what we thought), but here in these offices to have us sign some paperwork and for the adults closest to her to see her off. I’m not sure I can put into words the emotions that filled this room. Obviously, Sonya and I were emotional just seeing her again in person and knowing that she was now ours. But there were also many emotions between Meagan and all of her caregivers. It was very evident that she was loved by many people and that they were very sad to see her go. It was a real comfort to know that she had been taken care of by such caring people.

Next stop was to the bank. Meagan had a scholarship of sorts in a bank account which she needed to empty before leaving. The way Petya described it was that the children were actually given financial incentive to make good grades and that was what this money was for. It was Meagan’s to spend however she wanted.

Finally there was a document that needed notarized, so we headed to the town notary. Turns out that this document didn’t need notarized, or something like that… I didn’t entirely understand what was going on to be honest. At that point it was time to say “Bye bye!” to Kazanluk.

Already, we really were having a great time with each other. It seems as if Meagan had already made her peace with leaving her entire world behind her and jumping head first into her new one. Petya mentioned to us on the way out that there is usually a honeymoon phase or things go bad quickly between adoptive parents and their kids. I think it’s safe to say that our was of the honeymoon variety. One question that Meagan asked Petya at lunch was along the lines of “What happens when you leave?”, in other words, “How in the world am I going to communicate with these people with no translator?” It was a good question. Google Translate would be put to the test.

Back in Sofia at around 2:30pm or so, we had an appointment at the office to take a picture for Meagan’s passport. We parked along the side of the busy city street and I was instructed to sit in the car and to move the car if a police officer started yelling at me in Bulgarian. As far as I know, I didn’t encounter any raging Bulgarian policemen (I may have dozed off for just a few seconds).

Then it was back to the apartment to drop off Meagan’s things. I dropped them off and went to park the car. Parking in Sofia is a complete nightmare for me. 1-star, do not recommend. Either that or there is an easier way that I just haven’t discovered yet. There was a 24-hour lot that Sonya and I discovered on our brief walk around Sofia the night before that I thought I’d check out since it was closer to our apartment. I fired up Google Maps and headed my way toward the pinned location on Vitosha Blvd. I pull into the lot, with two cars pulling in behind me, only to discover that it was set up on some kind of pre-pay system with an access card. So I, without the access card, now have to get out of the lot by forcing the two cars behind me to back up into oncoming traffic and do an Austin Powers U-turn in the very small entry way. “Thank you! Blogodarya! Merci!”… whatever! I headed back to the previous-night’s 24-hour lot to park.

It was also about this time that nature started calling screaming… and not in the #1 variety. This is also the time when traffic started to slow, Google Maps started getting me turned around, etc. I parked the car and carefully walked the 5 blocks back to the apartment. Then it was the 5 flights of stairs to the apartment. Yikes! Let’s just say it was very close.

We relaxed at the apartment for a couple of hours. I was able to entertain the girls with my snoring. We also got a chance to FaceTime with the kids and family in Virginia. It was so good to see them and to watch Meagan interact with them from afar. It’s going to be so wonderful seeing them all together for the first time.

I’d seen a little restaurant that had caught my eye the night before on our walks, so we thought we’d try it out. It was a little Italian place called Felicita. Sonya had a penne pasta, and I had spaghetti. Meagan wanted “chicken strips” but they were out so she got an entire cheese pizza.

After dinner we did some brief sightseeing and an impromptu photoshoot around the fountain Sonya and I discovered the night before near Sofia’s Museum of Regional History (which we may go back and see later on) and the mosque. This girl loves taking pictures and is certainly not camera shy.

We wrapped up the day with a trip to the grocery store. I’d suggested an American breakfast of eggs, bacon(ish), and french toast with syrup. So we’ll see how that goes with doing our best picking out the ingredients in a Bulgarian grocery store.

It’s tough to put into words how well it went today. Honeymoon phase? Perhaps? Probably? I think that we just have a girl who has wanted a family for so long and is now so happy that she finally has one, that she just wants it to go well. We are fully aware that issues surrounding her past may eventually surface and are, at least, mentally preparing for that time and how to deal with those issues. But today, we just spend time with a happy girl who is optimistic about what her new life is going to bring her.

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