Day 1 and 2

Arrival day was a blur. Families began gathering at the airport at 7:30 am and over the course of the next hour, the entire area known as Baggage Claim A became the scene of organized chaos. News cameras and reporters interviewed waiting families and eager brothers and sisters raced back and forth between the arrival escalators and their parents, overflowing with anticipation. It was all a joyful noise that even other airport passengers couldn't help but stop and ask about. But that was nothing compared to the outburst of applause and cheers that erupted as the children finally made their way down the escalator. There were tears and hugs for returning children, and there were tears and hugs for children here for the first time who are just now realizing that they are really very far from home. The love and compassion that embraced each child will help to begin the slow journey of building trust and sharing peace that will happen over the next 6 weeks. And so it is with Nawroz. Shy and very unsure of his new surroundings, and exhausted from a 3 day journey, as soon as we arrived home and he saw his bed, that is where he landed. He crawled under the covers at 10:30 am Tuesday morning, and did not stir until 7:00 am this morning. Now that's a tired boy! Slowly we've been making our way, communicating through pointing and gestures, and a rather helpful Farsi-English dictionary. Tomorrow is the dentist -- when he saw that word in the dictionary he shook his head no, funny how that works - affirms my belief that all kids are just kids. Then we get a few hours of one-on-one time with the interpreter to give us all a chance to try to get to know eachother a little better. That will be great! For now, I've learned that he is 12, that I guessed pretty good and he's a size 8, he likes bananas and grapes, and he's pretty darn good at the Wii.

Peace,
Meg