Tuesday morning we slept in a little, grabbed some breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet (5 min before it closed). After breakfast we loaded into our little tin can and made the trek to Liepaja. Once we arrived there we decided to tour the city a bit so that Kristen could see the city and the places that we had talked so much about. The children at the orphanage were not out of school yet so our timing was good. As we passed the outside market we decided to stop and take in the sights and smells one more time. I love the market and all that it offers. We walked through the inside area and then headed to the open air areas to see the fruits, vegetables and flowers that were being offered. As we were nearly finished, Aleks was grabbed from behind by someone. As he was spun around we all realized that it was his Great Aunt who we had visited during our stay in August. Aleks was stunned…as were Kristen and I. She was talking a mile a minute and Aleks just turned red with a look of flight in his eyes. After a couple of minutes she began to insist we come to her home but we explained we were headed to an appointment at the orphanage. We heard how she lost our address and that her sons could not find us on the internet. (protection?) I gave her my business card and we left to finish driving around the city and head to the orphanage. Once we arrived at the orphanage we found that Ginta, Liga and the boys had been waiting for us both Monday and Tuesday.
While at the orphanage we were welcomed with fresh mint tea and cookies. The hospitality of Ginta and Liga is always over the top. They are wonderful people. As we sat together and shared the boys arrived back from school one by one. It was a great reunion for the boys. There are only 5 boys left in the group in which Aleks used to be a part of. The entire orphanage is down to 40 plus children from the nearly 90 children that were there in August. Evidently the court has stopped removing children from their parents no matter what the situation. So as more children are adopted, granted back to their parents or put into foster care the numbers are shrinking in the orphanage. After a few hours we finished our day in Liepaja with dinner at Klondike with Ginta like old times (back in August). We then loaded back up in our tin can and headed to Riga. Neither Kristen or Aleks saw the Liepaja city border as we left…they were both fast asleep. The drive back to Riga was clouded with dense fog, wet snow and nuisance rain. Once back at the hotel the kids were awake and I was exhausted…but we laughed ourselves to sleep as we talked about the day.
Wednesday started with another great breakfast buffet…then a quick nap. About 12:30, Daina and Edgars picked us up and we headed to the passport office to pick up Aleks’ new passport with his new name – Aleksejs Zachary Tuttle. From there we went to the Embassy doctor once more so that she could complete the paperwork with his new passport information. Once we received this sealed envelope we could go the US Embassy to present all of the paperwork for Aleks’ new VIsa. The people at the US Embassy in Riga are wonderful and very friendly people – well those inside the Embassy. Those who are outside as security have a job to be polite but not friendly as a priority. Our entire visit at the Embassy took about an hour and resulted in our Visa application being approved! Now it was time to celebrate!
Aleks, Kristen and I walked down to old Riga to just take in the sites and explore a bit. We found most of the vendors, who were in the park during our visit in August, had moved into old Riga. It was fun as we tried new foods and saw the wonderful handiwork of many traditional Latvian crafters. I think we could fill a suitcase with the goods if we had the money to support the shopping spree. We finally decided to find a place to eat and found a great little steak house where we enjoyed a great meal to celebrate. As we walked back to the hotel, Kristen learned two things. First she learned why everyone walks so fast in Riga….TO STAY WARM. Second she found out that walking that fast everywhere is how so many stay so skinny here. All in all…a good day!
Thank you Father for protecting and preparing our way. Thank you for protecting Aleks as he grew…and bringing him into our family at just the right time. Bless our family, cover us in Your love and may we shine Your light to those around us.
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