Kathy: Riding the Rollercoaster

What a couple of days it’s been! I don’t even know where to start with all the stories we have to tell, but they can all be described in one word: rollercoaster.

Our time in Davao ended with a party for Leah May at her orphanage, or the center, as she calls it. We had spaghetti (yes, spaghetti) from McDonald’s, and the other kids there sang and danced for us. The party began quite festive but ended with a lot of tears from Leah May as she said goodbye to her caregivers, particularly Ate (“big sister”) Rose, her favorite. She was pretty cheerful with us that evening but sniffly the next morning as we packed up and left for the airport so that we could fly to Cebu. Leah May’s social worker accompanied us to the airport as an extra comfort to Leah May, and it seemed to do the trick: Leah May hugged her goodbye but then seemed pretty excited about getting on the airplane.

Our reason for visiting Cebu was to meet up with our friend Nyllaine, who lives in Indianapolis but who happened to be visiting her parents in the Philippines at the same time. We spent all day with Nyllaine and her family on Saturday, and we owe her a lifetime of gratitude for helping with Leah May. Nyllaine speaks the same dialect as Leah May, and she graciously translated some important questions and messages for us and had numerous conversations with Leah May, including all about how she’ll be going to America and living with a family. This latter conversation ended with a very interesting response from Leah May: “You mean it’s really true, not just a story?” We plan to get to the bottom of that someday!

Anyway, last night Leah May was about as cheerful as we’ve seen her so far. Clearly Nyllaine set her mind at ease about at least a couple of things. But this morning Leah May was very upset, crying that she missed Ate Rose and her center and didn’t want to fly to Manila. She managed to control herself whenever we were in public, but as soon as we would go to our hotel room she would become inconsolable and overwrought. Just as I resigned myself to having the day (okay, the month) from hell, we went to lunch and Leah May completely and abruptly cheered up.

She was quite cheerful for the rest of the afternoon and even kept pestering me about going to the airport while we were swimming because she was worried that we would miss our plane to Manila. While we were on the plane, completely without pretense, she warmed up to Rene for the first time since they met on Thursday. At one point during the flight she seemed downright giddy. The change in her demeanor was so drastic that for a horrifying moment I thought maybe I’d said something to make her think that we weren’t flying to Manila or America after all. As our plane landed in Manila, I was quite relieved when she casually asked if we were in the States, as Filipinos call the U.S.

On the plane Leah May even asked several times where Daddy was (in keeping with our travel theme, the 747 was completely packed and we couldn’t get 4 seats together, so David had to sit several rows behind us). She still refuses to have any contact with David, but she’s been smiling more at him, and we’ve seen her sneaking curious glances at him when she thinks he’s not looking.

Tomorrow is our final day in the Philippines. At 10:00 we have a meeting with the government agency that’s in charge of international adoptions. We’ll have to sign some documents, and they’ll turn over Leah May’s passport and immigration documents. At 10:30 tomorrow night we’ll board our flight to Guam and prepare ourselves for 24 hours of flying fun.

I need to be wrapping this up and going to bed, though I’m not sure I should even bother since karaoke is blaring from a bar a few doors down. We’re hoping for a happy, peaceful day tomorrow but are fully prepared for another rollercoaster. And if it’s another rollercoaster, we’ll do what anyone else would do: throw up our arms, scream and know that sooner or later everything will slow down and even out.

Our first family picture! It's a little blurry but
too good not to use.

Above, Rene with some boys at Leah May's center. They didn't quite know what to make of the Filipino boy who doesn't speak Cebuano. Left, Leah May with some of the staff at her center. Below left, with the beloved Ate Rose.

Above, seeing some sites in Cebu with Ate Nyllaine. Nyllaine's father is with Rene. Left, giddy on the flight to Manila. Below, Leah May excited about using a knife (Filipinos only use a spoon and a fork).