An Exciting Day!

Today was a very big day! Early in the morning I got interviewed for a Kyrgyz tv show. They wanted to tell the story of us coming back to visit our birth country. I was shy but was able to answer his questions. It won't be on tv until after we come home so I won't be able to see it. Then I got to go back to the orphanage were I lived until I was 6 months old. I was very nervous but warm and fuzzy inside too because I couldn't wait to see the people that cared for me and loved me until my family came. I didn't know if they would remember me but they did! I showed them old pictures of me while I was there and some of thr same nurses are still there and were so excited to see me. They hugged me and had tears in their eyes. I had a big suitcase full of donations I collected and they were so happy to have all the items. They couldn't believe that people would want to give them so much stuff. We saw a few kids and some of them kept shaking our hands. It was so cute! There was one little boy who has Down Syndrome and he kept looking at my camera so I would take a picture of him and show him and he would smile really big. It was really neat to see the two little buildings that I lived in while I was here. I am very happy I could come back and see everybody. They were relieved that we had a family that loved us so much. Next we went to see the hospital where I was born. It looked a little run down and we couldn't go inside. It was awesome to see it though. After lunch Aigul (our awesome guide) showed us around the city (Bishkek). We saw the White House and lots of statues and monuments. It was so hot I felt like I was about to pass out. But we had ice cream and I felt a lot better. Finally we went to the Osh Bazaar to find some souvenirs. They sell everything you could ever imagine. You could buys socks or clothes, candies, toys, instruments, household items and tons of food. Anything you could ever imagine or need. I bought a little Kyrgyz doll, a little komuz (an instrument), and some felt slippers. On the way out we went by all the food stands. The aisles were very narrow and it was so hot and there were so many different smells so we didn't stay long. My mom bought some nuts and dried apricots from a vendor. We also got to try horse milk, which a lot of people here drink. I thought it was very gross and my mom almost gagged. I'm so glad I don't have to drink that everyday. Yuck! Later that night, Aliya came over to our hostel to visit. She was the translator that helped my mom and dad with my adoption. She was so happy to see me. It was cool to meet her because she knew me when I was a baby but I had only seen her in pictures before now. Like I said, it was an exciting day!