No news is good news???

We had a great meeting with Duncan today, very relaxed, no pressure.  I had downloaded a couple of football (soccer) apps to my iPhone and iPod Touch and he and I were able to play head to head via bluetooth.  We were both laughing and having a great time trying to out do the other.  Not bragging, but the old man with little to no gaming skills came away victorious.

Another American family is at the orphanage and adopting a boy, Tyler,  a few years younger than Duncan.  We have had a chance to get to know them a bit and share a few meals together.  They are wonderful people and are adopting a great child who will grow and develop rapidly with his new family.  They were sitting with their new son today very close to us playing games on their iPad.  Duncan got bored of the football game and went to watch Tyler play his games.  It wasn't long before they were both playing together, a very basic English spelling game.  It became very clear quickly that Duncan knows a bunch of English words.  So we grabbed my iPhone, which has a much more advanced English/Russian game on it, and put him to the test.  He knows a large number of English words and was ripping through the levels on the game with very little effort. So why doesn't he try to communicate with us in English?   I think he is just shy and doesn't want to try for fear of failing and possibly embarrassing himself.   I know the feeling.  If you could only see me in action in China, very embarrassing.

Our visit was over quickly and he needed to go eat lunch.  Neither the interpreter nor us asked about his decision.  Monday is the deadline, so we will wait.  Unfortunately, he will spend the rest of his day today and all day tomorrow with his groupa who are lobbying hard for him to stay.  He knows what is a stake and is most likely tired of having everyone tell him over and over again what he should do.  We have a 16 year old son at home and are very cognisant of when he gets tired of hearing it from us, usually yawning, eye rolling, and looking every where but at you.  I have seen two out of three from Duncan on several occasions so I know he is overloaded.  He is just needs to verbalize his decision as I am convinced he has already decided.

The orphanage has an exhibit of many of the children's artwork in town, so we stopped by on our way back to the apartment. There were some beautiful pieces on display.  A boy from the orphanage was there giving demonstrations of his artwork which consists of melting crayons onto an iron and then transferring them to paper.  I took a short video of how he does it so you all could enjoy it as much as we did.

This young man was very patient and even helped me, who has zero artistic ability, to produce a piece of art using his technique.  I think the boys will be eager to try this when we get home.  Perhaps they can show their art teacher and spend a couple of classes working on some techniques.  After all,  if I can do it then they will master it quickly.

Tomorrow is a day off, no visits to the orphanage. I want to thank everyone who has been praying hard for Duncan.  It humbles and overwhelms me and I can't thank all of you enough.