I am going to add pictures to this post tomorrow but i just wanted to get this out there. The Russians are gone. It is so sad. I was tearing up and they were totally balling. They were making hearts with their fingers as they drove away.
Ola is my favorite girl who came. I love Ola. Some of the girls, are a little jaded, from all the years that they have had to fend for themselves at the orphanage. they boss other people around and get in little tizzies with their friends. but Ola, seems to be friends with everyone and super sweet and nice, but still with a lot of personality and spunk.
let me tell you her story. her mom, didn't want her when she born so she gave her up to an orphanage. Her mom, later died of drinking problems and her dad is now in jail. He also didn't want her when she was a baby. how can someone not want their baby? I don't get it. So eventually she ended up at the orphanage that we went to. When she was 12 or 13 they sent her to a foster home, but something went really really bad happened there. So the orphanage seized her back. They never actually told us what happened, because i think they were too embarrassed to tell us. Anyway, I don't really want to imagine.
The first time we met Ola she was the first day we went to their camp last year. She was shy. My mom started talking to her, and found out through sign language and help of the english teacher that she was sad because she was scared that she had to go to a new school in the fall. When they are 16 they have to go to a school that is integrated with the whole town, not just the orphanage kids. but through out the week, we could see that she got happier. i am not sure exactly why. She started hanging out with us and playing with us and she made every one of the crafts that we brought for the kids. Even the little kid crafts. One of them was a animal visor thing. And she wore it for almost the rest of the week. SO DANG CUTE!
We told her late in the week that we wanted to help her go to college. She was really grateful. What would it be like to not have anyone at all to help you in life. To be faced with a whole bunch of obstacles in your way, and people all around you telling you you can't. I think that gave her some hope.
When she came this year she was so cute. I am pretty sure that all of my family fell in love with her. All of them! She is just about the best charader you will ever meet. We found out everything about her through charades. then just to make sure we were getting what she was telling us, we would type it into google translate and have her make sure that we were right. SHe would say "da, da, da, da ,da ,da ,da"
And dang is she funny. She told us one story about a crazy girl in her camp(seriously she is crazy people. She bit off her own fingers. yikes!) and she had us in stitches.
WHile she was here she was always around us. Some of the girls really like you tube, so when we were home they were always on you tube. I think they are media deprived or something. any how, she loved us. And we really love her.
On the last day, she started tearing up like 5 hours before they left. She tried not to show it. But she was so sad. oh my.
On the last day we looked up about the ELC program at BYU. We had the English teacher tell her about it. She got really excited and you could just see the hope and excitement she had. But then the English teacher told us, that there was no way she was smart enough for that, and that she didn't see how it would do her any good in Russia, and that she really blah blah blah blah blah. I twas so frustrating. What does this English teacher( who is sometimes grumpie i tell you.) care about her. It was so frustrating. Don't tell people they can't! NO! don't ever do it people!! I sort of felt like a mom and how a mom might feel if a teacher was being mean to my kid. You could tell that Ola was thinking that what the english teacher said was sort of true. Well i will tell you something Svetlana( she is the english teacher that came with the girls). It isn't true and mind your own dang business. Ola is so spunky and fiery and ambitous(at one time back at the camp in russia, ola spent 2 hours striaght trying to learn how to bridghe cards. and by the end she did it. she never took a break , she just worked and worked and worked. tell me one person you know in the states who would have that much drive. probably not that many people) that she will succeed and anything she tryies to do. ok!!!!!!!( that is how i felt, i still think svetlana is cool, but this really bugged me, really)
i love Ola!!! I am sad she is gone. i want her to be my sister! I love you ola!!!!
love Jen!
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