Trip 1 - Day 15 - Jurmala Beach

We still had the car for today, so I was able to drive our Warrior and Rebekah to Warrior's follow-up appointment this morning on the outskirts of Rig@.  We arrived a little bit early, and we were able to meet with his doctor right away.  The doctor spoke English, so we didn't need the help of the translator for this visit.  This doctor had been seeing Warrior for a couple of years.  While we were talking, she was finishing a document in English for us to take that had all of his medical history since birth.  She was excited that Warrior was coming to America.  He told her he was scared of flying.  When we wrapped up, she said goodbye to us and wished us all the best.

When we arrived back at the apartment, we all piled into the car and drove to Jurmala.  This is a beach city just to the west of Rig@ along the Gulf of Rig@.  It reminded me of St. Simons Island, Georgia.  We found a beach access spot and parked and walked along a sandy path to the beach.  As we approached the beach, and Warrior saw the water for the first time, he dropped his pants and started running to the water!  Apparently, he's never been to the beach before!  The water was cold, and the beach air was hot.  But, this didn't stop all five kids from playing and swimming in the wave-less water.  We ate our lunch that we had packed on the beach and made it back to the car a couple of hours later.

On the ride back to the apartment, we detoured and went out of our way to drive by Warrior's orphanage (also in Jurmala).  The other kids and I didn't get to see it when Kristie visited a couple of weeks ago.  His orphanage is in a very small town that has just a few cross streets.  No stoplights or stores.  As we approached it, Warrior's demeanor changed as if he knew exactly where we were going.  We slowly drove by it, and we saw a young boy and girl across the street on the playground unsupervised.  Warrior looked upset as if he wanted to go in. Perhaps he misses his friends there.  As we drove away, he was fine.  After a few minutes, he was singing and playing again in the car.

We made it back to the apartment and got cleaned up.  We headed back out to a pizza place near Freedom Monument in Old Rig@.  

Jūrmala (Latvian: [juːrmala] "seaside"; German: Riga-Strand, Baltische Riviera) is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching 32 kilometres (20 mi) and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a 33 km stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 55,580, making it the fifth largest city in Latvia.

While Latvia was a part of the Soviet Union, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev. Although many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. Jūrmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style.  (Wikipedia)

Warrior's Doctor's Office

Jurmala Beach

Seth playing in the Gulf of Riga

The playground across the street from the orphanage.

Leaving Jurmala.  This sign is very symbolic of this adoption journey that we're on.

Seth with his "spikey hair" - on the way to eating pizza this evening.

Angry Birds pizza

Rachel waiting for her pica!