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Show . X4 : " if.Il' J C I 4 s V tf 1 r J i w5 f '''' They still speak "Romanish" but life in Bountiful has become a happy family affair for two girls adopted in communist Romania. Irnia, 5, is held by her new big brother, Mark, 17, while he visits with well-wishers well-wishers on the telephone. Alina, 9, eyes Clipper newspaper carrying her adoption story while new brother, David, 9, looks on. Girls' new mom, Carylyn Nelson is in the background. (Clipper photo by Patrick Mitchell) Left dreary orphanage Every day like Disneyland for 2 Romanian girls in U.S. everything was all right." When asked if they want to go back to Romania, both girls responded, "Romania, yuck! America, yeah!" "We just love having these girls, we are thrilled. They are filled with lots of love and kisses, and the boys are happy too. We look at this as a fun adventure," said Carylyn. For those couples interested in adopting children from the communist country, coun-try, it may be a little difficult now because Romanian officials stopped foreign adoption of its orphans two weeks ago. Their reason is to establish estab-lish procedures that would be less frustrating and corrupt, according to the latest press reports. The Nelsons aren't the only ones who had a difficult time getting the girls out of Romania. Thirty-seven days of trekking through red tape was mild for them, compared to some of the couples who've spent up to three months in Romania to adopt, Garth said. Despite the halt in adoptions, people should be able to adopt again at the beginning of March. Alina and Irina begun school at Hannah Holbrook on Monday. The Davis County School District has set up a program that helps foreign children learn English. The school will work with them to bring them up to their grade level, and their teacher thinks it will only take a year, said Garth. "I hope they never lose their language," lan-guage," said Carylyn, noting that the girls talk to each other in Romanish, and they love to sing and recite poetry in their first language. The girls are a little advantaged in learning the English language because their new mom, Carylyn, is a teacher and speech pathologist and Mueller Park Junior High school. Garth and Carylyn play a game with the girls where they are to trade the Romanish name of a word for its American counterpart. Irina and Alina have already learned the names of several objects around the house, colors, body parts and their numbers. The oldest girls can count to 100 and the youngest can count to 20. The Nelsons and their three boys, Gary, 19, Mark, 17, and David, 9, also use the international language of charades and pointing at things to help the girls learn English faster. Even though every day is like Disney Land for Irina and Alina, they are still experiencing a little bit of shock from their move, said Garth. Gar-th. "The other night they woke up and were whimpering a little bit. They crawled in bed with us, and Editor's note: Two little Romanian girls adopted by a Bountiful couple are adjusting ad-justing fast to life in the United States. In the third of a three-part series, the couple describes how the girls are adjusting to life where food and light are plentiful. By KRIS JOHNSON Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL Every day is like being in Disney Land for two Romanian girls plucked out of a dreary orphanage and brought to a new home with a Bountiful family. Alina, 9, and Irina, 5, were growing grow-ing up in an austere communist society where bread and fruit are luxuries. "The two girls have never owned anything in their entire lives; they had no personal possessions in Romania," said Garth Nelson, who went to Romania with his wife Carylyn, to adopt the little girls. The first time the Nelsons made hamburgers for the girls, they didn't know how to eat them, and they thought the hamburger buns were dessert. The Nelsons also had to teach Alina and Irina how to use eating utensils. Moreover, the girls didn't even know what a television or a video cassette recorder was until they came to live with the Nelsons. Environmentally, the girls are like babies. They're so curious, that it's dangerous to leave them alone. They could stick their finger in a wall socket because they don't know what it is, said Garth. "They've kind of been warehoused and have not received the experiences experi-ences that American children receive, because Romania has nothing to offer them on a comparable com-parable basis," said Carylyn. Even though they were raised in an orphanage, the girls are very bright and received a very decent education. However, they are way behind on an emotional level because they were so limited in all the other areas of their lives, said Garth. The Nelsons are teaching the girls many new concepts such as the value of money, how to share, and how to relate to other children their same age. 'They're learning everything every-thing very fast and they 're motivated to learn the language. They're picking up about 15 to 20 new words a day," said Garth. "The youngest girl came downstairs the other night and said, 'hungry, spoon, cereal, milk.' " |
