Flight to Dallas

The flight to Dallas was the most exciting yet, because it meant we were actually going to America, the place every child in the orphanage of 450 kids dreams of. James wanted to know if Texas was in Mississippi and Peter asked as we landed, "Is this America?" Throughout the long flight the boys amused themselves by going to the restroom at least two dozen times, which necessitated learning the phrase, "Excuse me, please," and as they began to grasp the concept of boundaries and other people's property, "May I please..."

Arriving in Dallas we were treated kindly by the U.S. Immigration folks, and from there went to Best Western where we were assigned rooms next to, but not adjoining each other. At first it seemed like a nuisance knocking on each other's doors and running back and forth, but it turned out to be a lot of laughs and the first time we truly felt like a family, joking as we microwaved supper bought in the hotel lobby.

The boys experienced their first walk in America down the road from the hotel to a pond where we saw 5 muskrats and a "creature with teeth" under a bush. Peter the Brave ran for a big stick and began beating the bushes where it ran to hide, until I told him we did not require protecting, that the beast was not fierce, but rather it was afraid of us. And that it was called a chipmunk.