ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Circumnavigation Of The Black Sea

We had a wonderful time on board Le Levant, a luxurious cruise ship, circumnavigating the Black Sea for two weeks in September. The history and culture of that part of the world are fascinating, and the lecturers on board did a great job.

When we received the brochure for the trip from the MIT Alumni office—who sponsored a group of 22 people—we knew right away that this would be our 8th MIT-sponsored trip. We also knew that we had an extraordinary personal opportunity that no one else on the trip would have—to visit the city of Varna, Bulgaria, the last port of the trip and the birthplace of our adopted grandson.

Through Svet, a social worker in Varna who had been involved in the adoption process eleven years ago, and who had become a friend of the family, we arranged a visit to the local House for Medical and Social Care for Children, a facility for children up to three years old, many of whom are orphans, and the home of Sam for the first three years of his life.

In anticipation of the visit, we had prepared a small photo album, which opened with a picture of the Director of the facility holding Sam as she was turning him over to his new mother, and ended with a current picture of Sam, now fourteen years old. We had a very pleasant visit with that same Director who was literally thrilled to get the feedback of our visit. They seldom ever hear from adopted children, and never before from grandparents.

After the visit with the Director, we had a tour of the facilities, which is best portrayed in the accompanying pictures. The children were bright and active. They were all clean and dressed neatly, and were as fascinated by us as we were to see them. We spent an hour visiting and playing with children who were obviously loving our visit, and left the facility with great satisfaction. Without doubt, this was the personal high point of our voyage.

B. and B. Rosen