[Games] Welcome Yesfir, Aleksandr, Maja, Nicolaas, Iosif, and Zoja!!
You got six children from Eastern Europe!
Yesfir is 7 years old. She is from Moscow, Russia. Her father, an American expatriate, was shot and killed in the city, and her mother could not afford to keep her. Yesfir requests to keep in contact with her sister Rahil, who is 13 and has been placed with a family in Cincinnati, Ohio. She speaks both Russian and English. She has been raised in a religious Jewish household and sobbed with happiness when she learned she would be placed with an Israeli-American family. She has led a sheltered lifestyle and as such, is not accustomed to a social life. She loves cats and would like a kitten of her own someday. She has dark brown, curly hair and golden-brown eyes.
Aleksandr is also 7. He comes from Brest, Belarus. He has grown up speaking Yiddish and Russian. He knows no English and cannot read the alphabet (he can only read and write in Russian). His family is more culturally Jewish than religiously, as Belarus is predominantly Orthodox Christian. Alek has grown up in an orphanage, so he has a great talent for making friends with children with disabilities and emotional issues. He is outgoing and friendly and very athletic. He has curly brown hair and heterochromia; his left eye is green and his right blue.
Maja is from Slovenia. She is 5 years old. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was not raised Jewish, but she was not raised with any religion, so she can learn. She speaks English and Slovenian. She was found abandoned as a baby and a woman named Liljana took her in. However, her resources were not plentiful, and she has to give her up. She requests to remain in contact with Maja. Maja is a little slow intellectually, but loves to draw and play with other children. She loves having stories read to her. She also loves music and dance, and she would like to dance ballet when she comes to New York.
Nicolaas, who goes by Niek, is from Maastricht, the Netherlands. He is 3 years old. He is very shy and withdrawn, being the youngest in an abusive family of 7 children. He likes to sing to himself and chew his fingers. He has a hard time meeting new people, but will flourish, given individual attention. His family is ethnically Jewish, but his religious upbringing has not been strict. He speaks the beginnings of Dutch, English, and Hebrew. He has light brown hair and blue eyes.
Iosif is 18 months old and comes from Perm, Russia. He has thick black hair and brown eyes.
Zoja is an infant from Hungary. She has blue eyes.
Congratulations on your new family members, and keep us updated!