Instant Messenging with Leanna

If you're one of my Facebook friends, you know that on Wednesday I joined the Russian version of Facebook. And I actually found Leanna. If I didn't know her last name and birthday there is no way I would've found her. Even when I did find her, I skipped over her photo 4 or 5 times before I said, "Could that be her?" The picture just didn't look like her. Jon agreed. But when I clicked on her picture and went to her wall (there aren't privacy settings like we have, so you can look at anyone's wall you wish) I was able to look at her other photos and it was her! What a happy dance I did! She had been on Kontakte a few times during her stay here and had shown us some of her friends and teachers. There are also little games on it that she liked to play.

So, Wednesday I sent a friend request to her and waited. And waited. And waited. The 8 hour time difference sure is frustrating. I woke up Thursday hoping to find an email that said she had confirmed me as a friend. No such email was waiting for me. Disappointed, I logged onto Kontakte anyway to see if Leanna had a new status. I was overjoyed to discover she HAD friended me and put a few little things on my wall. A few cute little pictures...one said "I miss you", one said "I love you" with a little heart. And she had actually written, "Hello. How are you? I miss you." So, I sent her a short message that just said we miss her and think about her every day. This morning I logged on to find this message on my wall from Leanna, "Miss you! I cry!" Oh, little girl, I cry too. And then she wrote, "MISS!!!!!!VERY MISS!!!!" Her status today simply says, "I miss." Enough said, I guess.

Even though my language setting is on English, not everything translates on Kontakte. On my wall everything is in English, but when I go to Leanna's wall, the only things in English are the categories (like Activities, Interests, Favorite Music, etc.). Anything Leanna or her friends type is in Russian. So I spent a good long time on Wednesday copying and pasting EVERYTHING from her wall into the IM Translator (what a great tool!). We had used the translator several times while she was here and although it doesn't translate every word, you can usually get the idea of what's being communicated.

So this morning when I logged on to see her new status my heart skipped a beat when I saw in my Friends Online category that Leanna was online that very moment! Oh, the excitement! I quickly typed, "Hello" just to make sure she was really there. And I waited. And waited. 7 excruciatingly long minutes went by before I heard a little 'bing' and there it was. A message from my girl. We had the best little Instant Messenger chat. For 40 minutes. There seems to be a much bigger delay when IMing someone in Russia. But I am not complaining. On the contrary. I have never been more grateful for the internet than I am at this very moment. I discovered later that while we were chatting she put this photo on my wall.
So, you wanna read our conversation? I didn't and still don't know if things get translated as they travel through the internet-time-and-space-continuum, so I tried to keep my questions short and not use words she may not know.

Me: Hello! Do you have a computer in your home?
Leanna: Hi!!! What you doing now? How are you????? I miss!!! How do you find me in Kontakt? Yes.
Me: I am drinking coffee. I am so glad I found you! I miss you so much! I found you by looking up your birthday. Only a few more weeks until you're 14. Are you excited?
Leanna: YES!!!
Me: I wish we could celebrate with you. Is there anything you need?
Leanna: I don't know.
Me: I saw that you were in the hospital. Are you better? What was wrong? Was it your stomach? (Sidenote - when I finally figured out how to view Leanna's past statuses I discovered that she spent 3 days in the hospital last month. Her stomach was hurting.)
Leanna: Yes! Bad! Bad!
Me: I'm so sorry. Are you better?
Leanna: Yes!!
Me: Are you excited to come spend the summer with us?
Leanna: YES!!! VERY!!! Say hi Mark, Katie, Ellie and Preston.
Me: I will. We are all praying for you.
Leanna: Thank you.
Me: Is there anything you need that I can send you?
Leanna: I don't know. I want surprise. (Spoken like a true girl!)
Me: How was school today?
Leanna: Good. Very good.
Me: Have you had dinner yet?
Leanna: No.
Me: What time do you eat dinner?
Leanna: 7:30. (Then a minute later) NO NO no 6:30.
Me: I like all the new pictures of you. Were they in your home?
Leanna: Yes.
Me: What time do you go to sleep?
Leanna: 10:00
Me: Is it okay if I put some pictures of you on Kontakte from when you were here?
Leanna: Well!!! I have gone to have supper. I will come in 15 minutes.
Me: Okay.

That was 57 minutes ago. I don't know if she'll be back or not. Are other kids waiting to use the computer? Was she hogging it and making others mad? I don't know (but I wouldn't be surprised). How long do I wait for her to return? Do I bring the kids in here to do school while I wait for Leanna to return? If I'm not here and she does return and I'm not online will she be sad? Or mad? Will she wonder where I went and why I'm not waiting for her? Can I really sit here another 2 1/2 hours until she goes to bed? But how can I NOT sit here another 2 1/2 hours until she goes to bed? Oh, the dilemma!

Well, I was getting ready to hit the Publish Post button when Leanna returned...

Leanna: I have eaten. Sorry that I took so long. I very strongly miss.
Me: I miss you, too. Very much. I wish you were still here. Jacob, Caleb and Abbi miss you too! We want to know what your favorite food is.
Leanna: I do not know now because of a gastritis at me a strict diet. How are you doing at them at school?
Me: They are doing well at school.
Leanna: Now I study perfectly on 4 and 5.
Me: I'm glad you're doing so well in school. What is your favorite subject?
Leanna: Thank you.
Me: Do you know how to swim?
Leanna: No.
Me: Do you want to learn how to swim? We swim a lot in the summer.
Leanna: Yes.
Me: What is gastritis? (I looked it up...it means 'inflammation of the stomach. It does not mean that there is an ulcer or cancer. It is simply inflammation.')
Leanna: Problems with a stomach.
Me: Does your stomach still hurt?
Leanna: To me operation did not do, but the stomach is ill.
Me: You had an operation?? (trying not to freak out!)
Leanna: No. (thank you, Lord!)
Me: But your stomach still hurts?
Leanna: Yes.
Me: I will pray that you feel better. I wish I could give you a hug.
Leanna: Thanks, for all I am grateful to God that it has reduced.
Me: Me too!
Leanna: By!! I miss you.
Me: I miss you, too! Bye!!

So, why the abrupt goodbye? Did someone come make her get off the computer? Was she tired of all my questions? Was she getting bored? It's almost 8:30 pm in St. Petersburg. Is she getting ready for bed? Brushing teeth? Getting pj's on? Does she have a new roommate yet (remember her roommate was adopted a few weeks ago...she and Leanna had a tearful good-bye)? So many things I still want to ask her. What's her middle name? What does she want to be when she grows up? Does she remember her mama or papa? Does she have any pictures of them? Would she like to learn how to play an instrument? What are her favorite activities?

Well, my morning is gone and we still haven't done school. The kids have done all their independent work, but are waiting on me for history and science. We're usually done by now. Oh well. It's not like I wasted my morning...quite the opposite. I spent valuable time bridging a gap between Leanna and me. I can't wait until the next opportunity!