Christmas is right around the corner. This is probably one of my favorite times of year yet I am so engrossed in whipping this house into shape to welcome these children home that I have done nothing to get into the spirit of the holidays! My home is remodeling central, I have hardwoods about to be installed in the bedrooms, children's furniture is scattered all over the house. I am waiting for my housekeeper to remove the current furniture so we can move the kids furniture into their rooms; it looks like a tornado has hit it! It is driving me a bit crazy as I can't stand all this disorganization. I will be spending the holiday in Chicago with my sister and her family, so at least I can be away from it for awhile and don't have to look at it everyday. I am wishing for a Christmas miracle that while I am away, all of Santa's elves will sneak in and put the house together!
I have not heard any word on when my court date may be, I am still hoping for mid January as they indicated while we were in the region meeting the children. I still have so much to do, learn some Russian, train the dogs, just about everything I should have been doing over the past 2 years!
I wish all of you a happy holiday season and a healthy and happy new year!
Jane
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Home Sweet Home
Monday, November 27
Made it to the airport and said our goodbyes to Arlena and Viktor, we could not have asked for a more gracious hostess and conscientious driver, they were great! The flight back was uneventful, just some loud and rowdy 15 -16 year old hockey players from Detroit, they settled down though pretty quickly. Slept a lot and visited with another pre-adoptive mother from Wisconsin, she just met her 18 month old little girl, just precious! Made it to Atlanta, Gail and I said our goodbyes and we both found our respective gates to home.
This truly was an adventure of my heart. So many stories to tell these kids, I can't wait to be their mom. The people we met along the way have been fantastic, I could not have wished for anything better. It looks like I will be going back in mid January for my court date and to finally bring my family home, I'm open for a travelling partner, any takers???
Love and thanks to you all,
Jane
Made it to the airport and said our goodbyes to Arlena and Viktor, we could not have asked for a more gracious hostess and conscientious driver, they were great! The flight back was uneventful, just some loud and rowdy 15 -16 year old hockey players from Detroit, they settled down though pretty quickly. Slept a lot and visited with another pre-adoptive mother from Wisconsin, she just met her 18 month old little girl, just precious! Made it to Atlanta, Gail and I said our goodbyes and we both found our respective gates to home.
This truly was an adventure of my heart. So many stories to tell these kids, I can't wait to be their mom. The people we met along the way have been fantastic, I could not have wished for anything better. It looks like I will be going back in mid January for my court date and to finally bring my family home, I'm open for a travelling partner, any takers???
Love and thanks to you all,
Jane
Back in Moscow
We survived the flight! We were met at the airport in Moscow by Arlena and Viktor and driven to the President Hotel. This was a different hotel than when we were here a few days ago, it is in another part of the city. The President Hotel was wonderful! After the awful experience we had at the Hotel Vostok, this was pure luxury! Two double beds, a great view, large space and best of all: A clean bathroom with lots of towels and bathrobes and slippers! We thought we went to heaven!
Here is the view outside our window:
This is a statue of Peter the Great in the Moscow river; apparently the story is: the statue was supposed to be of Christopher Columbus and a gift for America, but is was so big that they couldn't figure a way to get to the United States that they decided to turn it into Peter the Great and keep it in the Moscow river. Okay, my little history lesson for the day.
After we got settled in the room, we took a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel. It had great shops and cafes and a Mexican restaurant called Pancho Villa that we stopped and got some nachos. Not the greatest nachos, but not too bad!! The corona tasted great!! Did some final souvenir shopping and made it back to the hotel. We ordered room service, repacked all of our treasures and went to bed for our final night in Russia.
The trip back to Moscow
Jet lag is a killer! Sorry it's taken awhile to get to the end of the trip.
Tamarra and our driver met us in the lobby early Sunday morning to drive us to the Khabarvosk airport. Gail and I were pretty tired so we didn't talk much and just enjoyed the peaceful 2 1/2 hour drive. The road was pretty much covered with snow except for one lane which was used by cars going in both directions, thank goodness there was not much traffic. The Russian version of speed bumps is to travel along a paved road and then it will turn to gravel/dirt for about a 1/4 mile, this was the case in about 4 or 5 spots along our route. The countryside is dotted with villages every few miles which consist of a few shacks that constitute someones home, very dreary.
We finally arrived in Khabarovsk about 2 hours before our flight was due to leave. Tamarra helped us with all of our luggage which was considerably lighter since leaving all the toys and clothes for the kids at the orphanage and the gifts for the caregivers, although we still ended up being over the limit and had to pay a small amount. We got our boarding tickets and then Tamarra suggested that if we needed to use the restroom, now was the time to do so and she pointed to it down this flight of stairs. She also whispered to me to "take my sense of humor". Gail and I followed this group of women to the restroom and stood in line (just like America), when it was my turn, I opened the stall door and found a small step up and a hole in the ground!!! I about died! There were two places to put your feet and you were expected to stand up and take care of business! No time for a bashful bladder - when in Russia, do as the Russians do!! Gail was up next and as soon as she saw it she said "no way"!! I told her the alternative was using the disgusting airplane bathroom, she chose the stall. Back upstairs to say our goodbyes to Tamarra and then on to the gate to wait to board the plane. Everything they are announcing is in Russian, Gail and I just pray we get on the right plane headed for Moscow and not China. We board the bus to take us to the tarmac to board the plane, everyone just pushes and shoves their way on, no semblance of order, it is insane. We are finally seated in our seats and pleasantly surprised to find we are on a much newer jet and there is no ugly smells. Now only 9 more hours till we are back to Moscow.
Tamarra and our driver met us in the lobby early Sunday morning to drive us to the Khabarvosk airport. Gail and I were pretty tired so we didn't talk much and just enjoyed the peaceful 2 1/2 hour drive. The road was pretty much covered with snow except for one lane which was used by cars going in both directions, thank goodness there was not much traffic. The Russian version of speed bumps is to travel along a paved road and then it will turn to gravel/dirt for about a 1/4 mile, this was the case in about 4 or 5 spots along our route. The countryside is dotted with villages every few miles which consist of a few shacks that constitute someones home, very dreary.
We finally arrived in Khabarovsk about 2 hours before our flight was due to leave. Tamarra helped us with all of our luggage which was considerably lighter since leaving all the toys and clothes for the kids at the orphanage and the gifts for the caregivers, although we still ended up being over the limit and had to pay a small amount. We got our boarding tickets and then Tamarra suggested that if we needed to use the restroom, now was the time to do so and she pointed to it down this flight of stairs. She also whispered to me to "take my sense of humor". Gail and I followed this group of women to the restroom and stood in line (just like America), when it was my turn, I opened the stall door and found a small step up and a hole in the ground!!! I about died! There were two places to put your feet and you were expected to stand up and take care of business! No time for a bashful bladder - when in Russia, do as the Russians do!! Gail was up next and as soon as she saw it she said "no way"!! I told her the alternative was using the disgusting airplane bathroom, she chose the stall. Back upstairs to say our goodbyes to Tamarra and then on to the gate to wait to board the plane. Everything they are announcing is in Russian, Gail and I just pray we get on the right plane headed for Moscow and not China. We board the bus to take us to the tarmac to board the plane, everyone just pushes and shoves their way on, no semblance of order, it is insane. We are finally seated in our seats and pleasantly surprised to find we are on a much newer jet and there is no ugly smells. Now only 9 more hours till we are back to Moscow.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
More Pictures:
Here is a picture of Katia's bedroom.
This is a picture of some of Pasha's group taking a walk around the grounds of the orphanage.
Saturday night, November 25
Well, we're back in hotel hell and packing to go back to Moscow, the towels have never shown up. The Hotel Vostok is hosting a wedding in it's restaurant and will not serve us. I am tempted to crash the reception just for the cake and vodka! Unfortunately, Americans stick out like sore thumbs and there would be no way to blend in! This time we are a little more adventurous and decide to take a walk around the neighborhood in search of a restaurant. We walked two blocks in every direction from the hotel and could not find anything except one place that had all men eating dinner (not one woman in sight) and we were not about to crash that party! So we are right back where we started! After a light dinner of yet another Special K bar, topped off with animal crackers for dessert, we really started getting silly. Gail started modelling the latest in Siberian fashion which consisted of pajamas, socks and boots and her new fur hat! I really would love to show the picture, but I have been threatened with my life if I did! You all will just have to have a mental picture!
Jane
Well, we're back in hotel hell and packing to go back to Moscow, the towels have never shown up. The Hotel Vostok is hosting a wedding in it's restaurant and will not serve us. I am tempted to crash the reception just for the cake and vodka! Unfortunately, Americans stick out like sore thumbs and there would be no way to blend in! This time we are a little more adventurous and decide to take a walk around the neighborhood in search of a restaurant. We walked two blocks in every direction from the hotel and could not find anything except one place that had all men eating dinner (not one woman in sight) and we were not about to crash that party! So we are right back where we started! After a light dinner of yet another Special K bar, topped off with animal crackers for dessert, we really started getting silly. Gail started modelling the latest in Siberian fashion which consisted of pajamas, socks and boots and her new fur hat! I really would love to show the picture, but I have been threatened with my life if I did! You all will just have to have a mental picture!
Jane
Chasing Pasha!
Saturday afternoon, November 25
Met Pasha again at the baby home and boy oh boy, this kid is all boy!! He is quite the character. He thought is was the best game of just taking off running and me chasing after him! He could have done this for hours! It also appears he has "stop, drop and roll" down to a science! as this was his second favorite game, I am having visions of him on the plane ride home and it is not pretty!! Gail just sat in one of the little chairs laughing, saying "better you than me" and "he is all yours, you are going to have your hands full"!!! All said and done, he is definitely a "keeper". He is very smart and with a little direction from his teachers, he really does focus. This is such an unnatural experience for these kids when a stranger shows up that I think it tends to exaggerate all their behaviors. After our two hours, it was time to go, it is so heart wrenching to leave these children, but I know I will have the rest of my life with them and I have waited so long, I can wait a few more weeks.
Oh one more thing, I got to officially give them their "American" names! But this is the one thing I am keeping to myself until after my court date; you all will just have to wait!
Jane
Met Pasha again at the baby home and boy oh boy, this kid is all boy!! He is quite the character. He thought is was the best game of just taking off running and me chasing after him! He could have done this for hours! It also appears he has "stop, drop and roll" down to a science! as this was his second favorite game, I am having visions of him on the plane ride home and it is not pretty!! Gail just sat in one of the little chairs laughing, saying "better you than me" and "he is all yours, you are going to have your hands full"!!! All said and done, he is definitely a "keeper". He is very smart and with a little direction from his teachers, he really does focus. This is such an unnatural experience for these kids when a stranger shows up that I think it tends to exaggerate all their behaviors. After our two hours, it was time to go, it is so heart wrenching to leave these children, but I know I will have the rest of my life with them and I have waited so long, I can wait a few more weeks.
Oh one more thing, I got to officially give them their "American" names! But this is the one thing I am keeping to myself until after my court date; you all will just have to wait!
Jane
Tea with Tatiana!
Saturday, November 25
Instead of Tamarra coming to pick us up at the bowling alley, Tatiana, the coordinator shows up. She asks me if I am ready to commit to these children, I tell her "yes I am"!!! She pretty much knew that would be the case and had taken it upon herself to start working on the paperwork that she will need to file with the court in Birobidzhan for me to formally adopt these kids. Tatianna tells us we need to go to some officials office so she can print the paperwork and I will sign it. We go to Olga's office, not sure who Olga is, but she has something to do with adoptions in the region and also find out that our driver for the day is Olga's dad! This is a small town, so it's really not that big of surprise. We also find out that today, Saturday, November 25 is Russia's "Mother's Day"! What a perfect day to sign these papers! We arrive at Olga's office and Tatianna has screwed something up on her computer and needs to retype the paperwork, but instead of her doing it, she asked me to retype it from a template. It turns out I am typing my own petition to adopt, it was a little intimidating trying to type this on a Russian laptop with these two very important people looking over my shoulder as I typed, I was just praying that spellcheck would work in English! Finally finished with that, and Tatianna invited Gail and I to a back office where she had set up a little tea party! It was just like chatting with your girlfriends, we found out Tatiana loves to shop, goes to China (1 hour flight) often to find bargains and asked me to bring her back a pilates dvd when I return for my court date. At this point, if it would help to move my court date up, I would bring her a real live pilates instructor! The tea time was actually a really lovely experience, one of the highlights of the trip!
Tamarra then shows up and we are taken to Pasha's orphanage to visit with Pasha again.
Instead of Tamarra coming to pick us up at the bowling alley, Tatiana, the coordinator shows up. She asks me if I am ready to commit to these children, I tell her "yes I am"!!! She pretty much knew that would be the case and had taken it upon herself to start working on the paperwork that she will need to file with the court in Birobidzhan for me to formally adopt these kids. Tatianna tells us we need to go to some officials office so she can print the paperwork and I will sign it. We go to Olga's office, not sure who Olga is, but she has something to do with adoptions in the region and also find out that our driver for the day is Olga's dad! This is a small town, so it's really not that big of surprise. We also find out that today, Saturday, November 25 is Russia's "Mother's Day"! What a perfect day to sign these papers! We arrive at Olga's office and Tatianna has screwed something up on her computer and needs to retype the paperwork, but instead of her doing it, she asked me to retype it from a template. It turns out I am typing my own petition to adopt, it was a little intimidating trying to type this on a Russian laptop with these two very important people looking over my shoulder as I typed, I was just praying that spellcheck would work in English! Finally finished with that, and Tatianna invited Gail and I to a back office where she had set up a little tea party! It was just like chatting with your girlfriends, we found out Tatiana loves to shop, goes to China (1 hour flight) often to find bargains and asked me to bring her back a pilates dvd when I return for my court date. At this point, if it would help to move my court date up, I would bring her a real live pilates instructor! The tea time was actually a really lovely experience, one of the highlights of the trip!
Tamarra then shows up and we are taken to Pasha's orphanage to visit with Pasha again.
Lunch at the bowling alley!
By this time, Gail and I are really hungry, all we've had is a power bar and hershey kisses and water. Tamarra suggests that we eat at the local bowling alley, that they have good pizza. Sounds good to us! She drops us off and escorts us to the restaurant, interprets to the waiter what we want: a salad, cheese and mushroom pizza and pepsi light. Okay, we don't think they can screw that up! Tamarra leaves and will come back to get us in an hour. They bring out the salads which consist of frozen tomatoes, frozen cucumbers and frozen brocolli, then comes the pizza, thin crust with an assortment of different mushrooms, the likes of which neither of us have ever seen! Needless to say, Gail and I are now on a diet whether we like it or not!
Seeing the children again
Saturday morning, November 25th
We were told by Tanya yesterday that we would have a different translator for the rest of our stay as she (Tanya) was meeting a family coming in today and preparing them for their court hearing on Monday.
We met Tamarra, our new translator in the hotel lobby this morning and asked her to ask the hotel if they could provide us with more and clean towels, they apparently told Tamarra they would. Tamarra explained to us what the agenda was for the day and we left for Katia's orphanage. We met Katia in the large "music" room of the orphanage. Again, Katia was very shy but was willing to play. Her caregiver placed her in one of those "ball pens", the kind that is a large tub with hundreds of colorful balls in it. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, but with a little coaxing by Gail and myself, we got her to start throwing the balls at Gail. It's my impression that these kids just really do not know how to play, they are extremely regimented by the orphanage staff and the staff does their best, but these children do not know how to relax and just have fun. We finally pulled her out of the ball pit and got one of those large exercise balls and started playing with her on that, finally a smile! and a giggle!!! She seemed to really enjoy that. After a while, we pulled out the "try on clothes" that I had brought and she knew exactly what to do: stripped down and put on her new clothes all by herself, she looked adorable! She is a very "prissy" girl and could not get to a mirror fast enough to see how she looked! We then had to fix her hair and put new ponytail holders in with butterflies and she was just beaming! We felt like we were playing "beauty shop"! We pulled out the photo album of all the people and pets waiting for her when she gets home and she was totally engrossed in it. This child totally gets that I am going to be her new mommy. After about 2 hours, we walked her to her "group" for her to have lunch and then on to a nap, again the big tears came, knowing that we were leaving; Tamarra and the director swept her up and explained to her that yes, I was going to be her mommy and promised to come back for her in a few weeks, but that she will just have to wait. Okay, this is now breaking my heart again just typing this out! I can't stand it, I want this baby home with me!!!
Jane
We were told by Tanya yesterday that we would have a different translator for the rest of our stay as she (Tanya) was meeting a family coming in today and preparing them for their court hearing on Monday.
We met Tamarra, our new translator in the hotel lobby this morning and asked her to ask the hotel if they could provide us with more and clean towels, they apparently told Tamarra they would. Tamarra explained to us what the agenda was for the day and we left for Katia's orphanage. We met Katia in the large "music" room of the orphanage. Again, Katia was very shy but was willing to play. Her caregiver placed her in one of those "ball pens", the kind that is a large tub with hundreds of colorful balls in it. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, but with a little coaxing by Gail and myself, we got her to start throwing the balls at Gail. It's my impression that these kids just really do not know how to play, they are extremely regimented by the orphanage staff and the staff does their best, but these children do not know how to relax and just have fun. We finally pulled her out of the ball pit and got one of those large exercise balls and started playing with her on that, finally a smile! and a giggle!!! She seemed to really enjoy that. After a while, we pulled out the "try on clothes" that I had brought and she knew exactly what to do: stripped down and put on her new clothes all by herself, she looked adorable! She is a very "prissy" girl and could not get to a mirror fast enough to see how she looked! We then had to fix her hair and put new ponytail holders in with butterflies and she was just beaming! We felt like we were playing "beauty shop"! We pulled out the photo album of all the people and pets waiting for her when she gets home and she was totally engrossed in it. This child totally gets that I am going to be her new mommy. After about 2 hours, we walked her to her "group" for her to have lunch and then on to a nap, again the big tears came, knowing that we were leaving; Tamarra and the director swept her up and explained to her that yes, I was going to be her mommy and promised to come back for her in a few weeks, but that she will just have to wait. Okay, this is now breaking my heart again just typing this out! I can't stand it, I want this baby home with me!!!
Jane
Back to Hotel Hell
Friday night, November 24
After our emotional meeting with little Katia, Tanya, our translator and Slava, our driver took us back to the hotel and dropped us off. We attempted to ask for more towels via our little translation book and thought the staff understood us, but hours later when no towels showed up, we just gave up. Neither of us felt like eating the food at the restaurant and since we didn't have our translator with us this evening, we really didn't want to attempt ordering ourselves, so we settled on Special K bars, Hershey kisses and animal crackers. We tried watching a dvd that I had brought, but we were both so tired with the time change (16 hours ahead of Dallas time), we finally just went to sleep.
The weather in Biro is much colder than in Moscow, but it is clear and dry. The high temperature is about 15 degrees F. and -5 degrees for the low. Our room is kind of chilly as they only have piped in heat and the insulation is pathetic, you can practically feel the cold air blowing in thru the windows.
After our emotional meeting with little Katia, Tanya, our translator and Slava, our driver took us back to the hotel and dropped us off. We attempted to ask for more towels via our little translation book and thought the staff understood us, but hours later when no towels showed up, we just gave up. Neither of us felt like eating the food at the restaurant and since we didn't have our translator with us this evening, we really didn't want to attempt ordering ourselves, so we settled on Special K bars, Hershey kisses and animal crackers. We tried watching a dvd that I had brought, but we were both so tired with the time change (16 hours ahead of Dallas time), we finally just went to sleep.
The weather in Biro is much colder than in Moscow, but it is clear and dry. The high temperature is about 15 degrees F. and -5 degrees for the low. Our room is kind of chilly as they only have piped in heat and the insulation is pathetic, you can practically feel the cold air blowing in thru the windows.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Pictures!
I am not allowed to show any pictures of the children until they are officially mine, but I will entertain you with some from the trip:
Meat Market at a flea Market
Meat Market at a flea Market
Changing of the guard at Lenin's Tomb:
Meeting the Kids!
Friday, November 24th, 2006.
We were met in the hotel lobby by our translator and driver and taken to the specialized baby home in Birobidzhan, Russia. This is where we were to meet my soon to be little boy! We arrived at the orphanage and were escorted to the main teachers office, Tatiana. There we waited a few minutes and in walked the cutest little boy I could have ever imagined!! Pasha!! He is absolutely beautiful, light brown hair, big brown eyes, fair skinned and the sweetest smile I have ever seen. He immediately ran up to me, "mama, mama"!!! I was blown away and tears started flowing! I have waited two years for this and could not have asked for a more beautiful moment! We were allowed to spend about an hour together playing in the office with the watchful eye of the teacher and the translator. I pulled out the toys I had brought for him and he was loving every moment as was I. I am still in complete disbelief that I have travelled half way around the world for this. We left about an hour later with the promise that we would be back tomorrow.
We then went and met with the coordinator of the adoptions in the region, also a Tatiana. She is a pediatrician and went over the complete history of the children and included all their medical history as she knew it.
Later that afternoon, we went over to the other orphanage to meet my little girl. We waited in the orphanage directors office and finally they brought in Katia. Katia is a gorgeous brown haired, brown eyed beauty who is very shy, very typical of a 4 1/2 year old who is on display to complete strangers! She has some Asian features and is very petite, absolutely beautiful!! She loved the toys we brought and spent the hour on my lap a little weary of what all the commotion was about, but definitely understood that I might be her new mommy. When it was time to leave, Katia's eyes welled up with tears as did all of ours! She is so sweet and so sensitive and if I could have stuffed her in my bag, I would have taken her home right then and there.
At this point in time, I am still completely in disbelief that these beautiful children are going to be my kids! I have done a lot of things in my life, but I must have done some things right for God to give me this gift.
Jane
We were met in the hotel lobby by our translator and driver and taken to the specialized baby home in Birobidzhan, Russia. This is where we were to meet my soon to be little boy! We arrived at the orphanage and were escorted to the main teachers office, Tatiana. There we waited a few minutes and in walked the cutest little boy I could have ever imagined!! Pasha!! He is absolutely beautiful, light brown hair, big brown eyes, fair skinned and the sweetest smile I have ever seen. He immediately ran up to me, "mama, mama"!!! I was blown away and tears started flowing! I have waited two years for this and could not have asked for a more beautiful moment! We were allowed to spend about an hour together playing in the office with the watchful eye of the teacher and the translator. I pulled out the toys I had brought for him and he was loving every moment as was I. I am still in complete disbelief that I have travelled half way around the world for this. We left about an hour later with the promise that we would be back tomorrow.
We then went and met with the coordinator of the adoptions in the region, also a Tatiana. She is a pediatrician and went over the complete history of the children and included all their medical history as she knew it.
Later that afternoon, we went over to the other orphanage to meet my little girl. We waited in the orphanage directors office and finally they brought in Katia. Katia is a gorgeous brown haired, brown eyed beauty who is very shy, very typical of a 4 1/2 year old who is on display to complete strangers! She has some Asian features and is very petite, absolutely beautiful!! She loved the toys we brought and spent the hour on my lap a little weary of what all the commotion was about, but definitely understood that I might be her new mommy. When it was time to leave, Katia's eyes welled up with tears as did all of ours! She is so sweet and so sensitive and if I could have stuffed her in my bag, I would have taken her home right then and there.
At this point in time, I am still completely in disbelief that these beautiful children are going to be my kids! I have done a lot of things in my life, but I must have done some things right for God to give me this gift.
Jane
Birobidzhan
It is now Thursday, November 23, 2006 - American Thanksgiving Day.
Arrived in Biro early afternoon and immediately went to our appointment at the Ministry of Education. This was what I thought was a very important meeting, but it lasted all of 5 minutes. I signed some paperwork that allowed me to meet the kids at the orphanage. The only surprise was that the children are at two different orphanages and I was under the impression that they were in the same one. Also, found out that I would not meet them until Friday, I was a little disappointed, but we were so tired after the flight and time change that all we really wanted was to get something to eat and go to bed.
After the meeting with the MOE, we were taken to the Hotel Vostok to check in. You need to know, that neither Gail or I are "granola girls" and despise not having simple luxuries in life, but being that this is my trip of a lifetime, I was prepared for just about anything. Now I was told in advance to take my sense of adventure and also my sense of humor, well that was completely an understatement! The Hotel Vostok was unlike any hotel/motel/campground you could possibly imagine. From the outside it doesn't look too terrible, but once we were taken to our room, that was another scary story! The room consisted of a foyer, a bedroom with one small double bed, a kitchen area that had a hot pot, a table with banquet seating and a small refrigerator. Now the bathroom was a whole different story! It had a bathtub, no shower curtain, a pedestal sink with a faucet that swung from both the tub to the sink, a hand held sprayer and a toilet. It had two towels that we were expected to share! The toilet paper was like sand paper, Gail, praise God, pulled up her supply of Charmin. Thank God Gail and I both brought flip flops, as there was no way that I would let my feet touch the ground in that place. Gail and I also had to share the small bed, thank goodness we're sisters and we like each other!!! Although she clung to her blanket all night afraid I was going to steal the covers and she would freeze to death. Our translator ordered lunch, dinner and breakfast for us before she left. After we settled into our room, we went to the restaurant for lunch; a salad, bread and Pepsi light. Well after they brought out the salad, all this other food started showing up, only to figure out they were bringing us all our meals at once! We had no translator, and with our limited Russian, we could not explain what they were supposed to do, so we finally gave up and left with most of the food still on the table, I'm sure they were not happy. After our late lunch, we went up to our room to take a nap, which turned into a 12 hour nap and finally woke up early the next morning, ready to go and meet my kids!!
Arrived in Biro early afternoon and immediately went to our appointment at the Ministry of Education. This was what I thought was a very important meeting, but it lasted all of 5 minutes. I signed some paperwork that allowed me to meet the kids at the orphanage. The only surprise was that the children are at two different orphanages and I was under the impression that they were in the same one. Also, found out that I would not meet them until Friday, I was a little disappointed, but we were so tired after the flight and time change that all we really wanted was to get something to eat and go to bed.
After the meeting with the MOE, we were taken to the Hotel Vostok to check in. You need to know, that neither Gail or I are "granola girls" and despise not having simple luxuries in life, but being that this is my trip of a lifetime, I was prepared for just about anything. Now I was told in advance to take my sense of adventure and also my sense of humor, well that was completely an understatement! The Hotel Vostok was unlike any hotel/motel/campground you could possibly imagine. From the outside it doesn't look too terrible, but once we were taken to our room, that was another scary story! The room consisted of a foyer, a bedroom with one small double bed, a kitchen area that had a hot pot, a table with banquet seating and a small refrigerator. Now the bathroom was a whole different story! It had a bathtub, no shower curtain, a pedestal sink with a faucet that swung from both the tub to the sink, a hand held sprayer and a toilet. It had two towels that we were expected to share! The toilet paper was like sand paper, Gail, praise God, pulled up her supply of Charmin. Thank God Gail and I both brought flip flops, as there was no way that I would let my feet touch the ground in that place. Gail and I also had to share the small bed, thank goodness we're sisters and we like each other!!! Although she clung to her blanket all night afraid I was going to steal the covers and she would freeze to death. Our translator ordered lunch, dinner and breakfast for us before she left. After we settled into our room, we went to the restaurant for lunch; a salad, bread and Pepsi light. Well after they brought out the salad, all this other food started showing up, only to figure out they were bringing us all our meals at once! We had no translator, and with our limited Russian, we could not explain what they were supposed to do, so we finally gave up and left with most of the food still on the table, I'm sure they were not happy. After our late lunch, we went up to our room to take a nap, which turned into a 12 hour nap and finally woke up early the next morning, ready to go and meet my kids!!
Dalavia Airlines
We left Moscow on Wednesday night for an eight hour flight to Khabravosk Russia. Luba, another translator and our driver took us to the domestic airport here in Moscow to board Dalavia Airlines flight 35. Needless to say, Gail and I were very skeptical of this part of our trip. The plane turned out to be a 1970's model jet, not too bad yet. We boarded the plane, whimpering as we passed thru business class, wishing that was where we were seated, but no, we were in row 23 seats a and b. Me, being the best sister ever, sat in the middle, Gail on the aisle seat. Immediately upon sitting down, we both noticed the most disgusting smell ever! It was like we were seated in the bathroom at Texas Stadium after a Cowboys/Redskins game and it had not been cleaned in weeks! I spent the entire 8 hour flight with my sweater pulled up over my nose with just my eyes showing! Oh, and we were the only Americans on board, I'm sure we made a great impression! The flight was not too bad, tried to sleep, but our fellow passengers felt the need to party all night long with shots of vodka and their picnic lunches!
We finally made it to Khabravosk and were met at the airport by our translator Tanya and our driver Viktor, after a quick trip to the bathroom (refused to use it on the plane) we were off for our 2 1/2 hour drive to Birobidzhan.
Jane
We finally made it to Khabravosk and were met at the airport by our translator Tanya and our driver Viktor, after a quick trip to the bathroom (refused to use it on the plane) we were off for our 2 1/2 hour drive to Birobidzhan.
Jane
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Gail's Version
Hell from Moscow:
Jayne probably filled you all up to date on our adventure. this certainly has been an experience.
Considering everything, we're doing ok. Haven't had to use the charmin yet but probably will in Biro. We have met other parents and prospective parents while here in Moscow and it seems that there's little left to the imagination for that part of the country. You know my rendition of camping is a Super 8. A Super 8 may be luxurious compared to where we're staying. However, this is Jayne's moment and I guess we do what we have to do for family (Did I just say that?) It must be the vodka. OK have to got town and finish souvenir shopping. Love to all.
GAIL
Jayne probably filled you all up to date on our adventure. this certainly has been an experience.
Considering everything, we're doing ok. Haven't had to use the charmin yet but probably will in Biro. We have met other parents and prospective parents while here in Moscow and it seems that there's little left to the imagination for that part of the country. You know my rendition of camping is a Super 8. A Super 8 may be luxurious compared to where we're staying. However, this is Jayne's moment and I guess we do what we have to do for family (Did I just say that?) It must be the vodka. OK have to got town and finish souvenir shopping. Love to all.
GAIL
Privet from Moscow!
Hello from Moscow!
It is just now that we have had a chance to sit down and update about our travels to Moscow, what a whirlwind few days! The flight on Delta from Atlanta to Moscow was quite the adventure. Gail took it upon herself to change our seat assignments to what she thought was a great move, to an exit aisle with more legroom! Only once on the plane did we find out we were directly across from the bathrooms that all the drunk Russians started using within 45 minutes into the flight, nine hours later, you can only imagine the not so delightful smells surrounding us! Won't go too much into that, just use your imagination.
We were met at the Moscow airport by our translator, Arlena, a great girl about 25 years old who speaks fluent English and is a history/anthropology student at Moscow University. She has been with us every step of the way in Moscow. Got us settled into the Arbat Hotel which is located in the heart of the "bohemian" part of Moscow, lots of street vendors, musicians and pectopah's (restaurants). We ventured out on our first night looking for some great place to eat, only to end up at the Hard Rock Cafe, not exactly like the burgers we know, but passable. By 6:00 pm that evening, after being up for 24 hours straight (not much sleep on the plane with all the commotion around our seats) we were in our pajamas and asleep by 7:00 pm, thank God for ambien and xanax.
The next day, Monday, Arlena and our driver Nickolai picked us up for a tour of the Kremlin and all the hot spots of Moscow. We spent most of the day trudging around the Kremlin in less than great weather, read cold, damp and rainy. Saw beautiful cathedrals, the hermitage travelling collection, religious icons and more religious icons and very pushy people. The people here are very dour, do not smile and love to push to the front of lines, must be years and years of ingrained communist rule. We wanted to treat Arlena and Nicolai to lunch and felt the need to try some of the Russian cuisine. Arlena took us to some restaurant, not able to pronounce it and ordered us a lunch of mushroom soup with some kind of meat filled dumplings, periogis and baked salmon, not bad, but not the tastiest.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we were supposed to see Lenin's tomb, but unfortunately when we got there, we found out he was re embalmed, apparently something they have to do every so often! So we were not able to partake in that tour, neither of us were all that disappointed. Arlena had heard us mention that we might like to go fur shopping, so she took us to the most incredible flea market where all the buyers go to shop for furs for there shops. Well, Gail and I thought this would be bargain hunting galore, but much to our dismay all we heard was "Malinka, Malinka, Malinka" Too small, too small, too small! After three or four hours of this, we were malinkaed out!!! The market was incredible though, anything and everything you could ever possibly want, from furs to vacuum cleaners could be found. By this point all we wanted to do was get to someplace warm and dry so we told them to take us back to the hotel, where we met up with a few other adoptive families and partook in the famous Russian tradition of drinking lots of Vodka!! A great time was had!
Today, Wednesday, we are packing and getting ready to travel to Birobidzhan. We have met several families here at the hotel that already have their children from Biro and are now back to the states. The kids are beautiful, one adoptive single father has met and raves about the little boy I am to adopt, I am now soooo excited, I just can't wait! I could do without the plane trip on "Dalavia Airlines"! some obscure airline here in Russia that probably has some WW II era planes that have been refitted for passenger travel. If we could only take the train, but that is a 7 day trip! So needless to say, I'll be downing the xanax and hopefully will be oblivious to the flight. Okay, Gail's chopping at the bit to get on here and say her piece, so dasvadanya to all! (goodbye)
Ya tibia blu,
Jane
It is just now that we have had a chance to sit down and update about our travels to Moscow, what a whirlwind few days! The flight on Delta from Atlanta to Moscow was quite the adventure. Gail took it upon herself to change our seat assignments to what she thought was a great move, to an exit aisle with more legroom! Only once on the plane did we find out we were directly across from the bathrooms that all the drunk Russians started using within 45 minutes into the flight, nine hours later, you can only imagine the not so delightful smells surrounding us! Won't go too much into that, just use your imagination.
We were met at the Moscow airport by our translator, Arlena, a great girl about 25 years old who speaks fluent English and is a history/anthropology student at Moscow University. She has been with us every step of the way in Moscow. Got us settled into the Arbat Hotel which is located in the heart of the "bohemian" part of Moscow, lots of street vendors, musicians and pectopah's (restaurants). We ventured out on our first night looking for some great place to eat, only to end up at the Hard Rock Cafe, not exactly like the burgers we know, but passable. By 6:00 pm that evening, after being up for 24 hours straight (not much sleep on the plane with all the commotion around our seats) we were in our pajamas and asleep by 7:00 pm, thank God for ambien and xanax.
The next day, Monday, Arlena and our driver Nickolai picked us up for a tour of the Kremlin and all the hot spots of Moscow. We spent most of the day trudging around the Kremlin in less than great weather, read cold, damp and rainy. Saw beautiful cathedrals, the hermitage travelling collection, religious icons and more religious icons and very pushy people. The people here are very dour, do not smile and love to push to the front of lines, must be years and years of ingrained communist rule. We wanted to treat Arlena and Nicolai to lunch and felt the need to try some of the Russian cuisine. Arlena took us to some restaurant, not able to pronounce it and ordered us a lunch of mushroom soup with some kind of meat filled dumplings, periogis and baked salmon, not bad, but not the tastiest.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we were supposed to see Lenin's tomb, but unfortunately when we got there, we found out he was re embalmed, apparently something they have to do every so often! So we were not able to partake in that tour, neither of us were all that disappointed. Arlena had heard us mention that we might like to go fur shopping, so she took us to the most incredible flea market where all the buyers go to shop for furs for there shops. Well, Gail and I thought this would be bargain hunting galore, but much to our dismay all we heard was "Malinka, Malinka, Malinka" Too small, too small, too small! After three or four hours of this, we were malinkaed out!!! The market was incredible though, anything and everything you could ever possibly want, from furs to vacuum cleaners could be found. By this point all we wanted to do was get to someplace warm and dry so we told them to take us back to the hotel, where we met up with a few other adoptive families and partook in the famous Russian tradition of drinking lots of Vodka!! A great time was had!
Today, Wednesday, we are packing and getting ready to travel to Birobidzhan. We have met several families here at the hotel that already have their children from Biro and are now back to the states. The kids are beautiful, one adoptive single father has met and raves about the little boy I am to adopt, I am now soooo excited, I just can't wait! I could do without the plane trip on "Dalavia Airlines"! some obscure airline here in Russia that probably has some WW II era planes that have been refitted for passenger travel. If we could only take the train, but that is a 7 day trip! So needless to say, I'll be downing the xanax and hopefully will be oblivious to the flight. Okay, Gail's chopping at the bit to get on here and say her piece, so dasvadanya to all! (goodbye)
Ya tibia blu,
Jane
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Panic Mode
I am now going into panic mode, I have shopped until I can't shop anymore. I have not even started to pack, my spare bedroom looks like a toy r us and kids r us has hit it, I have no idea how I am going to get all this stuff in one suitcase and then all my stuff in another. I think Gail is planning on bringing one whole suitcase just full of Charmin! Victoria from All Ways travel called yesterday to tell me our visas should arrive today; I didn't quite understand her when she called (Russian accent) and I thought she was calling to talk about my Visa bill! Considering all the shopping I've been doing, that would not be a surprise! I talked with a family last night that just returned from Birobidzhan about a week ago and got lots of scoop on the area, was also told to bring more gifts that just the ten my agency told me about, I guess this calls for another trip to "Sam Moon". I am also freaking out a bit that I most likely will be a parent before too long. After waiting for this moment for so long, I don't know why I am so anxious, but I am. Gail has gone into full humor mode about all this, she talks about going to the "borscht belt" and teaching President Putin some "Boot Scootin'"!! The one thing I know is that her and I have a blast when we travel together and I'm sure there will be lots of funny stories to share.
Jane
Jane
Sunday, November 05, 2006
New Beginnings
This is the first post to my blog about my journey to meet my children in Birobidzhan, Russia. I can't believe this is finally happening, it seems surreal. After almost two years of waiting, applications, paperwork, waiting, fingerprints, arguments with the first agency, lawyer's, threatened lawsuits, notaries, apostilles, more waiting, more fingerprints, signing with a new agency, did I say more waiting?, I am finally on my way to Russia! I got "the" call on Friday, November 3rd, 2006 that I have been invited by the Ministry of Education in the Jewish Autonomous Region of Russia to come and meet my two, beautiful, soon to be children ! We will be traveling to Moscow, Russia on November 18th, 2006 and then on to Birobidzhan on November 22nd and will meet my children on Thanksgiving day, I could not ask for a more perfect day to meet them. My sister Gail has agreed to travel with me, we are both excited, apprehensive and scared, all at the same time.
The children that I hope to call my own are in an orphanage in Birobidzhan, Russia. The little boy just turned 3 years old on October 12, and the little girl is about 4 1/2 years old, she will be five on March 3rd (two days before my birthday). Russia does not make this an easy process, they require that you first come and meet your children and then decide if these really are the children you want for your "forever family"; they then bring you back a second time to stand before a judge and formally adopt these kids; the judge will hopefully rule in your favor after asking A LOT of questions, but he/she can also say no, I can't even imagine how devastating that would be. I would like to think if you made it so far as to go to court, that it would be pretty much a done deal.
After almost two years of waiting, you would think I would be totally prepared for this trip, wrong!! I am a shopping maniac this weekend, so much to buy, not exactly sure what to get. I have to bring "try on" outfits for the kids, just to see what size they are, I will donate those to the orphanage when we leave, toys for the children in the orphanage; I am thinking no battery operated toys as those might be hard to keep up with. I am also told no plush toys as they are germ magnets. This should be so simple, but it really isn't. I need to bring 10 gifts with me for all the people who are helping with this adoption on the Russia side, the agency says not to give anything too elaborate, but what to get for people who are so instrumental in creating a family for you? A scarf or gloves just does not seem adequate. I also need to get a video camera, looking for one that is easy to operate for someone who is technically challenged. The last thing I need is to take all these once in a lifetime videos, only to find I didn't take the lens cap off or something stupid like that.
I will try and find some links to the history of the region, kind of interesting and also a map. Birobidzhan is in the far eastern portion of Russia, about a nine hour flight from Moscow, it is 16 hours ahead of us here in the central time zone, it is also about 25 miles from the China border. Not an easy trip to get to, but oh so worth it.
Okay, well off to more shopping!
Jane
The children that I hope to call my own are in an orphanage in Birobidzhan, Russia. The little boy just turned 3 years old on October 12, and the little girl is about 4 1/2 years old, she will be five on March 3rd (two days before my birthday). Russia does not make this an easy process, they require that you first come and meet your children and then decide if these really are the children you want for your "forever family"; they then bring you back a second time to stand before a judge and formally adopt these kids; the judge will hopefully rule in your favor after asking A LOT of questions, but he/she can also say no, I can't even imagine how devastating that would be. I would like to think if you made it so far as to go to court, that it would be pretty much a done deal.
After almost two years of waiting, you would think I would be totally prepared for this trip, wrong!! I am a shopping maniac this weekend, so much to buy, not exactly sure what to get. I have to bring "try on" outfits for the kids, just to see what size they are, I will donate those to the orphanage when we leave, toys for the children in the orphanage; I am thinking no battery operated toys as those might be hard to keep up with. I am also told no plush toys as they are germ magnets. This should be so simple, but it really isn't. I need to bring 10 gifts with me for all the people who are helping with this adoption on the Russia side, the agency says not to give anything too elaborate, but what to get for people who are so instrumental in creating a family for you? A scarf or gloves just does not seem adequate. I also need to get a video camera, looking for one that is easy to operate for someone who is technically challenged. The last thing I need is to take all these once in a lifetime videos, only to find I didn't take the lens cap off or something stupid like that.
I will try and find some links to the history of the region, kind of interesting and also a map. Birobidzhan is in the far eastern portion of Russia, about a nine hour flight from Moscow, it is 16 hours ahead of us here in the central time zone, it is also about 25 miles from the China border. Not an easy trip to get to, but oh so worth it.
Okay, well off to more shopping!
Jane
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