Posts Temporarily Held

Just a quick note that I pulled back 3 posts this morning temporarily until our adoption is complete. I want to be sure there is no sensitive information that could jeopardize our adoption. Thanks for your understanding.

Ready!

Yesterday was our first full day back. I thought it would have taken me longer to adjust to Colorado time again, but no. I had a full day of relaxing & seeing my family. Now I'm ready to return. Enough said.

To Denver!

Early rise, 8:45 flight. I am happy to be heading home. This has been a busy trip, both physically & emotionally exhausting. 

As I pack up our things, sadness fills my heart. I wonder why. I am ready to go home, to go back to the place where all is familiar & comfortable. I realize it's because now I am leaving two children behind. I have come full circle. When we left for Russia, I was full the anticipation of meeting the two children I held in my heart. I was also saddened to leave behind my first three. Now, I am anxious to get home to them, but at the cost of leaving here my two new ones. 

I have never been good at leaving my children w/ other people. I have always preferred taking them w/ me, wherever I go. But, that's not always possible. After this first trip, I realize that this is one of those times. I must trust their care to others as we make this transition. Luckily, all of them are in good care & I can trust that God is watching over all five of them.

At the airport, my heart jumps at the sound of a little girl speaking Russian as she plays.  For a moment, I thought it was Lera. I can picture her face. I take in a deep breath. I hope her knows that I'm thinking of her.

The Last Day

As our trains pulls into the station, we notice it's raining. By the time we make it to our driver, my shoes are drenched & my clothes are soaked.

As we check into the hotel, we are told that our luggage has arrived. Thankfully, I put on clean, dry clothes. I'm ready to shop! I have some gifts & souvenirs I'd like to bring home. The rain has stopped. We visit Red Square & enjoy our last hours here in Moscow. By the time we have dinner, I am ready to get home. It's been a crazy trip.

Russian doctors & Notaries

We are picked up early w/ a list of doctors to see. We meet someone at the hospital who is supposed to help us mitigate the doctor visits...I'm unsure exactly what this means. She seems nice. There are long lines in the lobby. We skip the lobby. Since we are not Russian citizens, we have no file & they have no way to get payment from the government for us. We go directly to each doctor's office. The buildings look like they are out of a 1940's American movie. They are old, but clean. I am surprised that each doctor actually does all the work. Their nurse sits across from them in another desk. The offices are very basic. There are no computers. Everything is handwritten, in blue ink, signed & stamped. At first, this system seems totally chaotic to me. But after a little while, I begin to see how things work & realize it's just different from what I'm used to. Inside the hospital building, patients walk to each doctor's office. Actually, this makes sense!

Other differences I notice- 

There were no shades on the windows, which is fine, until They ask you to take off your clothes.

I'm asked to pee in a cup. They point to a small closet behind me w/ a curtain. There are 4 buckets, but no toilet or toilet paper.

Things can get lost in translation! They were confused as to why I regularly see a dermatologist for skin cancer if I do not have cancer & Corbin tried to tell the neurologist that he IS a doctor! Awesome!

We were able to have our lab work & X-rays done in the US. This is great, but also meant that we had to hand-carry these X-rays through 4 airports, a train, several cars & many taxis. We look a little ridiculous carrying these large X-rays around. At the hospital, our translator tells us that we could have brought them on a disk, which is interesting since we didn't see one computer in the entire building. When all the doctor visits are complete, we notice that no one asked us for them...figures.

Next, we head over to the Notary's office. A court appointed translator meets us there. As she chats w/ our adoption agency translator, she pulls out a computer disk...it's a floppy! Good thing we didn't bring our X-rays on disk! I'm not sure where we would have gotten a floppy disk.

Finally it's our turn. Our court appointed translator asks us to review the document, which is in both Russian & English. We do & sign the bottom. It is now official! We are petitioning the court for the adoption of L & O. We now wait for the court date to be set...yeah! We board the train back to Moscow & hope to see our luggage upon arrival!

Visit Two

We arrive to the meeting room shortly before Lera & Oleg. They seem happy to see us again. They are in the same clothes from yesterday. I read that many Russians will wear the same clothes for a few days before washing them. The kids immediately pull their new gifts from where they left them yesterday. We are told that all things are shared, they have nothing that is only theirs. I expect that these toys we brought them will be left at the orphanage when we take the kids home.

We are dressed a little more casual today. I have on Capri pants. I sit to play w/ Lera on the floor. I notice her eyes glance over to my legs & then she returns to playing. I wonder if she finds it odd that I am not wearing a skirt. In the villages, people dress much more traditionally than in Moscow. Most women wear dresses or skirts. Many have scarves on their heads tied under their chins. It seems popular to have long hair either braided or pulled back in a bun.

As we play w/ Lera & Oleg, the other ladies sit to chat in Russian around the table. It's a little nerve racking to feel like people are watching your every move & commenting about it. After a half hour, we are told that it's time to talk at the table. We have a list of questions that we would like answered. The orphanage doctor is here today. We ask the questions, wait for translation, listen for the answer & then wait for translation again. We have never received any actually paperwork on Lera & Oleg, everything has been verbal. I write as fast as I can. There is so much information at once. I don't want to forget anything. One day, my kids will ask me about these things. Dates are given for a number of things which will help us later try to piece together their story. There are a few times when answers are vague & we push. Every detail will be important to them as they grow older. At this point, I am unsure what paperwork we will receive , if any, as far as their original files go. 

One important detail we are able to clear up is Oleg's age. We were told originally that he was 4. From our video, we were able to translate his month of birth & realized that he was 5. Yesterday, we were told at least three separate times that he was 4. Today we clarify his birthdate. It's quiet. I mention again about the confusion about the birthdate. It's quiet. Finally, someone says that he is now 5. Corbin & I talked about this later. We really do not feel that they were trying to mislead us into believing that he was younger than he really was. I believe that unfortunately, he had a birthday shortly after they prepared the referral paperwork & it was just overlooked. It makes me sad that our little boy turned 5 & no one noticed. I'm unsure if he knew he had turned 5 either.

Soon after our visit ends. The kids give me a hug & Oleg gives Corbin a hug. Lera is still unsure about Corbin & shys away. We were warned before visiting that many of the children are weary of men. Most of the adults they see are women. The kids stand next to each other w/ big smiles on their faces as we take one last photo. It's hard to walk away from them. I know we will be back. I know they are taken care of here. I know the staff loves them. I also realize that they would not be ready to come home today. They have had fun w/ their visitors, Suzanne & Corbin. I'm sure that they have some idea about what is going on. I'm sure there must have been other kids who had visitors & they came back to adopt them. But, for today we are just visitors who came to play w/ them & bring them toys. Tomorrow we will sign the papers to petition the court to adopt them. One step at a time.

The interesting hotel

When the car stops I am taken back when our translator tells us to step out. Why? Where are we? I thought we were going to the hotel...apparently, this is the hotel. OK, no problem, we can deal. I'm not high maintenance. One bed, one pillow & a toilet that needs fixing- this is our first impression. We skip dinner & go straight to bed, it's 7:20pm. I'm up at 11pm. It looks like Corbin never fell asleep. He is watching Russian tv w/o volume. After 30 minutes, I decide that having one pillow for two people is just crazy. I don't want to wake up our translator so, I take the pillow & key w/ me. My plan is to point to the pillow & then hold up two fingers. Very creative, I know. 

I end up lost, half asleep, w/ my pillow, standing in front of elevator that doesn't work. I am unsure if I have gotten turned around or if the elevator let me out, but won't open in the lobby since it's after hours. There is music coming from a room down the hall. A little girl runs in & out dancing w/ balloons in her hands. I am too embarrassed to let anyone know I am lost. Besides, I don't know how to say that in Russian anyway. After a short time, the owner happens to come around the corner & sees me. I execute my plan A. She laughs & retrieves a pillow from another room. She walks me to my room & I manage to say thank you in Russian.

Morning comes although we've been up since 3am. The shower only has lukewarm water. Since we slept on the train last night, which had no shower, I can't skip it because I have no idea what the next night will hold. The pipe from the shower head dumps out into the sink. We figure out how to turn it on & it leaks all over. I get in & try to finish as fast as I can. Corbin flushes the toilet & all water to the shower ceases. He has to manually pull the plug in the toilet tank to get it to flush. It doesn't seem to fit exactly where it was prior as I stand there cold. Eventually, he is able to fill up the tank & get the water redirected to my shower. 

In the cafe, we eat hot rice cereal & tea. It seems tea is more popular than coffee here. Then it's time to check out. As we sit waiting, the elevator door opens. An elderly lady emerges. She shuffle through the lobby, moaning as she takes each step. She enters through a door across from the lobby desk. After a minute she returns, shuffles back to the elevator & is gone. They must have some long term residents here.

We notice several people come into the lobby, talk w/ the receptionist & then place blue covers over their shoes. A nurse walks through the lobby carrying a large jar. It's hard not to notice a number of leeches in the jar. I feel like we have just stepped back in time. Do people still use those things? Apparently, they must have some type of medical office here, too. By far, this has been the most interesting hotel we have ever stayed in.