Trip Two: Day One

Hello from Moscow! We arrived yesterday and are now one step closer to bring our daughter home. Here is a recap of what happened in the last day or so.

We stayed up late Tuesday night to try and get our body clocks switched around. So, after a few hours of sleep I woke up and drove downtown to get some final documents notarized and apostilled. I had a few conference calls to finish up from work before heading home. We spent the last few minutes cleaning up the house and left the house around noon yesterday. As a special treat a driver and car were provided for us. It worked out well as I was on a conference call the entire ride. We arrived at the airport and were prepared for the holiday travel madness.

The American Airlines check-in process was painless. We had three bags to check (which is a lot for us, if you know how we travel) and dropped them off hoping we'd see them again one day soon. The security line was not long considering the holiday and we moved to the front of the security line without much delay. Given the media coverage on these body scans I was wondering how this was going to work. We stepped up and put our belongings in the bins. The boots and belts came off and we proceeded through the line. I didn't see any of the body scanners at O'Hare. Much to do about nothing. We were in and through airport security in about twenty minutes. Our flight was not to leave for another 3 hours but we went to the airport early because we thought it was going to crazy. We stayed at the AA lounge and ate our last American meal for the next few weeks at Chili's.

The overnight flight to London was on a big 777. We had the middle row of five seats all to ourselves and I had the feeling that the middle seat between the four of us was not going to be empty for long. I should have taken a picture. The kids did not sleep much/at all on the plane ride. They were entertained by the meals and the on-board entertainment they brought with. We arrived in London at about 6:30 AM local time for our connecting flight to Moscow.

The last time we were connecting in London I had these thoughts. Heathrow still does not win the award for my favorite airport but it was much better this time around. First, you depart the plane. Then you walk for about 15 minutes to take a bus. The ten minute, crowded bus ride ends at Terminal 5 where the British Airways flights are handled. You then go through another long line of passport security. Then another long line of security (O'Hare was way better, by the way). Once through security you find your gate and wait. Our gate was on the main level this time so I noticed all the shops this time around. The airport looks more like a mall with departure gates instead of the other way around. We boarded our flight to Moscow and wondered where everyone else was. You can see the picture here, but it was quite the empty flight. We all slept for most of this flight and arrived at Domodedovo at 15:40 or so.

The lines for passport control in Moscow were much shorter this time around. As we learned from last time, we moved to the right so enter through the right-side windows. After studying the system I know why those lines are shorter. Each line feeds into two windows. The line on the right feeds into four windows. It's simple. We had our passports and landing cards in hand and were called to the window. Just me, N and the kids were asked to wait for the next window. I was in and through in less than two minutes but N and the kids had some trouble at their passport check-in. The baggage carousel is just on the other side of passport control so I went and picked up our bags (they were all there!) and waited for them to get through. I'm still not sure what the issue was but we were through and on our way. We passed through customs (green line, nothing to declare) and were greeted by a familiar face - our driver M from trip one! He drove us into the city (only a 1.5 hour ride this time) and we checked into our hotel.

We stayed at the Hotel National in Moscow mainly because it is close to Red Square and I receive various benefits as a Starwood member. We booked the service through American Express with our requirements given the children. We checked-in without issue and went up to our room. It is a business suite and the staff were going to bring up two rollaways for N and C. As we settled in there was a knock at the door with a team to bring in and set up the staff. There were enough people in our room to play a pick-up game of basketball if needed. Four maintenance men brought in the bids, three housekeepers made the bed, and along the way another bellhop came in to take another look at N's passport. I wonder if her Russian name and non-Russian look is throwing people off? After everyone left we took a few minutes to call our family on Skype. Below is a picture from our hotel room of the famous Tverskaya Street.

Although it was early morning for us on Chicago time we decided to force ourselves to think on Russian time. We went out for dinner at a place N and I visited during out last visit to Moscow, Elki Palki. This restaurant has traditional Russian food and it was very good. It has English menus, but the wait staff does not speak English. We did a lot of pointing. At the end of our meal we received two checks. I'm not sure why but she would also not take our credit card for both, too. Thankfully a woman sitting near us saw our communication issue and translated for us. We solved the issue by providing two credit cards. I think they separated our bill between drinks and food and couldn't swipe the same credit card within a certain amount of time. We headed back to the hotel to pick up our camera for the kids' first trip to Red Square.

I mentioned last month that being here is much different than seeing it in pictures. I didn't have this sense when we visited the Roman Coliseum, Big Ben, or any other iconic locations. The bitter cold began to set in as we walked through the gates into the square. With St. Basil's at the far end, the GUM shopping mall was preparing it's winter event with a Christmas tree and ice skating rink. N took some pictures for school and we had the kids take some pictures in front of St. Basil's. One of the pictures we have prepped C for was one doing a handstand. At C's gymnastics center there are pictures of kids doing a handstand in place throughout the US and world, but none in Russia. We helped her do the handstand and snapped the picture below. The light rain began to turn into snow as we headed back to the hotel.

So far the only thing we're missing is a voltage converter. We didn't need it for the first trip but the kids' Nintendo chargers are 120V only. We'll be looking to pick one of these up while we're here.

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Day Two Part One

I was awakened at 4:45 this morning as N turned on the light to do some math homework. He couldn't sleep and soon we were all awake. Breakfast did not start until 7:00 so I caught up on some work. The plan was to meet our driver V at 11:55. Our medicals would last until about 3pm and we had arranged late checkout at 4.
The last time we stayed at this hotel we really enjoyed the breakfast. The dining hall has a great view of the Kremlin and one side of the Red Square. The server called N "sir" and we all got a kick out of that. After a leisurely breakfast N and the kids went back to the room to take a nap. She set the alarm for 10:45 just in case. I left the hotel with two goals: ATM to get some rubles and to find a voltage converter for the kids' DSs.
It was snowing again this morning in Moscow. The ATM was just around the corner and I walked a good 30 minutes to two stores to try and find it. No luck. When I got back to our room everyone was sleeping and I joined them. The alarm went off as scheduled but no one flinched. I decided to snooze it since we had over an hour. Well, snooze on the alarm clocks here does not work the same way? It never went off but by the grace of God I woke up at 11:35. It was a quick wake-up for everyone and packing session. We made it down by noon.
Our driver V and Moscow facilitator P were waiting for us. They had one message - for our next trip we would need to stay somewhere else. Staying so close to the city center is a traffic headache and could cause us to miss appointments next time. P secured new reservations for us on our way to the clinic. It took about 40 minutes or so to get to the clinic, a famous clinic in Moscow. I noticed that I could see the back of the Hyundai sign in the distance (look at previous post). And it took us 40 minutes to get there. We checked in, signed something and went upstairs for our first appointment. Th first two doctors we would meet were on the third floor. It was typical style of the 70s here in Russia. We noticed another family also here for their medicals. We ended up chatting later on and they are also in our region with the same court date!

Day Two Part Two

When the time came for our medicals to begin I was called into the doctor's office. This was a psychotherapist I think. It was a medium-sized room with two chairs and a view of the inner courtyard. He spoke basic English and he asked where we lived and what I did for work. He asked if I took vacation time and he advised that I needed more. After a few minutes he said that I was healthy and asked me to get N to come in. N's questions were similar and simple. He signed and stamped our papers and we were on our way. One doctor down, seven more to go. We walked down the long hallway and visited the next doctor's office. The next visit was with the dermatologist. I removed my shirt and stood up. She looked at my front, arms and back. Then she asked to see N and we were signed, stamped and ready to move on.

The next set of doctors was on the second floor. This floor was recently renovated and had very modern furnishings. The kids did fine reading their books in the chairs in the corridor. This is also where we saw the other families also heading our direction later in the evening. At this point N and I were split up to move more quickly. I don't remember who did what at this point. I believe I saw the neurologist next. I was asked some simple questions, asked to touch my nose with my eyes closed. One doctor asked me to remove my shirt and lie down on the table. He pushed around for a bit, very similar to what you get done at your annual physical (nothing intrusive). The reflexes doctor used the little hammer and hit various areas. They all looked at the test results we brought. For the doctors that did not speak English our facilitator, P, came into the room and sat behind a screen to translate for us. One doctor took my blood pressure and listened to my heart. One of the last doctors served for two sign-offs and looked at the x-rays we brought from home. He did not examine us but only looked at our test results. He asked a few questions (we were both in the room for this one) and we paid the doctors fee (850USD each). It was really nothing to be worried about as we're generally healthy. Now we have the official Russian stamp and seal of approval! P put the examination documents in an envelope and advised us to give this to our facilitator Y when we arrived in Siberia.

V drove us back to the hotel a little after 3pm where we stayed until 4pm checkout. The car ride to the airport took about an hour and a half which seemed quick for us as we all slept for some of the car ride. We found out from another couple (who we met at the clinic and saw at the airport) it took them two and a half hours. When we arrived at the airport we checked-in and found a corner to rest. The kids watched a video and I scoured the airport for a voltage converter for the kids' DSs. After no such luck I went back for a short nap. We ended up eating dinner at the airport Elki Palki since we were familiar with the menu. After our meal we went to Area C to go through security and wait for departure. The security lines here do have the body scanners. There is also a line for just a pat down. We did that one because it was the shortest. It really was no big deal, and we didn't have to take our computers out our backpacks. We struggled to find seating on this side of security so we found a corner and just sat on the floor. So, if you're going to spend time at DME, rest outside of security where there is more seating.

When the time came we approached the gate and boarded the bus to get on the plane. This Airbus 319 had 3 and 3 across so we had 3 and 1 in the 4th row. Russians do not bring carry-ons like Americans do so there is usually plenty of overhead space. My backpack was the largest bag in the vicinity of our seats. The flight attendants spoke some basic English so we were able to communicate regarding food, etc. It seemed one of the attendants was quite excited to use her English. This red-eye flight would have arrive in Siberia at 7:15am the next morning. It was a smooth flight, and as we approached the attendant advised us of the local time and temperature: -29 degrees C (-20F). In a few minutes we would only be miles from our dude.

Trip Two: Day Three

Our flight landed early in Siberia slightly before 7am. We bundled up and had our first taste of the Siberian air. Chicago gets cold, but I can't remember the last time it was -20F for an air temperature. We descended the stairs and loaded up the bus for the short ride to the terminal. Since our flight was early our regional facilitator, Y, was not there yet. We waited by the baggage claim and used the facilities (ladies, bring your own toilet paper!). After a few minutes Y arrived with our driver, S. It was great to see a familiar face and we all exchanged hugs. Our bags arrived several minutes later intact and unharmed so we went to the car for the drive to the apartment. It is the same apartment we stayed at on our first trip, see details here.

Y went over some of the paperwork we brought for her. It sounds like we may still have issues with the judge over some of the paperwork, but, at this point we have no control over anything. It will be just trusting in God for filling in the gaps of where we are and where He wants us to be. If you remember there has been a recent outbreak in our region. Because of this outbreak, N and C were not going to be able to go to the orphanage with us. But then we were not able to secure a babysitter. We had letters drafted by their doctors that they had been vaccinated from this infection, etc. Y spoke to the orphanage director and hopes that this will be enough to have them come with us and stay in a separate room. We're praying they'll meet their little sister before court, which is on Tuesday. We get picked up at noon on Monday to go see her again!!!

We settled in to the apartment and got the kids familiar with their surroundings. at 10am we went shopping at the local grocery store. We purchased some basic food items and expect to visit every other day or so. The store is only one block away but we may draw straws to see who has to go because it's so cold! Just kidding, I will go. I enjoy shopping for random foods.

After the grocery store we had a quick lunch and went down for a family nap. We slept for more hours than planned and have been awake most of the night. I've used this time to catch up with work and will do the same tomorrow. As I write this everyone is back in bed and it is snowing lightly, hopefully a sign that it is warmer out now.

Trip Two: Day Four

One of the things that I failed to mention from the last post was that the apartment we are staying in is frequently used by other adopting families. And one of these families left behind a voltage converter! The kids and I have been using the DSs to pass some of the time. There was nothing planned today so after some catching up on homework for the kids and work for me we went the other grocery store near the apartment. It was noticeably warmer today and we purchased some food items for the next day or so. At the grocery stores here you must pay for the plastic bags so the cashier will ask you. Just nod or shake and they get the idea. They also have those annoying "preferred cards" for discounts on certain items. Our facilitator left us with one of these cards and we saved about three dollars today.

Across the street from the grocery store is a large mall. Next to the mall sits a restaurant, and, today we noticed a large picture of a skyline on the side of the building. Above the picture was the word CHICAGO. Chicago in Siberia! Well, it looked like Chicago but it was a very poor representation of the skyline. We'll try to snap a picture next time we're out.

Last weekend before we left we were able to chat with another family who is adopting through America World. Tonight was our chance to meet them and we met at an Italian restaurant near the main square. It was great to share our experiences with each other. The food was not bad but it was a 1 mile walk from our apartment. We are all pretty tired and should sleep well tonight (and hopefully be adjusted to the time). We look forward to tomorrow's visit with dude.

Trip Two: Day Five

We were picked up today at noon for our visit to the orphanage. Our translator, Y2, also attended. After a quick drive to the court building where Y dropped off some final papers for court tomorrow, we took the thirty minute drive to the orphanage. Our driver was stopped along the way for not yielding to a pedestrian. He paid a fine and we were on our way. Since the policeman stopped four cars in a matter of ten minutes Y2 joked that it was the end of the month. It was funny to think that this is a universal perception of the flurry of moving violations to meet some quota. I have no idea if this is even true.

The yellow orphanage was familiar and as we opened the heavy black door we were asked to wait in the lobby for instructions. We placed our coats in the coatroom and put on the iconic blue booties over our shoes. Y advised that the meeting room was under construction so we would meet dude in the corridor where there was a couch and some chairs. When we sat down we saw one of the other couples we had met in Moscow. Their boy came out first. Then came dude.

Only God knows if she remembered us. She went to N easily and kids were so excited. They said she was smaller than they thought. We spent some time bonding and playing with teething toys. She was very tired and cried a little bit this time (but was soothed easily). She fell asleep about 90 minutes in to our visit and a caregiver took her away. We signed some additional paperwork and went to sit with Y and Y2 to prepare for court. There was a lot to go over and some homework I must do before tomorrow.

The excitement of seeing Dude today is wearing off as I prepare for court tomorrow. It's a closed hearing so we will not be able to share specific details. We were also told to set our expectations that there may be further issues with paperwork and to have a delay in a decision would be quite acceptable. We are getting picked up at 9am; a babysitter will be staying with C and N due to the unpredictability of the court schedule.

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Court

Today was our court date. Adoptions here in Russia are closed hearings so the details are not allowed to be shared outside of the courtroom. We awoke early and ate breakfast before getting picked up at 9am. There was heavy snow today and our driver was a bit late because of the traffic. We still arrived at court at 9:30. There is a small lobby with a few rows of chairs where we waited to be called. Y and Y2 were both there along with a representative from the Ministry of Education and Science and a doctor from the orphanage. After a short wait we were escorted to the courtroom by the secretary.

The courtroom was a medium-sized room. There were two rows of seats at the rear of the room for observers. Immediately in front of these two rows was a set of three seats behind a table - this is where we sat with Y2 who translated for us. As we sat in our seats, to our left was a table with three chairs. Y, the Ministry representative and doctor sat here from our left to right. Immediately behind them was a cage which seemed to be used for criminal cases. As we faced forward there was a short wooden barrier that separated the public from the judicial workers. On the other side of the barrier to our right sat the prosecutor who faced left. She wore a blue uniform and was a young professional. Seated opposite to her on our left was the secretary. He was also a young professional and accepted the additional evidence to provided to the court. He had a laptop computer for some sort of notes. On the far side of the room directly in front of us was a raised platform. It was similar to the judge's seat in an American courtroom. There were three large chairs that looked like thrones. I joked to N that it reminded me of the High King Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia. The Russian flag was to the left of the judge and the Russian seal was fixed to the wall above the "thrones." The judge walked in and we stood to begin the proceeding. Generally there is an extended period of questioning to the father. Then there is a short time of questioning to the mother. Then the doctor speaks. After the doctor speaks the Ministry representative speaks of the parents' interactions with the child. After this is complete the judge takes time to make a decision.

Here is what we can tell you. We knew going in that we would have paperwork issues because of some documents with our home study agency. Last week before we left America World and our home study agency scrambled to get us additional documents. Y dropped these off yesterday hoping these would satisfy the judge. The good news is that this was a non-issue today. The bad news was that we were not approved by the court immediately.

After the hearing our facilitator raced to the orphanage to secure an additional document. During this time the next family had their hearing. We waited for at least another hour or so. Y returned and after the other couple was finished we returned back to the courtroom. The additional paperwork was submitted and we were asked to leave the courtroom while the judge considered all of the evidence.

After a minute or so passed we were asked to return to the courtroom. We stood at our seats while the judge read the ruling. Our petition to adopt was approved!

The adoption decree does not go into effect until the ten-day waiting period expires. At this point we will be able to share pictures and other information. The decree will be effective at the end of the day next Friday and we will be able to pick her up next Saturday. We are excited that our first trip to the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court was successful!

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:13-14

Waiting: Days One and Two

There are renovations being done at the Krasnoyarsk Baby Home #3. The current project includes replacing all the windows in the building and right now they are working on the common areas. Our visit on Monday with dude occurred completely on a couch in the corridor. So for our Waiting Day One visit only one of us was allowed to go. I tried to convince N we should do a rock-paper-scissors thing for it but it didn't get much consideration. I suggested casting lots. I suggested a vote, but it's clear our family is not a democracy. N left at noon for the visit and N, C and me stayed at the apartment.

The orphanage provided a playroom for the visit. It was still being cleaned from the recent window replacement and two workers stayed in the room cleaning the room and toys. Dude responded well to N and they had a great and exhausting time together. It is definitely more difficult to take pictures on your own so our facilitator Y took some picture of N and dude together. It was a typical visit, about two hours, and N returned home.

For our Waiting Day Two visit two persons were permitted and I was selected! C came too and we left at noon for our 12:30 visit. We were placed in the same room as yesterday but the workers had made some progress. The curtains were now back up and the toys in better order. I was able to play with dude for quite a bit while C took about 300 pictures. The S family (who we met in Moscow) was also there playing with their little guy. It was another great time with her and our two hours went quickly. We shared a ride home with the S family and dropped them off at Hotel Krasnoyarsk. It was great getting to know them a little bit and hear their story.

There was a heat wave today in Krasnoyarsk and the temperature was about 28F. It felt hot - can't explain it. So, we walked to the local KFC for some fried chicken. Ordering is difficult but one of the workers spoke a little English. I basically pointed at one of the bucket deals and that's what we ate. It was fun.

Waiting: Day Three

It was a special day for us as all four of us were allowed to visit the orphanage. As an added treat we were going to take dude to the photo studio to have her passport pictures taken. When we arrived at the orphanage we waited in the car as Y our facilitator went inside. She emerged and sat back down advising us that dude was still finishing up her lunch. A few minutes later a caregiver came out and there she was, all bundled up. I was able to hold her as the caregiver climbed into the back seat of the van with the kids. I held her tight as we had no car seat for her and we made the short drive to the photo studio. She was bundled in a purple snowsuit with a hat. She also wore some heavy-duty boots. When we arrived at the photo studio we quickly removed her outdoor clothing and N took a seat on a chair under the lights. Dude sat on her lap with a white background and it was very easy to get her attention to snap a few shots. The photographer quickly uploaded the picture, removed the scratch on her nose, and printed up a few black and white pictures for her passport. What an adventure! N held her on the way home and when we got to the orphanage we briefly saw the S family before they were whisked to another room.

After a short wait we were allowed to stay in the same room as the previous two days. The room was almost complete but there were two workers still in the corner finishing some duties. We removed our shoes for the recently cleaned rug and had a great time, all four of us playing with dude. It was only our second day with all of us together so we really enjoyed the time to bond with her. Our total time with her was just over two hours. Saturday and Sunday would be no-visit days, and Monday the MoE had some meetings so we would be unable to visit as well. So our next visit is on Tuesday!

Waiting: Days Four and Five

Saturday was a Waiting Day Four for us and we would not be able to see dude. Our day centered around a trip to the mall and grocery store. If you were following us on Twitter you saw a few funny pictures from the toy store in the mall. In the model car section there were all sorts of Russian military vehicles. I also noticed the "Lego" set that featured the Kremlin. The mall itself was quite large and had at least three dozen shoe stores. I would estimate there are a few thousand pairs of shoes and boots at this mall. Some storefronts sold coats and all sorts of clothing. The food court was small and not exciting. The mall connects to a grocery store and we stocked up on essentials. We always fill up two hand carts with groceries and get weird looks and whispers from the locals. Russians just don't buy as much as we do. They must either go to the store more often or eat less. When you go to the grocery store they will always ask you first if you want to buy a grocery bag. Unless you brought your own the answer is always a nod or a Da.

Sunday we awoke to a dripping in the kitchen. I could not find it so I went ahead with my reading of Psalm 119. When N woke up to use the bathroom she noticed a leak. From the ceiling. Our apartment was leaking from the ceiling in the bathroom and the kitchen. After a quick look for buckets we called our facilitator for help. She was on her way back from the airport after picking up another adopting mom on trip one and would arrive within the hour. S, our driver, arrived first and went to the floor above to check things out. Apparently a pipe had leaked above and was dripping down on us. Y and S said it was fortunate for them that the apartment was being used otherwise they would not have known of the leak. They stopped the leak and we were on our way. At one point during the ordeal we had packed our bags ready to move out. Later in the day they had to come back because we were having flushing problems with the toilet. All resolved, we're still happy we're here.

Waiting: Day Six

Today we moved past the halfway hump of our ten day wait. The adoption decree goes into effect at the end of day on Friday and we get to pick up dude on Saturday! As there are meetings with the Ministry of Education today we did not get to see her. We are all well adjusted to the time now, except for me since I am up late working with my colleagues in the U.S. Today we spent most of our day at the apartment except for a trip to the local department store and grocery store.

The main street here in Krasnoyarsk is Prospekt Mira. Our apartment is two blocks north of this street, and one further block east is a department store our translator told us about. Let's say that department stores are not the same here as in the U.S. It left much to be desired and it seems to me that the mall down the street from our apartment is a better shopping choice. We spent all of fifteen minutes in the four-story store before leaving and walking a new direction we have yet to go. We walked a few more blocks before circling back and came upon the main toy store in Krasnoyarsk. On our first trip we stopped in for a quick look but didn't really explore. This time we went up and down each department and picked up some Krasnoyarsk keepsakes for home. We took a new direction back to the apartment and passed by a football stadium.

The grocery store has become quite familiar for us. When you need vegetables you take what you want to a woman who weighs and tags them. I wrote yesterday about the grocery bags. Today, we wanted to try some new sausage. So, we watched an older woman and just picked up what she bought. It was quite simple. During checkout the worker said something which I understood to mean that her lane doesn't take credit cards so I pulled out the cash I had and paid. We've definitely had our adventures in grocery shopping. The other day we defrosted some white fish which turned out to be squid! I bought some butter and lemon and will cook it up tomorrow.

In case you missed it, we put up our Christmas tree!

Waiting: Day Seven

It was our first chance to see her today since last Friday. She came in and the caregivers had put her hair up in a bow. It was silly! We had another great time with her - the kids really played well together. The biggest thing was that at the end, when it was time to go, she was upset and actually want to stay with us. This was the first time she's done this for us so we were quite pleased.

We've been cooking at the apartment so that has been saving us quite a bit of money. Yesterday I picked up some sausage and bought whatever the other lady bought. It turned out to be Russian balogna of some sort. We're not huge balogna fans but I ate it anyway. Adventures in Russian living!

Waiting: Day Eight

We left thirty minutes early today because today we would get to feed her! When we arrived we went to the same music room we were in yesterday. The caregiver brought her in and she sat at a small table. The caregiver showed us how she fed her and then it was our turn. She had a whole bowl of beef noodle soup with a side of mashed potatoes. She also ate a piece of bread and had some tea for a drink. She ate all of her food but had some difficulty drinking out of a regular cup. I'm not sure how they do it here but most of it ended up on her tray. After cleaning her up we had another good time together. She really showed us how active she is. Eight days done, two to go.

Waiting: Day Nine

We were picked up at the usual time of noon today for our trip to the orphanage. It was noticeably colder today (-20s) but the car is warm inside. We've come to know the route pretty well. Most of the traffic we come across is on the famous bridge over the Yenisey River. The city of Krasnoyarsk sits on both sides of the river. We are staying in the "downtown" are on the north side of the river and the orphanage is on the south side of the river and further east.

The music room where we play with dude was being used for meetings today so we met in the other playroom down the hall. There was an unusual delay for her to come out but once she came one of us was invited to see where she sleeps and has lived most of her life. It was quite the sight to see and puts our American lifestyle in perspective. The sleeping room had about fifteen cribs lined up in four rows. She has never slept alone. The play room was being renovated so it was empty except for two small tables where some children were finishing lunch. I was shown the bathroom which consisted of a simple tub. They had two small plastic child bathtubs which they used for bathing. In the bathroom sat five children on plastic potty chairs. That's how they do it, they just make them sit. Keep in mind these children are no more than two years old, most are much younger than that. There was another room for storage where dude had a locker for belongings. They said it was empty due to renovations but I'm not sure if she had any possessions anyways.

We had another great time playing with her. The S family came a little later and another Russian family shared the room with us before we left. It was a good time of play and we will make one last visit tomorrow. Nine down, one to go.

Waiting: Day Ten - The Last Goodbye

I purchased some diapers today and C and N set up the sleeping area and cleaned her toys. We are ready and excited. The cold temperatures here (-30s) caused our driver some trouble with his car so we were 45 minutes late for our visit to the orphanage. She really wore us out today and we were all quite tired following the visit. We stopped by the Vital Statistics office afterwards to drop off some paperwork and will return tomorrow morning to pick up her birth certificate.

Today was the last time we will say goodbye as we leave tomorrow at noon to pick her up forever. Check back tomorrow for the official announcement.

GOTCHA DAY!

Introducing:

Eliana Ruth Alfia Fong

Born: 21 December 2009

Adopted: 30 November 2010

Krasnoyarsk Final Days

(These posts are a bit delayed since we lost Internet access)

Gotcha Day was fun. I was picked up at 10:30 and we first went to an office to pick up the official adoption decree. We then drove way to the other side of town to get a new birth certificate. Since E was born in Krasnoyarsk it was quite simple, although not in the central district. Y mentioned that for children not born in the city they sometimes have the place of birth changed in the adoption decree so they don't have to drive to the original district. We were back at the apartment at noon to pick everyone up and we were off to the orphanage.

We arrived at the yellow, Krasnoyarsk Baby Home #3 near 12:30. E was finishing up her lunch and they asked for her new clothes. Orphans typical come to the orphanage with nothing so they leave with nothing. After a few minutes one of E's favorite caregivers came out with her. We snapped some pictures and said goodbye and took E away from the only home she ever knew.

When we got back to the apartment we bathed her. She loved it! We got used to her schedule and sleeping patterns. She is definitely warm to us now and will try to push our buttons.

Over our last few days in Krasnoyarsk we did nothing but stick to her schedule. On Tuesday we walked to the square. It warmed up from -45 to - 15 but the wind made it feel much colder. Tuesday night I was picked up to receive her passport. The passport office was on Prospekt Mira across the street from the courthouse. We walked in and the waiting room was a large closet. I was asked to wait a minute and then invited in to the office. It was simple and a few minutes later we were on our way.

Wednesday morning we arrived early at the Krasnoyarsk Airport. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to Y and our driver, S. There was a long wait for our flight and we got to see the C family and their daughter N. The plane ride seemed long as E was fussy most of the way. Goodbye Krasnoyarsk. Hello Moscow.

Moscow

(These posts are a bit delayed since we lost Internet access) 

We arrived in Moscow on Wednesday at DME. There was a long wait for our baggage and we saw the C family again who took a later flight. V picked us up and we took the 2+ hour car ride to the hotel. Along the way we stopped by a photo studio so we could take some additional visa pictures of E. Our Moscow facilitator, P, met us there and it was really quick and cheap (250rub). Funny, we saw the C family again at the photo studio. A short ride later we were at the Renaissance Moscow for our stay here. With the recent rioting in Moscow it's much better that we are a little further from the city center as our last hotel was across the street from all the activity. The Renaissance has an adoption rate (breakfast included!) and I recently received gold status at Marriott so we have access to the club level for snacks and drinks. There was a crib all set up in one of our rooms.

The doctor came at 7am Thursday for E's medical appointment. It was just like the States - he came in for ten minutes and it still cost $200. We noticed E went to him easily when he asked and he taught us the Russian phrase for come here. That one has been really been helpful. We had the rest of the day to ourselves and ate at the Elki Palki one last time.

Today we had our embassy appointment at 2pm. We were picked up at 1pm and made our way over in about twenty minutes. No cell phones or electronics are allowed so we had to leave these in the car. P gave us instructions and our appointment sheet and directed us to the entrance. There is a side entrance where your appointment slip is checked by a guard along with your passports. Then another checkpoint. Then security. There is a short hallway where you turn left and up a short set of stairs. There is a long line at Window #4 for the cashier, do not wait in line. Go directly to the front. I paid the fee and we waited a few minutes until 2pm for our appointment. There were several families there including the C family. At 2pm a man came out and explained the process. A few forms to sign, what to do with the visa packet (Do not open it!) and other issues, including dual citizenship. The moment we land in the U.S. E will be an American citizen. He did mention one thing - since we are connecting tomorrow in London there may be an issue without a visa. The UK does offer transit visas, though, and it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal. Since our layover is overnight, however, we are concerned we will not be allowed to leave the airport. Anyhow, when our name was called we signed some forms and were on our way. On the way out we said goodbye to the C family and the embassy worker came out and took our visa packet. I'm glad she caught whatever mistake now instead of standing at the border control at O'Hare.

We're anxious to get home soon.

Moscow Part 2 and Unscripted

We were scheduled to leave Moscow's Domodedovo airport (DME) at 5pm on Saturday to connect in London for our flight to Chicago. Our driver picked us up at 1:30 although we didn't get out of the hotel until about 2pm due to some delays with a package we were expecting. The traffic was quite terrible and we were anticipating a run for the gate. The news reports indicated that Heathrow Airport was closed until 5pm due to snow. The early morning flight from Moscow to London had already been cancelled along with the late-night flight out. As we checked the status online we knew that our 5pm flight was already delayed twenty minutes.

We got to the airport and unloaded quickly. We found the British Airways counter and checked-in. Our connecting flight in London was the next day so we made sure we were able to pick up our luggage to take to the hotel overnight (assuming we would get through passport control since E does not have a visa to enter the U.K.). We checked our bags and made our way to passport control to leave Russia. There were no issues getting out and the officer stamped our passports and we were on our way. The gate was quite full in anticipation of the only flight to London. We found two seats and waited. The first delay was twenty minutes. Then another twenty. The next notice said "more information available at 6:10." Then 7:00pm. Heathrow was scheduled to open at 8pm Moscow time so we waited until then. At some point a worker opened the door and everyone stood up to get in line. We quickly grabbed some seats and waited for boarding. Except there was no boarding. An announcement was made in Russian. One of the passengers translated for us: the flight was cancelled, rescheduled for 1pm the next day.

There was not much we could do at this point so we sat and waited. I quickly called our London hotel to cancel our reservation. The locals made their way out and I assume they went home. There was a small group of English-speaking passengers who milled around waiting for an official update in English from British Airways. The BA agent came out and advised us about the cancellation. We had to proceed through immigration to have our exit visas cancelled. Then we needed to go to the BA desk for further instructions. The flight attendants brought out some food while we were waiting and once we had everything settled we made our way back from the terminal to the main airport area. It must have been past 10pm at this point and the kids were struggling.

We were escorted through security and immigration (keep in mind, we were going backwards, there is no exit route from departures). The line at the BA desk was quite long and we weren't sure what to do next. N and the kids found a place to sit while I checked into what was going on. A few English ladies kept tabs on us and made sure we knew what was going on. There was a 5:30am flight on Sunday and BA would know by 1am if the flight was going to be cancelled or not. We decided to wait at the airport to try and catch this flight because it would still be possible to catch our connecting flight to Chicago in the morning. BA gave us some food vouchers to Sbarro and we ate. DME has a nursery (a great find, by the way!) and N and the kids went upstairs to sleep. When I returned to the BA counter the 5:30am flight had already been cancelled. BA was arranging transport and a hotel for those passengers still there to return for the 1pm flight on Sunday. I added our names to the list and waited for BA to make arrangements.

I decided to call American Airlines since we would not be able to make our connecting flight in London. We ended up booking a Tuesday morning flight on Iberia to Madrid then to Chicago. Otherwise the next flight from Chicago to London was Dec. 29. I returned to the BA counter to check our hotel status and was informed the shuttle would be there in five minutes! We had nowhere to go so we would definitely still take the free hotel. I ran upstairs to the nursery to get everyone out. We made it back downstairs and onto the shuttle to the hotel. We were packed in there quite tightly and C fell asleep in the arms of another Russian grandma. We drove for about thirty minutes to the middle of nowhere. It was so quiet and looked more like a winter retreat setting. We had two rooms with two single beds each and a private bathroom. It was at least 1:30am before everyone was sleeping.

We were to be picked up at 10am to return to the airport. The included breakfast included some porridge, a hot dog (a "sausage") and one hard-boiled egg. There was also some tea. The shuttle was on time and we made our way back to DME. While our UK friends were in line to check-in for their 1pm flight I spoke with the Iberia counter to confirm our tickets. Once this was done I checked back with the BA counter to see what the next steps were. the 1pm flight had been cancelled and they suggested we keep our receipts for further hotel reimbursement (good luck with that, I thought). With no immediate departure in sight we called our Moscow facilitator P to arrange transport back to the city. We made it back to the Renaissance Moscow to be greeted by some welcome faces (who remembered us by name). Two more days in Moscow, we leave on Tuesday.

15 Hours, 3 Countries, 1 Birthday

Today is E's first birthday. We celebrated with a small piece of cake at dinner yesterday. Our flight this morning was at 7:25 so we left the hotel at 4:15am. After a quick run to the grocery store (thanks to our driver, M!) we made it to the hotel in record time. This was much better than last time as we rushed through the check-in and passport control. There were no airport delays in Spain so we were looking forward to a smooth flight. We stepped up to the Iberia check-in counter and there was a problem. N, N and C did not have tickets. What?!

On Saturday we discussed the possibility of splitting up to get home. I would have to take E since my name is in her passport, etc. Well, I thought we were going to avoid this but it appeared to be a possibility. It seems that AA/BA/Iberia did not ticket N, N and C. E and I both had tickets, however. After a long call with AA we were finally able to get them tickets. We checked our bags and now had to race to the gate because of the delay. Passport control was smooth again and we made it to the gate on time. Our seats were not together but we did have some space to spread out a bit.

We knew the connection in Madrid would be short. Arrive at 10:30, out at 11:50. We joked that as long as we get on the plane it doesn't matter if our bags don't make it. Well, there was a strong headwind and our flight arrived late. We had twenty minutes to make it through the terminal. Of course, the Chicago flight was boarding on the opposite side of the terminal. We exiting the plane and made our way through security again. They decided to frisk me at least three times while explaining something in Spanish. It was not looking good. One of the workers said, "Chicago?" and I nodded. She said you better hurry. Two adults and three children ran down the terminal. We made it, sweaty, finally on our way home.

The 9+ hour flight was long. E did her best and C was still struggling through her fever. But when it was done, when the airplane wheels touched down we held the newest U.S. citizen. We worked our way through passport control and were told to meet with an immigration officer after we picked up our bags. Well, the bags never made it (haha) and we waited for some time to be called. E received a stamp in her passport and we were on our way. We made a claim with Iberia for our bags and met my parents outside. My mom cooked us a traditional Chinese dinner and we crashed.

15+ hours of flight. Three countries. One complete family. What a first birthday!

Krasnoyarsk Trip Two Video

We end 2010 with our Krasnoyarsk Trip Two video. View it below or click here. The password is: "alfc"




Krasnoyarsk Trip Two from Court on Vimeo.