Another update (not as boring)

(Now that I've got you up to speed on our little jaunt to Siberia, I'll return to the present...)

Not to get ahead of myself, but our Dossier 2 docs have been sent off to Moscow!!! The next steps involve getting it translated, sent to the region, getting into the hands of the judge and then the judge decides if the docs are good enough. We are still in a waiting mode, but this is one step further in the process.

(jumping back in a time a little again)

After getting back it took a little to get used to things again after getting back. Between the time zones changes in a matter of days along with the flying we did, we were certainly not on our normal schedule. Heather took Monday off and I worked from home so we could ease back into things 100% which helped. It still took a few days to completely get adjusted. At that point it almost seemed like a dream that we had been out of the country. It was so quick and then it was over. We want to get back over there but we are ready to wait again. 

I am looking forward to the day when we finally pick him up and he is completely and officially ours. It's hard to not be able to post pictures or anything, to not really give any details about him, but unfortunately it is the nature of this process. We will be able to post over there and once we can post information we will have pictures from the beginning to post. Not too much longer now (we hope) but we are getting ready. 

We are getting his bedroom ready. We have painted it a medium blue color to go along with the rainforest theme. We need to take pictures after it has been prepared some to show to the judge at the court hearing. Those plus pictures of us from the first trip (and maybe some from trip 2, there is a 1 hour Kodak place there). Just a few more things in our trip toward parenthood.

Off to Moscow!

Now that our whirlwind tour of Krasnoyarsk is done we are flying back to Moscow. We were drive to the airport Saturday morning and after checking in for our tickets we sat in this small terminal area to wait. Even though it was the morning I got us both a Coke to have something to drink. We had been getting a free bottle of water each day in the hotel, but we had to ration it. We used it for drinking and also brushing our teeth, as the tap water is not what you want to drink (without boiling).

We board the plan in the cold, sit back and relax, then we are off to Moscow. We get into the airport (seemed a little less crazy than last time), and we are taken to a hotel next to the airport. Still no sign of our luggage, but we get to our room and relax. This is a newer hotel, a little nicer, some shows on tv in English. We finally got our luggage later in the afternoon, it was soooo nice to have a change of clothes. We changed and headed downstairs to have an early dinner at the Don Pepe's TexMex restaurant. Yeah, pseudo-TexMex in Moscow. It wasn't bad, though. We headed upstairs and relaxed for the rest of the . Nothing exciting but that was just fine after our exciting past couple of days.

Sunday morning, make our way to the airport, figure out where to go and we get in line. We had to wait until the lines for our flight opened up, we were a little too early. That's ok, we wanted to have plenty of time to figure things out. we get through security, check our luggage, get our tickets, and make our way around to our gate. We sit down and rest. A little closer to home, yay. We had a chance to think and talk about the past few days, both of us enjoying it and looking forward to being able to go back. Start to hear English being spoken, kind of strange to go from not hearing it to having people speaking it. Get through security to our gate area, wait, board and fly to Atlanta. It was a long flight, watched several movies, got to Atlanta. Had a quick bite before boarding our flight to Richmond.

We land, Heather's parents picked us up and took us to get a few groceries, then we finally get home! Yay! It was so nice to be home, even though we weren't gone for too long. It will be interesting to see how it goes on trip #2. At least there will be more actual days in Krasnoyarsk with the same amount of flying.

Now it is time to try and get back to a normal schedule. Heather took Monday off and I worked from home so we could ease into things. Now it's time to prepare for trip #2.

Day 2 in Russia

So we crashed at 8:30 Thursday night. We need to get up in order to leave at 7:30 am, and there are no alarm clocks here(?) so we asked for another wake up call. We were both sort of worried in the event that they didn't call us, so between that and going to bed early we both sort of didn't sleep well in the 6:00 am range.  We ended up not getting the wake up call, so it was a good thing that we couldn't sleep. we will definitely bring a clock next time. We got ready quickly since we had the same clothes to wear, ha ha, and headed out. It was a slightly different drive because we saw some of the drive closer in that we slept through the other night. 

We got there and headed on in, then had to wait a few minutes. We went into the play room and waited, but not too long until they brought in Baby Boy. We were happy to see him again, of course, and we started playing with him again. We started in the more open area with couches and open floor to play on, but then they brought in a few kids. We then moved to the far end of the room as they were bringing in some more kids for a weekly 'fun time' that they have with the kids. They were about 3 years old and were singing and playing games. It got kind of loud and was busy, so Baby Boy was looking down there to see what was going on. It was still fun and enjoyable, but he seemed a little tired at times. One cute time, he had 2 small balls and one rolled away from him. He went to reach for it, stretched out fully, and just stopped and set his head down on the mat. It was cute and funny. A little later on as our time was nearing it's end there, Heather was holding him and he put his head on her shoulder and fell asleep. Even with the music and piano playing in the room, he felt comfortable enough in her arms to fall asleep and stay asleep. It was great but then after about 20 minutes of this it was time for him to go back with the caretaker. It was somewhat abrupt but it was probably good. No time to think about us leaving and getting sad, so we left and drove back to the hotel. Still interesting to see the views and all, but we were thinking about him.

We left the orphanage and had one last thing to sign before going back to the hotel. We had to go to a notary and sign a document saying we were going forward with things so that took a little time. We got back to the hotel around 2:00, and our coordinator pointed out a place close to the hotel that had pizza. We just wanted something quick at this point since we were hungry so we headed over there. We ended up with a cheese pizza and 2 Cokes to take back to our room. It was actually very good and after not having much real food the past few days was very good. We then got a call from our coordinator who was using the business center (computers and internet) in the hotel to make up a few documents. She asked us to go down and look them over, a few documents officially requesting things and getting the paperwork going. We then stayed there to send out a few quick emails, then we met a family that was there for trip 2 using our same agency. They were picking up 2 girls and were in the 10 day waiting period. We joined them for dinner at the hotel restaurant later that evening.

We had dinner, some sort of stuffed chicken which was good, then met another family that had just picked up their new son after the 10 day waiting period. We were in a little sitting area on one of the floors talking to them, then I went to get the camera to show them all pictures of our visits. They were looking at them and noticed that Baby Boy was wearing an outfit that their son had worn, then we realized that we had been at the same orphanage (different agency). Wow, that was odd. Kind of neat to talk with both families about our next visit and what to expect for the court appointment.

We then made our way upstairs and got to bed early. We are getting up a little early tomorrow, heading to Moscow to spend the night then home on Sunday (we saved a bunch by staying the extra night). 

A little more on the trip (and orphanage visit)

So, last time we were on our way to Krasnoyarsk (finally). It was a great relief to make that flight so we could start to relax as we knew we would finally make it to Krasnoyarsk.

The plane lands in Kras, we deplane and board the shuttle to take us to the terminal. The local airport is not very large so we entered into the same room that tour coordinator was waiting for us. She got us to our driver and we took of for the city. It was snowy and dark so not much to see. We arrived at the hotel and checked in, then we went upstairs to get settled in and take a nap. It was about 8:00 by now and we were going to take a nap. We had plans to meet downstairs at 1:30 to venture back out (including going to the orphanage!!). Our room was nice and 'cozy', but not really a bad place to be. We had a view towards the Yenisei river and the bridge that we would use to travel to the orphanage:

We got our wake-up call and headed downstairs. Our first stop was to exchange some dollars for rubles. You aren't able to exchange this outside of Russia, and our stay in Moscow was crazy, so we weren't able to get any rubles yet. We found a place right next to the hotel that gave a good exchange rate and was an automated machine, so we can use it next time and have no issues. We then drove to the Ministry of Education to officially get the referral and receive permission to visit the orphanage. It was a brief visit and we were then off. It takes an hour to get to the orphanage over a highway. It was very interesting to watch the towns, architecture, countryside as we were driving, but much of it was across open land so not always something to look at.

As we got closer, it felt a little more real (not that already being in Russia wasn't real enough). Until we actually meet him, it still seems odd. The town that the orphanage is in is relatively small, not that we went through it to see it, but we were on the outskirts. We drove in the middle of several apartments buildings and made our way to the orphanage. We parked and got out, heading for the front door. We went in and waited with our translator for someone to meet us. We were taken to a playroom area where another family was there to meet their child. They were from Spain and were with a different agency. We waited our turn, expecting to first talk with the doctor. It was about 3:00pm and we were told that Baby Boy was napping until 4:00.

Imagine our surprise when one of the caretakers walks in with this cute little boy, our translator remarking 'Here he is' like she expected it. Wow! I had both digital and video camera ready, sitting on the floor, so I grabbed the video camera and started it. The caretaker put him down so she could put his bib on (he is drooling from teeth coming in), and he was standing there while she was doing this and I was like 'This is the boy that will hopefully be my son'. Another Wow! Once the bib was on, Heather knelt down and put her arms out, the caretaker let him go and he walked into Heather's arms. She picked him up and he put his little head down on her shoulder like he was already comfortable with her. Pretty neat feeling to see, not something we expected. We then spent about 90 minutes with him playing with some toys and getting to know him (and him getting used to us). He was at ease with both of us, taking turns holding him and all. He looked to be where he should be at his age, was very curious about the toys (trying to figure them all out), watching the other people move about the room.

We were again surprised when the caretaker brought out a snack that we were going to feed him. There was one cup with a warm milk and shortbread-like food in it, then another cup with just milk. They have child-size table and 2 chairs we used, so he was sitting in one chair ready to eat. Heather started feeding him but it was a little messy. The snack was runny and he really wanted it. We both (I fed him some after Heather) had to put the spoon in further to avoid making a mess, so we finally got the hang of it. It was sort of funny, when she handed me the food so I could get in and try it, Baby Boy started to cry because we were taking his food away.

All in all, the orphanage visit was real cool. Not an experience you go through too often, not real easy to put it into words. Just another Wow! We left and drove back to the hotel, it was dark now and we were tired so napped a little on the way back. Our clocks were so messed up, many hours of flying and 12 hour time change, we were beat. We had been up for about 36 hours (from Tuesday morning) to 8pm Thursday night Kras time, not really counting the little bit of sleep we got on airplanes. We got a few drinks and some cereal from a nearby grocery store then fell asleep on top of the bed in our clothes. Very tired but a good time so far. Definitely worth it, can't wait to go back for day 2. We are leaving at 7:30 Friday morning, so not much time for sleep (good thing we were tired and went to bed early).

More info about our first trip

Now that we are back and have mostly gotten used to things around home again, I wanted to post more about our trip. It went pretty quick and we didn't get to do much in Kras (and really no pics), but it was still an interesting trip.

Monday we got snowed out due to the weather. We still tried to get some other flights out but nobody had any seats. We even tried to fly out of Newport News or Norfolk, but nothing. We went home after trying what we could (we had gotten to the airport) and waited until the next day.

Tuesday was better as far as the weather goes, but the fun was only starting. We got to the airport, checked in, flight was on time, all seemed well. We got on our flight and prepared for the hop to JFK. Delta flies to Moscow from ATL every other day, while flying from JFK on the opposite days. We taxi out to the runway, get our turn to take off, engines up, full speed ahead ... and then the engines shut off. The pilot comes on with something about a warning message related to the engines. Back to the terminal we go and we wait for some maintenance people to look into it. After about 30 minutes the maintenance crew shows up, starts looking into things, then says all is ok. We take off about 90 minutes late. We were going to be cutting it close to making our JFK connection with our original flight, so I had been on my cell phone talking to Delta trying to get something else. I was almost there when I had to shut the phone off for the takeoff.

We fly into JFK, deplane (what an odd sounding word), and go into the terminal to see a very long line at the Delta counter. We stand in line while I get back on the cell phone with Delta. Our travel agent told me about a few flights we could try and get, so I was doing my best to get the phone person to look at those. They couldn't get through to Aeroflot as their office closed at 5:00 and our choices were getting slim. To top it all off, my cell phone battery was getting very low.
We finally get to the front of the line and a very helpful Delta person worked on getting us a flight. It seems that Delta automatically re-booked us when the flight was delayed, flying to ATL and spending the night then going back out to Moscow. We would miss a day and it would not work for us, so I explained how important this trip was and we were able to finally get a flight to Moscow Tuesday evening with Air France. (by way of Paris) Yay!! We went to get food and wait until 11:00 pm.

Not that easy, though. We had to leave the terminal we were in to walk to another building where international flights were. We go to Air France and they were so helpful in getting us seats and tickets. They actually came and found us while we were eating to let us know that our tickets were ready (we hadn't been assigned seats yet so no actual tickets). We then went to eat McDonald's, got our tickets and proceeded to the 'secure' area to wait for our flight. More people started to show up and then we left. A 6 hour flight, but it was comfortable and they fed us. We flew into Paris but just went to another terminal to get to our next flight. I guess it doesn't really count as us being in Paris, but don't tell anyone that we didn't leave the airport.

Off to Moscow, another 4 or so hour flight. Another meal. Now some more fun. Different language, different process, not sure of what to do. Once in the terminal we follow the perimeter around to 'Passport Control'. This is where you show your passport, but it was a mess. There were 6 or so counters, but no real lines. People would get in front of you and we didn't move very much. I had thought that by getting in at 6:25 for an 8:55 flight to Kras that we would be ok, but now I begin worrying. After about 90 minutes we finally get through. Not real happy about that.

We then find that our luggage is not there to be picked up.
We go to Lost and Found and find that our luggage (by tracking the luggage ticket numbers) is in Atlanta. It seems that the automatic re-booking that Delta did wasn't updated when we changed to Air France. At this point we are not too happy. running out of time, no luggage, feeling lost in a foreign country, not knowing when or if we would get the luggage. We would need to call back to the airport, both here and in Kras, as hopefully the luggage will arrive from ATL tomorrow and be forwarded to Kras. We go through the exit and find our agency contact. What a nice feeling to have someone there to help us out.

She tells us that given the time (about 8:19 now) we would need to run just to try and catch our flight. Not knowing where we are going I was surprised. We ended up having to get in their van, very quickly drive through traffic around to a different terminal (for domestic flights) and try to make the flight. We were very close on time, so when we arrived we had to run in, get through initial security, and she then went to try and get us in quicker. I think she then called in a favor and had an Aeroflot official hold the flight for us. We ran through final security, got our tickets, then went out to board the bus.

Whew, that was close!!!! I was so worried that after everything we would miss this flight. Aeroflot has only this flight (I think) leaving Moscow for Kras each night, although our coordinator said if we missed it we could go to the other airport and buy new tickets.

For the domestic flights, the planes are all parked out on the tarmac (no jetport ramp thingy), so you board a bus that drives you out there. You then go up the steps into the plane. Oh yeah, this is at 9:00pm in Russia, in the cold and wind, standing while waiting your turn to board. We were able to make it so I shouldn't complain. This flight was also very nice, another good meal (the best so far) and we then nap after turning my watch another 4 hours ahead (Kras is 4 hours ahead of Moscow). We will now be 12 hours ahead of home, only 2 more to Tokyo time!

More to come ...

Here is a small Google map of Krasnoyarsk in relation to the world:

Back home after the first trip

Well, here is a (probably) not very quick rundown of how our trip went. All in all it went very well. We met Baby Boy on Thursday and it was perfect. We were in the play room waiting for what we thought would be a first meeting with the head doctor. We were pleasantly surprised to have on of the caregivers bring in Baby Boy for us, fresh from a nap. I had the camera and flip digital ready so got a good shot of our first minute. The caregiver brought him in, put on a bib (drooling from new teeth, 6 so far), and Heather reached out and he walked straight to her. She picked him up and he put his head on her shoulder, a good first meeting. Wow!

So, to back up a little bit ... our flight on Tuesday was delayed due to engine issues. We finally left but, of course, missed our connecting flight in JFK to Moscow. They auto-booked us for a flight to Atlanta that night then the Atlanta to Moscow flight the following day. Not good. So we stood in line for almost 2 hours and fortunately had someone help us that understood how desperate we were to get a flight that night. She re-booked us on a flight with Air France, so we ended up being routed through Paris to get to Moscow. Those flights went well, not so bad.

Things got a little sketchy when we flew into Moscow. Not because of it being Moscow so much as timing of flights. The passport control line took forever, our luggage hadn't arrived, we had to fill out forms for that, so we didn't have much time to spare to get to our next flight. It was in a different terminal and barely made it as the agency people had to drive us very quickly over there. They actually held up the boarding of the flight for us. So, we ended up getting to the region on time.

We never got our luggage until we were back in Moscow on our way out. Then a long flight from Moscow to Atlanta and back home. Whew.

But anyway, back to the reason why we went over there! We had a visit Thursday afternoon, first with Baby Boy then the head doctor at the orphanage. We had a few hours playing with him, then the talk with the doctor went well. Updated information and things were still looking very good. Friday's visit was in the morning, spent more time with him, he even fell asleep with Heather holding him while there were other things going on in the room. A good way to end the visit, but we didn't want it to end.

Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to go back, but we don't know how long it will take. Cross your fingers that it goes a little quickly and we can get him back here.

More soon as that wasn't much, but it was a whirlwind tour so not really much to say.

Did you hear about the snow?

Well, there is a bit of a storm moving up the east coast and has dumped snow everywhere. It ended up leaving anywhere from 3 to 8 or more inches of snow in the Richmond area, so as you might imagine Heather and I are still at home. Our flight to Atlanta was on time until she suggested that I check it as we were about to leave. We were even trying to leave early since the roads were still a little messy. Our flight was canceled at the last minute, nothing else with seats leaving from Richmond or nearby airports, so we aren't leaving today.

I was able to get Delta to rebook us for tomorrow, similar times but going through JFK and leaving RIC at 2:00. Once our travel agent gets in tomorrow (snow kept him home) he will set up the final part of our flight over and we should be good.

Here is a late afternoon shot of the front yard ...



This delay might end up changing our trip, but we aren't sure yet. There is a Russian Holiday this Sunday which will cause Friday to be sort of a half-day. This might mean that we are asked to stay a little extra in the region, so we would stay through the weekend. We don't know if this will happen or how long it would be for, but it's not really a big deal. We've gone through lots of paperwork and issues, but it really isn't much of anything when you think about why we are doing this. There is a little boy sitting in an orphanage in Russia waiting for us to come and get him. That is worth doing all of this paperwork and traveling a second or third or fourth time. As we started this process we really felt good about trying to make the life of a child or two better, in addition to them making our lives better. It will work out in the end, so we'll just stay on this train until we get to the destination.

And they're off! (almost)

Well, we are just about ready to fly out of Richmond and head to Hotlanta (although a bit cold right now) and sit around a little before boarding the plain for Moscow. Our layover isn't very long, just enough to get a bite to eat and exchange some money for rubles. Fortunately the exchange rate is going up in our favor so we will get more for our money. We only need cash for things like meals and souvenirs, and we don't know how much would be dollars versus rubles. We can still exchange money over there, but this way we'll have money as soon as we land to buy a Coke or a snack.

Now, as people might not now it is snowing here in Richmond. It is supposed to stop before noon tomorrow but might leave up to 6 inches of snow. We are hoping to still fly out of here but there are flights leaving from Newport News and Norfolk if we need to go there. It started off as rain, then sleet, then snow and turned into a slushy mess. I had an ice hockey game but turned after I got to the end of our road because it was slushy and slippery. I think it's a good thing that I didn't go, so it really wasn't too bad.

We are packed and ready to go, but you always have that nagging feeling that something is being forgotten. I think we'll be fine but it is a long flight and we will be in Russia ... in Siberia ... in the winter. We arrive Wednesday morning at 5:40 am their time (5:40 pm Tuesday east coast time) where it will be about 13° F with the wind chill dropping that to about 2°F. The high for Wed is 21° and will get warmer as the high on Friday is 30°F. (Here is a link for temperatures) I think we are ready for the temperatures, but at least it is only a few days if the cold really gets to us. The funny thing is that the indoor temperatures are very high over there, so a greater difference between indoor and outdoor temps. We'll probably be in the hotel in shorts and t-shirts cracking a window for some relief.

So, hopefully we will get out tomorrow and maybe even blog while over there. We will have pictures to post when we get back and I'll try to mark them on a Google map to give a location to where the pictures are from.

I've made a change to the blog so you can post comments without having to sign in or anything. Just click on the 'Comments' link and choose the 'Anonymous' identity.

We'll see everyone soon, wish us luck!