The Orphanage

Today I was taken to the orphanage to meet my little girl. First, though, we had to go to the Ministry of Education which is housed in the old KGB building here in Tver. Sadly, I didn't find out it was the old KGB building until after we left--if I'd known that I would have tried to look around more. Next we stopped at the bank so I could exchange some money. The exchange rate was 26.55 rubles to the dollar. I only exchanged $600, but I have this HUGE wad of Russian bank notes in my wallet now. Finally we wrapped up all the preliminary business and got on the road to the orphanage.

The drive took about two and half hours. It was some of the roughest (bounciest) roads I have ever travelled. Alexey, Luba and I talked music on this trip and the miles passed fairly quickly. One thing I noticed, though--there are LOTS of police on the roads. It definitely doesn't pay to exceed the speed limit in Russia.

The orphanage was a rather small and dreary looking building on the outside. I didn't get to see anything really of the inside other than the children't play room. They had me wait there for the baby and then I got to spend about an hour with her. She's a doll--but even tinier than I imagined. She turned 11 months old today, too, so it was quite the eventful day for her.

I wish I could post more details about her here, but by Russian law I'm not allowed to do so until after the adoption is completed. I'm utterly delighted with her, though, and am looking forward to going back to see her again tomorrow even if it does mean another long, bouncy drive!

Anyway, I didn't get much sleep last night (anticipation and the fact that the sun never really set kept me awake most of the night) so I'm going to hit the bed early tonight. It's a few minutes after six in the evening, so perhaps I can get a good 10 hours or so and be a little more lively tomorrow. I have to admit that sheer exhaustion is making everything seem very surreal right now.

Cheers everyone!

~ Jeana