Sorry for the delay in posting--the trip from Tver to Moscow was awful. I got horribly ill from the gas and exhaust fumes and went to bed as soon as I arrived in Moscow. I didn't end up doing any siteseeing there at all. My flight home from Moscow was equally retched in its own way--way too long and exhausting. At least the person in front of me was a young child who did his best to keep me and my fellow passengers entertained. I also arrived home with a horrible cold.
On the upside, I can't wait to go back to get Alivia. I re-read the developmental info for babies and it's clear that while she is behind in some things, as expected for an institutionalized child, she is only that way because of her situation--not because of any physicial or mental abnormality. I'm hopeful that a lot of love and attention will help her to catch up with her peers.
I SO wish I could post pictures here now. She's such a cutie! July 7 can't come soon enough for me!
~ Jeana
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Last Day in Tver
Today was interesting--I had to visit the notary office this morning to have the official petition for the adoption drawn up. Afterwards, Luba took me shopping. There's a lovely little pedestrian street not too far from the hotel where I was able to pick up a lot of souvenirs. Then we had lunch at this great little cafeteria style restaurant. It's old-style Russian cooking and the food was terrific as well as very inexpensive.
After lunch Luba dropped me back at the hotel to wait for the preliminary court hearing. On the way to court she and Alexey went over all these questions they expected the judge to ask. She only asked me two questions, though--what my job was and did I have a flexible or a rigid work schedule. We were in and out in about 5 minutes. Wouldn't be nice if the actual court hearing went that quickly and easily!
Speaking of the court hearing--she set a date of July 7. I would have liked it to be the week before (court is only held on Fridays for adoption cases) but she was afraid the documents wouldn't arrive from Moscow in time. Better not to have to wait in the hotel for a week if there is a delay. Alexey knew I would be disappointed in the later date, but promised that he would take me to the orphanage on July 5 so I could spend Alivia's birthday with her.
Tomorrow I head off to Moscow. I'm staying at the Courtyard Marriott hotel there which is just a few minutes walk from Red Square. Should be fun!
~ Jeana
After lunch Luba dropped me back at the hotel to wait for the preliminary court hearing. On the way to court she and Alexey went over all these questions they expected the judge to ask. She only asked me two questions, though--what my job was and did I have a flexible or a rigid work schedule. We were in and out in about 5 minutes. Wouldn't be nice if the actual court hearing went that quickly and easily!
Speaking of the court hearing--she set a date of July 7. I would have liked it to be the week before (court is only held on Fridays for adoption cases) but she was afraid the documents wouldn't arrive from Moscow in time. Better not to have to wait in the hotel for a week if there is a delay. Alexey knew I would be disappointed in the later date, but promised that he would take me to the orphanage on July 5 so I could spend Alivia's birthday with her.
Tomorrow I head off to Moscow. I'm staying at the Courtyard Marriott hotel there which is just a few minutes walk from Red Square. Should be fun!
~ Jeana
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Baby Visit #2
We were a bit delayed getting out of town to visit the orphanage today, but did finally make it there. We arrived right around 3 p.m. and stayed until about 5:30. It was a great time to be there--she had just woken from a nap, so she was a little subdued to begin with, but she quickly got back to the business of exploring my mouth with her fingers. We played for nearly an hour or so and she seemed much more relaxed than yesterday. Around 4:30 they came to take her to dinner while I met with the inspector to see what new information I could get about her birth mother--which wasn't much.
I was surprised when they brought her back to me after dinner. With a full stomach she was happy to just relax and actually ended up falling asleep in my arms. If I hadn't been totally sold on her by that point, there was no question in my mind from then on. This little girl is mine! And as predicted, I did cry when I had to say goodbye. It's amazing how quickly they squirm their way into your heart.
I have an appointment to meet with the judge tomorrow to set the court date. We expect that it will be June 30, which means I'll be traveling back to Russia on the 26th. It also means that the next time I'll get to see her is June 28th... 22 days from now. It's going to be a long three weeks...
Tonight I had dinner with the Garretts who are here on the second trip to adopt a baby boy. Their excitement at getting to see their son-to-be tomorrow and knowing that he will soon be their's forever was something to see.
Thanks, everyone for the notes! It means a lot to me to know I have so many people sending good thoughts our way!
~ Jeana
I was surprised when they brought her back to me after dinner. With a full stomach she was happy to just relax and actually ended up falling asleep in my arms. If I hadn't been totally sold on her by that point, there was no question in my mind from then on. This little girl is mine! And as predicted, I did cry when I had to say goodbye. It's amazing how quickly they squirm their way into your heart.
I have an appointment to meet with the judge tomorrow to set the court date. We expect that it will be June 30, which means I'll be traveling back to Russia on the 26th. It also means that the next time I'll get to see her is June 28th... 22 days from now. It's going to be a long three weeks...
Tonight I had dinner with the Garretts who are here on the second trip to adopt a baby boy. Their excitement at getting to see their son-to-be tomorrow and knowing that he will soon be their's forever was something to see.
Thanks, everyone for the notes! It means a lot to me to know I have so many people sending good thoughts our way!
~ Jeana
They Did Say to be Flexible and Patient...
It's Tuesday morning and I'm whiling away time on the computer while I wait. We were supposed to leave at 8 a.m. to go to the orphanage. That got pushed back to 10:30 and has been pushed back yet again to 12:30. I wish I'd known it would be so delayed sooner... I could have done some exploring this morning. Instead I've been stuck in the hotel all morning waiting... I'm beginning to hate that word...
~ Jeana
~ Jeana
Monday, June 05, 2006
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
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
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Arrival in Tver
Well--my travels to Russia were quite interesting. There was a scare on my first flight--about halfway through the pilot announced that due to weather conditions in NY we would be about an hour late. Since I only had 50 minutes between flights that looked to be "problematic", but somehow the pilot managed to get us there on time after all and I made my connection. The flight to Atlanta was uneventful. The flight from Atlanta to Moscow was a nightmare, though. I was fortunate enough to get a seat on the aisle with no one sitting next to me, but there my luck ended. There was no leg room at all, the man in front of me kept his seat fully reclined the entire flight, and it was extremely noisy the entire flight. The route we flew took us around the northern edge of darkness, so it was daylight the entire (excruciatingly long) 10.5 hour flight and everyone seemed to be in party mode--walking the aisles, talking and laughing loudly, etc. It seemed no one but me wanted to sleep. I managed about an hour or so, but that was it. I was exhausted by the time we landed in Moscow at 11 a.m. local time (8 a.m. at home.)
Passport control was no problem other than having to wait in line a bit, but it wasn't too long. My luggage was waiting when I cleared there, so no problems there, either. Luba, my translator, arrived just a couple minutes after I cleared the crowd of people waiting on arrivals and we left immediately with Alexey, my driver and facilitator to drive to the Hotel Osnabruck in Tver--about two and a half hours.
The drive to Tver was nice and passed quickly. Luba loves American films and we talked movies and actors for most of the trip. Luba, like me, is a big fan of Johnny Depp. She and Alexey were also interested in hearing about my previous travels in Russia and seemed surprised to hear that I had stayed in private homes and travelled so extensively in their country. They also encouraged me to practice my Russian and only laughed at my pronunciations a couple of times.
We arrived at the hotel in good time and Alexey went over our schedule for tomorrow. I'm to meet them in the hotel lobby at 9 a.m. to go to the Ministry office and then to the orphanage. My daughter is in Villy Vishnu (sp) which is about 2 hours away from the hotel. Alexey couldn't tell me much about my daughter other than to warn me that I most likely wouldn't be able to get much information about her birthparents. He did say that I would be able to find out her birthdate and Russian name (if she has one, he added) at the Ministry office and that I should ask all my questions regarding her birth family there as the orphanage staff likely would have no information on them.
Let's see... the hotel is very nice. My room is small, but clean and has a nice view of the street. There seems to be a lot of pedestrian activity in the evenings. It's 9:45 p.m. right now and still very light outside. I think sunset is around 11:30 or midnight. I had a terrific dinner at the hotel restaurant--grilled salmon with fried potatoes, onions and mushrooms. It was quite yummy. The hotel and restaurant staff are all very pleasant and speak English.
The town of Tver is a study in contrasts. The hotel I'm at is very modern, but immediately across the street I've been watching the local residents come to a well/fountain to get buckets of water for their homes. I'm not sure if it's for drinking or washing--I'll have to ask. I'm too tired to do much exploring today, but I plan to get out tomorrow evening for a bit and see what I can see. Until tomorrow...
~ Jeana
Passport control was no problem other than having to wait in line a bit, but it wasn't too long. My luggage was waiting when I cleared there, so no problems there, either. Luba, my translator, arrived just a couple minutes after I cleared the crowd of people waiting on arrivals and we left immediately with Alexey, my driver and facilitator to drive to the Hotel Osnabruck in Tver--about two and a half hours.
The drive to Tver was nice and passed quickly. Luba loves American films and we talked movies and actors for most of the trip. Luba, like me, is a big fan of Johnny Depp. She and Alexey were also interested in hearing about my previous travels in Russia and seemed surprised to hear that I had stayed in private homes and travelled so extensively in their country. They also encouraged me to practice my Russian and only laughed at my pronunciations a couple of times.
We arrived at the hotel in good time and Alexey went over our schedule for tomorrow. I'm to meet them in the hotel lobby at 9 a.m. to go to the Ministry office and then to the orphanage. My daughter is in Villy Vishnu (sp) which is about 2 hours away from the hotel. Alexey couldn't tell me much about my daughter other than to warn me that I most likely wouldn't be able to get much information about her birthparents. He did say that I would be able to find out her birthdate and Russian name (if she has one, he added) at the Ministry office and that I should ask all my questions regarding her birth family there as the orphanage staff likely would have no information on them.
Let's see... the hotel is very nice. My room is small, but clean and has a nice view of the street. There seems to be a lot of pedestrian activity in the evenings. It's 9:45 p.m. right now and still very light outside. I think sunset is around 11:30 or midnight. I had a terrific dinner at the hotel restaurant--grilled salmon with fried potatoes, onions and mushrooms. It was quite yummy. The hotel and restaurant staff are all very pleasant and speak English.
The town of Tver is a study in contrasts. The hotel I'm at is very modern, but immediately across the street I've been watching the local residents come to a well/fountain to get buckets of water for their homes. I'm not sure if it's for drinking or washing--I'll have to ask. I'm too tired to do much exploring today, but I plan to get out tomorrow evening for a bit and see what I can see. Until tomorrow...
~ Jeana
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Down to the Wire
Yesterday was fun--a two and a half hour drive each way to Tallahassee and back to get my documents apostilled. I'll have to do it one more time right before trip #2. Thank goodness for cruise control! All of the documents for trip #1 are ready, though, and all that's left is to pack for the trip. I'm SO excited! Just a couple more days...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)