Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Part 4 of 4: Cobblestones and Hobbled Hooves


As we mentioned in parts 2 and 3, we returned to Moscow (on the train from Kirov) on Thursday, June 17th. Rather than return to the US at that time, we stayed in Moscow until the following Monday. This extended vacation was courtesy of our friends at Delta, who felt they should charge $1600(!) more per person if we flew out on a Saturday or Sunday. Rather than spend $400 a night for a hotel downtown, we rented a 3 room apartment located in the heart of the city, on "Novy Arbat Street".

Our first impression of the building was not a good one. As we got off the elevator, there were locked doors to either side of us. A man wearing flip flops came out from one side, handed us a key, and showed us how to unlock the hallway door. The hallway to the apartment looked very scary, and we were a bit worried that we were overpaying for a bad room. Once we were in the apartment, our minds were quickly changed. The apartment was very spacious (compared to a hotel room), had a great view of the street, and provided all of the functionality we needed. The building didn't have running hot water, but there was an instant heater attached to the shower head, so we were able to have hot water for our showers.

After a quick settling in, our flippity floppity neighbor was nice enough to show us around the neighborhood. He showed us where some of the local shops were, and pointed out the location of a supermarket about 1/2 mile down the street. He also pointed out the signs for the Metro, and showed us one of the most innovative features of downtown Moscow. Rather than slow down traffic with pedestrian crossings, major Moscow streets are slightly raised, allowing pedestrian walkways to pass underneath them. One use was enough to convince us that every major US city should look into doing this.

Moscow is a city of 14 million, that is laid out similar to a wagon wheel. Major "Ring" streets circle the city, with highway-like spoke streets fanning out from the center. The innermost ring contains Red Square and the Kremlin, two of the most iconic Moscow locales.

Our first day was spent exploring Novy Arbat, and searching for the supermarket that our neighbor had pointed out. We never did find it (Kathy finally found more information online after we got home). Eventually we turned South, and entered Old Arbat Street (very similar to Nicollet Mall in Minnesota). Here we ate a wonderful meal at a street side cafe, looked in a few souvenir shops, and eventually found another supermarket, about 10 minutes from our apartment. We loaded up on food, wine, and water (LOTS of water), and headed back home.

Rather than watch TV while we were on Novy Arbat, our time was spent watching the street 22 floors below us. Rush hour started at about 5:30, and lasted until well after 10pm. The picture above was taken at about 9:30 at night, and the traffic heading down did not move for about 15 minutes. It was also very interesting watching the center lane. Police cars, ambulances, and government vehicles (traveling both directions!) all used the lane, often at high speeds. On more than one occasion, we saw two vehicles speeding towards each other, just barely wedge their way into traffic, and then accelerate once again.

On Friday, June 18th, after we had completed our 8-doctor medical, Kathy decided that we were going to go to a German pub called "Beer House". We weren't quite sure where it was, so Alan used his web scanning skills to find the address (on a fully Russian language page of Google Maps, no less!) We put on our walking shoes, and set out for some German Beer. The walk to and from Beer House was very nice. We walked along one of the Ring streets, in a parkway that divided the north and south driving lanes. There were many fountains and statues, dedicated to various Russians throughout history.

Once we arrived at Beer House, the atmosphere was unfortunately... let's just call it ambivalent. The greeter showed us into the restaurant but then forced for us to go ahead of him(very odd), the waitresses avoided eye contact with the patrons that wished to be served food, and Kathy's entree - grilled cheese (literally, a large flat piece of cheese that was grilled on either side) was brought to the table almost 10 minutes after Alan's Schnitzel had arrived. We were getting used to some of the differences in Russian culture, but that place stood out as particularly unfriendly. After the walk home, it was time for more relaxation and watching the Novy Arbat channel.

Saturday morning, we decided to make the big trip: Red Square, the heart of Moscow. We knew that Novy Arbat led to the center of town, and we were able to see the towers of the Kremlin from our apartment, but otherwise we were ill prepared for what the day held. The closer we got, the more the red castle walls of the Kremlin towered over us. We weren't quite sure where Red Square was, so we first tried going south. Soon we were at the river, and still the Kremlin walls blocked our path. Kathy went inside a ticket building (Alan stubbornly refused to get directions), and had soon purchased 2 tickets to tour the Kremlin. After an aborted first attempt to enter (no large bags are allowed), we eventually made it in.

The Kremlin is still the functioning seat of government in Russia, but it is very different than any other place we had seen. Originally a fortress built to repel invading forces, there were many government buildings and churches concentrated in a small area. The churches were absolutely breathtaking. All of them were at least 400 years old, with two dating back to the early 1300s. Inside, every inch of wall or ceiling was painted or gilded. One church housed the tombs of the Ryurikovich and Romanov families, another featured a gigantic mural of the apostles. As an American, it was very overwhelming to know that the floor we stood on had been laid 100 years before Christopher Columbus was even born.

We were surprised at how beautiful the Kremlin gardens were. Very large, stretching almost the entire length of the eastern wall, flowers were planted to form very ornate patterns when viewed from above. We also saw the Tsar's Bell (a bell so large it wouldn't fit in the cathedral it was built for) and the Tsar's Cannon (too large to move into a firing position). After a few hours, it was time to leave the Kremlin, and continue our search for Red Square.

As we continued our walk further north, nature began calling us. We saw signs for a Water Closet (WC), and began heading down flight after flight of stairs. When we reached the WC, we found out they were pay toilets. There was an attendant stand, and we each paid 20 rubles (about 70 cents) to proceed further. Just beyond the stand, there were signs for a food court. We decided to go that way, and discovered that we had taken a back entry into a large underground mall. The ceiling was at ground level, and had huge skylights which let in plenty of natural light. However, this wasn't Red Square, so we continued on our journey.

I've just noticed how long this blog entry is, and realized that the time has grown very late. Will we ever make to Red Square? What did we do on Sunday? Did we make it home okay, or was our plane pulled out of the sky by a freak electromagnetic event caused by a bearded British guy not entering lottery numbers into a computer? Find out tomorrow in part 5 (of 4): Overtime.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Part 3 of 4: 9 stamps, 6 faces


Thursday morning (June 17th), our train arrived in Moscow. We had a day of sightseeing before our medical appointment, that day will be covered as part of Blog #4.

Friday morning, we woke up very early. It may have been nerves, but it may have also been the hot and sunny room. The combination of an Eastern facing apartment, very sheer curtains, a Northern latitude (sunrise was before 4am) and a defective husband (didn't figure out the AC unit controls until the last day) resulted in a super-bright, super-hot bedroom at 6:00 am.

At 11:00 am, it was time to leave. Our driver and translator met us outside our building, and we were off. We were informed that the cost per person varied, depending on the exchange rate, so we should have at least 50,000 rubles in cash, when we arrived at the hospital. Kathy and Tanya (our very nice translator) went to exchange dollars for rubles, while Alan chatted about sports cars with our driver. While we were in Russia, the exchange rate varied between 30 and 31 rubles per dollar.

As we arrived at the hospital, Tanya gave us a little information about what would happen. She said the hospital we were going to was very good; whenever Prime Minister Putin needed medical attention, this was where he went to be treated.

Once inside, we went into a large conference room; Eight different doctors would come into the room, appearing as their schedules allowed. Each was a specialist in a certain area, and they would review our medical information as it applied to their specialty. There was another woman in the room, who was also going through the adoption process. She was immediately sent out of the room to get Xrays: During her travel to Russia, she forgot them in an airport bathroom.

The first doctor to arrive was the Tuberculosis specialist. Although she was smiling the entire time, her demeanor was very stern. Through the interpreter, she grilled Alan for about 5 minutes.
"Do you have TB?" "No"
"Has anyone in your family ever had TB?" "No"
"Do you have trouble breathing?" "No"
"Did you take a full breath during the xray?" "Yes"
"Why are your lungs small then?" "I don't know"
"Do you cough a lot?" "No"
"You sound wheezy. Why?" "I have allergies"
"Hmmm. What type of allergies" "Typical spring / summer allergies"
"What specific allergies?!?" "Uh, grass pollen and ragweed" "Hmmmm"

After that, she wrote 5-6 pages of notes, spreading them on the table. By this time, Alan was convinced that he was going to be hospitalized, even though he felt fine. The doctor turned to Kathy, and it was her turn.
"Do you have TB?" "No"
She wrote 2 lines of notes on another sheet of paper, and with that, she signed off.

After that, it was fairly smooth sailing.

The skin specialist made us take our shirts off behind a (very) small privacy wall. Alan was told that he should have his skin tags removed. The neurologist swooped in before we had our clothing back on, to do a quick tap of the knee. The family doctor and our translator had trouble translating the word Thyroid (Alan solved the problem by tapping on the side of his neck). The oncologist asked Kathy whether she was getting regular breast exams, then told us that we were too young to get cancer. The infectious diseases doctor took a look at the tests we had done in MN and signed off without asking us a single question.

Finally, we were waiting for the 7th doctor (who covered both psychology and drug addiction). All of a sudden, the facility coordinator arrived with our paperwork fully signed, stamped, re-signed, re-stamped, and approved. The 7th doctor was so impressed with the letter of approval that she didn't even want to meet with us. (our adoption agency provided us the template, we had our US psychologist retype and sign)

Overall, the process was quite painless. We spent less than 2 hours at the hospital, 4 hours total, and the cost was 21000 rubles each, which left us with 8000 rubles to spend over the next 3 days.

How ever could we spend that much? Check back tomorrow for the final blog entry on our Russian adventure.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Part 2 of 4: First Contact


Once we arrived in Kirov, we were ready to go straight to the orphanage. However, there was other business to take care of. First we went to the hotel, dropping off our bags. The hotel was an interesting hodge podge; some rooms had been recently renovated (like ours), others were extremely dated (Gene & Cara received one of those rooms). From the hotel, we were driven to the Ministry of Education. Andre, the coordinator, needed to drop off some paperwork. Finally, we were on our way to the orphanage.

We arrived at the building and were shown to a big open room where we would wait to meet the children. Maura and Michael (an English couple that were also adopting), were already in the room playing with a little girl. We introduced ourselves and soon found out that they were completing the adoption process that day. They were picking up their little girl and would be departing that afternoon for Moscow. Maura and Michael were extremely helpful in filling us in on details of what to expect over the next hours, days, and weeks. They also gave us good information about the food and drink options in Kirov.

At this time, we also met a wonderful lady named Olga who would be our translator over the next couple of days. After verifying our name and the name of the child we were adopting, she left to go get our son. Both of our families nervously awaited Olga’s return, anxious to see who would meet their child first.

Finally, the moment arrived. Our little boy was brought in first, a wonderful, beautiful, happy little boy. He is so big now, and looks nothing like the picture we received for the referral. Our first thought was, “Did they bring us the right child?” He is as blond as can be with beautiful blue eyes. Later, we found out that Gene used his video recorder to capture the moment that we met little A.

Our boy is so good natured, and so big; we had a number of 9 month old outfits, but we don’t think any are going to be big enough for him. He crawls all over the place, and loves walking when he is hanging on to our hands. He can also pull himself up. Kathy was lying on her side, and he crawled over to her, and pulled himself up. Alan of course had him laughing and giggling within the first 15 minutes we were playing with him.

After soaking in the enjoyment of meeting the chap, we did the basic medical checks that were suggested by our adoption doctor. He has a really strong grip, and can hold items in either hand. We put a rattle on either side of his head and shook it to make sure he could hear it. There is definitely nothing wrong with his hearing. We did the same type of thing for his eyes, moving the rattle from side-to-side. He passed all of the tests with flying colors, and surpassed our expectations of his development.

After an exciting morning, the three families left the orphanage to have some lunch. We went to a local café in Kirov, that had excellent food. It was very enjoyable getting to know the other couples, but each of us were distracted thinking about the children waiting for us at the orphanage.

In the afternoon, we met the orphanage director. She spent a lot of time trying to sell us on A being “a good healthy boy, worthy of adoption”. She didn’t need to do that though; we were hooked on him from the first moment we saw him. When they brought us paperwork to sign stating that we officially wanted to petition the court, we couldn’t sign it fast enough.

Once the paperwork was done, we spent more time with A. Alan used his “Uncle Al-Pal” powers to discover what A enjoyed doing most. He enjoyed chewing and drooling on the soft toys we brought, and had some interest in a little truck that stacked up with blocks. But A’s true favorite activity was bouncing. He absolutely loves to bounce, never taking a rest. Alan would hold on to him, lift him into the air, and the giggling permeated the room. When his feet touched the ground again, he would bounce 3 times, and then gaze expectantly at Alan, waiting to be lifted into the air again. Over and over, he was a bouncing maniac. We decided that one of his nicknames was definitely going to be Tigger, because bouncing was absolutely his thing.

Eventually, it was time to leave. None of us wanted to leave the children there, but there had been so much time spent playing and bouncing, that all of us (including the children) needed to rest. Maura and Michael departed early to catch the train to Moscow, while the rest of us returned to the hotel. That night, we had dinner and drinks with Cara and Gene at the hotel restaurant (pectopaHt in Cyrillic).

On the second day, we spent more time playing with the chap. We had about a 45 minute wait to start the day, as our little guy hadn’t slept well overnight. He was still recovering from the pneumonia that developed while he was in the hospital, and we had worn him out! Later on the 2nd day, Olga took us up to the baby room. We got to see where he sleeps, and each got to help feed him. We also saw all of the other babies in his room (all adorable).

During the afternoon of the second day, A started to get a little fussy. He was very tired, due to the exertion from the first day, and the changes in his schedule on the second. Otherwise, A never seemed to get upset. Once, he dropped a plastic block on his head, and started to cry. It only took 5 seconds of Alan blowing bubbles on his belly, and he was giggling again like nothing had happened.

Finally, it was time to leave. Taking A back up to his room was heart wrenching for us, because we knew this was the last time we’d get to see him for at least a month. It was a somber ride to the train station that night, but we knew we would be back soon. Luckily the dining cart had good beer and good vodka. Soon we celebrating our good fortune at the opportunity to adopt such wonderful children.

The whole experience was amazing. We feel blessed and so grateful for the opportunity to be parents to this beautiful little boy. We are expecting to receive an official court date soon, and are hopeful that court and the 10 day waiting period will pass without incident. We are not able to post any pictures of him yet, as we need to wait until both of those events occur.

Tomorrow: The 8 Doctor Medical (insert dramatic music)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Part 1 of 4: The Road to Kirov


“Of course I am sure. You go tonight. You be in Kirov already tomorrow morning.” With those words, our well laid plans for our first Russia trip became irrelevant, and we stepped through the looking glass.

We left St. Paul on Sunday morning, the 13th of June. Our first flight to Atlanta was uncomfortable but also uneventful. Upon leaving the gate on our Moscow flight, the power promptly failed, necessitating a return to the gate, and a wait of over an hour. Finally, we departed the US, and after a 10 hour flight (and 9 hour time change), we arrived in Moscow on Monday at approximately 11 AM.

Our original schedule had us resting in Moscow for just over 24 hours, and then traveling to Kirov Tuesday evening via train to arrive early Wednesday. Less than 3 hours into our hotel stay, the phone rang. It was Ilya, a representative from the adoption coordinators:

Ilya: “We will be there at 5 PM to pick you up.” (It was 3:30 at the time)
Kathy: “Today?!?!?!?”
Ilya: “Yes, you go to Kirov tonight”
Kathy: “Are you sure? We were told we were leaving tomorrow.”
Ilya: “Of course I am sure. You go tonight. You be in Kirov already tomorrow morning.”

We had been warned that plans could change quickly, once we arrived in Moscow. Even so, we were a bit grumbly that we would not be able to use the comfortable bed we had just used lots of Marriot Rewards points to purchase. Eventually we decided that meeting our little man a day early outweighed the value of a bed, and we were off. We showered quickly, re-packed our stuff, and headed out.

At the train station, we were introduced to another couple heading to Kirov to adopt, Cara and Gene (from Houston). They were traveling to adopt a 3 year old boy. Just before 7pm Monday evening, we boarded the train. Our driver Constantin gave us a few words of wisdom before the train took off:
  1. Andre (our coordinator) would be in a room a few cars ahead of ours.
  2. We should speak to the attendant if we wanted to lock our rooms while we went to eat dinner.
  3. We would arrive in Kirov at approximately 7:50am the next morning, Andre would meet us on the platform at that time.
  4. (This would prove to be most important) When using the bathroom, all paper products must be thrown in the trash.

With those words of wisdom, our 500 mile journey northeast to Kirov began.

The train ride itself was quite an adventure. For those familiar with the Harry Potter books, think “Hogwarts' Express.” We were lucky to have a Russian gentleman that spoke some English in the room next to us. He pointed out landmarks along the way, that we would not have noticed otherwise.

Since we were traveling very close to the summer solstice, the sun did not set until about 11 PM, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the views. Unfortunately, sunrise was around 3 AM, a mere 4 hours after sunset. Along with the constant motion of the train, this made sleeping quite a challenge.

We were up early the next morning, ready to get off the train at the designated time of 7:50am. Fortunately, the nice man in the room next to us stopped us from exiting the train. What we didn’t realize was that the train had encountered some delays during the night, so our arrival in Kirov was postponed. Had he not stopped us, we would have gotten off the train a few towns (and approximately 75 miles) early! Cara and Kathy spent the next 90 minutes gazing longingly out the train windows, waiting to see Kirov roll in to view. Finally, at approximately 9:30 AM on Tuesday, after more than 14 hours on the train, we arrived in Kirov.

Tune in tomorrow for our next entry, meeting our son.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The time has come!


Greetings PBC blogospherians,

we've got good news! After five weeks in the hospital, our little chap has been released! While a hospital stay that long sounds very serious to the American sensibility, we've discovered that the Russian hospital system is almost a complete opposite of ours. The first two weeks were hospital mandated recovery time from his surgery (the actual recovery time is five days). During that time he caught the flu, so he had three additional weeks of mandated recovery time.

Unfortunately, there were communication difficulties between the hospital, orphanage, our adoption agency, and us. Since his first trip to the hospital, we have scheduled and canceled three trips to Russia.

Finally, we can say that Trip #4 is a go. We've had the tickets scheduled for a few weeks now, but after scheduling and re-scheduling our trip so many times, we didn't want to jinx it. Soon we'll be off to Russia, to meet our little guy for the first time. Both Kathy and I are very excited to finally be heading over. The next few weeks are going to be a flurry of activity!

Information will be spotty until we return from Russia. To those who already know various details, we ask that you keep them private. Until we sign the papers of intent to adopt, there is always the possibility that something can change.

Going radio silent,
Agent Al-Pal