Trip 2, Night 18: The Train to Moscow

Saturday August 7th:

Kathy, Alan, and Aleks Carda board a train in Kirov, Russia. It's destination? Moscow. The following is an account of the 12 hour trip.

As mentioned in the last blog entry, our trip started out very hectic. Bags were strewn all over the cabin, there was a broken glass sitting on the table, and two people were getting their very first experiences as being parents.

To say that we were clueless would be an understatement. We did get the glass cleaned up quickly, and made sure there weren't any small shards around. Alan got one of the other fathers to help move the large bags into one of the upper bunks. This freed up a lot of space.

The three families spoke for a short time in the hallway, slightly in shock that the children were ours. However, once the train was moving and the air conditioning had kicked in, each family closed their door. We stayed that way most of the rest of the trip.

Aleks was able to entertain himself for a few minutes at a time with the toys that we had brought with us. However, with such a small space to work in, and with two nervous people watching his every move (and nearly panicking if he came close to the metal bed frame), he quickly grew bored and cranky.

We took turns holding him, which he enjoyed. Each bunk had a rail that held a hand towel. Soon Aleks was holding on to the rail, and attempting to pull himself up on it. That was when we first started to realize just how strong he was. He could barely stand, could not yet walk, but he was able to pull himself about 4" off of the bed, using his arm strength.

Eventually, it was time for bed and we started trying to figure out how sleeping arrangements would go. We originally planned on setting luggage around a bunk so it would be crib-like. However, seeing his strength convinced us that he could probably pull any luggage over. We didn't want it toppling on to him, so we gave him a pile of soft blankets on the floor. He seemed to be happy with this, as he could look into the full length door mirror while he was laying down.

Just as we thought he was settling down, he shifted while the train was accelerating or decelerating. He bumped his head (lightly) against part of the train. Surprise turned into crying, which turned into an amazingly loud wailing.

When we received Aleks' referral, it mentioned that he was calm. We weren't quite sure what that had meant at the time. Once we met him, we learned. All throughout our first 3 visits, Aleks never cried. Not once. One time he fell, and started to cry, but we were able to distract him. Therefore, by the time we got on the train, we had never heard Aleks' LOUD voice.

The wailing was loud. All through the train car, we could hear room doors opening as people wondered who was murdering the child in room #6. We tried to comfort him, but he was having none of it. We tried to rock him and get him to fall asleep, but the wailing continued. We realized that we were supposed to have given him a nighttime bottle feeding by this time, but hadn't. Our bottles were packed, brand new, and hadn't been cleaned yet. Uh oh.

Kathy left the room to see if the German couple had a bottle we could borrow, while Alan tried to comfort Aleks. It was a huge shock to find out that our calm, happy, giggly child had one heck of a loud whiny side. Rocking him didn't help, bouncing him didn't help. Alan tried turning the lights off to soothe him, which only made things MUCH worse. Somehow, Aleks found an extra 10 decibels of volume to scream at. Finally, much to Alan and Aleks' relief, Kathy returned with a bottle of formula. Aleks instantly went quiet, happily sucking on his bottle.

After the bottle, Aleks decided he was going to play for a little while before he went back to sleep. Fearing another loud outburst, we let him play for as long as he wanted. When he decided he had enough, there was little warning. He laid down on his blankets, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and was almost instantly asleep. Kathy went to sleep soon afterward, fearing that he would wake up in the middle of the night. She chose one of the bottom bunks, so that she would be just inches from the little man.

Alan had chosen a top bunk, so as wife and child were falling asleep, he moved up there. He read for a short time, then turned off his light. We left one of the cabin lights on for Aleks. It made sleeping a little more difficult for the adults, but it kept Aleks content.

Alan woke up the next morning, before either Kathy or Aleks. He was amazed, Aleks had slept most of the night through. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as we thought it would be?

After about an hour, Alan heard something wet and sickening from the floor. Aleks opened his eyes, and gave a look that said he was very uncomfortable. Messy diaper. Knowing that the diapers we had bought were a bit big, and seeing the white railway blanket directly under Aleks, Alan jumped out of the bunk to check on the little guy. As he hit the ground, the smell hit him. Definitely messy diaper.

We were able to get Aleks changed before the diaper could leak, or Aleks could start to get fussy again. As we changed him, we realized it was a good thing the diaper was large. It was smelly and FULL. Alan took the diaper to a garbage in the hallway, and washed his hands. After he got back in, Kathy left to wash her hands and make Aleks another bottle for his morning feeding.

As Alan was bouncing Aleks on his knee, he again heard the wet sound emanate from Aleks' diaper. Say what? The little guy had just filled one diaper that was 2 sizes too big for him, and now he was going again 5 minutes later? Alan went to check, and sure enough, it was another large deposit. Since Kathy had changed diaper #1, Alan decided he'd better learn with #2.

Since we've had Aleks home, we've begun to learn the intricacies and variations of diaper contents. When said contents are larger or smaller than average, or the consistency changes, there is great debate within the household. Those of you without children are probably repulsed right now. How can someone spend so much time talking about poop? Those of you with children are just chuckling and nodding your heads.

By the time Kathy returned with a bottle, the room had become quite fragrant.
"Oh yuck, how does it smell even worse in here?"
"He had a second dirty diaper."
"NNOOOO."
"Yep. He deals in volume"
"Oh, I really hope that's not a sign of things to come"

After the morning feeding, we got Aleks dressed and ready to go. Our first night as parents had been relatively painless, except for our singed nostrils and watering eyes. As we were slowing down and moving through the outskirts of Moscow, we wondered if there was going to be rain. A thick fog hung over everything, and the color of the sky seemed to indicate that a storm was imminent.

We were able to depart the train after everyone else, so there was no rush to get all of our baggage out. As we got out, a pungent odor filled the air (that was NOT related to Aleks). It made Alan think of a combination of a forest fire, and an electrical fire. Alan asked our driver Ilya about this, he told us that there were underground fires surrounding the city.

We would learn much more about the fires over the next few days, keep tuned in to see how different Moscow was from our first few stops there.

Trip 2, Days 17 & 18: Paperwork, Passports and the Gotcha Day

Our last two days in Kirov were a blur of heat, paperwork, and preparation. We were quite exhausted by that time, so we did not do a lot or take many pictures during that time.

After having a chance to clean up at the hotel, we made our way back to the baby home. We were very happy to see Aleks that morning, as we knew that we were finally done with all of the hard work. He was our son, and we would be leaving for good the next night.

We played with the children in the morning, then went to lunch. Guess where we went to lunch? That's right, our favorite pizza place! Looking for something different, we tried their pasta. The pasta and toppings were good, but there was no sauce to go with it. Cooked pasta without sauce isn't very good.

In the afternoon, we alternated between playing with Aleks, and filling out paperwork. We practiced a lot more with the Baby Bjorn, and we also started getting information about Aleks' eating and sleeping habits. That day we also got Aleks' passport, which made it all seem very real. Finally, we made our way back to the hotel for the evening.

At the hotel, the three families decided to have dinner together in the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant had turned off their AC for the evening. Where it had been warm but dry on our first visit, this time the temp inside was close to 95 degrees. Luckily there was a table just outside the restaurant, where the temp was only 85. We compensated by drinking lots of beer.

After dinner, we decided to celebrate with some additional alcohol. We brought out a bottle of Vodka we had purchased, while the Irish couple brought out a bottle of Bailey's. Somehow, the entire bottle of Bailey's was consumed in short order. The women discussed important topics related to raising our three new sons, while the men discussed alcohol, US presidents, US politics (neither of these topics were brought up by Alan), and the World Cup matches that were going on that month. After a relaxing night of drinking and camaraderie, we retired to our room.

Saturday August 7th dawned sunny and exciting. It was Gotcha Day. We had spent our last night in the Kirov hotel; that evening, we would be leaving for Moscow with our son. We wouldn't be going to the baby home until the afternoon, so we were able to relax in the morning.

Alan spent a fair amount of time in the hotel lobby, using the internet connection. While there, he saw the new American, German, and Irish couples checking in to the front desk. One of the couples were very rude to the people at the front desk. They weren't happy with the rooms they were booked in, and were throwing a bit of a tantrum about it. Alan figured we were probably in the room that they wanted, so he didn't say anything to them.

After another lunch at our favorite pizza place, we went shopping. The first shopping area was the local mall. There were some clothes and souvenirs purchased by the other couples; we didn't really see anything that we needed or wanted. Our second stop was at the "baby store". It was here that our translator loaded us up with all of the essentials that we would need for taking care of a small child. Dry food, wet food, cereal, tea, diapers, wipes; we left with two large bags, and with our wallets significantly lighter than they had been when we went in.

The afternoon session with the children seemed to drag on for a long time. The group overlap meant that there were 7 sets of adoptive parents, and 7 children crammed into 2 medium sized rooms. When you add in the extreme heat and humidity, along with the anticipation of leaving Kirov soon, it made time slow way down.

Finally, it was time for us to pack up and leave. We changed Aleks' out of his orphanage clothes, and into the clothing we'd brought for him. We said our goodbyes to his caretakers, and got some final photos with them. We said goodbye to our coordinator, driver, and translator, and thanked them for all of the work they had performed on our behalf while we were in the country. Driving away from the orphanage, it began to dawn on us: We were parents, and we were CLUELESS!

When we arrived at the Kirov train station, we received a pleasant surprise: the train to Moscow was a newer train. Each of our previous trips had been on the "old" train, so this was a nice change. There were more media options, the decor was much nicer, and the AC worked a lot better (and faster).

Alan's Gripe of the Blog:
I got so flipping frustrated getting onto and off of the trains (dealing with luggage). The hallways are no wider than a standard large bag, so it's a pain to get to your room. We had 2 large bags, 2 computer bags, 2 smaller bags, a child, and his bag. There is always a rush to get on the train, so I wanted to wait and load things slowly. Kathy was holding Aleks, so she stayed outside where it was cooler. My plan was to get on and off the train, loading one bag at a time. Unfortunately our coordinator decided to help, tossing our bags onto the train all at once. That meant our bags were blocking the hallways for everyone else. So I had to rush through the hallway, cramming the bags into the room. In the mad rush, I broke a glass sitting on the table in our room (broken glass and new parents aren't a good mix). Why the heck did he make me hurry up so dang much, the train doesn't leave for another 30 minutes!?!?!

With all of our baggage packed into the room, it was time to go. How would our first night as parents go? You'll have to wait to find out!

Trip 2, Day 16: 3 Cities, 2 Trains, and no luggage

Our last day in St. Petersburg started very early thanks to thunderstorms during the night. We had the windows open, due to the heat and humidity the night before. The pounding rain rattled off the tin roofs of the surrounding buildings, and the thunder boomed through the courtyard. As the morning came, the sun came out. It was much cooler than it had been the past few days, finally approaching a comfortable heat and humidity level. Our train did not leave St. Petersburg until 1pm, so we were able to have a leisurely breakfast, and read while waiting for our transportation.

During our two trips, we each spent a lot of time reading. Kathy mostly stuck with her favorite genre, TRN (Trashy Romance Novels). She also used "Eat, Pray, Love" as a sleeping aid. Alan decided to spread his choices across a few genres. He read books 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. He also read two Dan Brown novels, two Steve Berry books, and the first two Stieg Larsson "The Girl" books. Lots of free time meant lots of reading.

Once our driver arrived, we made our way to the train station. We were happy to board the train, and head back to Moscow. Our second trip on the "fast train" was fairly sedate; we knew that we were going to have a hectic 90 minutes in Moscow before we left for Kirov, so we rested.

Around 5pm, we arrived in Moscow. As we got off the train, we quickly realized that the rain and cooler temperatures had NOT made it to Moscow. It was nearly 100 degrees as we exited the train. Our mountain of bags trailed us out of the train berth, through the train station, down a flight of stairs (NOT FUN), out to the sidewalk, and then 1/4 mile to the coffee shop on the opposite side of the station. That was where we would be meeting our coordinator, his son, and the two other couples we had made our 2nd trip with. We were nervous making our way over, as we knew that the other train was scheduled to leave by 7pm, and our coordinator had our tickets.

When we arrived at the coffee shop, we discovered two things. First: We were the first to arrive. Good news! Second: There was no place for us to sit downstairs. Bad news. The idea of lugging our bags up a narrow flight of stairs to a smoking room (for 10 minutes) was not appealing, so Alan volunteered to stay outside with the bags. Soon, the German couple arrived with our coordinator's son Ilya. They relayed some bad news: The Irish couple's luggage had not arrived in Moscow, so they would not have any supplies for the next 3 days!

A few minutes later, they arrived. Sure enough, they had made their transfer in Hamburg, but their luggage did not. They now faced a 12 hour train ride on a very hot and humid train without a change of clothes. As we made our way to the rail car, all of the families loaded up on water, snacks, and soda. With the heat beating down on us, I believe we each bought 2-3 liters of liquid per person.

After settling in our rooms, we looked for offerings we could make to our Irish friends. Alan lent a pair of shorts, Kathy lent some of her shirts. The German couple also found some clothing they could lend, so no one would get too overheated. We visited for a short time, talking about all of the adventures that we had encountered in the nine days since we had separated. Their experiences were much different from ours, as each of them had been able to return home, and even work for a few days.

The ride to Kirov that night was surreal. The heat inside the train was oppressive; the first two hours of travel felt like riding in a sauna. Outside of our train, the sky was streaked with many unnatural colors. This was caused by the setting sun, and the fires moving through the countryside. In addition, we swore that our train took a different path from our previous trips. In each of the 4 previous rides, there was a large town that we stopped in about 2 hours outside of Moscow. On this trip, the large town appeared much later, and was not laid out anything like the other. In addition, at one point we passed a very high, long bridge that crossed a river. The bridge was strung with red, blue, and white lights along it's entire length.

In the morning, we quickly gave ourselves baby wipe showers (not particularly effective or fun) and made our way to the Kirov hotel for the last time. With all of the tension of traveling and court complete, there was a lot of joking going on in the van. Our coordinator Andre (who did not speak or understand much English) was howling with laughter after Alan acted out a joke about Andre's wife only being happy to see him until after he gave her everything in his wallet.

At the hotel, we learned that there would be 4 more families arriving in Kirov the next morning. They would be coming in for their 2nd trip. It was very odd to finally be the veteran families, who knew what to expect, and where to go.

Next up: Paperwork, Passports, and Gotcha Day