Here is a day by day...
Saturday-Excitement. We excitedly stepped onto a plane that was taking us to our girl....then another, then another. Well, over a full day later we arrived.
Sunday-Sleep, sleep and more sleep. We arrived in Russia so tired that we couldn't even communicate. Our words were slurred, our eyes were red, and we started bickering with each other...so we gave up and went to bed.
Monday-It's still daylight? We woke up at 4AM unable to sleep any longer and yes it was already daylight. Not just dawn...full blown sunshine. We were really excited to meet our girl (and we went to bed just after lunch). So, we had breakfast and waited. Finally our driver and translator came. Off we go! We drove to pick up another couple who was there for their court date. They were visiting with their little boy who was in the same home as our girl. As we start chit chatting, we found out that he too graduated from Marshall. So, now it's official...every time Andy and I have been out of the country we have met someone from Marshall. It truly is a small world!
Our first stop of the day was the Ministry of Education's "office." We walked into a really rundown building. Our translator mumbled something to the guard. Then we walked up several flights of stairs. We walked into a room that couldn't have been larger than 8" X 8". There were five of us shoved inside! She told us they had received our documents and found a child that fit our requests. She showed us the picture I had found online weeks earlier and asked us to sign two papers. We were done....that's it??? I had heard so many stories of interviews gone bad, terrible treatment, and committees of people interviewing couples extensively. All we did was smile and shake our heads yes a couple times. Really????...Could it be that easy???
Next, the drive to the baby home was about 25-35 minutes from the city center. We just about died at least 20 times! The drivers there just go. They don't obey any laws, they don't avoid people and the lines on the road are more like suggestions. They constantly swerve back and forth...I think to help ensure that they hit every pothole in road.
Finally we arrive.
We were invited in by a very warm little woman who just keeps saying "welcome, welcome" (in Russian, of course). She had a very genuine smile and warm eyes. It instantly made me feel better. We were then directed to her office, she was the orphanage director. That made me feel MUCH better. After much conversation with our translator (not us) we were directed to a small room back by where we came in. Then, they all just left us alone. No explanation, no grunt, nothing. Andy and I just looked at each other, shrugged and had a seat assuming they were getting the baby. About 15 minutes later, in they came. Our girl! That is all we saw. The director mumbled something about mama and papa and tossed her at us.
She was so small and scared. It made my heart break. The director smiled and left the room. I guess she approved of us. The baby whimpered for a minute, then started checking us out. I would love to know what she was thinking. These two huge people (and we were huge compared to everyone we were around) were speaking gibberish and just oohing and awwing at her. We showed her some toys and some pictures of her family waiting at home...
...and the outside...
We carried her and held her. She wouldn't utter a single sound. Then, we tried to put her down to see if she could walk...whimper, whimper, whimper. Oh, she didn't want put down. She was already getting used to this being held business and oh, she liked it. So, we just held her. We held her together on the couch. We held her on the floor. We took turns holding her. All that mattered was that she was being held close to some one's heart. Finally, after a couple hours the director comes in and says she is ready for us. So, they take the baby back to her room and off we go to the director's office.
First she interviewed us. She asked us about our life, our jobs, our family. Then she asked us why we wanted another child if we already have two of our own. I guess we answered everything to her liking because her next question was "Do you like Yulia?"...Um, yes, of course. So, she goes on. We were seated around a table, learning all we could about our little girl's life before we met her. We were told about her birth parents and brother, her medical issues, her current measurements. We were shown a birth picture (the one from the MoE) and told we could have it after court. We were shown her birth parents passports...they looked sad. We were told everything about her...much more than I expected anyone to know. She was given up for economic reasons. Her parents couldn't afford and didn't want another child. They already had their son, so the daughter had to go. It was all I could do not to cry right then and there. (Trust me, I have since then.) Then in the corner of my eye I see something scurry by. My translator just nods and keeps on going. Then the director sees it too...a baby mouse looking for lunch. "Oy!, Oy!, Oy!,Oy!, Oy!" she screams with her feet in the air. Oh, this was much needed comic relief! The poor mouse ran for it's life, we all laughed really hard and then we left.
We spent the rest of the afternoon, running around town, trying not to throw-up from the car sickness, and signing necessary documents.
Tuesday-Play Time! All we had on our schedule was playtime with Julia and I loved it! We were up early again as we never did adjust to the new time zone. So, we had a very American style breakfast at the hotel and just waited for our driver and translator. We went straight to the baby home and waited in the same little room again. After about ten minutes, they brought her to us again. Yesterday we left the clothes we donated to the orphanage with the director. Today, Julia was wearing one of those outfits. It was too cute! She loved playing with the photo book we brought for her so we left it with her for her caregivers to read to her. I loved this time with her! But, it was sad that it was so short lived. I can't wait to have her home with us for good!!! On both days she would act a little bashful. Whenever we get her to smile, she would turn her face. So, I finally started holding the camera to the side to trick her. I did finally get a few good photos of her smiling!
Wednesday-Take off your shirt! Yes, you read it correctly. We had our medical exams. We drove up to this very old, rundown building. Here is the states it would have surly been condemned. We met the lady running the clinic. She was very sweet and funny! She told us "Welcome", and that "She respects our mission", along with a slew of other things in Russia. Oh, if only I'd learned to speak more Russian. Anyway, first up were the blood tests. I was told that we were to be tested for STD's and a few other things. Well, this lady draws SIX tubes of blood! SIX! I nearly fainted...literally! Then we went to several different specialists. A lung doctor, an infectious disease doctor, a neurologist, a cardiologist, a psychiatrist, a dermatologist, a general practitioner and an oncologist. I had to undress from the waist up for two of these...both in front of an open window. I was not impressed! Several hours later, we are finished and waiting for lab results from that morning's blood tests when the phone rings and the little lady I described earlier says "I have bad news...you don't have syphilis...ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!" She thought that was really funny! We didn't get it as she said it in Russian and our translator told us after the fact. But, the good news is we passed. So we did a little shopping, had an early dinner, and went to bed.
Thursday-Home Sweet Home!-We got up at 1:30AM to leave for the airport. We were staying on one of the islands that had bridges that stayed up during the night for boats and were only open for about 15 minutes in the middle for cars. So, we had to leave a little early. We weren't concerned. We figured this would just give us a head start to get through customs...laugh, laugh! "Customs" was one line with no one in it. Three, what had to be teenagers, shoved our luggage through an x-ray machine and told us have a good trip. We had to sit at the airport for hours. Then, we boarded our plane to head home...and then another and another. Finally, after being awake for over 28 hours straight, I was able to lay my clean (for the first time in 5 days) body in my clean, soft bed. I didn't get up for 14 hours!
After such an exhausting trip, I was able to come home with great news! We are tentatively scheduled for court on August 18Th! This is really quick for this region, this time of year. So, I am now praying that the last two documents we need that are out of our control will arrive in time. Thank you for all of your prayers during our travels! It feels great to be home!!!
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