Highlights of Our Trip to Russia - Nizhny Novgorod

Sunday, January 11, 2009 we boarded a train from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod to meet our little angel. We were very excited at the thought of riding a train. We travelled on Amtrak once from Florida to Ohio to see my family. It was a great adventure - we loved it. So, we were looking forward to a railway adventure in Russia.

Max helped us find our compartment. We had 4 bunks, two uppers and two lowers, and a table. It seemed fine to us but, apparently, we were supposed to be in a "classier" compartment. We would never have known the difference. However, the train ride back to Moscow was much more comfortable. I'll discuss that later in this post.

Here we are -

don't we look cozy?

The train ride was uneventful until about 5:30am when I decided to take a nose dive off my bunk. I am such a klutz! All I kept thinking was, "Great, I'm going to break my neck on a train in the middle of no where in Russia!" The bunks were so high that I had to step up on the table to get on it. Standing, the bunk was taller than my shoulder. I really hurt myself and ended up with large bruises under my arm and on my side. It hurt so much I had tears in my eyes but I felt so stupid I was laughing at the same time. Don woke up and couldn't figure out if I was really hurt or not. We still laugh about it.

We arrived in Nizhny about 7:30am. Our facilitator, Julia, picked us up at the train station and took us to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Oktyabrskaya. It was very nice. We checked in and thought we had time for breakfast and clean up before we went to the Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, our appointment was at 9:00am and we thought it was at 10:00am. We had less than an hour before Julia would pick us up. Sometimes, I wonder why I try to plan anything. I wanted to eat some breakfast, shower, put on some makeup, and put my contacts in. I had this hangup about our Angel seeing me with glasses on - I feel like they make me look old and matronly! Needless to say there wasn't quite enough time to accomplish all that. Of course, Don looked like a million bucks! Men, they have it so easy! We made it to our appointment on time and that is what was important.

We have already posted on our experiences at the Ministry of Education and spending time with our Angel (see She's the One God Chose for Us and Our Last Day with Our Little Angel).

I wanted to give some highlights of the region in this post.
We absolutely loved Nizhny Novgorod. The hotel was across from the Volga river and it was beautiful; very different compared to Moscow. Here is the view from our room.

We told them we want the same room when we come back!

Each day we had Julia drop us off at

what they call the pedestrian walk.

It is a brick walk and no vehicles

are allowed. There are shops, banks,

restaurants, and street vendors

selling arts and crafts. We really

enjoyed walking and checking out

the shops.

We also visited a grocery store - we actually spent close to an hour just walking up and down the aisles trying to read the labels and checking out the different items. We bought some brown bread and cheese for dinner one night and really enjoyed our meal. We have no idea what type of cheeses we had but they were very good.

The walk back to our hotel was very enjoyable. Everyday we walked along the Volga river. It was very cold and snowed several times. Somehow, we did not mind. I think we were on such a high spending time with our Angel and anticipating our next meeting. The snow and views were beautiful.

There were Christmas trees and decorations everywhere. The Russian Christmas Holiday is the first two weeks of January. A short walk from our hotel was a plaza with ice sculptures. They were beautiful and many had lights inside them so they seemed to glow.

Remember, from our previous posts, we met our little Angel on my birthday. Here is a picture of the gift she gave me.

I have it sitting on my dresser. I look at Santa every day when I wake up and I think about my Angel giving it to me - my first birthday present from our daughter! Wow, that seemed strange - to call her "our daughter". How amazing is that!!!!

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Nizhny and look forward to returning. The city was so beautiful in the snow, we can't imagine how beautiful it would be in the spring time. However, Julia told us we may be coming back before their spring starts. That will be okay with us. We are happy to have spent time in Nizhny and we really want to make sure our Angel knows about her culture and the city where she was born.

After our last visit with our daughter, we went back to our hotel to pack. We were both feeling very sad. We hated to leave. Julia's husband picked us up at the hotel about 10:00pm and took us to the train. What a different experience. Our compartment was beautiful with flowers on the table and only two bottom bunks - whew - I didn't have to worry about falling again!

As you can see, this compartment was very different from our previous trip. We were quite comfortable but we both had trouble sleeping. We talked about our visit with our daughter and discussed plans to get back to bring her home.

We know that God was responsible for getting us this far and only He can provide for us to return and complete our adoption. We made a promise to our little girl that we will be back to bring her home. We will be praying without ceasing.

Therefore, I tell you , whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24

Thanks for following our journey,

Elizabeth

Highlights of Our Trip to Russia - Moscow

Well, we started this post on January 17, 2009. We really wanted to share the highlights of our trip but we both became sick with bronchitis, sinusitis, and various other bugs! We passed these bugs back and forth for the past 6 weeks. I have to admit, this week is the first I have felt somewhat human.

Now, to get on with our posting. When we left Southwest Regional Airport on January 10, 2009 we were full of anticipation and a bit anxious. Neither Don nor I have travelled over the Atlantic or the Pacific. We have only travelled in North and South America. This was a great adventure for us. Here is Don at the airport - why did I take this picture in front of the restrooms!!! I never even noticed them - like I said we were a bit anxious! We traveled from Fort Myers to New York on Jet Blue. Our flight was very nice and the plane was comfortable.

We then flew from New York to Moscow on Aeroflot. Our backpacks (see Not Just Another New Year's Eve) and carry-on fit well in the overhead compartments. We were happy to have our clothes for our meeting with the Ministry of Education with us. Loosing luggage is always a worry.

We were very impressed with the flight and the service. They fed us a lot! My only complaint was that there was the cutest little girl sitting behind me who kicked the seat the entire trip. As much as it kept me awake, I kept telling myself "you'll have one of those cuties soon, so let it be."

Actually, we had a wonderful experience every step of the way. We arrived in Moscow late afternoon on Saturday and we were greeted by our driver, Max. He was very friendly and took us to our hotel and helped us get checked in. We thought we learned enough Russian to be able to get by but we soon realized we had no clue what people were saying unless they said,"Hello"; "Goodbye"; "Thank you"; or "Please"!!! Thank heaven we learned to say, "I don't understand" and "Do you speak English." Note to self: Learn more Russian before trip #2!

We stayed at the Marriott Tverskaya - it was lovely. We were so exhausted, we ate at the restaurant off the lobby and went to bed by 9:00pm. Although our budget was tight, we promised ourselves we would try some caviar. Little did we know they serve caviar with everything. Here is our meal - actually appetizers - caviar with blinis (pancakes), assorted fresh fish, and various accompaniments for the blinis. Everything was very tasty! The service was excellent and the servers got a kick out of us taking photos of the food! What can I say, we're tourists and I'm a scrapbooker - just got to chronicle everything!

I think Moscow is very cosmopolitan - it could be any city in USA. Here is the view from our room. On Sunday, we were met by our facilitator's wife, Anna. She took us on a tour of Moscow. It was very cold but we enjoyed our sight seeing. We rode the subway and visited Red Square, the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Cathedral of our Saviour, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We walked most of the day and the temperature was about -10F. It was quite cold when we stopped to look at the sights. We were warm as long as we kept moving. We noticed that everyone seemed to walk very fast. At first we did not understand why but after our tour we realized it's the only way to stay warm!

Note to self: Wear toe warmers next time I take a walking tour in below freezing weather!

We really enjoyed visiting the Cathedral of Our Savior - it was magnificent. We were able to go inside but could not take photos. It was absolutely amazing! A must see when in Moscow. This is not the greatest photo - it was snowing and quite cold - trust me, it is beautiful.

While on our tour, we just happened to arrive at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier when they were changing guards. Apparently, they stand in the shelter for one hour then change. It was very interesting.

After our tour, we went back to our hotel to rest. We tried to sleep but we both could not stop thinking about our little angel. We had her bear on the table holding our favorite photo of her. We shared our anticipation about meeting her and about the Ministry of Education meeting. We both felt very excited to finally be at this point in the adoption process. Max picked us up at about 10:00pm to take us to the train station. We were going to take a train overnight to our region. I will post on that tomorrow.

We are just full of praise and joy to have been to Russia to meet our little Angel. We know that it is faith that got us this far and we have faith we will return to bring her home.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

Until tomorrow,

Don and Elizabeth

Our Last Day with Our Little Angel

Wednesday, January 14, 2009, our last day with our Angel.

We arrived at the orphanage about 10:00 am. Our little angel was waiting for us and had a big smile on her face when we walked in. She also had her coat and hat with her, she was hoping to go to the amusement park again. When Julia told her we were going to stay at the orphanage and play, she seemed to be fine with it. We came armed with two bags of goodies to play with.

First, we had bubbles but we could not blow any bubbles - she was a bit disappointed and quickly said in Russian, "I don't like bubbles!". A word of advice, do not leave bubbles in the car in below freezing weather, we think that was the problem.

Next, we took her a Play-Doh kit with 20 different colors of Play-Doh and various cookie cutter-type tools. Don and I practiced our colors in Russian that morning before we went, so that was helpful.

We spent close to an hour working with the Play-Doh. She seemed to enjoy it. I highly recommend this for any adoptive families. It provided us time to interact with her and work on things together. Julia took alot of photos of us interacting with her so we have them to show the judge when we go to court to finalize the adoption.

When she was tired of the Play-Doh, we encouraged her to help clean up. It was very interesting, she put everything back into the box almost exactly as it was.

Next, we had her trace her hand, my hand, and Don's hand. She giggled the whole time. Then she drew us a picture of clouds, the sun, a yucca tree (a fir tree or Christmas tree), and a palm tree. When we asked her why she drew a palm tree she said she saw it in the photo of "...our house" in the album we gave her. We took this as a good indication she was getting accustomed to the idea of coming home with us. Once she was finished drawing, we took measurements so we could buy her clothes for the trip home. She was so funny when I was measuring her. First, she didn't understand but once she realized what we were doing she decided to help. When I was measuring her arm length, I told Don the number and he wrote it down. After that, once I held the tape together, she called out the numbers to Don. It was so cute - Don and I were smiling the whole time.

Then she decided she needed to show us how she can dance. What a ham! She danced, did cartwheels, and gymnastic moves. We were very impressed and she was really showing off. Later, the director of the orphanage told us she is very active and outgoing. The orphanage has plays and activities, she is always involved, and often has a solo part.

Soon it was time to end our visit. Sadly, Don and I prepared ourselves to leave. We told our angel that we wanted to be her Mama and Papa and that we would like her to be part of our family. Julia translated for us and asked her if she would like this. She shook her head "yes". My heart jumped and tears filled my eyes. When I looked at Don, he had tears in his eyes also. It was a moment we will remember forever.

As we were preparing to leave, we told her we had one more gift for her. Then we pulled out the bear. Her face lit up! We told her we had a message for her and squeezed the paw. She smiled really big and asked to take a picture of the bear. So we held the bear for her and she took a picture with the digital camera. Then she put her arms out for the bear, we handed it to her, she hugged it, and then squeezed the paw to listen to our message again. It was touching.

As she was leaving, we asked her for hugs, reluctantly, she gave us both a hug and left the room with all her gifts in hand. We just hated to leave her. Tears are filling my eyes as I type this now.

I am not sure how to describe the feelings Don and I shared on our flight home. It is like we have this sense of desperation. We just left our child half way around the world and we have to get back to get her as soon as we can. Yet, we are limited right now by the finances needed to complete the adoption process to bring her home.

It is by the grace of God we were able to get this far in the adoption process. We have to believe that God will show us the way to complete our adoption and that He will provide.

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1

Thanks for following our journey,
Elizabeth

She's The One God Chose for Us

Sorry we have not had time to post. We have been quite busy. Don and I finally are here in the business center with a few minutes to share our days with those of you following our adventure.

Yesterday was our day to meet our little angel. We started the morning at the Ministry of Education (MOE) to get permission to visit the orphanage. Everyone was tickled that it was my birthday. We had been told we would have a short interview and to be prepared for some specific questions. We were ready for that but they never asked a single question. Perhaps my birthday distracted them!

After the MOE appointment, we went to the orphanage which was in the middle of the city. We first met with the Director and the physician to get additional information about our little girl. We were also allowed to ask specific questions about her health, background, family, etc.... After our questions were answered, they called for one of the caregivers to bring our angel into meet us. Don and I were nervous about meeting her.

When the door opened and she walked into the room, my heart jumped. I looked at Don and he was smiling so big - she was the cutest little girl with pig tails, a lime green sweater, denim skirt, leggings, a pink pig backpack, and silver sparkling shoes. She had a bubbly personality. The director told her to take us to another room. She, confidently, walked down the hallway with her shoes clicking all the way - she certainly enjoyed the way they sounded on the linoleum floor.

An interpreter was with us and we had a nice visit. The director came in after about 30 minutes and told our little angel that it was my birthday and they disappeared for a few minutes. She came back with a gift for me - this brought tears to my eyes - my first birthday gift from my child! Our visit seemed a bit overwhelming for her so we did not stay much longer.

After we left the orphanage, we went to lunch with our facilitator and discussed if we wanted to make our adoption of this little girl official. Without hesitation, we said "yes". We are sure she is the one God chose to be our little girl!

Today, our facilitator picked us up around 9:00am and we went to the notary to make it official that we want to adopt her. After our notary appointment, we took our little angel to lunch and then we went to a children's arcade similar to Chuck E Cheese. She had a great time! Playing and laughing. We took lots of photos and she took lots of photos also - she loves the digital camera!

We also shared a photo album with her today. We had photos of our house, cats, family, Don and me feeding a giraffe at Busch Gardens, and a photo of her room. We told her we wanted to paint her room and make it special for her. We brought paint samples from Home Depot with us and spread them out and told her to pick the colors she likes for her room. She picked an aqua, pink, and yellow. And, she told us she wants "cartoon heroes" painted on the walls! When we asked what she meant she said like princesses. She seems to be a typical 9 year old little girl! She is very healthy and extremely bright. She is in the third grade and gets very good marks in school. She even counted for us in English! She seems appropriate for her age in all ways.

We learned two things that were very surprising. First, she does have a slight medical problem, she has "flat feet"! Ha, she gets that from Don's side of the family :0) And second, she was born on my father's birthday! He is no longer with us but Don and I know he would be thrilled that our little girl shared this day with him. He is smiling in heaven right now.

We will see her again tomorrow morning for a few hours then we travel to Moscow on the train late tomorrow evening. It will be a sad day for us. We both can't imagine having to leave her. Our time away will be difficult.

We will not post again until we are home. Thanks for following our journey.
Praising God for this blessing,
Don and Elizabeth

Pinch Me! Are We Really Here?

Yes, we are really in Moscow, Russia. After a grueling 9 1/2 hour flight, a cute little girl kicking my seat all the way, and some hefty turbulence we arrived safely in Moscow. We arrived at our hotel around 4:30pm yesterday. We had a quick bite to eat and we were tucked snuggly in bed by 8:00pm exhausted but still very excited about this adventure.

Today, we toured Moscow with Anna. It was very COLD and lightly snowing but absolutely amazing! Anna was a great tour guide. We also had a wonderful lunch of borscht, mushroom pie, beef pie, and some type of meatballs with pasta - all was very tastey!

We leave tonight at 11:00pm on the train to our region. We will meet our little angel tomorrow.

Thanks for following our adventure,

Don and Elizabeth

It's Almost Time

Well, it has been a very hectic first week of January. Classes started for both Don and me and, as usual, I am flying by the seat of my pants. Trying to get my classes organized as well as prepare for our trip.

Funny, for 2 1/2 years we knew this time would come, you'd think we would be better organized. So much to do and many decisions to make.

1. We went to the bank back in December to get the money we would need to carry into Russia. We thought we had pretty decent bills. It is critical that we only take fairly new or like new, crisp bills - no wrinkles, no tears, no marks, no folds - you get the picture. Well, tonight we decided to check the bills and decided that almost half of them will not be acceptable! Ugh! A few can be ironed to get the wrinkles out but the rest will need to be replaced. At least Don offered to go back to the bank - he is better at things like that.
2. It is a courtesy to take small gifts to those who assist us in Russia. We will have translators, facilitators, director of the orphanage, caregivers, etc.... We thought we were finished with getting our gifts and decided (this week) they were not appropriate for our first trip. So, we were out searching for Florida type gifts to take with us. Not a big deal, but one more thing to add to our "to do" list. I must say, though, I am happy with our new selections - everything is from Florida! We got little sample bottles of Gator Hammock sauce (yummy), chocolate covered orange peels (makes my mouth water just typing it), cool Florida postcards shaped like palm trees, nice key chains shaped like the state of Florida, and boxes of citrus candies. Very Florida!
3. Boots, coats, hats, gloves! Okay, so why do we live in Florida? So we don't have to worry about winter apparel! What a challenge for us. We finally settled on our coats and boots. We also threw in some wool socks and long underwear - we should be fine (we hope). Last weather check, it was -4F and 2 inches of snow where we will be going. Not too bad! Hey, we both walked three miles a day in 6 feet of snow to get to school and back :0)

Actually, we are moving along with gathering everything into the spare bedroom. Tomorrow morning we will get out the suitcases and start packing. I think we have it under control.

I will try to post one more time before we leave on Friday. We have been told there are cybercafes and most hotels have business centers. We will try to post updates on our adventure when we can. In the meantime, please pray that we have a safe, uneventful flight to the other side of the world to meet our little angel.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Happy New Year - 2009

Well, here we are New Year's Day 2009. It seems several New Year's Days have come and gone since we started this adventure. Finally, we will be meeting our child in 11 days. Wow! It is hard to believe. It seems unreal. We've waited so long for this time to arrive. Now we are one week away from leaving to meet our little angel on the other side of the world. Every so often an anxious thought creeps into my mind and I have to "shoo" it away. Don and I both believe that God has spoken to our hearts about adoption. We cannot let any foolish thought interfere with what God has planned for us.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

I am convinced that it is all about hope. In the most dismal days, we must have hope. After all, what else is there? Webster defines hope as, "...a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation...." And the bible reminds us:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Happy New Year to All,
Elizabeth