Making the best of it
Well, instead of going to court, we spent Wednesday afternoon at the travel agent with the Wolfes making arrangements to go to beautiful St. Petersburg, about 1,100 miles to the west. We're outta here Friday morning until Monday. The girls will be fine without us for a few days.

Last night, we were so exhausted and upset by the court delay that we opted out of the late afternoon visit to the orphanage for an early dinner and some sleep. Elena, seeing the other parents there without us, broke away from her group and marched into the director's office, demanding to know "Where's my Mama?!"

Even if Papa didn't rate a mention, it doesn't get any better.  ¶ 5:50 PM 0 comments

  A bullet we couldn't dodge... So, you've flown nearly halfway across the world to make a court date. And the evening before the court date, you're told that one piece of paper--within the Russian government system--didn't get from point A to point B, and your court date is now postponed a week.

Yes, it happened to us. And, since we're bonded to the Wolfes throughout the adoption process, it happened to their piece of paper, as well.

Yekaterinburg is not the worst place in the world; it's a rust-belt city on the verge of a comeback, the fifth-largest in Russia in terms of population and the third-largest in terms of commerce. But frankly we weren't planning on spending an extra week here, even if it means more quality time with Elena, as there's not a lot for English-speaking tourists to do.

There is absolutely no English spoken at our hotel, all the TV stations are in Russian, and--thinking I'd only be there five days--I didn't bring anything to read. The closest Internet cafe to our hotel is a mile away; in spite of my GPS tracking and navigation skills, our handlers in Yekaterinburg won't allow me to venture out on my own beyond a block from the hotel, feeling it's too dangerous for someone whose Russian vocabulary consists of "da" (yes), "nyet" (no), and "spaseeba" (thank you).

Our employers, children back home in the States and their caregivers, wardrobes, camera supplies and budgets also weren't prepared for this surprise. We're getting a little depressed and homesick knowing we're here for an extra week.  ¶ 8:36 PM 0 comments

  And here's Elena...
Well, it's safe to say we picked up where we left off nearly a year ago. Elena remains Mama's little girl. Men--not to mention those who are 6'5"--are not a common sight in a Russian orphanage, and it's not all that unusual for little girls to be shy (or even terrified) around them...or so I'm told. Bonding with Papa will come in time.


One thing about Russian orphanages--they're uncomfortably warm inside, and they tend to overdress the kids for the weather. The temperature outside is probably about 60F, and the children are dressed in snowsuits with several layers underneath.



And it's Fall...the leaves are mostly off the trees. Valeria ("Laira"), the Wolfes' daughter, is still Elena's best bud a year after our first visit and the girls are forever bonded. With the Wolfes, we shared our first visit a year ago, a suite at the Frankfurt Sheraton during our layover yesterday, and are sharing our court date Wednesday.  ¶ 10:36 PM 0 comments

  Dodging the bullet... Well, here's the end of the story...we arrived in Yekaterinburg safe and sound this (Sunday) morning after leaving from Dulles late Friday afternoon, thanks to a ten-hour time change and 14-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. But not before the Judge pulled out one final item from her bag of tricks on Friday.

At 6:30 a.m. Friday, we learned that one minor but essential change to our paperwork was ordered. And that the Judge required that we get the same individual to perform the notarization on this paperwork as had done so six months earlier. Failure to get notarization would mean no trip to Russia later that day and our court date would be vaporized.

Fortunately, we know our notary well enough that we were able to call him early in the morning at home and ensure we would be able to find him before leaving. The Wolfes, our traveling partners, did not know their notary so well. But their bank managed to find that specific employee (who was off on a vacation day) and convince her to come into the office and do the notarization. Amazingly, all four of the families with our agency having court dates got the early morning documentation wake-up call and managed to get the proper notarization before getting on their respective planes later that day.

And more paperwork was rushed to us at the airport by courier at the last minute before we had to leave the security area to board our flight, enabling another family to meet their court date.

And we're off...first to the hotel to drop off our stuff, then to the orphanage to see Elena.  ¶ 7:31 AM 0 comments

  Travel Preparations
We leave for Yekaterinburg Friday for our court date a week from today. Not surprisingly, we have more paperwork changes from the Judge in preparation for our journey. Keep your fingers crossed.  ¶ 8:44 AM 0 comments

  We're going back! We just received word that our paperwork has been accepted and we have a court date scheduled in Yekaterinburg for September 28!  ¶ 4:35 PM 0 comments