No News Yet

Well, it’s Friday night now, and we think we have the document situation under control. Thanks to Mom and Dad and everyone else back home, things are moving in the right direction. We should have our new paperwork here by Tuesday or Wednesday. We can’t say thank you enough to everyone who is making that happen for us.

We had hoped to get some news today about the other issue that came up in court. But there is still no word on that yet. The earliest we should know will be Monday now, so we’re in for a long weekend I’m afraid.

On a better note, we were able to spend more time with our little one today. We had about an hour and a half again, which was nice. With some hand-holding, she was able to walk about ten feet! They had these cute little shoes on her that squeaked every time she took a step. She kind of liked that she could make noises by moving her feet. We’re going to have to find a pair of those. She was also more vocal today, making little noises for who knows what. There was still a bit of crying, especially when the nurse in the white gown and the surgical mask came to take her at the end. I guess she thought that meant a doctor visit! Anyway, they had someone else come for her instead, and everything was fine. It gets harder each time we have to say “da svidanya”, which is “goodbye” in Russian.

After our visit at the orphanage, our translator, Vica, took us to a grocery store where we could stock up on food and supplies to keep in our room so we wouldn’t have to eat out as much. We had heard about Vica from Russ and Monica, but today was the first time we met. She was very friendly and helpful. We eat our breakfasts at the hotel because they’re included with the room. Lunches we try to eat in the room, and we usually go to the hotel restaurant or take a taxi to a local restaurant for dinner. Today it was San Pizza, a small pizza place that would fit just fine in any American city. It’s just more difficult to order there. At least they have an English menu. Without that, we’d be totally lost!

Our visit to the orphanage was in the afternoon. In the morning we took a long walk from our hotel, to the area where the Kremlin is. It took us probably forty minutes each way. It seems that everything in the city, especially around the Kremlin, is under construction right now. The Kremlin itself is closed and the gold leaf towers are surrounded by scaffolding. Apparently, the 450th anniversary of the founding of Astrakhan is next month so everything is being spruced up for the big celebration. By the looks of things, they’re not going to make it. Should look really nice for the 451st anniversary though.