Trip to Russia


We got on a plane that was bigger than any plane we'd ever been on before, in route to a destination that was farther than either of us had traveled before. My husband and I were on our way to get our new little boy in Russia. We were nervous about leaving our three children for a week. We'd never been away from them for so long. Nervous that I had about $12,000 in brand new 100 dollar bills, to pay for the adoption costs, in a pouch under my shirt. I had a backpack loaded with things to keep me busy for the 14 hours of flight time that it would take to go from Los Angeles to Moscow. A cross-stitch project, crossword puzzles, four back issues of CHILD magazine. All the stuff I like to do, but never have any time to do. Now I had 14 hours of uninterrupted, kid-free time, to do them. It was great! I cross-stitched the entire time, only taking breaks to eat or go to the rest room. I tried to sleep, but the excitement of traveling to get our son, had created an insomnia type state. My husband, on the other hand, slept like a baby almost the entire trip. 

We arrived in Moscow at about 10pm on Sunday night. The airport halls were dark. They were lit with a very limited number of light bulbs and all you could hear was the sound of all the people walking down the corridor. No one spoke. We walked as fast as we could, hoping to get to the passport authority lines ahead of the crowd. After waiting in line for a couple of hours, we claimed our luggage and stood in another line. Now we had to go through customs. They passed us through without us having to open our bags or answer any questions. It made me nervous because they were all very angry looking and wearing military uniforms. Some had machine guns in hand. It was a huge sigh of relief when we grabbed our bags and made our way toward the exit of the building. 

Outside the airport, in a reception area, were our translator and driver. We went straight to the car and left to meet up with the other families. It was around midnight and we had to meet with the lawyer to give him the money for the adoption. We drove over to his apartment and our driver parked near a line of about 6 other cars. Inside each car was an adoptive parent or two, who looked exhausted and petrified. After the lawyer received the money for the adoptions, we began the long drive to the orphanage. 

We left Moscow at 1 am. The trip would take about 6 hours. Most the parents tried to sleep, if they could. The cars we were in were quite old but were comfortable. Half the roads we drove on were paved but not maintained. There were pot holes so large they looked more like the holes that a meteor would make. Needless to say, it was a bumpy ride. There are no rest areas along the way, in case you need to go. The side of the road IS the rest area. Our convoy of adoptive parents stopped a couple of times to refuel and those who really had to go, made their way into the dark forest to do so, with toilet paper in hand. The men, definitely, had it easier than the women, in this particular area. I couldn't sleep during the drive because I was so anxious. We would be there soon and I wanted to see what the town looked like. 

We arrived in Kostroma around 7 am. There were people walking to work, the bus stops and to the markets. They all walked fast and no one looked happy. All the buildings were old and dirty looking. Everything was the same colors, shades of brown and gray and a lot of black wrought iron. The architecture was beautiful even thought the buildings looked as if they might crumble if you touched them. 

As we drove through the entrance of the orphanage, I could feel my heart beating through my shirt. I starting thinking, "Will the clothes fit him? Will he like us? Will he want to leave? Will we like him?" It was like Judgment Day! We filed out of our cars and were herded into a "dayroom". It was painted with bright colors, filled with brand new toys and had Persian rugs on the floor. A room that looked like no child had ever been inside it before. I believe it was more of a show room than anything else. 

After a 6 hour car ride, we all tried to freshen ourselves up as best we could before we met our children. Everyone was nervous! Because the children had not finished breakfast yet, we had to wait. It seemed to take forever. We all wondered whose child would come in first. 

A nurse came into the room with a child in hand. It was a little boy, with skin so white it was almost blinding. I had never see skin that color before. It had no color at all. I thought, "Wow, whose kid is that!" None of the other parents came forward and then I realized and said, "Oh that's mine!" He looked so much different, in person, than he did in his picture. I didn't even recognize him! I walked over to him, slowly, and motioned to him that I was going to pick him up. He nodded. As I picked him up, he wrapped his arms around my neck like a koala bear. Instead of wrapping his legs around my waist, he kept his legs down and straight. It was really awkward. He didn't look at me, just held on really tight. As I held him, hugging and stroking him, I could feel how ill he was. He had a fever and his chest was congested. He was weasing with every breath. The mucus in his nose was a bright green color and it was so thick, I wished I'd brought some cold medicine for him. He looked miserable. We walked to the other side of the room with him. The other children began to file in and meet their new parents. I sat him on my husband's lap, which made him start crying, but then gave him a chewy granola bar and he stopped. We spent a couple of hours with him, holding him, feeding him granola bars and playing with him. He didn't smile much and I asked him, "Do you smile?". Then I lifted his lip to find the most horrible sight! He did, in fact, have teeth. They were all broken and jagged. His molars had no tops, just black holes. It was horrible! He was only 2 ½ years old and all his teeth were rotten. During the time we spent with him, that morning, he opened up a lot and began to smile and interact with us. As we all sat with our new children the orphanage director would spend a few minutes with each of us to explain the child's medical and family histories.  The staff members began to collect the kids for lunch time and we all left to go to the courthouse. 

We sat in the courtroom and waited for the judge. It was July and very hot. The courtroom was really small and most of us stood near the windows hoping for a breeze. Finally, the judge arrived. We all had to go before the judge, one by one, to say that we had seen our child and wanted our child. I was pretty nervous before the judge came, but after she spoke to us, I knew she was pleased we were there to love these kids that no one else wants. 

After court we went back to the orphanage to get the kids. I got out the little outfit I brought for him to wear. It was really neat to take the orphanage outfit, that was marked with his ward number, off of him. He looked so different with his new duds on, even though they were a couple sizes too big for him. All the parents had over estimated what size to bring for their child. I did great with the shoe size. That was one of my most stressful times preparing for this trip. "What size shoes should I get for him?" I can't believe I got that one right! Dressed and ready I gave the nurse his little outfit back and we went to the car. 

It was obvious that Vova had not been in a car much in his life because he sat very rigidly and looked quite nervous. He did great the whole way back to Moscow and ended up falling asleep within the first hour of the trip. I was prepared for him to be car sick, we got lucky and it didn't happen.
 


Back in Moscow, we arrived at our host family's apartment. They were really nice people. Yuri and his wife, Tanya, both doctors, lived in a small apartment with Yuri's mother. They are both in their 60's and love children. His English was very good and hers was enough to get by. They fed us so much food! We were always so full after a meal. It was nice having someone to talk to Vova and she would tell us what he was saying. They would take us on walks around the market areas and we went to museum within walking distance of their apartment. It was like staying with family. 

The following day, Tuesday, we went to the American Medical Center for our son's physical. On the way, we stopped for visa picture for the US embassy interview. That was quick and easy, in and out in less than 10 minutes. 

At the hospital, it was so nice to hear people speaking English. All the adoptive parents in our group and a couple of others, sat a talked about how the first night with their child went. Some of the parents looked a bit exhausted. One family at a time was called in for their child's physical. We were last. The nurse weighed and measured Vova and looked through some of his orphanage medical info, shot record, HIV and HEP test results and finally the doctor came in. I was thinking the doctor would be an American, but he wasn't. He was a young Russian man and he was very nice. He prescribed an antibiotic and some nasal saline drops for the upper respiratory infection that Vova had. He gave us the OK and we went back to the apartment. Some of the other families in our group opted to go to the zoo, but Vova really looked sick and exhausted. I thought it would be too much for him, considering he'd only been out of the orphanage for one day. We ended up taking a nap with our new little boy. 

Sleeping with Vova was quite interesting. He was scared to go to sleep. Once he had fallen asleep, he would thrash around in the bed and cry in his sleep. I didn't get much sleep at night and napped in the day while my husband played with Vova. Each night the thrashing around in bed lessened and he began to sleep better if I laid with him. Wednesday was a free day. We didn't have any appointments to go to. We left Vova with Tanya at the apartment and went sight seeing. We went to St.Basil's cathedral, Stalin's tomb, the Kremlin and to a big flea market near the University of Moscow. It was nice to see our son's country. We bought some Madrushkas and went back to the apartment. 

Thursday was the US embassy interview to get the children's visas. Our appointment was at 9 am and we were out of there by 10 am. We talked with other families, "where ya from?", "how long ya been here?" It was nice to be in an American building, but I was shocked at how dirty it was in there. And we got there when they first opened! I couldn't believe it! Plus, there was a picture of Al Gore and Janet Reno on the wall, no Clinton anywhere. It was interesting. Once we were called for the interview, the man asked if we wanted the boy, did the boy like us, does he cry much? Then we left and came back at 5 PM. to pick up our son's visa. The following morning we would be leaving and I was glad. There's no place like home. 

4 o'clock Friday morning, our driver came to take us to the airport. We were the walking dead. We thanked our host family and left our extra 4 rolls of toilet paper and some scented candles as a thank you gift. Off to the airport...was like a sigh of relief! Went through the passport authority without a problem and then we all waited for boarding. The kids played together and finally we got onto the plane. 

Vova was great on the plane. I don't think he knew he was in a moving aircraft though. He wore the head set and listened to music, ate a big breakfast and played with his little matchbox cars. It was a breeze. I ended up spending a lot of my time helping a single adoptive woman with her little girl. She screamed the whole way and the woman had no idea what to do. She was a first time mom and the little 2 year old girl was petrified. 

Connecting in Germany was a little scary because they had oversold the seats on the plane and bumped us. We explained that we had just adopted this little boy and had to get home. Please!!!! Later, they came to us and got us on in first class. That was cool. I'd never been in first class. I felt like a celebrity. Once we took off, lunch was served and Vova ate everything on his tray. He fell asleep for the remaining 8 hours of the flight, as did we. Touching ground in Los Angeles felt so good, like a victory. Vova woke up as the plane rolled to a stop at the terminal and smiled at us. We were glad to be home.