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The First Trip to Russia

April 27-May 4, 2004

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Tuesday, April 27

Lottie and Kelcie went to school on Tuesday morning so that Kelcie could take the Math portion of the TAKS test.  Somehow, she was able to concentrate on the test and do well despite all of the excite surrounding our trip.  At 2:55pm, we began the first leg of the trip to Zurich, Switzerland.  The flight lasted ten hours.

Wednesday, April 28

We arrived in Zurich at 7:50am and had time to freshen up just a little bit before making our way to the opposite end of the airport for the 3 1/2 hour flight on Swiss Air to Moscow.  We landed in Moscow at 3:10pm., collected our bags, and made our way to the customs line.  We were confused about which line we should go through, and had trouble finding someone who spoke English.  Finally, we passed through the correct line and found our escort, Sasha, waiting for us at the door to the airport holding up our family book.

Sasha did not speak much English, so he called his wife Barbara who told us that Sasha would drive us to the hotel where we would stay for a few hours before going to the train station.  We soaked in our first sights of Russia on the 45-minute drive to the hotel.

We checked into our hotel to have our passports registered according to Russian law.  We spent a little bit of time at the hotel before taking off for a walk through the neighborhood.  Later, Barbara and Sasha picked us up to take us to the train station for the trip to Tambov.

Tambov is approximately 250 miles south of Moscow, and the train ride is nine hours.  We bought water and snacks for the trip and then settled into our compartment at around 10:00pm.  We managed a little bit of sleep before arriving in Tambov.

Thursday, April 29

Our train pulled into Tambov at 7:30 in the morning.  The rural nature of Tambov stands in quite a contrast to metropolitan atmosphere of Moscow.  Sasha arranged to borrow a car for our visit.  We carried two rolling duffel bags stuffed with humanitarian aid for the orphanage from Buckner in addition to our own luggage.  Russians travel with very little luggage, so we created quite a stir when we got to the hotel.  We cleaned up and had breakfast before setting out for our first visit with Sean.

Our first stop was the Education Ministry where we met the person in charge of adoptions for the Tambov region.  She explained the process to us, helped us finish some paperwork, and then signed a paper granting us permission to visit Sean at the orphanage.  At the orphanage we met the director, the social worker who had worked on Sean's case, and the resident doctor.  They explained all of the details related to Sean's case and gave us updated medical information.

By the time all of that was finished, Sean was taking a nap.  So we left for lunch and returned in the early afternoon.  Finally, a caregiver walked in with our baby boy dressed from head to toe in a pink outfit, including a bonnet!  Each time we saw him he was dressed in three layers of clothes with two pairs of socks and some kind of hat.  Sean had a quick smile, and the three of us must have overwhelmed him.  We played in the floor with him and took lots of pictures.  The first visit lasted for an hour.  We went back for a second visit at 5:30 that lasted for an hour and a half.  All of the attention exhausted him, and he was ready for bed when we left.

Friday, April 30

On Friday morning we went to see Sean first thing in the morning.  He was much more comfortable with us, and we had a lot of fun playing with him and taking pictures and video.  Lottie wanted to try on clothes to get an idea of what size clothes we would need to bring back with us.  When we peeled off the three layers, we were amazed at how tiny he was.  He was beginning to roll over, laughed a lot, and loved to be held.

In the afternoon we visited the orphanage again.  While we loved playing with Sean, we found ourselves looking forward to going home because we knew that meant we would be closer to coming back for him.

Friday night the excitement, the travel, and the stress of being in such a different culture began to catch up with us.  We were physically and emotionally weary, and benefited from our first good rest of the week.

Saturday, May 1

May Day is a big holiday in Russia.  We slept a little later on Saturday morning before taking a tour of Tambov and doing some shopping.  After lunch we visited the orphanage for the final time before leaving for Moscow.  We loved spending time with him and he seemed to grow more used to us with each visit.  Reluctantly, we left him for the last time.

That night we boarded the train for the overnight trip to Moscow.  One of the toughest parts of the adoption process is leaving behind the child that you desperately want to take with you.  We left him with promises that we would return as soon as possible to take him back home with us.

Sunday, May 2

Our train arrived in Moscow at 5:15am.  We rested for a short time at the hotel before visiting the Moscow flea market.  The flea market consists of dozens of vendors selling Russian souvenirs of all kinds.  Kelcie found a ceramic doll that she loved, and we bought gifts for family and friends.  After the flea market we toured Moscow, and walked on Red Square.  As a child of the Cold War, I could hardly believe that I was walking on the spot where the Soviet army had once paraded its military might.

Back at the hotel we packed up and prepared for our 4:00am departure the next morning.  We could barely sleep, so we made plans for getting our paperwork in order at home so that we could get the process underway to complete the adoption.

Monday, May 3

Barbara and Sasha dropped us off at the airport for the 7:15 flight to Zurich.  We made our connection in Zurich with no trouble, and arrived at DFW at 2:55 in the afternoon.  The trip was long and I was proud of how well Kelcie had made it.  She and I went to pick up the dog while Lottie was off to our pediatrician for some paperwork we needed to prepare for our return trip.