Russian Adoption Diary: Trip 1/Day 3

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Trip 1/Day 3

First a disclaimer: Russian food: We really didn't have much of a chance to eat at all. Almost all the meals we had were in the hotels (3 breakfasts and 2 suppers). Most days we never ate lunch. We literally were in a car or on an airplane most of the time we were there. We had a few airplane meals- I wouldn't base my idea of Russian food from these. We also had one meal at the orphanage- rice with a little meat (pilaf). It was fine. Therefore, I am not the best person to take advice from in this area. Every meal we had did have tomatoes, cucumbers, and bread served with it(Of course, no veggies at the orphanage.). We also had 1 meal at McDonald's in Moscow. We munched on peanut butter crackers and granola bars I had packed.

Now, day 3. This day was the best day by far!! I awoke early, anxious to meet the kids. I laid in bed and began praying. I was a little nervous and had some worries. I shared these concerns with the Lord and prayed for our day. Finally, I got up and decided to peek out the window. We had come in the pitch dark. I wanted to look around. The pictures above show you what was directly outside our window. Wow! God was with us. He heard my prayers.

We got ready, ate breakfast(yogurt and bread), and waited on our ride. We said goodbye to the other two families who took off for another city. We wouldn't see them again. Then we got in the car with our coordinator and translator. After driving a few minutes, I asked what the orphanage was like. They replied that they didn't know, no one had ever been there. We drove for about an hour and forty-five minutes before being told we had arrived in our village. We had travelled a little two-lane highway that had obviously not been smoothed out before it was laid. Damon's motion sickness didn't fair too well. The scenery along the way reminded us of western Oklahoma- flat, full of wheat fields and small towns. The only difference was the dirt was dark. Oklahoma has red dirt.

Upon arriving in the town, we asked directions to the orphanage. Everyone seemed to have different ideas. Ten minutes later, we finally found it. The town was full of old run-down houses and buildings and lots of dirt roads. However, everyone had the most beautiful red tulips planted. The orphange had several large flower beds that were nothing but weeds with these red tulips outlining them. It was a decent place, clean and neat.

They took us to a room and told us to wait. Damon wasn't feeling well and so he took some crackers and water and went outside to get some fresh air for a minute while we waited. Soon our coordinator came in to me and said, "Eat! Eat!" He did an eating motion with his hands and motioned me to come. It was about one in the afternoon and we hadn't eaten. I thought maybe they had made some food for us and were inviting us to eat, so I followed him. He took me into a dining hall and held his hand out toward a table. At first, I thought he was wanting me to sit there. Then my eyes wandered one table further. There, backs to me, were two little boys, both with matching clothes and hair. The boys!!! They were so tiny! Their little legs just dangled off the chair. Everyone was speaking in Russian and one of the boys turned around. He was so sweet and so small! I felt like the room was spinning. I hadn't been prepared that I was going to see them at this moment. My feelings overwhelmed me. I managed to walk over and kneel down by the table. I didn't want to scare them so I just sat and smiled at them. One just grinned the sweetest grin, the other just looked at me. The orphanage worker kept telling them to eat, so I tried to motion eating and made funny faces. I ended up playing peek-a-boo off the side of the table and got a few grins. I think they thought I was weird. A few minutes later, they brought Damon in to the room. I think he was overwhelmed also. We both ventured a touch and got grins. We stayed for a few minutes, but the boys weren't eating so they took us out of the room.

We met with the director for a few minutes. She asked questions like, "Why do you want to adopt?", "Why Russia?", "What do you do?", etc. We were then taken to a big room and the boys were brought in. We gave them each a stuffed animal. They loved them. Then we broke open the toys. After a few minutes, our translator told us that they had business back in the main city. They were leaving and would be back to pick us up later. Therefore, we were being left in a city with no English speakers, almost 2 hours away from the main city. It was the best day ever!! I'll give more details tomorrow.

posted by 6blessings @ 5:51 AM

7 Comments:

At 7:05 AM, Amy C said…

Gosh I got tears in my eyes. So happy your met your little men... How cute they sound. I can't wait to see pictures...

Best wishes
Amy
At 8:17 AM, Yeah So said…

I love reading about your adventures. How exciting to meet your boys for the first time, can't wait to hear moe.
At 8:40 AM, sandy said…

Oh my, how sweet! I am in tears too. And you were able to spend the whole afternoon with them. I can't wait to hear more.

And thanks for the update on the food. =)

Tell us about the tower too when you get the chance. Is it one of the plague towers common throughout Europe? Take care!
At 11:27 AM, Deb said…

What a great first meeting. And those pics of the tower amazing. Eager to hear about the rest of your trip.
At 4:33 PM, Maggie said…

They sound adorable. I so vividly remember my first few moments with Peanut. I'll never forget that -- neither will you.
At 9:34 PM, Rhonda said…

What a great story! I can't imagine walking into that room, especially when you were unprepared. They sound adorable.
At 5:53 AM, Jennefer said…

Your posts never fail to make me cry. What a precious meeting.