I awoke at 6:17am to find Carol headed to the restroom and then showering. Perhaps you'll need to read that sentence again. Carol was up before 7am to take a shower and she did not have a plane to catch! Yes, the excitement was certainly reaching a climax as we prepared to visit the orphanage this morning. Christina was awake by then too as it turned out and we each showered and made our way to the lounge area where breakfast is served. Christina got her first 'taste' of a Russian breakfast headlined by turkey, bacon (which is ham in the US) and roast beef slices and cheese. White and wheat bread were available with what appeared to be homemade jam. Then you choose your actual breakfast: pancakes, ommelette, fried eggs, oatmeal or one other. Carol and Christina had the omelette with bacon while I had the fried eggs and bacon. Our ham was good, thank you. Christina didn't eat too much. I think the anxiety of travel, the time change and the meat staring at her wasn't too appetizing.

Misha and Natasha picked us up at 8:30 sharp and we headed to Chernyahovsk. I did ask that I be able to convert $100 to rubles some time today. Misha did locate a 'local' on the streets offering 2850 rubles so I took it. He found the local as the Exchanges were not open until 10am. I asked how he knew which person to ask; the reply was 'they just knew.' I'll bet.

Flags are at half staff. I had noticed that yesterday at the airport but didn't recognize it for the cause ... the loss of so many children just 2 days before. This event is huge in Russia. For them it is their 9-11. The news is dominated by the ruthless killing of so many children. Picture in the paper are graphic as they are on TV. They don't hold much back here as in the US. Putin is being challenged on many fronts. They are restless with anticipation of how Putin will respond. They are not pleased that he didn't denounce the effort of the Chechyns by name. Putin, hopefully, has information indicating international responsibility as he suggested in his speech Sunday night. One of the terrorists captured was shown on TV here saying there were many people involved but only a couple of Chechyns; some were Arab. Their desire was to start a war in the whole region. So, if this is true, Putin is describing it accurately. They, the Russians, are at a crossroads in my opinion as to how to address this terrorist activity. Let's hope they join us in the worldwide effort to remove the groups responsible. However, the people are wanting to blame the Chechyns and act against them solely. We'll have to observe how this plays out over the coming weeks and months. But I do believe they'll be more active in the hunt for terrorists. The people we are involved with in the adoption process are concerned both from a personal point of view and for how we are dealing with it. I am confident of the proper response from the Putin government at this point in time. Now, on to the rest of the adoption story ...

Pictures (mouse-over for descriptions)

We followed the path we'd been on three times in July to Chernyahovsk. We stopped at the road-shide shops for Misha to have a coffee and cigarette break. We didn't have ice cream as that shop wasn't open yet. Time for a picture; you'll see Carol, Christina, Natasha and Misha in the background of this one.

Niether Misha nor Natasha had been to 'our' orphanage before so we had to confirm the proper turns once in Chernyahovsk. Natasha said she had primarily been involved with infant adoptions before this one and had not seen Chernyahovsk. Misha pulled right up to the steps and stopped. We crawled out of the backseat, slightly more cramped time around with Christina tagging along, and entered the front doors. I was last in the door and heard voices crying out which were likely the workers as they announced visitors on the premises. The Director came from the staircase and had a huge smile on her face when she recognized us. She was nearly emotional giving us hugs instead of handshakes this time. We said our hellos and turned toward the hallway. I had just entered the hallway from the foyer when two small chidren exited one of the rooms from down the hall; the shadows kept me from recognizing them initially. Yes, the two boys were Alexander and Eugeniy. We had thought the children were all outside on the playground given it was about 10:10am. Eugeniy was leading but did not immediately recognize Carol, likely due to the light from his angle. Alexander, however, lit up like a Christmas tree and called out 'Ma-Ma' and turned to pass Eugeniy. Eugeniy, quickly recognizing what Alexander said, held out his arm to slow Alexander down a bit and took to running down the hall toward Carol. He did beat Alexander to Carol and hugged her immensely. Alexander made his way around the others in our party and reached out for me. I was able to recognize them, of course, once they started running toward Carol. Their hair was longer, not as well groomed as in July, but their enthusiasm was pure. I grabbed Alexander and lifted him up in my arms. He hugged tight. Eugeniy was plastered to Carol, his grip around her neck secure. They twisted back and forth in a loving embrace. I let Alexander down to the floor and Eugeniy then made his way to me. I lifted, he was melting in my arms. Eugeniy had his eyes locked to mine and then he grabbed around my neck. We had returned. They and we were very happy.

We were invited to a different room this time, one room closer to the staircase and next to the Director's office area. This room was mostly empty as the pictures will attest. There was an upright piano in one corner, a sectional couch with table in another and a variety of flower placements along the windowed wall. It was all hard wood, nicely finished. We sat down at the couch and table as three chairs were quickly brought in for everyone to be comfortable there. The boys took off down the hall. They were going to retrieve their 'bags' which had all the stuff we had left them before: clothes, toys, monkeys and calendar. They quickly returned and began unloading the bags. I think they were showing us they still had the things we had brought them. The clothes appeared to have only been worn during our initial trip. The monkeys were damp which meant they could have been recently washed or, as we learned later, the bags were kept on a covered porch outside one of the classrooms. The dampness of the nights is the likely cause of damp monkeys.

The boys were overly excited at this point. They had smiles from ear to ear each time we met eye to eye. It was obvious they were feeling very confident and happy. We learned later at a 3pm meeting with Alexander (agency) that the boys had a feeling of 'kings' in the orphanage. He explained that they knew they were adopted, their parents were returning and they would be moving to America. He mentioned that the other children would occasionally touch their cheeks to see what 'kings' felt like. This is an interesting situation. You want them to have the secure feeling of being adopted but I'm interested to see how this feeling is transferred to other children, if at all, once back in the States. We'll see.

We did a number of things during our 3 hours visit: walked to the River, walked around the Orphanage, took pictures throughout the grounds, worked on some English words by using flash cards and enjoying a sandwich snack plate with ham, sausage and cheeses. Christina was well integrated into the activities; she played with the boys, became our photographer and helped us keep up with our 'things' while we went from place to place. The Director and interpreter actually lost contact with us for a time as they we found them out in the back looking for us while we were just returning from the River. They were ok with us being out-and-about so no harm done. The boys took to learning English words much quicker than I ever imagined. They already know mouth, nose, eyes and apple. The apple word was the first as they have a small orchard on the grounds. Alexander was collecting apples for delivery to the kitchen. Eugeniy was taking bites out of apples or at least trying to as we went along.

We concluded the visit just before 1pm and headed back to K'grad. We were exhausted! Jet-lag was setting in; our excitement to see the boys again and their overwhelming excitement had has spent as we journed back through the countryside of K'grad. We were cat-napping along the way.

Natasha had Misha stop by the market in downtown K'grad for us to pick up a few supplies. This was Christina's first shopping experience in Russia. Everything is different here. She hung close to either Carol or I not wondering anywhere or doing anything out of the ordinary. I think she's internalizing a lot of events and it will be interesting to see how she describes it when she is home again. Alexander was waiting for us as we returned to The Turtle. We sent Christina up to the room so she could nap while we talked met with Alexander. He had some things to explain and then answer questions we had. The hearing on Thursday will be at 9am. He would not be in the room with us but would be in the hallway. In the room will be us, the interpreter, the Director of the Orphanage, the social worker whom we met at the Orphanage today, our equivalent of the District Attorney and the judge. He says there will be quite a few questions for the Director, Social Worker and us. Alexander says we'll practice on Wednesday afternoon the types of questions that will be asked and how we should respond. So we look forward to Wednesday afternoon and learning what we need to do to close the deal. Alexander says he is very confident but practice is always good.

During the Orphanage visit today Carol asked the Director if it would be ok to stay the night on Tuesday night for the purpose of learning the routine and continue the bonding effort with the boys. The Director said it would be ok with her. The same request was made to Alexander. He noted that he'd need to query his agency, including Svetlana in Moscow to make sure this request would not be contrary to anything previously done or jeopardize the court hearing. He would call Natasha with the results by 8pm.

Alexander also mentioned that we needed to prepare for handling the children without an interpreter. He suggested we go to the orphanage tomorrow without Natasha to see how things would go. We agreed this was a good idea. We also suggested that Natasha not speak Russian after we pick them up on Thursday (which may be questionable due to completing paperwork after the hearing, but we'll see) so the boys would know things were different and they'd have to start adjusting. He agreed this was proper and Natasha was very agreeable.

Carol returned to the room to have a nap. I headed toward the Internet Cafe I used during our July trip. I didn't desire to be frustrated by the computer at The Turtle this afternoon. It was a 15 minute walk and enjoyable. One of the things we didn't do during the first trip was to ensure we had plenty of exercise, even just walking. So I was very pleased with my knowledge of the first trip and how your confidence is held upon return. The cafe was only busy in the computer stall so I had to wait. The attendant, who spoke some broken English, said I'd have to wait for a while unless I wanted it only for a couple of minutes. I agreed to 10 minutes and was able to logon to Dialog eMail and send a note home for the first time. 6 rub (or about 20 cents) later I had a note off to seabuie (Dad Buie) letting him know of our situation and a few other details. It was the first contact we made with home since leaving on Saturday afternoon. I returned to The Turtle within an hour of leaving.

The Turtle menu in the lounge basically is for snack only. We wanted to have dinner locally but determined we'd need to venture out for something a little more substantial than a snack. We headed back towards the Moscow Hotel where we stayed before so we could eat at the Zoo Cafe. The menu was identical as in July. I had pork while Carol and Christina had Chicken Kiev. Christina wasn't too impressed. We returned to The Turtle immediately following dinner. Some bed time was in order as jet-lag was really catching up with us.

Tomorrow's plan:
+ Breakfast at 0830
+ Internet Cafe time
+ Leave for Orphanage at 1330
+ Leave for K'grad at 1800, leaving Carol for the night