Kemerovo- day 13

Today was Monday, May 9th; this is Victory Day here in Russia as it is the day they celebrate stopping the Germans outside of Moscow in World War II. They celebrate their veterans with parades in each city in remembrance of all those who served and those that fell in the battle against Germany. It is somewhat fitting that I learned today of my own Grandpa’s death. He too was a World War II veteran. I knew when we left that this was a possibility but it is very hard knowing that my family is dealing with the plans for the funeral and such and not being there with them to grieve. I feel so removed from the situation when I should be surrounded by family. Chad’s grandfather passed away several years ago unexpectedly. I think my grandpa was waiting for the Lord to call him, and wished he had been called quite a while ago. The reality of not ever seeing Grandpa again came setting in today as I saw so many Russian veterans being celebrated by their countrymen and women. I am so glad that my Dad traveled with Grandpa on the Honor Flight this year. I am sure it was a highlight of my Grandpa’s life.
It is hard knowing that our boys will never know our grandfathers for the strong and driven men they were. We can only hope that we can teach them in ways that our grandfathers taught us, as both Chad and my Grandpas were very active in our lives growing up. It is interesting how both Chad and I had grandparents that lived just a block away, and that we spent so much time with our grandparents. We are so fortunate to have known them and to be able to feel their presence in our daily lives. Every time I sneeze I think of my Grandpa with his loud sneezes; I sneeze loud like that too… all the way from my toes.
It was in the lower 30s here today with occasional snow. We bundled up and walked about a bit. The other couple took us to a neat restaurant/bar they had found and we ate lunch together. Chad had a pizza with several different kinds of meat and pickles on it and I had a grilled chicken breast. The waitress was very nice and after waiting on us asked why we were in Kemerovo. This seems to be the question that all young people have for us as they are amazed we would want to travel to Siberia. We told her what we always do which is that we are tourists. It is just safer that way.
Last night I made pasta with cheese and marinara sauce. We had picked up a ground beef-looking kind of meat at the market too. Chad enjoyed the pasta but I thought the sauce was too tart so did not care for it. He ate leftovers for breakfast and will finish it off this evening I am sure.
Tomorrow we leave at 7am for the orphanage to visit with the boys. Chad really hopes we can take them outdoors to play so that we aren’t stuck in a room with them trying to entertain them. I plan on bringing some of the toys, books, and bubbles I brought along to hopefully engage them in some nice play exchanges. We made sure to buy some juice too so that when they get thirsty we can give them what they need. Tomorrow we should find out when we will be able to pick up the boys for sure as Dr. Ludmilla (the person in charge) will be back from her vacation.
I am definitely ready for warmer temperatures; I think I may have to wait until we return to Moscow to experience a warm up. Nine more days until we leave for Moscow!

Kemerovo- day 12

Today is Sunday which is Mother’s Day. This will be the first year in twelve years I have spent away from my girls for Mother’s Day. Usually the girls try to make me breakfast in bed with mixed results. When Chad helps things turn out much better. This morning I got up after a restless night and was served oatmeal (not one of my favorite breakfast fare). The woman from the hotel apologized by saying “yaitso” (egg) and then slashing her throat with her finger. I guess she was trying to tell me they were out of eggs. So I had a piece of toast and crawled back into bed with Chad. He got up earlier than usual today but let me sleep in (yay). I didn’t wake up until 2pm! I can tell you THAT hasn’t happened since my early 20s after a late night of clubbing. (Please do not try to calculate exactly how many years ago that was as it may cause your brain to hurt).
After I showered we decided to walk over to the Traveler’s coffee restaurant as it has English menus and free wifi. Their cookies are pretty good there too. As Chad was pouring some of his Cola Lite (Dt Coke), the glass broke. The waiter felt bad and took %15 off of our bill. Chad got a chocolate donut for dessert and I got a cookie to go for later. It is really cold here today; in the low 30s with occasional flurries. The wind will pick up every once in a while and cuts through you too. I really should have worn a hat today, as by the time we get where we are headed my ears are pretty numb. We stopped by the corner market on our way back to the hotel and picked up some more pop and some peanut M&Ms. If Callie were here I would have to share with her; I would do so gladly. : )
On our last trip to the orphanage, the translator gave us the following daily schedule that the boys follow:
7-8am get up, put on the pot, wash their faces and hands, clean their teeth
8am children have their breakfast. For breakfast they have warm sweet tea with milk, cow butter, bread or bun, cheese or cottage cheese
9-10am Individual classes with a speech and occupational therapist or some other specialists; doctor’s check-ups
10am The second breakfast; yogurt and cookies, fruit; a banana, apple, pear
10-11:30am Children are taken for a walk or taking music and sport classes (the time of being outdoors depends on the weather)
12-12:40 Lunch time. Children usually have some soup with meat or fish base, meat or fish (poultry, beef, veal, rabbit meat, salmon) with dressing (macaroni, mashed potato, rice, carrot)fruit soup or juice, a pie
1-3:00 a nap
3:10-4:00 Children play in their group
4:00pm a snack (biscuits, juice; berries or fruits)
4-6:30: Children are taken for a walk or music/sport classes
7:00pm Supper; casserole, tea, biscuits or pies
7:30-8:30 Children play in their group
8-9pm Children prepare to go to bed; take a bath, have some yogurt
9pm Children go to bed

This schedule will be somewhat similar to our daily lives at home over the summer. We will TRY and stick close to it to ease their transition. Tomorrow is the Victory Day celebration; we have no idea what to expect. The weather is supposed to be like today so I will definitely have to bundle up if we try and catch the parade. We are planning to head out with the other family tomorrow. We wish both of our mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

Kemerovo- day 11

Today is Saturday here, which was apparent by the number of people at the market today. We bought items for our dinner tonight and tomorrow night as we have kitchen privileges at our hotel. We were able to walk around and go to the market and back without getting rained on. A few of my observations are thus: everyone has a plan and does not try to walk around others. So, at the market it is a free for all in getting a basket and walking through the store to find what you want. They do not tend to get into traditional “lines” so if you think you are standing waiting your turn you run the risk of someone stepping in front of you and not thinking twice about it. We walked through the sporting goods store today; the clothing was very similar to what we would find at a Hibbitt’s sports store but with more variety. The prices are pretty similar to ours.
We went into a beauty supply store as I am running out of shampoo and conditioner. We found what I was looking for but Chad had hoped to find some nail clippers (he clips his almost daily and didn’t think he could pack them for the flight : ) After buying our groceries (about forty dollars worth) I saw another beauty supply store and found his nail clippers. The cashier was not pleased that I gave her $100 rubles for my purchase of $65. That is kind of a big deal here; they really don’t like making change. We have been able to use our debit/credit cards here quite a few places which has surprised us a bit.
Earlier in the week we exchanged some cash for rubles with our coordinator Anna. It was kind of a weird experience because we simply pulled onto the street corner, Anna hopped out, and came back with some guy who had a wad of cash. We gave him our USD, he gave us the rubles with an exchange rate of one USD to 27.4 rubles (not too bad of a rate). It felt almost as if we were doing a drug deal or something.
We have hit the jackpot with the TV today; two Indiana Jones movies will be playing this evening, and it happens to be my favorites of the series, the first and third. Chad and I have been discussing the year the first one came out. I think I vaguely remember seeing it in the movie theatre but of course he rubs it in that he was TOO YOUNG to have seen it in the theatre. Geesh, two years difference makes me ancient. We got some beer today and Chad sat outside in the little park next to our hotel to drink a beer. This is pretty commonplace here; today I saw two middle-aged women walking from the market each enjoying a pint. We also see kids not much older than Sam’s age smoking. Apparently the DARE program isn’t big here.
I have just about finished the second book that I bought in Moscow. Luckily I received some exams to grade today via email and also received copies of my text book so I can prepare for class in the fall. I am unable to download anything to my Ipad since it reads my location as being out of the country. I wonder if I can download a book to my laptop. I saw a bookstore at the mall today; maybe I can head back there and see if there is an English book section like in Moscow. Nine more days until we pick up the boys!

Kemerovo- day 10

Today began as the last few days have begun. Chad slept in and I got up to head to breakfast. I didn’t feel much like eating so I talked to the other family for a little while and then brought back my leftovers for Chad. Last night I slept all night (for the first time since we left home) but was still tired after breakfast so I took a nap until we both woke at noon. I think it may be better to try and stay on Moscow time anyway since we will be returning there anyway.
We got up and showered and decided to head down to Lenin square. It was warmer and sunny which was a definite nice change. Lenin square was about a fifteen minute walk. There are several military and government looking buildings around the square with a statue of Lenin in the center of a large concrete area. There was a modern playground and basketball hoops adjacent to the square. This was the first playground I have seen with modern equipment since arriving in Kemerovo. The equipment had concrete at the bottom, so all I could imagine was Ruslan and Pasha getting hurt. I am not typically one of those overprotective moms but would really like to get the boys out of the country without a trip to the hospital! We have already noticed they are pretty fearless with things.
We sat on a park bench for a while and shortly after sitting a security guard came over and spoke to us in Russian. Since he wasn’t a policeman I wasn’t nervous about it but I just told him in Russian, “I Don’t understand” (this is a nice phrase to memorize as it at least shows you are trying). He then motioned for us to move on and motioned towards the police barricading off the square. So, we got up and wandered down the street farther in search of the open air market the other family had told me about at breakfast. After walking around a bit more we noticed the sky was getting really dark and it was getting colder so we headed home quickly to avoid getting rained on again. I really think it may be in order for us to buy an umbrella.
After resting for a bit we headed back out for a lunch/dinner at one of the restaurants we enjoyed earlier in the week. This time the waitress (she was different than the one earlier in the week) brought us ice with our pop. I thanked her profusely as this does not normally happen, and they often serve pop warm (YUCK!). Thus, we left her a tip which we haven’t done regularly as we have been told this is not an expected practice here. I hope we get her again. After our meal (which by the way you can never get in and out of a restaurant as they don’t hurry around like Americans do) we headed down to yet another small mall we had found. Chad needed a belt as his jeans kept falling down and he didn’t bring any sunglasses either. He found both in a small little boutique shop. We then decided to head “home” again and agreed to return to the little mall as I had found some nice gifts for the girls there. I also found a Hello Kitty belt that I really liked but didn’t think it would be a very practical purchase for myself.
We have slipped into a familiar daily schedule that has become comfortable. We are also getting used to the bed as well. At night there is an American movie that plays on one of the channels. You can’t always catch all of the dialogue as it is dubbed over with Russian. Many of the movies are from the 80s and early 90s. Last night we watched Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Mickey Rourke was still pretty handsome and young. We wondered how Don Johnson rode around on his motorcycle without his cowboy hat falling off; we then decided it must have been stapled to his head.
We will head back to see the boys on Tuesday which is four days away. Someone sent me an email asking why we had to stay so long after court and why we were staying so far away from the boys. The answer to why for the lengthy stay is that the Russian government has had a 10 day waiting period in place after an adoption is finalized before the parents may pick up the child/children. It had not been regularly enforced until about two years ago in this region. We have the American adoptive parents whom did not complete their postadoption reports and such for that (I think). The reason why we are staying in Kemerovo during this period is that Americans are only allowed to stay in certain hotels. The city we stayed in last time is closer to the orphanage (about an hour drive) but it is a smaller town and there is not much to do within walking distance. Kemerovo has many more restaurants and the hotel room is much nicer. Thus, we stay in Kemerovo (which is also the capital of the region of Kemerovo) as this is where the court proceedings occur and there is much more to do during the ten day wait. We ended up having a longer than ten day wait as May 9 is Victory Day here so it extends our wait. The tenth day is actually May 13, so I am not sure why we have to wait until the 16th to pick up the kids but think it may be best as I am not sure we would be very equipped to care for them in the room we are in now for four days before heading back to Moscow.
Tomorrow begins our first weekend here so I will post again tomorrow. We really enjoy reading your comments. Please know we are thinking of our family and friends often; we are definitely thankful to be here but ready to come home.

Kemerovo- day 9

For those of you who plan to travel to Kemerovo in May, pack accordingly. The weather changes drastically throughout the day. We still have not seen a warm spring day like in Illinois. Most of the people we see out walking have heavier coats and carry umbrellas. We really wished we had an umbrella today. Chad did wear his coat for the first time since we arrived as there was a bit of a wind and the temperature was probably in the upper 40s. In Moscow I wished I had not bothered to bring the heavy winter coats for the boys that others had so kindly allowed us to borrow. Now that we are here in Siberia/Kemerovo I am glad we brought them.
This morning I got up and called the girls on Skype. They seemed to be in pretty good spirits which was nice to hear. Sam has been keeping her math grade up since Dad has been working with her. Callie kept saying her trademark, “Mom? I love you!” with a few “I miss you”s mixed in. She went on her field trip and enjoyed herself. They asked about our trip to the orphanage. Sam wanted to talk to Chad but he was sleeping.
This morning I ate breakfast with the other family while Chad slept. We get one free breakfast as part of our stay here so we decided to save the eight bucks daily and take turns eating the breakfast as we had bought cereal at the store. After breakfast I checked emails and read for a bit until Chad got up. We decided to venture out today in search of the “big mall”. As we were walking it started to cloud over and get chilly and rain a bit. We got to the mall without difficulty to find that the power was out. Thus, they weren’t letting anyone in. Chad suggested we walk for a bit and then check back. After we walked for a couple more minutes it started to rain harder. We decided it was silly to walk around and get cold and wet so we headed back to the hotel to return to the mall later. We came back and watched some TV for a bit and then headed back out. The power was on at the mall when we returned. It had mostly clothing stores, shoe stores, a food mall, and a toy store. On the bottom floor was a store similar to Sam’s/Walmart. We looked around and found peanut butter for me, more snacks, and in the deli they had pigs in a blanket, French fries, and rotisserie chicken. We purchased our items and headed home to see the rain had started again and was coming down pretty hard. We walked quickly and tried to use the buildings to shield us. By the time we got back to the hotel our jeans were pretty soaked. We were pleased with finding the market though cause they had lots of selection and the best prices we have found anywhere.
I found out when we got back that the hotel will do our laundry for 200 rubles, which is about 7.40 in USD. I would do the wash by hand but our bathroom sink doesn’t have a stopper and we just have a shower rather than a bath. Overall, we are doing quite well not spending much money thus far.
I got a reply to my email to the international adoption physician this morning. She would like for us to take the boys for an appointment the day after Memorial Day. This is supposed to be my first day of work so I will have to figure something out. On our court date our coordinator told us something about Pasha’s medical records we did not know before. It is nothing life threatening, but I had to check in with the physician to see if there was anything special we needed to do.
We ate a really late lunch of pigs in a blanket and French fries. Everything was pretty good. We plan on eating the chicken for dinner tonight. So, things are not too exciting for us here in Kemerovo. Eleven more days until we may pick up the boys!

Kemerovo- day 8

I imagine my posts for the next several days will be a bit boring. Of course, I hope you continue to read since I will continue to post. Last night was interesting as we watched music videos (many of which were from American musicians) as it is one of the few chances we have to see English on television. We also watched America’s Next Top Model as we could kind of hear English under the Russian dialogue. After it was over Road House was on; I fell asleep when it was on but Chad stayed up to watch it. He had taken a nap in the late afternoon so he wasn’t terribly tired. At 1:30 am we were both wide awake; our bed is really more of a boxspring rather than a mattress. A piece of plywood is under the “mattress”. We are staying in the Peach room in the Hotel Azot. It has been referred to as this by other families staying here so I will continue the trend. The reason for the name is due to the color of the walls. Our AC works though so we have not yet asked to change rooms (the other families AC does not work). We both finally fell asleep around 3 and woke up at 8:30 to our alarm for breakfast. We ate with the other family as usual and they had not slept well either (their room got hot). We showed them how to open their windows from the top so it was still safe. During breakfast I realized I was supposed to have called the girls at 8am our time. I tried to call immediately but the power was out in the hotel. After a while the woman working here went into the bedroom of the workers and flipped a switch and voila! We had power. A few minutes later it switched off again and then she flipped the switch once more. So, I called Dad on his cell and it was about 9:30. They were all already in bed; he said both he and Sam had been working on her math homework until late and they were all pretty tired. I said we would try tomorrow at about 8:30. After breakfast I checked emails and did some work and then joined Chad in the bed for a nap. I slept until noon and then got up and showered. Every time I shower it feels so nice; when you are so far from home you really enjoy the simple things like a hot shower. I did some work on my laptop for a little while and then woke Chad because I was hungry. For those that know me well, things are not good when I am hungry! He got up with a backache (don’t blame him as the bed really is uncomfortable… did I say that already? ). We decided to head down to the park for a short walk so he could stretch out his back. It really is a neat park as it runs along the river and the little rides in it remind me of the Prime Beef Festival. I think they are really just setting up for the season and the big holiday May 9. This is the day they celebrate World War II. It is a celebration of the veterans and the defeat of the German army on the outskirts of Moscow (at least this is what I am being told by the different Russians I am interacting with daily). After our stroll through the park we walked to the Travelers Café. It is a coffee shop/restaurant that has an English menu and some English-speaking staff. The prices were cheaper than the place we ate yesterday. After lunch (which was around $12 USD) we stopped by the market to get some more bread, cereal, lunch meat, and pop. I got on the internet again when we returned and checked out news from the US. We were shocked to see the news about Osama bin Laden. Today was the first time there had been any mention of it in the news here. I guess we will have to check more often to stay in touch with what is going on back home. Tomorrow our big adventure will be to try and find a Laundromat to wash our clothes!

Kemerovo-day 7

Today was our Court Day. It was a chilly and overcast day. We ate breakfast this morning about 8:30 and then talked to Sam and Callie for a few minutes on Skype. We left our hotel at 9:30 and drove the short two blocks to the court which we were scheduled to begin at 10. The other couple had asked to go first in the court proceedings as they wanted to get it out of the way. Chad and I agreed that would be fine. However, once we were seated waiting Anna the coordinator came and told Chad and I that it was our turn first. So much for our plan! We weren’t in a court room but rather had the meeting in the judge’s office. The judge sat at a desk with the Russian prosecutor on the judge’s right and the court reporter and social worker on the judge’s left. The prosecutor was representing the Russian government and the social worker was there in the interest of the boys. Anna our caseworker was representing us in the proceeding. Initially the judge read through some things from our court dossier (she actually looked at everything during the proceeding and seemed to have read through everything thoroughly). All of that hard work we did putting our court dossier together was actually reviewed. Chad was then asked to rise and identify himself before the judge. I had written down all of the answers to the questions we had been informed we would be asked. He was really nervous about pronouncing some of the words but the translator kept winking at him to make him feel better (or maybe she was flirting?). They told us Ruslan had been declared as “incapable” due to his medical diagnoses. Every time they mentioned it I cringed. I guess it is their way of saying “special needs”. I am not sure if something was lost in translation but “incapable” and “special needs” seem very different to me. After they went through and asked him some questions about why we wanted to adopt from Russia and how did his family feel about the adoption I was allowed to stand up and answered a few more questions. The judge laughed when I described Callie’s personality and desire to have younger brothers that she may play with at home. The rest of the time she was very serious. The prosecutor was asked to add her comments. She stated we had met all of the requirements of the government and since one previous Russian family had declined to adopt the boys after meeting them that they were free for a non-Russian family to adopt. The social worker then was asked to speak. She told about her observations from our first visit with the boys, noting she saw how the bonding went well as it appeared that initially both the boys and us were nervous but we quickly began to play with them and they didn’t cry. She then went on to say (remember this was all through a translator so probably a shortened version) that we seemed to have a lot of experience parenting children. I wondered where that experience was yesterday when we were trying to tell them to stop swinging the play phone around their head and they told us “no” while smiling? At the end of the proceeding I asked to speak and in doing so I expressed our gratitude to the Russia in allowing us to adopt two children. We were escorted out while the judge made her decision. In less than five minutes we were called back in and informed that she granted our request to adopt Ruslan Paul and Pasha Michael Gipson.
After our turn (which took 45 minutes) we waited with the other people in the hallway. During this time we watched everyone come and go. The shoes the women wore were amazing. They were mostly black and all had extremely high heels. One of the women we think was working at the courthouse. We were all in agreement that she was gorgeous (supermodel status) but she really needed to wax her moustache! After we were both done with court we had to wait about a half hour for our documents. During this time we talked about our experiences and found out that Anna didn’t wink to the other husband that had to speak for his family’s court hearing. We decided that maybe Chad had appeared really nervous to her and she was really trying to make him feel better. We had our picture taken outside of the courthouse and returned to our hotel for a few minutes before we took off for a celebratory lunch with the other family. We ate at a restaurant with an English menu. Chad had a pancake with ham and cheese inside it (it is really a crepe). I had a chicken Kabob. Both of our entrees were really good and the price was great too. Things here in Kemerovo are much more affordable in comparison to Moscow. They seem to be very similar to prices back home. After lunch we walked and did some shopping. Everywhere we have been we have found people to be very helpful and for the most part friendly. Younger Russians tend to want to practice their English if they know any. When asked why we are visiting Kemerovo we tell everyone we are on vacation as the Russians do not look favorably on Americans adopting. As back home, they only hear in the media the terrible stories of Americans adopting children and then being abusive with the children. So, at this point we begin the ten days of waiting before we may pick up the boys. We plan to go to the orphanage once during the wait. I think I will work on preparing for my courses in the fall since I won’t have any time this summer! I hope to post some pictures soon but want to wait to make sure it is okay to do so.