Sunday, October 11, 2009

Back in Moscow

Greetings from Moscow. We arrived safely and were greeted by Valery (our driver) and Irina (our host). We were not expecting to see Irina until the evening, so that was a pleasant surprise. We talked about the trip briefly, but she will give us more information about the court appointment on our way up to Karelia.

We were spoiled in Business Class on our first trip, but it was back in coach this time. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep – an hour at best. We were lucky, however, to get an upgrade to a junior suite at the Marriott – another perk of Marc’s frequent travel. We spent most our time in Moscow catching up on sleep, the time change really affected us this time. We did make it to the gym and went to a local grocery store by the Kremlin to get some snacks and dinner.

Although it has been 6 weeks since out 1st trip, it feels just like yesterday we were here. We are less nervous about the trip because our schedule and surrounds are more familiar. It is cooler; about 40 degrees in Moscow and people are walking around in heavy winter coats, scarves, and hats with kids in snow suits. Seems a bit overkill for 40 degrees, we would have thought they were used to the cold. It is going to be in the 30’s in Karelia, but we are prepared with warm clothes and winter jackets. I see that it is 34 degrees in Milford today with a chance of frost, so we are all feeling the start of winter.

We do feel slightly underdressed when we walk around the city. Most women wear skirts (some of them very short!) or slacks with high heel shoes or knee high boots. We stick out in our jeans, sneakers and colorful ski jackets…. lol.

Right now it’s Sunday afternoon and we are relaxing in the hotel lobby waiting for Irina to arrive to take us to the train. I am on my 2nd cup of tea so hopefully that will keep me alert enough to study all the medial terms we need to memorize for court on the train ride.

We can’t wait to see Hannah again tomorrow. We will go to the orphanage directly from the train station. I wonder how much she has changed and if she will recognize us. I don’t believe we have much else to do on Monday, so hopefully we will be able to spend a lot of time with her. We hope to see more of where she has been living. Last trip we just peeked into the playroom, but we would like to see where they eat and sleep. Currently we have a “big girl” bed set up at home, but need to know if we should bring down the crib.

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us. We are truly luck to have such wonderful family and friends. We can’t wait for you all to meet Hannah when we are home in early November.

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