Sunday, February 14, 2010

Made it to Kemerovo!


Vlad and another driver came to pick us up last night at 6:00pm from the hotel. We were able to get a late checkout which was really nice. Allowed us to take our time packing and cleaning up. We had so much baggage between the four of us that we needed 2 cars!

It took us nearly 2 hours to get to the airport. You really have not experienced traffic until you've been in Moscow. Chicago, NY, LA, have nothing on this place. Cars park wherever they want. Sometimes in the middle of intersections. There are a lot of nice cars in Moscow. We stopped at a BP gas station with a Wild Bean Cafe on the way to the airport. How weird. It could have been somewhere in Illinois!

We got to the airport 3 1/2 hours before our flight. When we checked in we had a bit of sticker shock. You are only allowed to bring 20 kilos of luggage each. Jason and I had 70 kilos combined and Sandra had more than that. We ended up having to pay $200 in extra baggage fees! We're going to try to find a work-around on that one when go back to Moscow. Maybe we can leave the kid's bags here in the Kemerovo hotel as we will be coming back here when we pick them up. Went to a small cafe, had some interesting kabobs and a Corona. We were sitting right next to our gate but they changed the gate literally when they started boarding. We had to run downstairs to get to the gate. We had to go outside again and get on a bus to take us to the tarmac and the plane. Its crazy madness. No order in boarding, just a rush to get on the bus and then on the plane. Probably because people know how cold it is outside and have learned how to be the 1st ones in line. Smart people! The flight was uneventful. We had an interesting seat-mate (that's all Jason thinks I should say on the blog about it). When you get to the Kemerovo airport, everyone files past the baggage room and into a holding room. Once the baggage starts coming out, everyone rushes back in the baggage room to get their bags. It truly is a learning experience being immersed in another country's culture. Not a bad experience, just a unique one. One thing I will say is that I am convinced Americans need to start learning a 2nd language as a mandatory part of school. We are the only country that thinks its not necessary. It is! We found our luggage and then found Anna.

She took us to Hotel Azot, met with us and helped us understand what court will be like tomorrow morning. We have court at 10am Kemerovo time on Monday, February 15th. Thats 9pm CST the day before. Jason, Sandra and Sandra ran to the grocery store (see picture) thats only a block away for some water, snacks & toilet paper. I went to bed. I ended up sleeping 3 1/2 hours. I finally woke Jason up about an hour later (3:15pm Kemerovo time). We're going to have a tough time falling asleep again tonight. Kemerovo is 4 hours ahead of Moscow, so our time zones are all messed up. You really have to rely on your body to tell you when you're tired or hungry. We walked over to Travelers Coffee for some dinner. Its a cafe that Anna took us to last time we were here. Nice place with an English Menu and good food/coffee. They also have free Wi-Fi! Which is how I can update you guys on our travels!

We're going to head back soon, watch another DVD and study our home study for court tomorrow morning. We feel ready, but you never know! We should be all done with court around 12pm Kemerovo time (11pm the night before back home). I'll certainly update you all on how it goes. We have court and then our 10 day wait, and then Maks will officially be our son. It has been such a long, wonderful, sometimes painful journey that it makes me tear up just to type that. Poor Maks, I hope I don't smother him. :)

Thanks to Leslie for the Rylan email updates! I'm so sad I won't see him for a month! And to Ang for getting our mail. :) And to Erin for sending us baby-bump updated pictures! And to our parents for always emailing us supportive, encouraging emails. It means a lot to us!! We love you and miss you already. Its very weird to be half a world away.

2 comments:

  1. Another great update - thanks so much - I keep checking your blog everytime I get on the internet. Prayers that all goes well and you'll be home before you know it. Take care - Be safe!!!
    Love to both of you, Aunt Judy

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  2. I provide the Ry updates whenever I can. If only I could have captured the moment this weekend when he climbed on top of the dining room table and knocked over my dozen roses ...or the time out that resulted in his crib. Within seconds after I left him in his crib, he apparently climbed out, walked into the office with his huge Ry grin, waved and said "Hi, momma." I can't wait for Ry to teach Maks his new tricks! :-) Love you guys-Les

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