We had yest another good day at the baby orphanage. We got to see him 2x, so on the aftennoon break, we went and had lunch with our driver (Andrey) and interpreter (Julia) at a nearby "MegaMall". We ate at Ikea, yes the same type of Ikea that you find at numerous places in the USA! And, incidentally, the same type of food too! :-) Nonetheless, it was about as authentic as the mall had... the other choices were McDonald's, Pizza Hut, SBarro, etc! Felt pretty close to home except for the cryllic writing on the signs.
After lunch, we headed into the town of Vsevolozhsk... this is the actual town of the baby orphanage. I wanted to get some postcard stamps, and Julia offered to help me get them. Thank goodness, because I would have been totally lost during the process without her!!!! We waited 45min to get postcard stamps. When we got there at first, there was a small line because the post office was closed for lunch. Then, when they opened, the workers were not in any spectacular hurry to work. The cashier that eventually help us literally used the one-finger-method to type on the computer. She was flustered because she "doesn't sell the big stamps often"! While we were waiting in our line the other cashier belted out (per Julia), "I am very tired, so talk in a low voice!!" Afterward, Julia said, "You can now say that you have experienced a provincial Russian Post Office!" :-)
Our afternoon visit was very good, but we could also tell that our little guy was a bit more tired and distractable from the morning visit and early afternoon activity. He is a live-wire, bundle of energy after a nap!! When all was said and done, we said our good-byes, shared good-bye waves, and we headed back to the hotel.
We are doing some more packing now... but just a bit, as we are mostly packed. We have only a few things left to stow away, then we will be on our way. We will be up at 3am... on our way to the airport at 3:30a, and hope to get through check-in/security to be on our way to Frankfurt by 6:20a. Hoping and praying that everything goes well, we will be in Peoria at 6:30p! Looking forward to seeing our kids and the rest of our USA family and friends!
All for now ... next post from IL!! :-)
2 comments:
God will keep you safe on this next leg of your journey. Glad for the extra time you had with your boy and hoping the waiting process goes by quickly. A fascinating trip but it will be good to put your feet back on US soil I'm sure and share hugs and stories with your kids and family.
So glad your trip has gone so well!! Praise God for good visits with your little guy! Please tell Leslie that I'm dying for a playdate with her once you get home and get rested!
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