It Was A Good Day

So, it's almost 1 a.m. here in St. Petersburg, and I just got up from power-nap.  I'm hoping that it won't ruin my sleep tonight, but for now I am up.

Today was a good day!  Everything went very well.  We went to a government office to officially receive our referral.  :-)  That was a quick meeting, then off to the Baby Home.  We had to wait for another government official there, so when all was said and done, we were only able to see our child for about 1-hr, because he had lunch and nap times.  It was a good 1-hr though.  He did not cry and seemed to warm-up very quickly.  We eased closer (with toys) and were able to spend about 20 minutes of the time holding/cuddling.  He seemed to feel right at home and enjoyed the cuddle-time as this is something that is not readily encouraged by staff to avoid any type of attachment/bonding to caregivers.  We took lots of pics and video, but unfortunately we are unable to post any of them because of various laws/policies.  At some point, when everything is finalized, I'm sure we will be able to post them, but by that point, he will be home, and those won't be as much fun as just seeing new pics!  :-)

Beyond that, we had LOTS of rain today.  It started raining at abt 9am and did not stop until abt 6pm.  Our driver joked that if you don't like the weather in Russia, wait 10-minutes, it will get worse!  :-)  After we got back to our hotel (abt 3:30p) we went for a walk, ate a late lunch/early dinner at Carl's Jr., came back to the hotel, and decided to go for an even longer walk... I don't know how far it was, but i would say more than a 2-miles total.  Leslie tried to convince me that we needed to take the Subway, but I wasn't so sure our Russian knowledge was quite up to that task yet ... maybe tomorrow or Sunday!  We also went to the grocery store and bought water (we were instructed to not drink the tap water) and a snack.  I was just thankful that I could make out enough of the labels to not accidentally get seltzer water... eckk ... flavorless Sprite.

Here are some new pics from today's travels...

In the waiting area to meet with the Minister of Education.
She is who officially gave us our referral. 

At the Baby Home, waiting to see our child 

The playground outside ... it is in a nice wooded area.  
Lots of bugs though, we noticed a few mosquito bites

And that is as much as I can really show of our 

Adoption business... so here are some pics of 

our foot travels after getting back to our hotel.

Moskovskie Triumphal Gate

This is just down from our hotel.  It was built from 1834-1838 

to memorialize the Russian victory in the Russo-Turkish War 

of 1828-1829.  According to our driver, it was once made out 

of granite, but was destroyed during WWII and replaced with 

iron, which is what is what we see today.  Very ornate!

Enjoying "traditional" Russian Carl's Jr  :-)  Yes, yes, 

I know... We plan to try something a little more authentic

 tomorrow!

Novodevichy Convent of Holy Resurrection

Also not far from our hotel.  Built in 1848, Closed 1918, 

Reopened in 1995. Some famous Russians are buried 

here... I recognized none of them.  :-)

31 Flavors even in Russia... time for a treat!  The cashier was young,

but spoke no English.  Nonetheless, we could communicate 

through the International concept of "one scoop" and "sugar cone" :-)

Paper wrap say ... America's Favorite Ice Cream

Don't tell Ben and Jerry!  :-) 

One of the city canals was being dredged by this contraption

Bulk frozen foods in the grocery store... 

you can buy the frozen foods like we buy  

nuts and dried foods, etc.  hard to see 

but there were mixed veggies, next to french fries, 

fish sticks, shrimp, and fruits!