Final Hours in Russia

Ok, I know I threatened on facebook that I was done posting until we got back to the States. Can I help it if the sun rises here at 5:00 am and this apartment has cheap, thin, shears for curtains on it's wall of eastern-facing windows?  I am wide awake and finished playing musical beds in this tiny apartment for the last time.  Jose and I always begin the evening together in the one bedroom and the boys get to share the pull out sofa.  I never know who I'm going to wake up with.  


This morning I woke up with little Max by my side and Jose had moved out to the couch.  I know that he cannot wait to get back to our own bed.  While I was in the bathroom, Evan snuck into my spot in the bed.  I guess I'm done sleeping.  So now it's nearly 6:00 am here in Moscow on Tuesday, and about 10:00 pm on Monday night in Florida.  We'll be home tonight, God willing.  I'm praying for smooth sailing all the way.  We've had enough adventure on this trip.  We've survived extra flights and an extra set of stamps in our passports, emotional roller coasters, language barriers, and legal systems.  I'm praying God is saying right now that we've had enough.  


It's time for us to transition Max to his new home and language.  It's not easy while we're still here. A friend put it well when she said "it's like they have one foot in their new country and the other is still in Russia."  Max won't be truly immersed in our language and ways until we're back on our own turf.  I'm praying it will help to make this lifelong journey with him easier.  There are moments that are so full of frustration that all we can do is pray for grace to get us through.  We've got ourselves one sweet, precocious, loving, strong-willed, smart, and VERY stubborn little boy.  


Today we look forward to 10 1/2 hours on a flight from Moscow to Washington, DC.  Once there, as long as our friends in immigration cooperate, Maxim will officially become a U.S. Citizen.  We need to present Maxim's birth and adoption certificates to get him out of Russia and a fat, brown, sealed envelope which we received yesterday at the U.S. Embassy, (which we'll be hand-carrying) to get him into the United States.  

Next week we'll busy ourselves registering him with the Russian consulate,  getting him a social security number, a U.S. passport, and hopefully into pre-school for this fall.  One super interesting, albeit scary, piece of information was confirmed to us yesterday by the nice woman at the embassy.  Even though Maxim will be a U.S. citizen, he will retain his Russian citizenship as long as he doesn't renounce it (which he can do once he's turned 18.)  Apparently it's a long and expensive legal process.  The kicker is this:  as long as Russia's policy of mandatory military service does not change, Maxim will be eligible to serve his 18 months in the Russian military from the time he turns 18 until he is 36 years old.  We were told that there have been cases of former adoptees returning to Russia as adults for a "culture tour" that have been forced to stay for 18 months and serve their "mother country."  It's Russian law and the U.S. Embassy says there isn't anything they can do to help if it happens.  Fascinating.  I suppose if Maxim wants to have immersion Russian language lessons when he's 18, he'll know where to go. 

After our entry in Washington, DC, we'll board another plane for Tampa.  That flight will probably feel like a short commute across town after all the crazy-long flights we've had during the past month.  At some point, I plan to sit down and figure out how many miles it took to bring Maxim home, including our unexpected side-trip to Madrid.  I know in the depths of my soul that he's worth it.  It hurts my heart to think of all the kids still sitting in the orphanage.  Every child deserves a good family.

Dosvidanya, Russia.  We'll take good care of your native son.

Here are a few photos from our day yesterday:

Brothers

Outside the red square, across the street from the
Moskva River.

These two characters pose for photos
for donations.  I think they're part-time
actors... the boys loved them.