Moo Moo and a Circus

Max and his Moo Moo breakfast.

My, My.  For some reason the clever name of this Russian restaurant stuck with me.  In the Cyrillic alphabet, the 'y' in Russian produces the Latin alphabet's 'long u' sound.  Thus (Moo, Moo).  This restaurant has a big buffet stocked with lots of Russian foods, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is decorated nicely in a rustic motif with lots of wood. Chairs throughout the restaurant and sporadically painted in the black and white "cow theme."  Each location has a GIANT cow sitting out front as a landmark and if the patrons are lucky, they end up with a cow-skin printed balloon.  (we missed out on the balloons, unfortunately)  Every meal comes with a yummy piece of candy, no matter if it's breakfast or not.  Pure sugar... yum.  This is where we began our day for a late morning breakfast.  We always end up ordering a little bit of a lot of things and sharing, just for curiosity's sake.  Max ordered a pierogi, Evan ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and mashed potatoes, Jose ordered a meat patty with a fried egg sitting upon it with a side of fried potatoes, and my order consisted of a meat patty with sauteed onions and mushrooms on top, all smothered in a delicious white creamy sauce which Jose thinks was mayo and cheese mixed together.  I don't know, but it was good.  Oh, and it came with a side of delicious rice which had lots of diced up carrots cooked with it.  Let's not forget about the "pancake" (more of a crepe) with chocolate and raisins folded up inside and two cappuccinos to get us parents moving.  I know it sounds like a strange breakfast.  Originally we went in because we read the word "omelet" on the menu posted outside the front door.  When we asked for omelettes, we were directed down the line to another part of the buffet, never really saw anything resembling omelettes nor anyone making them and finally decided to let ourselves be sidetracked by everything we saw.

Meat Patty with cream sauce and Rice on the Side

Evan & Max riding Moo Moo

Notice the Clemson Tiger Paw in the second row?

After breakfast, we continued down Old Arbat Street again, this time stopping in lots of the shops and checking out all the Matryoshka dolls.  Would you believe Jose found a Clemson-themed matryoshka?!  Who would have thunk it?  Crazy.  Those tourist shops will stop at no length to get the American Tourists to drop some $$.  


By the time we returned to the apartment, Maxim had fallen asleep in the stroller, so we just transferred him to the bed and he continued snoozing.  What we've learned in our 15 days with him regarding naps...  if we want him to lay down and take a nap, NYET, he's not having it.  If he's in a car or rolling along smoothly in a stroller, the movement will lull him to sleep.  He had been sleeping nearly an hour and 1/2 when we decided it was time to wake him or our afternoon plans would be shot.


We decided, since we're in Russia, we should go see one of those famous Russian circuses...  With the help of the internet, we located two here in Moscow.  The Old Moscow (Nikulin) Circus and the Balshoi Circus (Balshoi means big or grand).  We opted for the Balshoi as the website gave us the impression that it was more acrobats than animal acts and the Old Moscow Circus seemed to be more animal acts.  Also, the Balshoi Circus had a show at 5:00 pm and the Old Moscow Circus wasn't until 7:00.  We weren't sure if the boys would last through the 7:00 show.  They're still jet-lagged.


While Max was still sleeping, we searched the internet for a Moscow Metro map so we could figure out how to get ourselves there.  We utilized Google Translate to assist in hand-writing our circus ticket order in Russian Cyrillic letters on a little slip we would pass to the cashier at the ticket window.  Then we attempted to wake Max so we'd have time to give him and Evan a snack before our departure for our Subway and Circus Adventure.  Not fun.  Little man Max did NOT want to wake up.  Nor did he want pizza, yogurt, fruit, water, or juice.  Nor did he want to put his shoes on, or go Peeset (pee pee), or sit in the stroller, or go out the door, or down the hallway, or into the elevator, or out of the building, walking, or sitting, or his Mommy pushing him, or ANYTHING!  He just wanted to scream and cry.  We attempted to tell him we were going to the Circus in Russian, but he didn't want to hear anything.  Who knows if he even knew what the circus was before today.  He wasn't having any of it.  He screamed and cried for about five blocks of walking and didn't finally stop until we got into the Metro station and headed down the enormously long escalator to the trains.  When that boy starts his wailing, it's as if someone shuts his ears off.  End of story.  Maybe, you're thinking, we should have just turned back to the apartment since we weren't necessarily providing a "calm" situation at this point which all those adoption books recommend.  We opted to continue, our aim was to show Max that he's just going to have to trust us that we're not taking him anywhere bad.  


So finally, he realized that the train station was A LOT more interesting than his wailing.  The route to the Bolshoi Circus included two trains.  We're patting ourselves on the back for reading the signs correctly.  Surprisingly, even in Moscow, the subway signs only have words written in the Cyrillic alphabet.  While we do see more signs written in phonetic latin alphabet around town, the subway sign makers didn't get that assignment from the local tourism department.  Maybe before the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 World, someone could take on that assignment.  

Home of the Bolshoi Circus.

The subway was great, the trains ran very frequently and it works here just like in any other modernized country in the world.  (except for the signage)  We exited the subway at Университет (University) and saw the big circus building kitty-corner across the intersection.  We crossed safely with all the other pedestrians and bicycle riders and made our way to the entrance along the flower and fountain lined walk.  It was really pretty.  There were about a half-dozen carnival rides out front for the little kids, we by-passed those to get into the theater in time.  When we approached the door, we only saw ticket-takers and hadn't seen yet the box-office window which is normally easy to find in the States.  I asked the first employee I saw, in my best Russian of course, "билет?" (bilet? — which, by the way, is very similar to the Spanish word for ticket — billete)  I have no idea what she said, I just attempted to pay attention to the direction she was pointing.  We attempted another door sort of in that direction and asked the same question again...  we were homing in our our target.  It's not the most direct way to locate your destination, but it works in any language.  It's sort of like playing that kids game where the player is told that they're hotter or colder based on how close they are in proximity to the item they are trying to find.  It works.  

Finally we found the ticket window after wandering back up a portion of the flower-lined path, around a corner, down the stairs and into the box office.  We presented our well-written order to the nice lady behind the glass (I'm patting myself on the back, here) and received our tickets for exactly the price point we wanted to pay.  She crossed out the portion that listed our boys' ages, signifying that adult and children's tickets were the same price.  We understood perfectly, paid in rubles and got some great seats for the show.  Getting into our seats presented another challenge.  When we presented our tickets to the usher, it was already quite dark in the theatre as the show had just begun.  We hadn't paid attention to the row or seat numbers printed on the tickets yet (we assumed they would take us there), but the usher just pointed in the direction and assumed we would go.  (We couldn't see a thing and I wasn't ready to tumble down the staircase and into the center ring)  I told her "Ya ni panimayu" (I don't understand) and she gave me a frustrated look and took another look at our tickets.  She then pointed and told us in Russian that we should go back out the entry point to the next doors down and enter there.  (at least that's what we thought she said) So we went to the next entry point and the nice lady there proceeded to tell us that we should go back to our original entry point.  I told her as well, "ya ni panimayu."  Finally she walked us next back to the first usher-lady and told her sternly that we should be entering at the first gate.  First usher lady tries to seat us in the closest row to us, but even in the dark, I could tell that there were only three seats, not four.  I turned around and told her "tree"  (three) while pointing at the seats and then pointed at my family and said "chiteery." (four)  She then asked the lady who was sitting in, what we thought, our fourth seat to move over.  We sat down.  Until - 


One minute later, we were being asked to move since apparently we were sitting in someone else's seats.  I finally went to Usher Lady and said forcefully, "Goodyay, pajalustah?!" (Where, PLEASE?!) handing our tickets to her.  She then realized that someone else was sitting in our seats, one row back, (she finally asked them to move) and we finally got to sit down.  Keep in mind we were operating in a dark theater, that was very loud as the show had already begun.  Usher Lady had no flashlight.  Once we were in our seats, we LOVED the show... and so did the boys.  Max was smiling from ear to ear.  No more tears.

The show was exceptional, except that the theatre smelled old, musty and I swore it smelled like safari animals.  The only reason I have a memory of that smell is because Jose and I spent a week watching wild animals on a camera safari in South Africa on our honeymoon.  It's a smell you never forget.  We saw clowns, (not your standard painted ones like at American circuses), acrobats, magicians, dogs, monkeys, bears, dancers.  At the end, was an honest-to-goodness lion tamer, complete with seven or eight full-grown, full-maned, loudly roaring lions.  They did exactly what he gently but firmly asked them to do during this 30 minute segment of the show.  I couldn't help but think about Siegfried and Roy the entire time.  He ended the show by even sticking his head in one of the lion's mouths.  They were beautiful, scary, and awe inspiring.  I'm not an proponent of wild animals being used for our entertainment, but I have to admit, it was impressive.  I snuck in one photo of the lions before the camera police lady tried to yell at me.  

At the end of the show, about 7:00 pm, the boys were tired, happy and hungry.  And the carnival rides in front of the circus theater were closed for the night.  Boys were sad, we were secretly glad.  We got back to the apartment having avoided the usual arguments about wanting "just one more ride, please!"  

The sight up from the middle of the
escalator ride.

The view back down from the
middle of the escalator.

Another successful day.  

Saturday Walkabout

I can't understand why neither of the boys want to take a nap in the afternoon considering jet lag and our walking tour today, both Jose and I would practically trade our first born for one.  Maybe we'd trade both the first born and the recent acquisition.  At least for just 
a few hours.  Naaaa, they're too cute and I suppose sleep is overrated.


We started off our morning with a walk down New Arbat Street in the direction of the Kremlin again.  Planned on having a nice breakfast similar to yesterday's scrumptious beginning.  Evan got sucked in by corporate American marketing once again.  "It's been soooooo long since I've had a donut, please, please, let me choose our breakfast place today.  It's my turn, you got to choose yesterday!"  We crumbled like stale muffins under the pressure and inside the exclusive Moscow Dunkin' Donuts we went.  This is probably the most-rockin' DD we've ever been in... cool furniture, jammin' music.  Evan and Max ended up dancing while Jose and I enjoyed our not-so-DD-coffees.  And then they sat quietly coloring in their Transformer sticker/coloring books together.  

The coffee menu listed several different types in both Cyrillic Russian and English, including cappuccinos, American Coffee and Original Coffee.  We initially asked for the original coffee, but the young man at the cash register recommended that the American Coffee was better.  I'm guessing, in hindsight, that the Original was what we were after since the American Coffee didn't taste anything like the creamy sweet good-morning-in-a-cup one normally gets at DD in the States.  At least our breakfast was semi-relaxed and the guy behind the corner seemed to enjoy the opportunity to practice his English.

We needed to be back to our apartment by 11:00 am since Philip was coming by to meet us for a walking tour of the area.   We started out on New Arbat Street in the opposite direction that we'd been walking on our own, swung around the corner on Garden Circle and onto Old Arbat Street.  What a treat!  It's a beautiful old European walking street, closed off to motorized traffic, full of fabulous tourist traps, two Starbucks, one Hard Rock Cafe, one McDonalds, one Wendy's and lots of sidewalk artists.  I shared with Philip the story I knew about Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, that he was an advocate for adoption in the U.S. and that he, himself, had been adopted.  Philip was very interested to hear this and mentioned that the Wendy's had been open for only a very short time.  We continued on our path toward the Red Square and Kremlin and St. Basils.  I asked Philip, "If we behave, will you take a family photo of us in front of St. Basil's?"  He smiled and nodded.  He shared lots of interesting information about the sights, but mostly, he was a non-stop font of questions for Jose and I.  Philip is curious (and super knowledgeable) about the world and world history, in general.  

One of his most pressing questions was whether we thought that the Democrats and Republicans would work out their differences regarding the fast-approaching deadline for the increase of the debt ceiling (to save the world from certain financial ruin).  We discussed the fact the American politicians love to basque in the glory of being a world super power, but when it comes to thinking outside of the U.S. borders, they don't seem to be very far-sighted.  It seems that most only think of what's best for their voting constituents in their own respective states.  We also discussed a few more political issues and he was very curious about the demographics that make up the typical parties.  He must ask most of his clients which party they usually vote with, as he brought up that between 80-90% of couples who adopt in Russia tell him they vote Republican.  Things that make you go hmmm...

The top of St. Basils Cathedral... I had
to cut off the event set on the ground.

We continued walking, and walking, and walking.  Didn't stop very much at all.  Just walked and walked and walked.  Philip made some very astute observations about Maxim and also commented about what he had read in his file, especially some things that were unique and different.  When we got close to the Kremlin, he told us that the word "Kremlin" comes from old Russian and means "fortress."  It was built originally to protect from attacking tribes.  We got oh so close to St. Basil's for our long-awaited family photo.  Alas, the Red Square and area surrounding St. Basil's was closed off to everyone, except for the event crew loading in for a huge concert connected with the Dakar Racing Series -  Sochi to Moscow Rally.  We didn't find out exactly when it was happening, but I'm not holding my breath that the stage and all the things being assembled in the spot that we had hoped to have our photo taken will be removed prior to our departure.  I'm so sad.  We may have to find someone with Photo Shop talents that can help us create the family photo we were dreaming of taking.  Or I'll have to come up with Plan B for our family Christmas card this year.  

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We continued our walk, and like last weekend in Vladivostok, we encountered at least half-a-dozen brides and grooms parading around the area having photos and videos taken dancing in the park or posing near other historic landmarks.  They also brought bouquets of flowers to lay at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which also hosts an eternal flame.  The area around this landmark is cordoned off to everyone except for bridal couples, who are allowed inside the area to leave their flowers.  What a very nice tradition. 


Philip felt certain that somehow we would be able to get into the square, so we kept attempting to enter from all the different sides.  One attempt took us through the GUM department store shopping mall, out the revolving side door and out to another fenced-off area which prevented our entry.  We re-entered the GUM and I, especially, thoroughly enjoyed the window shopping provided by shops the likes of Armani, Gucci, Cartier, etc.  Unfortunately, I left my platinum card back in the States along with my Russian phrase book.  We did have a nice casual pizza lunch upstairs in one of the restaurants, though. 

With the Coca Cola Bubble Chick.  Thanks for the
thirst buster!

The walk back provided another occasion to witness American corporate marketing around the world...  we encountered two gals, dressed from head to toe in Coca-Cola themed outfits, armed with bubble-guns (guns, not gums), passing out little cans of Coke.  We were quite thirsty at this point, so we thanked them kindly and asked for a photo for our story. 


About four o'clock (after five hours of walking the town) we finally returned to our apartment.  Feet aching, the boys' patience at an end, and our heads ready for a nap.  The boys had other plans for us, though... hide and seek.  Maybe we'll try the zoo or a circus tomorrow.  

Dostoevsky, Crepes and Sushi

Friday morning we finally got out of the apartment around 9:00 am, rode the rickety elevator down 22 floors and walked out to New Arbat Street.  It's one of the main thoroughfares that runs directly to the Red Square.  We walked up the street to take the stairs down into the tunnel which goes under the street (so one can avoid getting hit by the six or eight lanes of traffic) and came out the other side.  

Standing across the street from the
apartment building we're staying in this
week.

Our goal was to find a place for breakfast.  Score one us!  We ate at a place called Кофе Хачс (phonetically pronounced Coffee House, I think)  We had a great experience, partly because the waitress spoke some English and because the menu had pictures so all we had to do was point to what we want and tell her how many.  We enjoyed cappuccinos, cottage cheese pancakes, blinis (crepes) stuffed with cream cheese and chives, and croissants.  Yum.  

Proud Papa and his boys.

There was a young Russian couple sitting at a table not far from us, observing us and obviously discussing us.  It's quite entertaining to watch the looks on faces when people nearby first hear us "foreigners" speaking and then they hear Max rattle off everything he wants to say in Russian jibber-jabber mouth with a "Mama" or "Papa" thrown in our direction for good measure.  Then they notice us replying with a few Russian phrases and their equivalents in English.  We notice them noticing us and smile politely.  We usually get a smile back and a look of either genuine concern, disbelief, compassion, or amazement.   I have to believe that it gets to be a semi-common sight since thousands of foreigners adopt orphans here every year.  I sometimes think to myself, "What would I think if I ran into a foreign family in the U.S. that had one child with them who obviously didn't speak their language? Would I think they kidnapped that child?"  Hmmm.  Things to consider.  


Another funny thing happened this morning after breakfast.  We were walking toward the Kremlin and a police officer stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of us.  Maxim said something, the police officer turned around and gave us a look but kept walking.  Then Jose repeated to me what Maxim had just said aloud:  "Ya ni lublu militzia." (or something to that effect) which essentially translates to "I don't like police officers.  We're wondering if he's had some sort of contact in his past with police officers which prompted this response.  More things that make us go "hmmmmm."

Dostoevsky holding down the fort in front
of a HUGE library.

We walked as far as the Kremlin, but the area where we ended up was full of tourist groups waiting to enter the square with their tour guides.  Since it was getting toward lunch time and it had already been a rather long walk, we decided to turn around and head back toward the apartment.  The Kremlin and Red Square would wait for the weekend.  We did run into this huge statue of Dostoevsky, though.  The boys loved chasing the pigeons away.


Maxim had another first today...  his first sushi lunch.  We also had some edamame, and ordered some pork dumplings and it all went rather well.  It was a challenge trying to keep him from eating the wasabi paste.  It's so very frustrating to not be able to explain why something is a "no, no."  On the way back, we found a fabulous, huge book store.  They had a little activity table in the kids section.  The store had great postcards and gifts and provided a great place to kill an hour and everyone behaved rather well.  





Once we got back to the apartment, we thought, "surely these boys have to be so exhausted from not sleeping last night and they'll want to take a nap."  So, so wrong.  All the boys wanted to do was play and wrestle around.  An hour later, we gave up on that idea and decided to head downstairs to the Soviet-era playground that sits behind the building.  We are so grateful and we don't even care that it had some major safety concerns.  This playground would have been torn out 25 years ago if it were located in the U.S.  Broken, rusty, metal stairs, missing bars where kids can fall through, chipping (probably lead-based) paint, a super-steep slide (the kind that heats up so much in the sun that you can scorch your behind).  We were just happy to have a place for the boys to blow off some steam.


Before heading in for the evening, we stopped for ice creams and picked up some bottled water and some meat-stuffed rolls for a light dinner.  After baths and pajamas, both boys fell asleep without any battle.  Thank you God.  Ready for a new day.


At one point, yesterday, I asked Evan if he wants us to change his name to Kevin (since that's what Max calls him most of the time). He said, "No, I don't think so.  How about Jinga?"  I about rolled out of my chair laughing.  He's such a funny kid.  Who knows where this stuff comes from.  I can't wait to be able to understand Maxim... I'm sure he's equally as hilarious as Evan/Kevin/Jinga.  

The view from our window at 3:30 am,
the first time Evan woke up today.  At
least he went back to bed.

Moscow arrival

It's just after 5:00 am in Moscow right now.  Evan was essentially asleep since we were picked up by our driver at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport yesterday at 4:30 pm.  We were barely able to wake him for the walk up to the apartment that we're renting here.  Of course, this means that little bugger Evan has been awake since 1:00 am which means I've been awake off and on since then as well.  Jose just woke up but luckily Max is still sleeping.  This time change stuff is tough on a body's clock.  And no I'm not a bad mommy for letting my son play his DS silently for three hours in the middle of the night while I tried to sleep some more...  just saying.


Max, on the other hand, slept a tiny bit during the ride here to the apartment, but then wasn't having any of our getting-ready-for-bed routine.  Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm (3 and 4 am Vladivostok time), he had one of his famous meltdowns as we tried to get him to sleep.  That boy wailed loudly enough for the folks in the Kremlin to hear about 8 blocks away.  Jose and I looked at each other sadly as we could only let him cry himself to sleep.  When Max is in one of those states, if you even lay a finger on him, he cries harder and louder.  It was so sad to listen to him wimpering like a little puppy.  We just sat patiently next to him until he drifted off to sleep out of shear exhaustion.  Wishing for better nights ahead.


This morning, we will venture out to find a cafe for breakfast.  It will be interesting trying to order, since we are now completely on our own when it comes to language.  Silly me forgot something very important when I was packing for this trip... my English-Russian dictionary and travel guide.  Oh well.  We may have to speak in charades... should be entertaining for the folks in the cafe.  One of the other moms I met in Vlad (who is now home in Alabama with their cute little Riley) shared a story of when she flapped her folded arms, clucked out loud and squatted like a chicken laying an egg just to communicate to a storekeeper what she wanted to buy.  At least they all were laughing, including her.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing that... maybe I can convince Evan to do it for us. : )


Later, our Moscow coordinator, Philip, will be heading to the U.S. Embassy on our behalf with our fat folder full of documents needed to begin the process to acquire an entry visa for Maxim.  As I understand it, on Monday, we'll need to return to the embassy with him for an appointment where we'll be asked questions about the adoption.  If all goes as planned, we'll receive his visa on Monday.  As of now, we depart for the U.S. on Wednesday.  Jose is checking with our travel agency to see if we can leave a day earlier.  If there isn't too much cost involved in changing our plans, we'll try to do that.  


During our weekend, we're planning on trying to see one of the famous Moscow circuses and possibly visiting the zoo.  That will hopefully tire out the kiddos and get them to bed (and keep them in bed) on a more normal schedule.  Today, though, I definitely foresee a nap in Evan's schedule, whether he likes it or not.  He may be the one screaming for the folks at the Kremlin today.


By the way, did I say "hip hip hooray for our internet connection!" ?  It's a good one and it's  included with our apartment.  I should be able to post photos much more easily from here.  

Max, Ivan & Evan before our departure for the airport.

Just a glimpse of road conditions...

Evan & Max waiting for Maxim's first flight ever.

Our friends Bob & Connie from Illinois
 and their new son, Maxim...
headed to Moscow on the same flight with us.

Boarding Aeroflot Flight 720 Vlad-Moscow

Aeroflot was just as modern, well-equipped, and
comfortable as any flight we've ever taken in the U.S.
(contrary to many reports we've received)

The view from our 22nd floor apartment
in Moscow.

The view of the morning sky around 5:00 am today.

Last Morning at the VMI

It hardly seems possible that we're finally ready to hit the skies again.  We're sitting outside on the restaurant deck having our last breakfast together.  Our drive picks us up at 11:30 for our 2:15pm flight.  Next stop, Moscow!  We've got six nights ahead of us in an apartment that we're renting about five blocks from the Red Square.  I'll post more on our travel and Moscow adventure next time.

Since our train ride adventure, we've been busy passing the days by playing, partying and completing paperwork.


One of the blessings of being at the Vlad Motor Inn is that we get to enjoy the company of several other American families traveling the same adoption path.  We knew we'd all be missing out on the 4th of July festivities in the US, so we decided to have our own little get-together upstairs in the White Rabbit recreation room.  The gals at the front desk were kind enough to send out the information to all the US families and we were able to put together an impromptu potluck complete with entertainment for the kiddos.  


There were six families gathered for our event.  All of us are enduring the 10-day required wait, and all but one of us families had our new children with us.  Five of us have already have custody of our new children and our new friends Pete and Casey from Alabama are still waiting for the director of their new son's orphanage to let little AJ come live with them.  We all did our best to locate or whip up some yummy things to share.  We enjoyed  deviled eggs, fried sausages, cheeses, chips, sodas, olives, pickles, hot dogs in italian sauce, a smoked fish dip (I was finally able to use that fish), and baked beans.  By looking at pictures on the canned goods in the store, I was able to purchase what I thought were Heinz pork and beans in a tomato sauce.  It's funny how many brands are international... at least the brands are, all the foods have been adjusted to the tastes of each country.  Coca Cola here tastes like Diet Coke to me.  I haven't tried the Diet Coke, so I can't tell you how that tastes.  You may have seen the photos with the Lays potato chips on a facebook post...  the chips are the same, but the flavors are different.  (Bacon, Pickle, Shrimp, for example.)  To make the pork and beans, all I could come up with was the canned beans and I added some ketchup  (Heinz), some sugar cubes, and some cut up ham and let it cook for a while.  When I tasted them, they were really good... but they had a pretty spicy kick to them.  I'm not sure what type of pepper is in the Heinz recipe here, but I think it would be popular if they introduced it in the U.S.   We were all pleased that we were able to come up with quite a variety of foods.  


After we ate, we had arranged for a local clown to come entertain the kids.  This hotel seems to host a LOT of kids events and we've seen various clowns and balloon professionals here frequently.  On the 3rd of July, I noticed a clown in the lobby, so I asked the nice gal at the front desk if she could ask him if he were available for our 4th of July get together, if he could come and make red, white and blue balloon animals for the kids and how much he would charge for an hour.  It was only 1200 rubles.


He was terrific for the kids because he spoke Russian, of course, and so did all of our kids except for Evan. He also spoke some English so he was perfect.  We were so happy to see how much fun the kids were having... I would doubt that any of the kids had ever had a clown entertain them before.  Evan made a comment to me that he wasn't using red, white and blue balloons...  I said, "It's ok, nobody noticed except for us and I don't think any of the kids mind at all."  Evan didn't seem to mind either... he was so excited all evening.  Max had so much excitement that he fell asleep on the couch that night instead of giving us his normal bedtime battle.  We were grateful.

The last few days, we've spent running the paper chase.  Jose accompanied Ivan, our coordinator, to the Passport office, the orphanage, the notary, the bank, and who knows where else.  I just know it was lots of hours of running around.  I stayed with the boys both mornings.  On Tuesday I received a phone call explaining that Maxim's records were missing a current TB test and unfortunately, we'd have to take him to a clinic to get this fun test done.  It's no big deal if you're an adult, but when you're a kid and someone wants to inject a bubble of some liquid under your skin to see if you develop a skin reaction, it's just not a good time.  Jose and Ivan met us at the clinic and luckily Jose was there to hold Maxim.  He was a screamer and a kicker and it didn't help that the nurse administering the injection was a stereotypical, stern, non-smiling Russian woman.  She even filled the syringe facing Max so he could see exactly what she had planned for him.  The screaming started before she even got near him. No warm and fuzzies from her.  Somehow we got through it and we felt so badly that we headed directly to a toy store.


The next day, poor little Max had to go to another doctor's office to get a basic check up and report that we have to take the the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  It's a requirement for his visa.  Luckily this doctor had a terrific manner for dealing with kids.  She calmed him and played with him and he made it through like a trooper.  It helped that she had no needles.


Well that's it for now.  I've got to go finish packing the last few things.  I'll try to post some photos when we get to Moscow.


Wish us luck on the flight.

Another Train Ride

A few days ago, in order to entertain ourselves while surviving another day of our 10-day wait, we decided to get adventurous and take the train down the coast and into Vladivostok.  Since Evan has this ongoing passion for trains, we seem to make it a habit to ride a train wherever we area traveling.  Between Jose and myself, we've traveled to quite a few foreign countries, so we felt fairly confident we would survive this excursion.  Because we still have an immense language gap, we stopped at the hotel's front desk and asked them to write down our "order" to present at the ticket window for train tickets.  Two adults and two kids round-trip from Sanatornaya station to the end of the line in Vladivostok cost just 110 rubles or $3.95.   Pretty inexpensive for a 35 minute ride there.  Most definitely the most inexpensive part of this entire journey.


The ride was pretty if you remain focused on the water, although the weather was a bit hazy.  Most of the train ride, until you get into downtown, runs along the coast, so you get a pretty view of the coast overlooking the Sea of Japan.  This area potentially could be a beautiful sea-side tourism destination, but unfortunately most of the buildings along the water are run-down, decrepit industrial sites.  In between buildings and clearings, the locals will find a patch of beach area (very rocky and not much sand) to camp out, cook out, lay out, you get the picture.  You don't see many people swimming in the ocean, as we understand, it's a well-known unfortunate fact to be quite polluted.

The boys in front of the Marine Terminal

The boys behaved marvelously on the ride and we enjoyed watching Maxim's expressions as he saw the sights with us.  It seemed like a new experience for him. Our plan was to walk 4-5 blocks from the downtown train station to a submarine museum that is situated near the Marine Terminal and the bay that is home to some of the Russian Naval Fleet.  After exiting the train station, we couldn't help but hear lots of commotion coming from the Bortsov Revolutsii Square that seemed to be on the way to our destination.  We were lucky enough to pick a day when there was a community festival happening.  We have no idea what it was called or why it was happening, but it was interesting to see the entertainment and exhibits as well as the local people out and about.  


After about an hour of that excitement, we decided it was time for lunch and to head toward the submarine.  Jose and I have a rule about trying to stick to local cuisine while we're traveling and we generally avoid fast food places as much as possible.  This was our first time attempting to eat outside the hotel (no english-speaking employees to help us) and our first time with two hungry little  boys on our hands.  We happened upon a "Magic Burger" restaurant.  The picture in the front window advertised a juicy hamburger sitting within a sesame studded bun, accompanied by fries and a Coke — looked good, especially to the boys. We looked at each other and said "how hard can it be to order a hamburger in Russian?"  We decided to break our own rule... plus we knew the boys would be happy with the french fries.  

Result:  a "where's the beef?"-type hamburger accompanied with "what's this on my hamburger?" (cole-slaw, we think) and a "Mommy I don't like the bun." and a "can I get more ketchup?" Magic Burger was definitely the most-uninspiring, unsavory, hamburger we've ever seen, not to mention, the most challenging to order, EVER.  We were even charged 5 rubles per ketchup pack.  It's not a lot, but something we're unaccustomed to.  After this experience, Jose and I were wondering aloud what a typical Russian would think once they experienced a Five Guys Hamburger. No comparison.






The kicker of the whole Russian fast-food restaurant experience...   the bathrooms.  We decided since we were there, we'd take the boys to the bathroom so we wouldn't have to worry about trying to ask for them somewhere else.  As we went down the stairs toward the bathrooms, we noticed a cashier sitting in front of the doorways.  Yes, a cashier.  Yes, we had to pay to use the bathrooms.  We learned that it cost 4 Rubles to use the bathroom — each.  Not a lot, but interesting nonetheless.   (It's about 27.5 Rubles to an American $1 so the bathroom adventure cost about 60 cents)  As we were standing in line waiting our turn, I noticed the people behind us each holding their own little wad of toilet paper which they had gotten from the cashier. Noticing that we had forgotten to acquire our necessary supplies for this portion of our adventure, I sent Evan back to Ms. Cashier to get TP for each of us.  Then we each took our turn.  Once I got into the ladies room, I couldn't help but giggle at the sight, and especially at myself because I was frantically digging through my purse praying I had the camera instead of Jose so I could get a silly tourist photo.   I'm so glad to live in the U.S.A.  Marisa — I thought of you during this episode.


Next we had to walk through a beautiful public park that adjoined the submarine memorial museum.  It was also a battle memorial for the Russian Pacific Fleet... lots of marble walls inscribed with WAY too many names of men and women who had given their lives for their country.  One of the most interesting things we observed were no less than three brides and their grooms with some of their wedding parties in this park.  It seems to be a tradition for the bride and groom to bring a bouquet of flowers to lay at the memorial and then take photographs there.


After Evan and Max climbed all over the canons and other old war relics, we finally made our way to the S-56 Memorial Submarine.  What boy doesn't love to look through the periscope and check out the torpedo bays.  Fun, fun, fun.   We then finished our time in downtown Vladivostok by backtracking through the festival to the train station.  The boys were gifted with yo yo's and bubbles to keep them entertained and we began the search for the right station platform where we would board our train.  Not a sign in sight, not even in Russian using the Cyrillic alphabet.  We had to guess which of the three platforms our train would arrive on.  It's quite obvious that this is not a big tourist destination.  Very few sights list names in Latin letters.  You really need to be a local to know your way around here. 


Luckily, we landed on the right platform and boarded the correct train in the right direction.  Unfortunately, we ended up getting off one stop too early.  We forgot to count how many stations we had to stop at to get back to the one closest to our hotel.  We kept listening for "Sanatornaya" which was our stop.  We got off when we heard it and then realized that they must have been saying, "Next stop, Sanatornaya."   We looked at each other as the train was pulling away and simultaneously let out an expletive.  Oh well.  First we considered walking to the hotel, but there was no clear, straight road or path that we knew of and we weren't sure what we would encounter between this stop and the next.  It had to be at least a mile or two at least.  We ended up calling our coordinator to get the hotel phone number.  Jose called the desk and asked if there were a driver who could come get us.  They suggested it would be quicker to walk to the end of the street and get on the bus.  I started feeling panicky but Jose reassured me that it would be all right.  "But what happens if we get on the wrong bus or go the wrong way?  How in the world will be we able to ask for help?  We don't understand anyone and they don't understand us!"  We and our two tired boys began walking.  About 1/4 mile into our walk a car pulled up and honked the horn.  It was none other than our our coordinator, who happened to be in the area.  Super Ivan came to our rescue and delivered us safely up the road to our hotel. Boy were we happy to be back at the Vlad Motor Inn.

Six days and a fish.

We've had Maxim with us now for six days.  We knew it would be a challenge—no book required to figure that out.  We only have limited information on Maxim's first four and a half years of life and have had only limited glimpses into his life at the orphanage.  We can only guess that some of his behavior now is a reflection of his past.


Maxim is, more often than not, a happy, sweet and generous boy.  His normal behavior (and misbehavior) as a four-year old is perfectly acceptable, except that it's extremely difficult to discipline while providing him some understanding to why he is being corrected.  This has provoked some incredible melt-downs where he turns away from every attempt to calm and comfort him.  We're attempting to use the "time-in" method which so many international adoption books recommend.  It's not easy.  He doesn't want to be held and kept close.  I'm guessing he's not accustomed to it.  I pray this will change with time.  With every interesting or chaotic instance, we hypothesize more about the orphanage experience... living with eighty to 100 children, all being cared for by a very small, underpaid, under-equipped staff in less than desirable conditions.  


I'm guessing that this little guy, at four years old, has had to defend himself, his turf, his food and who knows what else more than he should have to in an entire lifetime.  He can be a little rough playing with Evan, but we're slowly working out those behaviors.  Evan wants to get rough and tumble, but he's slowly learning that playing in that manner, more often than not, provokes some pinching, punching and kicking from his little brother.  We are doing our best to gently correct Maxim's behavior with love and "time ins" (sitting closely to us for a short period of time) and mostly, it seems to be working.  It's going to take more than a week, though, I'm sure.


We had an incredibly difficult day yesterday, one that required lots of prayers and came with lots of tears (mostly on my part and Maxim's part)  Jose was a trooper and somehow we survived to live another day.  I'm hoping that memories of the outbursts will fade like memories of labor pains.  Today is going much better.  Maxim is a chatterbox and we feel awful that we can't understand him.  I'm confident that he's very entertaining.  One of the oddest feelings I get, though, is when we're on the playground behind the hotel.  It's close enough to a residential area, that some locals come use it as their own personal park.  I don't know what Maxim says to the other kids or their parents, but they don't seem to stick around long once we're there.  His tone doesn'tsound malicious, but I haven't the foggiest idea if our cute little guy has a potty mouth or is talking like a drunken sailor.  I assume those parents know that this hotel is full of American parents adopting children from the Russian orphanages.  Maybe once they realize that the kids on the playground are from the orphanage, they don't want their kids playing with them.  Like I said, I can only guess.  It sure is interesting, though.  Anyone other Vlad parents have the same experience?

Today seemed to go a little smoother.  Evan and Maxim are slowly settling into a common understanding.  It's not easy to be a brother after you've been the only child for seven years, especially when that little brother requires soooooo much parental attention.  Even so, Evan told me today that he likes being a big brother because he always has someone to play with.  When I asked him the thing he likes least about having a brother, he said it was when his little brother pinches him when they're playing.  It seems Maxim learned a mean pinch at that orphanage. I pray that every day will be a little bit easier.


I seem to be praying a lot more these days.  I guess that's a good thing.  God and I are having lots of conversations, mostly one-way, but once in a while I get a much needed sign that I've asked for.  When you take on something as big as this, let me tell you, you ask for a lot of signs that you're on the right path.  Somehow they seem to come when you're most desperate for direction or reassurance.  I am confident that Maxim's guardian angels are helping too and smiling all the while that he's finally in a place of hope.  I keep asking them to whisper gently to him in a language that he can understand that all is well, to be at peace, to be calm.  It seems to help - thank heaven.

Ok, onto another interesting thing.... the fish:

Three days ago, we scheduled a driver to take us shopping.  Our plan was to go the the GUM department store to try to do some souvenir shopping followed by a stop at the grocery store.  Well, due to the incessantly pock-marked, pot-holed, construction-laden roads in combination with the VERY offensive driving style of Sergei, our little Maxim just couldn't help but vomit all over himself and the car just 20 minutes into the ride.  We stopped, cleaned up, turned around and brought Jose, Evan and Max back to the hotel (where Maxim proceeded to hurl twice more on the sidewalk leading up to the front door) and then I went out again with Sergei to get some groceries.

Like I said in a previous post, one of my favorite things to do in a foreign country is wander the aisles of a local grocery store.  It's super fascinating to me.  I've decided what I like even more is to do that by myself.  Our driver, Sergei, insisted on accompanying me AND pushing my cart for me.  Not only could I NOT communicate with the man, I felt obligated to try to communicate what I was looking for, instead of just being left alone to wander and explore and joyously fill my cart.  Halfway through the store, I did end up taking one of his recommendations (at least I think it was a recommendation) when we were in the fish area of the market.  Jose and I LOVE smoked fish.  I usually make smoked fish dip to put on crackers.  Sergei noticed me studying the smoked fish in the deli case.  He sign-language-questioned me if I wanted some.  He somehow expressed to me that these, in specific, were REALLY good.  (imagine a smile and a thumbs up) So I let him ask the lady behind the counter for one on my behalf.  Here's what I got...


I have no idea what type of fish it is and I have never bought a smoked fish still dressed in it's own skin and tail, but I threw caution to the wind and said "what the heck, we'll figure out what to do with it when I get back to the hotel."  Jose is still laughing.  Here we are three days later and I'm afraid to touch the thing.  It's got lots of fish bones and the skin is really hard and difficult to remove.  Jose thinks I should use my charm and ask the cooks in the hotel restaurant for some help.  I may just do that.  Unless any of you out there know what to do with this thing so we can enjoy it.

Good night all.