Voronezh to St. Petersburg and Back (more to come)

Since we had 10 days to spare, we decided to go to St. Petersburg. Ludmilla was unable to purchase a First Class compartment for 2 on the train, but was able to purchase all 4 seats in a Second Class compartment. Riding a farm animal would be more sanitary than riding second class.

The carriage we were in was so skanky that we would not even allow our bare feet to touch the ground. There were people who used our carriage before our stop. The conductor did not change the bed linens, pillows or blankets. We left the blankets on the top bunks and used our towels as pillows.



Here is a view looking down the corridor on the train.

David was yelled at by the train conductor because he used the bathroom while the train was parked at a station. Normally the bathrooms are locked at each station as they dump directly onto the tracks.


If any of you have seen the movie "Twister" you know of the device known as "Dorothy." Dorothy was the device sent into a tornado to measure wind speed, etc. We had our own "Dorothy." This one dispenses boiling water to use for tea, coffee, hot cereal, etc. There is a Dorothy in each First and Second Class train car.




We are packing to go home. Keep looking at this blog for further updates

We are now a Family of Three

Greetings from Russia
We arrived safely in Moscow on July 26th. We apologize for those of you who tried to call or E-mail right before we left. We had little time from when we received our notification of travel to our departure date, so please understand that we could not call or e-mail everyone.

We had some opportunity for sightseeing in Moscow, but once again …. We had the “luck” of discovering that the Kremlin and St. Basile’s was “closed.” The Russians were rehearsing some entertainment for the Olympics and closed those places to the public AGAIN! Hopefully, the third time will be the charm and we will be able to see upon our final return to Moscow.

Once again, the train was a memorable experience. David had the “pleasure” of experiencing one of the public rest rooms at the Moscow train station. When he came back upstairs, his face looked slightly green. You are charged 15 Roubles (65 cents) for this experience (hopefully one that he will never need again).

This time, our train berth was “air conditioned.” The A/C turned off each time we stopped at a station. David was not a happy camper as the car was not very cool at all. He got less than an hour sleep, while Shari was out cold … NOT FAIR!! (you know who is writing this paragraph ….)

We arrived in Voronezh and was met by our host Ludmilla. She is amazingly organized and is a pleasure to work with. She has amazing pull in Voronezh and our hotel. She walked up to the front desk, and suddenly we were provided with a meeting room and beverages. She and our interpreter Ludmilla (yes we have 2 Ludmillas … so we call them Ludmilla 1 and Ludmilla 2 affectionately). Ludmilla 2 loves to play video games. Her favorite game is Jewel Quest. This game is old and not available in Russia. We managed to find Jewel Quest 1 and 2 back in the US and brought it to her as a gift. That night she played it until midnight.

We prepared for our court session by discussing possible questions that the judge and/or prosecutor could ask. Our session went very well.

That evening we met our friends Galina and Yura for dinner. We went to a Russian restaurant called “City Center.” The food was delicious!

After dinner, Galina took us on a tour of her city. At one stop we met some very happy and happy wedding partyers. Once guy was so drunk he waved to me while peeing off a bridge. He then tried to impress us that he could speak English. Unfortunately, the only two words he knew were Mother F*&^er and he could hardly walk straight or crooked.

She took us to the Eternal Flame for Russian Soldiers. We stood in front of retired tanks and artillery from the Soviet military.

The next morning we went to the baby home to see Ilyssa. We needed special permission to go to the baby home, as they are in the midst of a Chicken Pox epidemic. We found out that she caught them in June. Ilyssa was quite happy to see us.

When we saw her back in May, she was not crawling. This time, she was crawling rather quickly. She also grew more hair. Still no teeth … but they will come in time. She gained 1 pound since we saw her last. She loves to play with toys that make music she was playing with a toy cell phone just what I need another cell phone person) She was very happy and playful.

We had to leave to get back to the city and change into our suits for the court case. We walked with Ludmilla 2 to the Court House and waited for all parties to appear in the court room. Our case lasted less than 2 hours. The judge was very nice and even cracked a few jokes with us. We already had the feeling that Ilyssa would be ours. Our only concern was whether she would be able to waive the mandatory 10 day appeal.

She came back and delivered the verdict and was very happy to inform us that we are the proud parents of Ilyssa Ami Langer. We would receive all her personal documents. On the flip side of things, she regretted that she would not be able to waive the 10 day appeal as there was no medically life threatening reason that would require our immediate exit from Russia.

We also went back to the baby home today to see our daughter – it was such a different feeling as she is now part of our family.

Since we will not get custody of Ilyssa until August 8th, Shari and I will leave Voronezh and take a few days up in St. Petersburg. We plan to visit the Hermitage Museum and a few other attractions. The train from Voronezh to St. Petersburg takes 24 hours (this should be “fun”).

We will return to Voronezh on the 7th and take her out of the Baby Home on the 8th. From that point on and for the rest of her life, she will be together with us.

The next step is to get her passport ready while in Voronezh. Once that is set, we can leave for Moscow as a family and go to the US Embassy to file her immigration papers. She also needs to be examined prior to entry into the US. Once this is done, we will be flying home on August 14th.

Since we are going to miss some birthdays of some very special people -- we want to wish a very happy birthday
Grandpa Howard Langer (today)
Aunt Debi Diaz (July 30)
Aunt Judy Geonie (July 31)
Aunt Kathy McQuillan (August 4th)
Aunt Stephanie Trees (August 13th)

We miss everyone and want to thank you for the wonderful emails

WE ARE PACKED AND READY TO GO

We are semi packed. Yes I know we are leaving in 12 hours Just doing the final packing - We are very excited for the next stage in our lives.
As you might recall from our 1st trip, communication through email might be tough but we will do our best to keep everyone informed.. we are hoping for a 7 day visit instead of the full 17 days. Thank you for all your wonderful phone calls and prayers.

We have our Official Court Date!!! - Ilyssa is Coming Home at Last!!!

Our long wait is over!! We have our court date and have been invited back to Voronezh to bring Ilyssa home, once and for all.

Our painter Charlie painted her room Benjamin Moore "Westin Flax" which is a creamy yellow. The crib is in place and we will order her furniture once we come back. We fell in love with a bedroom set from Pottery Barn Kids. We hope she will love it. No .. her room will not be equipped with a computer (at least not yet .... ). Bedroom pictures to follow once the room is complete.

Our court date is set for Monday, July 28th. By the time you read this on the 28th, the verdict will already be in (as Voronezh is 8 hours ahead of New York). All your wonderful posts, E-mails, Phone Calls and kind words have helped us through these months of waiting.

We hope that the judge will waive the obligatory 10 day appeal process and let us come home with Ilyssa without delay. The cost of the airfare and hotels in Russia are tapping into her
Car/College/Wedding Fund (not that these things exist yet, but who knows, maybe we'll hit the lottery).

If the judge waives the 10 day appeal process (Wide Horizons is planning for this), we leave Voronezh the next day with Ilyssa and endure the 12 hour train ride back to Moscow. We will purchase a train berth for 4 people. It is no larger than the berth we took down to Voronezh; this has 2 upper bunks. Daddy drew the small straw and will sleep in the upper bunk. Let's hope Daddy doesn't fall and break his neck/arm/leg, etc. when he gets up on multiple occasions during the night to go the bathroom.

Once in Moscow, we must go to the American Embassy. She will be examined by American doctors and her paperwork will be completed. She will fly out with a Russian passport, but she will have a special sealed envelope that we must present to the Immigration Officials in New York. Once Immigration clears her, she will have dual citizenship.

We have been home for over a week and miss our soon-to-be daughter. The judge in Voronezh has given us a lot of additional paperwork that must be completed prior to our court date and return trip.

We had a great time on our trip. We quickly learned how illiterate we were! We expected Russia to be more suited for American guests. We were wrong. It is very difficult to get around if you do not speak Russian.

Moscow
Our weather was perfect. Most days the temperature was at or above 70 degrees, though it cooled off at night. The temperature plummeted to 35 degrees (during the day) on our last day in Moscow. We were met at the airport by our Michael, our Moscow host. He took us to a place to exchange some US Dollars for Russian Roubles. At the time of our visit, the exchange rate was roughly 23.5 Roubles to the dollar. We had a few hours before our train, so he brought us to a long street that is an open air mall. This mall is actually 3.5 miles long. We saw a group of Hare Krishna's singing (there is a photo in the slide show). We did the touristy thing and ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (check out the picture of the Heinz ketchup bottle in the slide show).

We needed bottled water for our 12 hour train ride and found a little store near where we parked. We grabbed 3 bottles of water. Imagine the look on David's face when he took a swig of water and discovered that the water was actually seltzer. Brushing our teeth with seltzer was another interesting experience.

The Train to Voronezh
Michael brought us to the train. Our sleeper compartment would fit inside most people's closets. The windows did not open nor was the air conditioning turned on (though it looked like there were A/C ducts). We are amazed that our cell phones never lost service despite traveling through rural areas. David did not sleep very well on the train.

Voronezh
When we arrived in Voronezh, our guide Ludmilla and our driver Alex came on board to help us with our bags and drove us to our hotel where we could finally shower after nearly 2 1/2 days of travel. When we came downstairs Ludmila showed us a picture of our baby girl.

Our first requirement was to visit the Ministry of Education where we needed to sign a document giving us authorization to visit the orphanage. They also showed us an updated picture. We were also introduced to Ludmila, our interpreter. Yes ... we had 2 Ludmilas (Ludmila 1 and Ludmila 2).

We crowded into a very small Chevrolet import and made the 30 minute drive on roads that had holes that were so big, they actually looked like craters. We finally arrived at the baby home.
It is in a rural, wooded location. The grounds are picturesque and appear to be well maintained.

We were directed to the room where we met the child we flew 5,000 miles to meet. Our daughter was placed on a chair. It actually took a few moments for us to realize they brought our baby into the room. There was no fanfare ... they simply put her in a chair and she sat there like a doll. We were not fully aware of her arrival as the doctor was explaining about her medical background.

Even though it was 70 degrees outside, the staff would not open the windows or doors in the meeting room. They prefer to keep the children warm. Our little girl was dressed in a knitted sweater and hat. She also had several layers of clothing underneath.

We spent an hour with her and had to leave because it was her feeding time. It was one of our best hours. We came back the next day. She appeared to recognize us on the second day. We spent another wonderful hour with Ilyssa.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM FOR A PHOTO SLIDESHOW.

Hi all ... Here are some pictures of our soon to be daughter Ilyssa Ami Langer.

It was a tearful goodbye when we had to leave her. We will be reunited with her when we are invited back for our court date sometime in the next 1 to 4 months.

We left Voronezh last night and took the 12 hour train ride back to Moscow. Today, we plan to take a tour of the city. On Thursday, we fly back to the USA.



We send our love to all for now and say Dasvidanya from Moscow

It's a Girl!!!!

For those of you who voted for a girl ... You're right!!!! IT'S A GIRL!!
We met her today. She is so cute!!! We took some photos and forwarded them to our doctor so he can check them out. Once he says that she is OK, we will provide photos for you.

Getting Ready to Leave and Packing Lightly

We finally received our visas and passports back - Whew! but we have a excellent travel agency! Now for the packing--- We are told to pack light, if anyone knows David (and myself) that is very hard to do. We are focusing on that tonight.
We are about 96 hours away from meeting our child. We already picked up a small Teddy Bear for him or her.
Whether, you help us gather gifts for the caregivers (A Russian Tradition) , helped us get the little things we need for our trip or just the the many beautiful emails we have received from our friends. family and coworkers - we want to thank you for your love, support and well wishes. it means so much to us.

We received our referral

We receved our referral for our child on April 4th (4/4/08). This is a funny date for us. 4 is David's favorite number and 16 is Shari's number. 4 +4 +8=16, so this date was a lucky one for us.

We do not know if we are matched with a boy or girl. All we know is that we have a single child of 8 to 18 months of age. We can't wait to meet him/her.