Our SECOND Russian Adventure:
The Story of How We Adopted Danny

Saturday - Sunday, July 18 - 19, 1998
Getting There

10:15am and I was packed and ready! Laura was happily playing with Tagia, and couldn’t have cared less where we were going. Billy got here with the limo, and we packed the car with no problems. We were on the road about 11:20. It was SO hard to leave Laura, but she really didn’t seem to mind, so I will worry less. The drive to JFK was quick - no traffic! We checked our bags and went to the Business Class Lounge (the wrong one - it was for Delta, not Aeroflot, but they let us in anyway). We even had a special boarding area! We found our seats in business class - the bulkhead - on a nearly empty flight, at least up front. And there was a front section of even bigger seats, First Class, that recline like a Lazy Boy!! The plane was a new 777, with a cool map that showed where we were all through the trip.

I slept about an hour or so, and read a little. The flight seemed much less than 8 hours. We had a smooth landing in Moscow, found all our bags intact, and headed out to find our ‘greeters’. But they were held up by the rainy weather, and we waited ½ hour before they came. We drove to Red Square with no traffic. We parked about ½ mile downhill from GUM, and walked up in an on and off drizzle. We even took shelter on the "porch" of St. Basils! GUM was opening late, so we walked all around to find a money exchange. I was dying for water, but had no rubles. Finally, rubles and water in hand, we made our way to Lenin’s tomb. Apparently, they plan to bury him soon, so this was our last chance to see him. It was VERY dark. It’s hard to believe he’s been preserved for 74 years! We went back down to the car, and went to a nice Italian restaurant for lunch—gourmet thin crust pizza that was terrific—with our guide, Helen, and our driver, Vladimir.

Then we were off to Vnukovo, the domestic airport. Our luggage was 87 kg, WAY over the 40 kg allowed for 2. But we only had to pay $25 for the excess, paid directly to the weighing clerk. Not bad! We went up to the gate, and learned that our flight was delayed. Oh well, no problem. Our driver and guide left us inside the gate—safer for us, they said. Our flight was to be 2 hours late, so we settled in. Bob took a nap and I used the potty with no toilet seat. (Glad I remembered to bring Kleenex!) Just as we were getting into the home stretch of our wait, we saw another delay. Now our flight is over 3 ½ hours late! There was an earlier flight (by 20 minutes), but no seats available. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, achy, and a little scared. I couldn’t read the words on the board, or find them in my dictionary. But we found a lady who was going to Rostov, so we figured we’d follow her. Later, we saw a woman we had seen in the weighing line, and the man with her spoke English! We talked with them awhile, and finally they called our flight at 6:40 pm, as promised. We followed our new friends onto the bus, and then onto the plane. They were such a big help—even helped me with our luggage! We found our seats (the folding kind…), held our breath, and took off 5 minutes "early". It was freezing on the plane, and no blankets. I tried without success to sleep a little, and just sat there shivering. I was too tired to think!

Finally, we arrived in Rostov, a little after 9:00. I was so glad to see Sasha! We packed up the cars and headed to the house. There was Tiopa the kitty, and Richard up on the porch waving to us. We went in and met Vicky, Mark and Tara, and Galina. We had a nice dinner, unpacked, and collapsed into bed.

Monday, July 20, 1998
Meeting Danny, and court

I slept well, and woke up at 6. I got up, ironed my dress for court, and set up all our gifts. After a shower and breakfast, it was time to go! We all piled into the cars, and off we went to Orphanage #2. I swear the roads are worse now than they were in September. A lot looked familiar. We got to #2, and went in to meet Claudia, the director and doctor. I felt like I was in the mid-60s, between the decor and her attire. They brought Danny in to us. What a little cutie! He’s kind of shy, but warmed up to us, especially Bob. I really didn’t feel that immediate connection that I did with Laura, but I really did like him right away! We played awhile, and then we had to leave for court.

The court building looked like something out of a movie, like last time. We went in, and no one smiled except us and the interpreter. I got nervous because they asked SO many questions! Describe our house. Our neighborhood. Why do we want another child? Why Russia? Will I have help with the kids? Can Bob help me? Etc, etc, etc. They looked at the photo album and asked more questions. Then we went to wait in the hall, and I was really nervous. I half expected to go in and have her say no! But we were approved, and we have a son!! I felt relieved and happy. We saw Vicky and Richard outside, and prayed that they’d get their 10 day wait waived. Richard’s dad died the day before, so they needed to get home for the funeral. But the judge wouldn’t waive the wait. So they decided to have their daughter escorted home with Danny.

We went back to the house for lunch, and sat around with the fans on trying to keep cool. Vicky and Richard managed to get their flights changed. I was sad that they were leaving, since they were a lot of fun. After dinner, everyone went for a walk, and I stayed home to cross stitch and play phone secretary. My ankles were still very puffy from the airplane, so I sat with my feet up. Later, we all played PoKeNo, and talked. It was a great bunch!

Galina, our hostess, kept to herself mostly. I guess she felt outnumbered by the 6 of us. Sasha promised to take us shopping the next day, since we needed diapers for Danny, and for Laura’s orphanage. And we wanted souvenirs! Sasha got a fan for our room, to help with the heat. Tara and Mark had their 5 month old baby, Ivan, already with them. He was such a cutie! I loved holding him and playing with him, but I was so glad we had a toddler, not an infant. God sure knows what He’s doing!