The Lord was with us on Saturday and Sunday as our travel went incredibly smooth. There were no delays, smooth flights, an upgrade to first class, and our luggage made it. What more could anyone ask for?
Our driver picked us up from the airport, although he was a few minutes late and had us wondering what we were going to do, and hauled us and all our gear into the city. I think we brought too much stuff. After a quick stop at a grocery store to gather supplies, he brought us to our temporary home for the next couple of days. While it is a small apartment, it more than meets our needs and has wireless internet which is an upgrade from home.
This morning was our first official meeting with the government officials who oversee international adoption. We were shown our child's very limited bio and asked if we wanted him, why we wanted to adopt him, and if we had any concerns about his physical disabilities. It seems a bit odd to ask if we had any concerns given the fact that we just flew 5,000 miles to come and get him. The appointment is really just a formality and was over in 15 minutes. Tomorrow we pick up our "referral" and then it is an all night train ride to his region. We hope to get to meet him on Wednesday!
Cathy and I had a chance to go for a brief walk this afternoon. It started raining late Sunday night and hasn't stopped since, so we spent must of our time in an local underground mall. If not for the Cyrillic signs and the lack of English, you would have thought you were in an American mall. We even had an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins.
We are planning on taking a sightseeing tour tomorrow and hope to be able to share some photos in the next couple of days.
