We had breakfast at the 24 hour café in our hotel. The Tver people do not seem to have breakfast foods that we can fins. We ate what we could decipher and point at. Everything was written in Russian and no English speakers work there. Not many people in Tver speak English. I had potato soup and a meat pie for breakfast. Weird and weirdly satisfying… though I am longing for cereal and eggs.
At 9:45 we headed straight for the orphanage. We were excited to see the girls and we were able to play with them in a private room. A Russian couple was spending time with their baby out on the couch so we were happy to be moved. We put mats on the ground and had to take off our shoes. This room is normally reserved as a massage room for the doctors to use to do some sort of physical therapy on the children. We were happy that the girls got to walk and crawl around. It gave us more freedom to play with them, as when we play with them in the reception area everyone is walking in and out. There was too much over stimulation and interruptions. When they brought M in I couldn’t help but laugh at her because they had her dressed in this yellow and multicolored pattern dress with a huge ruffle collar. She looked like she should be in the circus as a clown. D was brought in wearing a beautiful red dress. Something I would have bought for her myself. It was very funny. I quickly attempted to change them both into the Hello Kitty outfits I brought for them from H&M. They looked great on the girls but are a bit too big on both of them. Cute anyway. I did not put on the pants or socks I brought because they already had 3 other layers on and seemed so hot. Every day that we have been in the orphanage (and I am sure every day of the year) it is sweltering hot in there. Because it is freezing outside they keep the inside so ridiculously hot. It must be 80 degrees inside. We were sweating and the girls were so hot. I wanted to take it all off but was afraid to be reprimanded by orphanage staff. So we played with them in the Hello Kitty tops and their wool tights. We had so much fun with them. Got lots of great smiles but lunch time and nap time came quickly. D had fallen asleep in my arms. It was precious.
We headed to lunch at the same Russian restaurant as yesterday. The novelty is wearing off. I had a mushroom soup and baked salmon. Mike had the Salanca soup that is quickly becoming his favorite and the sesame chicken I had yesterday. While at lunch our coordinator had us sign the official Russian documents that state that we want to petition the court to adopt the twins. It was written all in Russian, and she read it to us and translated it. We had to sign them and write “ We want to adopt these girls” on the dotted line. It was an exciting moment. We also had to write down the English names we will give them. After court we will receive new birth certificates with their English names on them. Once both couples signed the documents we all had a nice toast to our soon to be daughters. One step closer…
We had more time to kill before we would be allowed back to the orphanage for our afternoon visit so we headed back to the hotel and our coordinator went to do more work and papers on our behalf. We had to get more Rubles to pay for daily food and items so our coordinator brought us to the ‘Bank’. The ‘bank’ I speak of is a random man standing in the hotel lobby with a messenger bag of money and a calculator. She says it is safe and she does it all the time so she helped us exchange money. You get a great exchange rate because he takes no commission off of the top. I really do not want to know what he does with the American dollars.
After we exchanged money with the seedy man in the hotel lobby Mike went back to the room to take a nap and I went with the other couple to the gift shop to buy Russian gifts. So many beautiful things, but I did not want to get too much and have a ton to carry. Also, I know we are coming back soon. Tver is known for its little wooden boxes with beautiful carvings. And of course we could not leave without getting lots of Russian nesting dolls. There are so many to choose from. I bought a couple of beautiful hand painted pieces and some items specific to Tver for the girls to have as memories of their homeland. The nesting dolls were so lovely and the prices were so much better than in Moscow so I got a ton of holiday gifts.
We headed back to the orphanage to play with the kids. Stuck in the lobby this time. The caregivers had put on the full Hello Kitty outfits. They looked so cute, but 12 month clothing is definitely too big on them. We sat on the sofa and read books and played with toys. Mike held M most of the time. She was very calm. She liked to play with the string on my video camera. D is a handful and kept me on my toes. They are not allowed to crawl on the carpet in the lobby so it was very difficult to keep her up on the sofa or in my arms walking around.
At 6:30 we went back to the hotel for dinner. Once again we went to the café in our hotel. Besides the fact that it is freezing cold outside and completely slippery with ice to venture out we were just physically and emotionally exhausted. ZI had pasta and hotdogs. Weird combination I know. Also, I have seen Russian people eating this combination with coffee in the mornings. Strange, they do not differentiate between the time of day and types of meals they eat. It is a poor town. I have not really seen any fresh fruits and veggies. We were in bed early and we were finally able to get a full nights sleep thanks to Benadryl for Mike and ½ Lorazapam for me!
Here is a photo of the dorm room we are staying in.
This is a view out our window. It is a small river that feeds into the Volga River.
At 9:45 we headed straight for the orphanage. We were excited to see the girls and we were able to play with them in a private room. A Russian couple was spending time with their baby out on the couch so we were happy to be moved. We put mats on the ground and had to take off our shoes. This room is normally reserved as a massage room for the doctors to use to do some sort of physical therapy on the children. We were happy that the girls got to walk and crawl around. It gave us more freedom to play with them, as when we play with them in the reception area everyone is walking in and out. There was too much over stimulation and interruptions. When they brought M in I couldn’t help but laugh at her because they had her dressed in this yellow and multicolored pattern dress with a huge ruffle collar. She looked like she should be in the circus as a clown. D was brought in wearing a beautiful red dress. Something I would have bought for her myself. It was very funny. I quickly attempted to change them both into the Hello Kitty outfits I brought for them from H&M. They looked great on the girls but are a bit too big on both of them. Cute anyway. I did not put on the pants or socks I brought because they already had 3 other layers on and seemed so hot. Every day that we have been in the orphanage (and I am sure every day of the year) it is sweltering hot in there. Because it is freezing outside they keep the inside so ridiculously hot. It must be 80 degrees inside. We were sweating and the girls were so hot. I wanted to take it all off but was afraid to be reprimanded by orphanage staff. So we played with them in the Hello Kitty tops and their wool tights. We had so much fun with them. Got lots of great smiles but lunch time and nap time came quickly. D had fallen asleep in my arms. It was precious.
We headed to lunch at the same Russian restaurant as yesterday. The novelty is wearing off. I had a mushroom soup and baked salmon. Mike had the Salanca soup that is quickly becoming his favorite and the sesame chicken I had yesterday. While at lunch our coordinator had us sign the official Russian documents that state that we want to petition the court to adopt the twins. It was written all in Russian, and she read it to us and translated it. We had to sign them and write “ We want to adopt these girls” on the dotted line. It was an exciting moment. We also had to write down the English names we will give them. After court we will receive new birth certificates with their English names on them. Once both couples signed the documents we all had a nice toast to our soon to be daughters. One step closer…
We had more time to kill before we would be allowed back to the orphanage for our afternoon visit so we headed back to the hotel and our coordinator went to do more work and papers on our behalf. We had to get more Rubles to pay for daily food and items so our coordinator brought us to the ‘Bank’. The ‘bank’ I speak of is a random man standing in the hotel lobby with a messenger bag of money and a calculator. She says it is safe and she does it all the time so she helped us exchange money. You get a great exchange rate because he takes no commission off of the top. I really do not want to know what he does with the American dollars.
After we exchanged money with the seedy man in the hotel lobby Mike went back to the room to take a nap and I went with the other couple to the gift shop to buy Russian gifts. So many beautiful things, but I did not want to get too much and have a ton to carry. Also, I know we are coming back soon. Tver is known for its little wooden boxes with beautiful carvings. And of course we could not leave without getting lots of Russian nesting dolls. There are so many to choose from. I bought a couple of beautiful hand painted pieces and some items specific to Tver for the girls to have as memories of their homeland. The nesting dolls were so lovely and the prices were so much better than in Moscow so I got a ton of holiday gifts.
We headed back to the orphanage to play with the kids. Stuck in the lobby this time. The caregivers had put on the full Hello Kitty outfits. They looked so cute, but 12 month clothing is definitely too big on them. We sat on the sofa and read books and played with toys. Mike held M most of the time. She was very calm. She liked to play with the string on my video camera. D is a handful and kept me on my toes. They are not allowed to crawl on the carpet in the lobby so it was very difficult to keep her up on the sofa or in my arms walking around.
At 6:30 we went back to the hotel for dinner. Once again we went to the café in our hotel. Besides the fact that it is freezing cold outside and completely slippery with ice to venture out we were just physically and emotionally exhausted. ZI had pasta and hotdogs. Weird combination I know. Also, I have seen Russian people eating this combination with coffee in the mornings. Strange, they do not differentiate between the time of day and types of meals they eat. It is a poor town. I have not really seen any fresh fruits and veggies. We were in bed early and we were finally able to get a full nights sleep thanks to Benadryl for Mike and ½ Lorazapam for me!
Here is a photo of the dorm room we are staying in.
This is a view out our window. It is a small river that feeds into the Volga River.
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