Our coordinator set up a driver to take us to the orphanage both weekend days. His wife is a worker at the orphanage so thankfully he knows his way and can get us into the orphanage (because they probably wouldn’t open the door for us if we were on our own!) Unfortunately because it is the weekend and they do not have a full staff we were asked to only make one visit a day. We chose to go in the mornings so we can walk around Tver in the afternoons. After a nice (and free) buffet breakfast in the hotel we found our driver Sergi right outside waiting for us. Yay! We got to the orphanage and it was so quiet, and didn’t smell as bad as normal. We saw one of the caregivers and figured out a way to speak English/Russian said Masha/Dasha/Sisters/their birth surname and they figured it out. Down came the girls in the same pj’s I brought them earlier in the week. Not sure if or when they wash any of the clothing, but the girls always seem clean as do the outfits. I immediately went to change them both into the cute Valentine’s Day outfits I brought. They are grey sweatpants and sweatshirts with little pink hearts all over and ruffles on the zipper of the sweatshirt. I added cute long sleeved onesies under, with socks and robezz shoes. I even brought little barrettes too. Dasha is very easy to change, she even helps along. Masha cried bloody murder the entire time and I ended up having to do it piece meal because I did not want a caregiver to hear her wailing. I got some really cute pictures but couldn’t get Dasha to stop for long enough to get a picture of the 2 of them together. We had a great visit. We brought them up to eat and for a nap at noon and got to spend a few minutes in their playroom with the caregivers. Said hello to the other couples daughter and our new friend Y’s little girl. We somehow got across to the caregiver that we would be back tomorrow same time. She asked why not this afternoon, and I was annoyed that we were told not to go for both visits. But, I guess it is true that we should not annoy the orphanage workers by being around too much. And it does give me and Mike time to explore the town and relax a little, as we are wiped out from the week.
Back at the hotel we took a nap and regrouped. I started organizing all the photos and videos I have been taking. Hundreds of them already! We headed out for lunch to our new favorite spot, Fortuna. Unfortunately they only speak Russian and do not have English menus. But, since we have been there a few times already, we had our translator write down our favorite dishes in Russian, transliteration and English and we (mostly Mike) have been practicing for a couple of days. We walked around and explored; it was snowing and very pretty because the white blanketed the town, instead of the dirty brown snow that we saw all week. We got to the restaurant and were able to order without a problem. Only issues were 1)that we forgot to say no cream in the soup (they put this heavy cream, like sour cream consistency in every dish)2) and that on our dessert Bellini’s we asked for honey but last time the honey was warmed and this time it was cold (Bellini’s were still delicious). Once we got back to the hotel we asked the receptionist to write down how you say ‘no cream’ and ‘warm honey’ so I am prepared next time. I’m looking forward to taking my parents there when they get into town.
Before heading back to the hotel we walked over to the supermarket to get some supplies. I bought diapers to bring to the orphanage for the twins. I also saw a bunch of Russian children’s books. I have absolutely NO idea what they say but I picked out 2 that looked cute. One I think is an ABC type book but whatever ABC is in Russian and the other is a story book of some kind with bears. I also got 2 cute coloring books. Stocked up on some water and fruit and headed back to the hotel. The snow was really coming down. Still, everyone was just walking around going about their business. This is just a normal day here in Tver. It looks like we are supposed to get these snow showers daily for the next week.
Mike’s napping now and we will just relax the rest of the day.
My parent’s arrive in Moscow tomorrow afternoon. I am looking forward to seeing them on Wednesday afternoon and showing them around Tver. I especially look forward to introducing them to their granddaughters. Hopefully they will have an enjoyable few days in Moscow touring around while we finish with court.
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