Everyone boared the plane for the 1 hour flight from Voronezh to Moscow. Leo met our plane, and he collected all of our bags. Tatiana then told us through the translator that We were to stay with one of her host families for the next 2 days, until we were to leave for home. Debbie, Lynne, and Olga left for our hotel, and Debbie gave us their cell-phone number, and asked us to call her the next day.
We were getting ready to change flights to head home tomorrow, but we wanted to see Moscow. So we were told we had to stay with a host family, but we wanted a hotel. We would pay the difference. But Tatianna insisted we do it her way. Just before leaving the airport she told us that she found us a hotel. Five minutes after leaving the airport grounds we found out that the hotel was not available. So they found a host family at the last minute. Tatianna has been full of secrets and lies all week, and we don't trust her.
We arrived at the home of the host family. We were asked to wait in the car to make sure that it was "alright" for us to be there. The host family is very nice; their only daughter Gina speaks fairly good English. She will be taking us to see Moscow tomorrow.
It is now 9:15am. Kevin is now in the bathroom taking a sponge bath. So this gives me a few minutes to think over the past few days as everything happens so fast. It is very strange to sit in the car while they drove us around. I found out that most woman don't drive here. So they were impressed that I knew how to drive. There are no traffic laws. You never see police pulling people over. If there is no "no parking" sign, you can park anywhere. Many park on sidewalks. Unless you are on major highway, there are no lines in the road so you get cut, passed, everything is fair game. In Russia, cars have right of way over pedestrians. It is not uncommon to see people standing in the middle of the street waiting for traffic to clear. Everyone smokes anywhere. There have been times when I had to cover my mouth and nose because it was so thick with smoke. The food is very bland with meat and cheese served at every meal. Always multiple courses: 1st soup, 2nd Salad, 3rd the meal, and 4th the dessert. The Russians love to push food. I am sometimes afraid to say I had enough because I don't want to offend anybody.
Gina took us sightseeing today. First, we went to Arbot St. It is a brick laden street with many vendors. We then went to Red Square, which is a cobble stone street- Lenin's Mosalium was there but closed. The Kremlin was also closed. We were also able to see St. Basils Cathedral. Then Gina's friend Linda met up with us and we did lots of shopping. We also spent lots of time on the Metro (Moscow's subway system). At Kevin's request, we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was a very tiring day, but well worth it.
For supper we had soup, Kevin had chicken. There is a couple down stairs going home on Saturday with their 2nd daughter. They really were helpful with understanding the court process.
Gina's mom bought us a bottle of Cognac, dishtowels, and a box of crayons for Marina. We leave tomorrow to head back New York. I really missed seeing Marina today, but at least we got a chance to see a bit of her country. So we can tell her about it when she is older. While we were out, we bought Gina's mother half dozen tulips and gave Gina a teddy bear with Lindt Chocolates. She loved the bear! She carries it around with her. Her father, Boris, took us riding around Moscow at night. We were able to see the Moscow University, the White House, and a view of the city across the river. Moscow is beautiful city and the people are charming. Leo is picking us up at 8:30 am to take us to the airport. Our flight leaves at 11:25am and we will be back in NY at 1:25pm. Tatianna was supposed to come by to give us our court date, but she never showed up.
Leo picked us up at 8:30 to drive us to the airport. Gina's mother gave us some Russian chocolate as a gift (can't wait to try it). On our way to the airport, we were talking about the different types of chocolate: Swiss, American, Italian, and Russian. We all agreed that the best type of chocolate is Swiss (especially Lindt). When we arrived at the airport, Leo told us where we needed to go for customs declaration. We went through customs, then we went to baggage check to get out seat assignments and get our bags checked. The passport check was the worst. In Russia you have to be rude or everybody will cut in front of you. Once we got through passport check, (they kept our VISA so we don't have proof that we were in Russia in our passports). We needed to find gate 13. We followed signs. Then we found sign saying that Gate 13 was in back of us. We finally got to gate 13 in a nick of time. We had to go through 3 x-rays trying to find gate 13. We found our seats. I think we will land in about 3-4 hours.
I just keep thinking to myself, that we now have a little girl. Marina is our daughter. I feel guilty because I am coming home, but I left my daughter sitting in an orphanage. What type of parent leaves their child in an orphanage. But this is what we must do according to Russian Law. We entered her life suddenly, and leave her life just as suddenly. She doesn't know that we are coming back for her. We never had a chance to say good-bye. I just have to keep telling myself that Marina is happy in the orphanage, and she doesn't know anything else. How sad this thought is.
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