Well we were not able to find internet until it was basically time to leave so we thought we would check it out for the next trip since we expect the second trip to take 30 days total and 19 of them in Biro. So we waited till be got back to Moscow to add this to the Blog. Be prepared it is a long one…

The plane to Khabarosk was over 9 hours and we sat right behind the bathroom which would make most peoples stomach turn, however looking at the bright side we got extra leg room. It was night time the whole way and saw the Northern Lights and Ursa Major right above it. We got off the plane on the tarmack as well. The bathrooms at the Khabarosk airport are not as bad as Jason will lead you to believe. Yes, it was a hole in the floor but it was flushable and beautiful tile floors and sinks. Girls much like you would go in the bushes..he,he. We noticed that Jason’s beard he took 8 months to grow to try to fit in actually made him stick out! Natasha our translator met us there holding a sign with our names on it. She is very slim, long blonde hair and add to that slim diva style Gucci Jeans and 3” heals I was feeling a bit sloppy in my money belt, t-shirt, gym pants and crocs. Now for an almost 3hour drive to Biro which can be scary when your driver (named Dema, the guy was a boxer and know owns his own store in the market selling C.D.’s and movies) had his steering wheel on the right side of the car and they also drive on the right side of the road so passing a big truck on single lane bumpy road with no shoulder was a little tense. Along the way we saw little wooden houses with tin roofs sunken into the ground with gardens and flowers and selling vegetables and watermelon on the side of the highway. Biro is nice in the summer but hot and humid (we were lucky to have air conditioning installed the day we arrived at our apartment). All the apartments have bars on the lower window and balconies on the floors above with clothes lines hanging out from them (Jason was a bit embarrassed one morning when he saw I did laundry and hung his boxer briefs out to dry for everyone to see). We dropped our stuff of at the apartment and then on to the Ministry of Education to get a letter stating we are allowed to go to the orphanage. But not till the next morning (our Tuesday your Monday).

I am keeping you in suspense so you read the whole entry..he,he.

She is beautiful! The first day she was having difficulties holding her head up for too long (for those of you who have seen her picture the red marks were mosquito bites and have been replaced by new ones in different spots as they like to have them sleep outside at night as it is too hot inside with lack of air conditioning) but by the time we left the second day she was reaching for things, holding her head up very well, putting weight on her legs and even rolled over 4 times. Everyone has seen a big improvement in just 2 days with us and see that we are bonding already. They all can’t wait till we return. The Canadian approved doctor has now even ruled out the question mark for C.P. and no sign of F.A.S. which is an answer to prayer! Developmentally she is about 3 months behind but with a lot of attention, massages and stimulation she should get back on track within a year at home. She fell asleep both days we were there on Jason and we felt like we were “back in the saddle again” so to speak of holding a baby and getting spit-up on when burping…

We watched more of the Olympics and since there was no coverage of Canada we started cheering for Russia. Jason loved the sight seeing tour and took lots of pictures. We went grocery shopping a few times and were pleasantly surprised at how many labels we recognize on food, billboards and T.V. Russians take English in school like we do French and they remember about as much as I do…nothing. My favourite part (next to meeting our daughter) was shopping at the market. Natasha tried to bargain with them but none would budge. However, I got a great purse, belt, toy car (for Nate), coloring book with Russian writing, Jewish Vodka (only place in the world you can buy it other than Israel but this one has a Russian label), a book about Biro (as friends who have adopted from here suggested, we are glad we did), a decorative plate, key chain and fridge magnet. Since we can only bring 20kg each for luggage on domestic flights we (I) plan on stocking up in Moscow. The flight back to Moscow is again over 9 hours but due to time zones we are there less then 2 hours later. This flight was much better as we had an empty seat beside us so we could stretch out and no where near the bathroom. Jason and I found ourselves playing pica-boo with a cute girl just a little older that ours across the isle and missing both of our kids even more. The plane was much newer however the bathroom was still very gross (can anyone hit the right spot?). Anyway we have the same driver picking us up in Moscow again Dmitriy (is the correct spelling) and as our plane was delayed by 2 hours I hope he called ahead to check arrival times. We are staying at the Belgard hotel downtown Moscow and right beside Arabt street (can we say shopping!) Tomorrow at 10am we go to Red Square. There is a Mc Donald's at the underground street crossing by our hotel with free wireless internet so we will be able to post often. I hope all of you were able to read all of this as most of you know I find it impossible to make a long story short. Tonya and Jason , I Love you and miss you Nathanael xoxo