A Positive Project Hope - Reader Contribution, Page 2

Heading to Russia

Our summer month with Dinar passed ever so quickly, but not before Kathy and I decided to pursue the tangled web of international adoption. We were never given a sales pitch by IFS, nor did we ever have to suffer through any kind of high pressure sales. In fact, I even modified the original IFS contract to my liking with no problem from IFS.

Long after Dinar had returned to Russia and after months of stressful preparation and the completion of mountains of paperwork, as I'm sure many prospective adoptive families are painfully aware, Kathy and I boarded a Delta flight on March 19, 2002 for the PIT-JFK-SVO odyssey.

Upon landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo (SVO) airport in Moscow at approximately 11:00 AM on March 20, we were met by Svetlana, the Russian IFS Representative. Svetlana is young, chic and going a hundred miles an hour, but we also found her to be friendly, efficient and very professional. She and her assistant, Vladimir, would quickly earn our trust and respect. Svetlana had arranged for us to spend the afternoon and early evening at the Hotel Ukraina. We could rest and have a meal while waiting to go to the train station for the night train to the city of Ivanovo. The Hotel Ukraina is one of those Stalinist era beasts, perhaps glorious in its day, but now old, stuffy, and without air conditioning. The Hotel Ukraina cost us the full day rate of $100, but we knew this ahead of time. Svetlana helped us exchange some dollars for rubles, explaining that we needed rubles for the train tickets and for other items in Ivanovo. We also made a quick stop at a small grocery store to purchase some snacks and bottled water. A nap and a meal later we'd be ready to go to the night train.

Regarding dinner that evening, it actually posed a challenge for us. Not ready to brave Moscow's nighttime streets we opted for the "Atlantic" restaurant inside the hotel. Our waitress spoke some English and we both ordered the Chicken Kiev. It was excellent.

At approximately 8:15 PM, we were met in the lobby of the hotel by Vladimir, Svetlana's assistant. Vlad's english was easily as good as Svetlana's, thank God!

Vlad drove us to the very dark and forbidding train station and got us aboard the correct train and into our berthing car. We had rented the whole 4 person berth for about $60, so we had it to ourselves. Vlad showed us how to lock ourselves in and asked that we wait in our berth upon arrival in Ivanovo until the IFS Rep. came in to get us. Just before the train departed, the "car matron" came by to collect the small fee for the "clean" sheet rental. Regarding the sheets, you could say, arguably, clean but old. I am glad my wife packed our own clean pillowcases! Seven happy hours of riding the Russian version of Disneys Thunder Mountain Railroad, with about 40 stops, we arrived, more sleepless than ever, in Ivanovo.

It was dark and cold in Ivanovo with a dismal drizzle coming down. Upon arrival, we were met almost instantly by Galina. Galina was to be our translator for the duration of our stay in Ivanovo. We gathered up our luggage and she and our driver, Demetri, took us to the Tourist Hotel in Ivanovo. It was about 5 AM. The Tourist Hotel was substandard by just about anyone's standards. Galina had Demetri wake up the maid to get us a room. Upon inspection, Galina didn't like the first room offered so she had the maid take us to a nicer one (marginally nicer). Galina explained that we should get some sleep and she would be back around noon with Irina, our lawyer. We would then drive over to the orphanage to see Dinar for the first time since last summer.

Like many Russian cities we've read about, Ivanovo is lacking the necessary funds to maintain its own infrastructure. The buildings are tired and rundown and the roads are a nightmare of biblical proportions. Trash seems to be everywhere. Though it's been over ten years since the fall of the Soviet state and the rise of the Russian Federation, prosperity has yet to come to this city.

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