sheep in the city

Russia...

*Just to warn you...my iPhoto is acting weird and not letting me export pictures. So this post will be picture less. No fear, I will post many, many pictures soon!*

I've been home for a week now, and I finally feel up to writing about my trip to Russia. I was completely wiped out by the flights home, this was definitely the longest trip as far as flights go that I've ever been on. I was traveling for a total of 30 hours, including layovers and delays. Getting readjusted to the time difference was killer. Enough complaining though...I'm home and back in the swing of things. My sister and her family moved to their new house this past weekend and my parents move to their new house next weekend. It's a little crazy around here and that is why the blog has been on hold. It will be so nice to have everyone in my family settled in to their new homes and we can all get back to a normal schedule, whatever that is. :) Oh, and did I mention that I'm going on a trip to Chicago this weekend with my friend RayLynn? Crazy! This trip has been on the books since mid-summer...I've never been to Chicago before and I'm thrilled to be spending time with RayLynn.

Oh...so you want to hear about my trip, huh? It was a whirlwind to say the least. We arrived in Moscow on Saturday night after the sun went down and the next morning we left to fly to Samara before the sun came up...so I didn't see much of Moscow on the first leg of the trip. We touched down in Samara and immediately were picked up by a driver and translator and driven to the orphanage. We did get a chance to tour some parts of the orphanage, where the babies lived in particular. Overall, it was a lot better than I expected. They had about 10 toddlers and infants. The women working there seemed to be very friendly and even though we couldn't communicate (the translator had gone off to have tea) it seemed like they really cared for the babies. Pretty soon, we were able to leave with the baby...and head back to the city of Samara. Let me just comment on the driving over in Russia for a moment. It is CRAZY! I never would want to drive a car there. I'd much rather have someone who is used to the way things go driving me around. In a lane that looks like a 4 lane road, there would be six lanes of traffic. At a light where it looked like there was room for maybe 3 cars, there would be at least 5. And shoulders on the road? Those are actually just another lane to drive in. Sidewalks? Those are actually the perfect place to park your car?! The craziest part is that they don't require for children to be in a car seat, so when we left the orphanage Terri just held the baby. I looked at her at one point, as were flying down the road, going who knows how fast, and said, doesn't this feel wrong? No car seat and all the crazy drivers. We did make it safely back to the city. It was a little scary though. The first night was a bit of a challenge, trying to get the her to eat, but everything worked out in the end. My cousin Terri is a first time Mom...so she's just figuring things out as she goes. We were in Samara until Tuesday doing paperwork and waiting for her passport. I was definitely ready to head to Moscow...to get back to the city!

We stayed in an apartment in downtown Moscow. Terri took care of all the arrangements, but I guess it was cheaper to rent a short term apartment than to stay at a hotel. So we had a little kitchen and a big bathroom and a washing machine. (which came in very handy for the babies clothes, etc.) It felt like we were right in the heart of the city, I loved it! We were very near Arbot Street, which is geared towards tourists, but it was fun to walk through that area. I picked up many a souvenir there. The weather in Moscow was much cooler than I was expecting. Oops. I really should have brought a warmer coat. It rained alot in the afternoons and once it even snowed! That was kind of cool...we were there for the first snow of the season!

Overall, I had a fun trip. I loved experiencing and being submerged in a new culture. I love that I now have stamps in my passport. But what I love best, is being back home with friends and family...and of course Jesse, my big kitty. No matter how exciting a new place is, there really is no place like home!