What a Difference a Week Makes
Last week we learned about two kids living in Rostov, Russia. Seven days later we held them in our arms and were able to tell them how much we love them. Wow, what a difference a week makes.
This afternoon around 12:30 p.m. we drove 90 minutes north from Rostov-on-Don to meet our little boy, Sergei. He was born in the town of Shakhty (pop. 50,000) and now resides in an orphanage housing Russian children from infant to age 14. We arrived in Shakhty around 2:00 p.m.
Sergei is a happy little guy and he was all smiles playing with the Tigger stuffed animal and wrist rattle we brought over for him. The medical specialist we hired in country says he is very healthy. And, from the appetite he displayed as we fed him a bottle of some magical Russian brew, we would agree. That bottle didn't stand a chance. As our friend, Joe Burke, would say, "that boy can eat."
The orphanage staff brought us coffee and chocolates and we had a great time playing with Sergei for awhile before needing to leave to visit Inna. We said our goodbyes to Sergei not knowing if we would be able to visit him tomorrow before our flight back to Moscow.
Around 3 p.m. we started our drive back to Rostov to meet Inna. It ends up she lives in a different orphange, but we seem to have pieced together that the two kids once lived in the same one. Anyway, on our drive back we were pulled over by Russian police for speeding. Our driver got out of the car and was back driving in less than five minutes. We learned that speeding tickets here are paid on the spot and the police pocket the money. Today's fine...100 rubles. In U.S. currency that comes out to a little under $4. The medical specialist with us laughed and asked how much a speeding ticket costs in the U.S. When we told him $100-$120, he told us we should immigrate to Russia.
We arrived to Inna's orphanage around 4:30 p.m. today. This visit was rushed in comparison to the first stop. Our doctor spoke with the orphanage director for awhile and translated a bit for us so we could keep up on the significant points. Then, we went in to meet Inna. She has a chest cold right now, so her caretaker had us wash our hands and put on surgical masks so we would not risk passing any infection to Inna.
Our doctor evaluated Inna and also found her to be very healthy (minus the common cold). We were then able to hold her in our arms and play with her a bit. Her caretaker was gracious, but told us we could not spend much time with her today because of her cold. We would have loved to spend more time with her, but it was great to see the orphanage demonstrating so much care and concern for Inna.
Even with her cold, Inna was all smiles and showed she is full of personality. We quickly had to say our goodbyes, but the good news is that schedules will allow for us to visit Inna again tomorrow morning before we fly back to Moscow. We will not be able to see Sergei until we return, but at least we were able to spend a fair amount of time with him today.
We could share a number of stories regarding our travel here, but that will have to wait for another posting. For now, we will sign off and tell you all is well from Russia. We will attempt to post pictures once we get back to Moscow, but we may have to wait until Friday.
Thank you all for your kind emails and calls. We have been able to check email from here and appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.
This afternoon around 12:30 p.m. we drove 90 minutes north from Rostov-on-Don to meet our little boy, Sergei. He was born in the town of Shakhty (pop. 50,000) and now resides in an orphanage housing Russian children from infant to age 14. We arrived in Shakhty around 2:00 p.m.
Sergei is a happy little guy and he was all smiles playing with the Tigger stuffed animal and wrist rattle we brought over for him. The medical specialist we hired in country says he is very healthy. And, from the appetite he displayed as we fed him a bottle of some magical Russian brew, we would agree. That bottle didn't stand a chance. As our friend, Joe Burke, would say, "that boy can eat."
The orphanage staff brought us coffee and chocolates and we had a great time playing with Sergei for awhile before needing to leave to visit Inna. We said our goodbyes to Sergei not knowing if we would be able to visit him tomorrow before our flight back to Moscow.
Around 3 p.m. we started our drive back to Rostov to meet Inna. It ends up she lives in a different orphange, but we seem to have pieced together that the two kids once lived in the same one. Anyway, on our drive back we were pulled over by Russian police for speeding. Our driver got out of the car and was back driving in less than five minutes. We learned that speeding tickets here are paid on the spot and the police pocket the money. Today's fine...100 rubles. In U.S. currency that comes out to a little under $4. The medical specialist with us laughed and asked how much a speeding ticket costs in the U.S. When we told him $100-$120, he told us we should immigrate to Russia.
We arrived to Inna's orphanage around 4:30 p.m. today. This visit was rushed in comparison to the first stop. Our doctor spoke with the orphanage director for awhile and translated a bit for us so we could keep up on the significant points. Then, we went in to meet Inna. She has a chest cold right now, so her caretaker had us wash our hands and put on surgical masks so we would not risk passing any infection to Inna.
Our doctor evaluated Inna and also found her to be very healthy (minus the common cold). We were then able to hold her in our arms and play with her a bit. Her caretaker was gracious, but told us we could not spend much time with her today because of her cold. We would have loved to spend more time with her, but it was great to see the orphanage demonstrating so much care and concern for Inna.
Even with her cold, Inna was all smiles and showed she is full of personality. We quickly had to say our goodbyes, but the good news is that schedules will allow for us to visit Inna again tomorrow morning before we fly back to Moscow. We will not be able to see Sergei until we return, but at least we were able to spend a fair amount of time with him today.
We could share a number of stories regarding our travel here, but that will have to wait for another posting. For now, we will sign off and tell you all is well from Russia. We will attempt to post pictures once we get back to Moscow, but we may have to wait until Friday.
Thank you all for your kind emails and calls. We have been able to check email from here and appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.
posted by Marker Family Journal at 1:56 PM
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