Orthodox Easter in Russia

Today was Orthodox Easter in Russia. Irina came to the hotel this morning and brought a Russian Easter bread called Kulich. She brought it for the families to share and also brought the two children at the hotel Easter eggs. Very sweet of her and her family, considering this was a holiday for them and a time to spend together. She indicated her mother-in-law baked the bread for us. She told us when we go to the orphanage tomorrow, we will stop on the way and get some chocolate eggs for Victoria and Blake. We also bought them some cookies when we went to the farmer's market yesterday. It will be nice to see Victoria in the morning!

Other than that, today was pretty uneventful. Irina was the highlight. We walked a lot down by the shore and the tracks. It was pretty cold today and there was a heavy mist. I checked the weather in Corona, in the 90's...ha! I am posting some pictures of mom and me next to the Easter bread Irina brought and also some of the same bread that were sold at the market yesterday. It looks much like cake or a very large cupcake, but taste more like bread. The icing is not icing as we know it.

Here is some info I found on-line about the bread: Kulich is a kind of Easter bread, traditional in the Orthodox Christian faith. Traditionally during the Easter service, the kulich is blessed by the priest. Blessed kulich is eaten before breakfast each day. It is baked in tall, cylindrical tins and when cooled is decorated with white icing. Kulich is only eaten during the 40 days after Paskha (Easter) until Pentecost.

Downtown Vladivostok

I have met some wonderful people during my adoption journey. On the first trip, I met Steve and Sharon and continue to stay in contact with them. They just recently brought their daughter home from Russia. On this trip, currently there are 6 families in the hotel including myself. As you can imagine, the days get long here. We have begun to get to know each other, share information and spend time together. Today, some of us decided to take the train into downtown Vladivostok. It was a fun day of adventure.

The front desk wrote out the information for us to show the train station for our tickets and we walked down to the tracks to catch the train. It was a nice ride along the coast of the Sea of Japan. Again, we saw the poverty of the area. The teenagers and some adults have a fun time riding for free, getting off before they are asked to show tickets and running to the car ahead before the train begins to depart again. It was amusing to watch. When we reached our stop and headed to the downtown department store, we were happy to come across a farmer’s market. It was a great experience! We bought some food items and walked around among the vendors. After, we headed towards the department store, went into some children's stores and decided to find a place for lunch. Our adventure included; Heather and Justin who are from Illinois, Amy and her dad, Randy, who are from North Carolina, and mom and me. Heather and Justin had been downtown on their first visit, so they were the leaders of our expedition. They led us to a nice restaurant that had a menu in English. After lunch, which was actually about 4:00 pm, we headed back to the train for the ride to the hotel.

Justin, Heather, Me, Amy and Randy

It was nice to get out and do something, as we are very limited here without knowing the language or having a car. Honestly, I would not even attempt to drive here…Yikes! It’s crazy enough just being driven around by our driver for legal stuff and visits to the orphanage. We won’t see Victoria again until Monday. We will go early Monday morning. Tomorrow, which is Sunday, is Orthodox Easter here in Russia. We are all hoping there will be some festivities here at the hotel or down by the shore.

Proud Mother of Dylan and Victoria!

Leaving hotel, ready for court.

I survived court and am now the proud mom of two beautiful children (Dylan 15 and Victoria 3), well almost. The court ruled in my favor for adoption, but the actual court decision is not final for 10 days. Court lasted about an hour. It was a closed court session, meaning the only people present were Lana (interpreter and agency rep.), social worker, court reporter, prosecutor, Judge and me. Interestingly, the prosecutor did most of the questioning. Lana commented that this was unusual and interesting too. She also made a point to tell me how well I did in court. She felt I was completely prepared and did a great job at answering all the questions. She told me last night to talk a lot and elaborate on my answers, instead of just answering yes/no. That is just what I did! The social worker even commented on how well she thought I presented myself. Basically, it went something like this; lots of questions from Judge and prosecutor, social worker spoke of the history of Victoria’s family (learning more every day), and the Judge reviewed docs and identified them as she went through them. Social worker gave a favorable recommendation. Prosecutor gave a favorable recommendation. Judge asked us to leave the room while she makes a decision. We exited, came back in, then were told the Judge agrees with recommendation of adoption and court was done! Court was a breeze, there really was nothing to be concerned about and I felt fairly comfortable.

Victoria is not allowed to stay with us during the 10 day wait. This was disappointing, but I knew that would be the case due to another family adopting from the same orphanage and receiving that news the day before. We were brought back to the hotel after court and told we would be picked up at 3:00 pm to visit Victoria. We went with the other family that was also not able to have their child with them during the 10 day wait. They have adopted a little boy the same age as Victoria. He is in the same group as she is. We had a very fun time today with both children. The children were comfortable with each other and we had times where we enjoyed our own individual child, but also played as a group. The children really loved all of the attention. Babies were sleeping in the other room and we were told we had to quiet down. That was hard! We really had so much fun! The little boy was kissing on my daughter and she is also a little flirt! The play was so wild that the other mom and I had broke out in a sweat and decided we were exhausted by the time the two hour visit was over! It was another great visit! We will visit again on Monday, as the orphanage does not allow anyone on the weekends!

“Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold. Think truly to the future and make those dreams come true."