First off - THANK YOU and WELCOME to our family & friends who have logged into our blog for the first time within the past few days. I'm shocked at how quickly some of you received your Christmas cards & announcements. We're so happy to have you with us on this journey. Please keep the encouraging/supportive emails and comments coming!
In my last post I mentioned that our SW emailed a draft of our HS to our agency for their review & approval. They didn't have a chance to do anything with it on Friday but yesterday they had 3 minor questions for us, which we replied to today. (We didn't have internet AGAIN last night or else we would have answered sooner.) I'm hoping that those questions were they only thing they needed to clear up and that today they told our SW to carry on.
I also mentioned in the last post that our HS agency has committee meetings on Tuesday's. As of yesterday, our HS was on their agenda for today - with the committee approval pending Judy's fingerprints finally getting here. Uh, yeah, still waiting on those. Grrrrr...
Our SW didn't email or call us today so I don't know whether the HS went before the committee or not. I'm also not sure if the SW was able to get in touch with a live person at the fingerprint place. She told me yesterday that they have left multiple messages regarding the fingerprints but no one will return their call. This whole issue really gets under my skin so I'll move on to other, more positive, topics!
Two weekends ago we attended the Freddie Mac Adoption Expo in Washington, DC. There was a ton of great info for people interested in learning more about adoption. I believe there were about 30 vendors there, one of which was FRUA. Yay!! For those of you who don't know, FRUA stands for "Families for Russian and Ukranian Adoption" and is a WONDERFUL organization for anyone interested in pursuing a Russian or Ukranian adoption, as well as for families currently in the process and those who are lucky enough to have already brought their children home. I am so grateful to the ladies at the FRUA table for letting me hoard so much of their time with question after question, and to Laura for emailing me after the event and connecting me with such great resources. Laura, thank you for your kindness and guidance!
As we were driving through DC, both to and from the event, I realized how fortunate we are to live where we live. (Other than the ridiculous DC traffic we have to deal with.) We are going to be able to introduce our child to a vast amount of American history, and visit numerous American landmarks. It got me thinking about the importance of retaining their Russian heritage as well, which frankly I have very limited knowledge of. So, I've decided to learn as much about Russia as I possible can...
We went to Borders this past weekend and picked up a huge wall map of Russia, which clearly shows all 6 regions our agency works in! This is very exciting to me. We also picked up a great book, "Culture Smart: Russia A Quick Guide To Customs & Etiquette", which I recommend to anyone in the process who is waiting for their travel dates. I'm also trying to teach myself the Cryllic Alphabet - yikes!! - and am making flashcards of words and phrases. At first I was super intimidated with the alphabet but I'm s-l-o-w-l-y getting it and am now having fun with it.
What's my first Russian sentence you ask? The phonetic pronunciation is:
ETT-a NAH-SH-a sa-BAHK-a. Meaning, of course, "This is our dog!" Anyone surprised by that?? :-)
Oh, and I found out today that there is a Russian Winter Festival in DC this weekend. If our schedules allow it, we may head up again on Saturday to check it out!
Prayers for our Children
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5 comments:
I'm trying to learn the Cyrillic alphabet too! I won't be able to read much, but I might be able to decipher a few signs while we're there. It's been challenging, but fun!
Ana - I did at least want to be able to read common signs like bathroom, taxi, train, etc., so that we could survive a little bit on our own. It definitely is challenging but I also think our translators, drivers & the caretakers will appreciate our effort. (Or, I hope they will!)
Your home study is stuck in the same black hole as our home study!! I hope for both our sake, that they move along and can get to Russia as quickly as possible.
I learned a bit of the Cyrillic alphabet with our first adoption. It was so helpful, as we lived in Yekaterinburg, Russia with our son for almost 3 weeks! Yes, knowing where the bathroom was can be important - but beware of the bathrooms! Let's just say you are better off waiting until you get to your hotel room if you can :)
Sorry your home studies are stuck in a "blackhole". It is so hard ot wait, but I think learning all you can about Russian life along with bonding/attachment, and medical diagnosis is the best way to pass the time.
Good luck with the Cyrillic! Dede & I took a breif Russian language primer at the local university about a year ago and I'd been working on some Pimsleur audio tapes. We whipped up some flashcards. All in all, we felt like we had some glimmer of hope to be able to muddle thru.
Then came Moscow...
Reading Cyrillic in the classroom with a teacher coaching you is one thing. Trying to read signs and such while whipping down the road is another. Likewise, understanding and speaking a few key phrases in the classroom or on your own is something completely different than when it's coming at ya full speed.
Certainly, what we had learned did come in handy, but I'm determined to redouble my efforts so I can keep up a little better on the next trip.
It was kinda freaky - at the first of the week, I was really overwhelmed but by the end of the week, I was able to read lots of signs with just a glance.
Btw, just as we had heard, many of the Russians do seem very appreciative if you make any effort at all to speak a little of their language.
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