We'll Leave our Hearts Here

This has been decidedly the best day of our trip. We went for a walk around the block at 9:30 AM and took some photos of the hotel and neighborhood we've been living in. At 10 AM we met our team and traveled to the orphanage to pick up our boy to have a passport photo taken, and get one for papa too. He looked so adorable all dressed up in big boy boots, baby blue sweater, fuzzy hat and winter coat. The ride was very bumpy and seemed to overwhelm him just a bit. He really went to town trying to suck his thumb. The speach therapist held him on the drive and kept trying to prevent him from doing it. The photo shoot took all of 3 minutes itself, but still, it was a lot for the boy to see and expereince with all the people, lights, camera, and movement.

Once at the orphanage we got permission to keep him bundled up and ride around in the stroller on the driveway. The sun was shining so brightly, our boy was getting frustrated because it hurt his eyes. We could see that he was also very tired and the stroller was lulling him to sleep. We were instructed by the staff that we must not let him go to sleep because he would need to eat his lunch soon. We distracted him with 2 or 3 of our cherios again, and this seemed to help.

On the way back from morning visit, our drivers car had a cable break and we were unable to move forward. He has a very nice car, but no power stearing, and manual transmission. It takes great skill on his part to manuver the streets becuase of the potholes and other crazy drivers who will drive on the sidewalk if necessary to pass you. I felt sorry for him but he said we were close and if we wanted, we could walk. It was such a nice day, we decided that was a good idea. So we went to a bookstore where she showed us an original book aboutthe history of the city. Thankfully for us, we bought the last copy of the book they had on the shelves. It will make a nice gift for our boy to tell him of his russian heritage.

We came back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice lunch. I tried meat stuffed pancakes, and a carrot/prune salad with sour cream and the stewed fruit drink. Jason had beef, mashed potoato, borsht, and the fruit drink. We relaxed for a couple of hours, went for a walk to the block just north of our hotel room, and then met our translator at the cathedral down the street dedicated to John the Baptizer. It was very beutifully painted inside and full of small relics of the saints, icons, carvings, etc. We were told that the altar area was exploded some years ago because it was so big it blocked the street. They exploded the east wall, and rebuilt it about 30 feet to the west to make the street more strait. This picture shows the wall that was rebuilt at the cathedral.

Our last visit with our boy was the best! He was in such a wonderul mood, and very happy to see us. Our Translater told us that the caregivers told her he was crying all night because he wanted to be picked up. After have our complete attention at each of our visits, he has learned how good it feels to be loved, hugged and kissed and snuggled and played with. We measured his feet for shoes, his legs, waist and arms for clothes, and also gave him the quilt that we made. Everyone that saw the quilt thought it was a wonderful gift to leave with him, and they promised to let him have it on his crib so he could see it.

Saying goodbye was not easy. Truely, we didn't want to leave, but we knew that the only way to see him again was to go home, do the paperwork, wait for the judge and a court date. So there was no point in delaying the inevitable and making the goodbye harder on ourselves. When we left he was clinging to us, and so it was almost like he knew it was the last time we would visit.

After our visit, Jason and I asked our team to join us for Pizza and it was very nice. Our Driver thought Jason and I were 10 years younger than we are! I got a kick out of that! After pizza they took us to the space museum of the Russian Cosmonaut. They had some rockets, a park, and some nice things to see. We then went to the Cathedral and Seminary of St. Catherine. Here's a photo or two: I tell you- I never expected to have a spiritual experience in Russia- but I did. We walked into the cathedral and they were right at the end of a Lenten service (thier Orthodox Easter is on April 27) So many young people, men and women dressed in black, women with thier heads covered, were coming out of the cathedral making the sign of the cross and turning as much as three times to venerate the cross on the way out the door. When we walked into the sanctuary you could smell the wonderful aroma of insense filling the room. There was a preist blessing various individuals at the back, and a hundred or more people kneeling on the marble foor in front of the altar singing like heavenly angels a song which was very subdued and melodic. I was overcome completely with emotion. I could not stop the tears from flowing. Even remembering it, makes my eyes water. I have never seen such spiritual devotion, or heard such a beautifull sound in one room. It was like one voice, but with all the parts together singing high and middle and low. I could have recorded it with my camera, but I just couldn't bring myself to spoil the moment or disrespect the faith and reverent worship of those people in that place. Truely, it was amazing and incredibly inspiring! I wish for everyone to come here and expereince this wonderful place and see for yourselves what I am trying to describe. I will miss being here, and can not wait to come back!

We are here now in our hotel room, tying up loose ends and trying to prepare ourselves for our trip to Moscow in the morning. We leave here at 10 AM to make the long journey. We hope to have some photos for you from Red Square sometime soon!