Halfway around the world

We made it!  It's almost five o'clock in the morning, since Moscow is exactly twelve hours ahead of where we live.  So we are adjusting to the exact opposite schedule here... you can't mess up your body any more than that, right?  ;)  It's so weird to think that our boys are probably eating dinner and here we are in the pitch black room of our hotel, with only the city lights glowing outside the window.  From what Adam and I could see on the drive from the airport, Moscow looks beautiful.  It is much more than either of us expected. 


I was a little nervous about the length of the flight to get here, but you know what?  For the most part I really enjoyed it!  Especially being a stay-at-home mom with three little boys... I was really soaking in the whole "peace and quiet time to myself" thing.  Traveling stand-by went way more smoothly than I could ever have imagined, even if it was a close call to get on the flight to Frankfurt!  God has been answering our prayers and taking care of us the entire time.  The airline we traveled on was Lufthansa, and they were amazing!  Apparently, I've never been on an international flight because I felt completely spoiled!  There were screens ahead of each person filled with the latest movies, a giant screen up front showing us exactly where we were on a map, warm dinner, even hot towels once we were finished!  So here I was with my glass of wine, catching up on Parenthood and Grey's Anatomy, with the flight attendants walking up and down the aisle to bring you coffee, tea, or wine at any given notice.  Really?!  I think I'm in heaven!


I noticed that everyone was starting to sleep around 8 o'clock, but I wasn't the least bit interested in joining them until a few hours later.  What I wasn't expecting was for sunlight to fill the aircraft around midnight, since we were almost in Germany and it was already morning there.  Everyone was suddenly awake. I wasn't drinking much water because (those of you who know me won't be surprised ;) I didn't want to wake up the people on either side of me to go to the bathroom.  So I ended up getting super dehydrated and turned sheet white at one point.  The flight attendants were really worried and had a doctor take my pulse and blood pressure, but once I got some water and sugar in my system, I was fine.  :)  It turns out you're supposed to drink a lot of water on international flights... who knew?  ;)

We had a layover in Germany and I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone spoke English at the airport.  Even people who were speaking German in line ahead of us would order in English.  This made it super easy to find out where our connecting flight was, get some lunch, and try a real German cappuccino (which was amazing!)  From there, we had a connecting flight to Moscow and a representative from our adoption agency was waiting with a sign at baggage claim.

We are extremely fortunate that our hotel is next door to the biggest mall I have ever seen, so last night we were able to get some groceries, bottled water (I read that people can get very sick by drinking the water here), and dinner.  It was at a restaurant in the mall that we encountered a struggle with the language barrier for the first time.  The waiters didn't speak much English, so thankfully, they had an English menu and we were able to point out what we would like to eat.  Adam even used an iphone application to ask where the bathroom was (ahhh, technology)!  We made it through dinner, and all the stories we had heard about how expensive Moscow is were confirmed.  $80 for dinner, ouch...  I think we'll go to McDonalds tomorrow??

Being a pilot, Adam is accustomed to traveling all over the world and adjusting to time changes.  Since the greatest time change I have ever endured is a three hour difference in Hawaii, he thought I was going to be a mess.  It was like he kept waiting and expecting me to melt down at some point!  So I think he was completely surprised at that at every stop we've made, I am giddily taking in all the new places, people, and customs.  I am half-way across the world, in a country that has only been a pinpoint on a map in our boys' room, in the country our daughter was born, a country that we hope to bring her back to someday.  I am taking in every ounce of the scenery and the culture, so one day I will be able to tell her all about it.  When you consider all of that, sleep is overrated right?  Or maybe ask me again tomorrow.  ;)

Anyway, so here we are!  It is soooooo surreal that our sweet baby girl is a mere four hours away from us!!!  We have a day to explore and catch up on sleep (which I'm sure I will need since I went to bed at midnight and am typing away at five in the morning)!  Then on Monday morning, we will drive up to the orphanage to meet the little girl whose picture we have been staring at for six months!  I can't wait to see her and find out if her hair is really strawberry blonde, if she has teeth, what her latest milestones have been, what her temperament is, let her play with the toys we brought, and just love on her...  we. can't. wait.