Friday and Other Things

Court has been rescheduled for Friday morning. We’ve been working on all the documents (confirmation of home address coming from Nebraska; new employment contracts coming from Japan; and corrected medical forms coming on an overnight train from Moscow!). Yuri thinks we’re in good shape for Friday. 

Everyone – from Yuri, to our court translator, to our coordinator in the US – was surprised that court went so poorly. Apparently this hasn’t happened in a long time. We think a large part of what went wrong on Monday has to do with a tragic case in the US that involved the death of a child adopted from Russia. Back in July, a man in Virginia somehow forgot to drop his son off at daycare on his way to work. He left the child in the car for 9 hours as he went about his day at the office. Sadly, the child died of heat stroke. The man was recently acquitted of involuntary manslaughter, and Russia is reacting strongly to that court decision. The region from where the little boy was adopted (Kemerovo) has suspended adoptions, and other regions are tightening up their procedures. We’re quite certain that we’re feeling the backlash from this. Kemerovo announced their decision to suspend adoptions just days before our court hearing, and I believe the judge and the prosecutor came into the court room on Monday morning with a different attitude than they normally do. 

Our unique situation involving three different countries and overseas employment makes us stand out as somewhat different. So, hopefully, all they’re doing is tightening up their procedures and making us prove who we are a little more thoroughly. 

We haven’t been able to see Denis over the last few days, and I’m not sure what the plans are for today and tomorrow. Yuri is focused on all the paperwork, which is certainly the priority right now. But if he offers to take us, we’ll gladly go! Somebody asked in the comments how the caregivers are presenting us to Denis. When we’re at the orphanage, they constantly use the words Mama and Papa (whereas during our last trip the word Mama only slipped out a couple of times). We have no idea what – if anything – these words mean to Denis. But we’re fairly sure he knows something is going on. In November, we were just a couple of fun strangers. This time, however, we think he’s picking up on the fact that we’re linked to him somehow. And every time we come around his routine is turned upside down! Poor guy.

We’re keeping ourselves busy exploring more of Kaliningrad and getting some essentials for when Denis joins us here at the apartment. We’re staying at Yuri’s apartment, which we’re quite happy about. It’s in a great location – close to stores, restaurants, cafes, and the center of town. It’s only a block or two away from the hotel where we stayed on our last trip, so we’re familiar with the area. It’s a nice apartment and it’s fully furnished. Beats staying in a hotel for a month!

Below are a few shots we’ve taken around the city (during both trips) as well as a few pictures of Yuri’s apartment. They’re nothing spectacular, but it’ll give you an idea of where we are. 

Thanks for all the comments and emails this week!