Medicals in Moscow

We've arrived! All flights were uneventful - just the way we like them. Getting through immigration last night was a piece of cake compared to last time. It still took us a painfully long time to get out of the airport and to our hotel... but never mind. We've slept, showered, and are heading to breakfast. It's a new day! FTIA's Moscow rep, Vasiliy, is picking us up at 10:00 for our medical exams. More on those later. I'm sure they'll be blog-worthy experiences!

Later...

I'm not exactly sure how to describe our medical exams. A formality doesn't quite do it justice. Out of the 8 doctors we were supposed to see, we only saw six. Five, if you want to be technical, since two came in at once - one took my blood pressure and the other took Jon's. One of the doctors never spoke to us or touched us, but hurriedly wrote things down as she eyed us from time to time. She may have been the oncologist or the dermatologist. Who's to know? One doctor checked our reflexes and had us touch our noses (with our eyes closed, to be fair). Another asked us about drug and alcohol use. And, finally, the psychiatrist asked about our hobbies and how we deal with stress. Done. The whole appointment took about an hour and a half, and I'd say actual doctor-patient contact time was less than 20 minutes. Definitely the most painless medical exams we've ever had. The only discomfort being the bargain price of $$$$.

It was actually somewhat of an enjoyable experience as we got to chat with a couple of women (a translator and a medical assistant) for most of the time. They were curious about our lives in Japan, the child we're adopting, and how our holiday celebrations are quite similar to theirs. The doctors themselves were all very nice, professional, and efficient. (And they were all women, I noticed.) When it was time to go, everyone sent us on our way with nothing but best wishes for the future.