Monday, March 18, 2002

Finally our flight was called and we all went out to the bus that brings us to the plane. Once we were all on the bus, they announced that the plane had technical difficulties and we had to go back into the airport. Our flight was delayed repeatedly and we didn’t depart until almost 3:00am. Due to the delays, we no longer had time to go to the hotel before going to the baby home and court.

After landing, we went to the airport bathroom. A very pretty room with holes in the floor to pee in!! Next we went to the baby home to see Kara, a requirement for court. We waited for about 10 minutes and they brought her in. “Hi baby, nice to see you again!!” I held her and she just looked at us and sucked her bottom lip in. Moments like these are hard to explain, because it sort of feels like we’re watching someone else’s life. We were excited and nervous, but all under a big layer of tired. After about 3 minutes, Rema came back and took her away. Then we went to court, a very strange and slightly scary process. And let’s remember, we haven’t showered since we left the United States on SATURDAY!! We went into the courthouse and we were with the Judge, Nadia, a court recorder, Rema, the director of the baby home, the Prosecutor (I don’t know why she’s called that) and DeNara, from the Ministry of Education. The proceedings were in Russian and Nadia translated as they spoke. We had to answer questions, what we thought about Kara, how we were going to incorporate her ancestry into our life, why we would be good parents. Rema had to answer questions about our visits. At the end, the Judge gave us pictures of Ufa to share with Kara.

Now we waited in the car while Mike and Chris had their court appearance. I read a book and ate slim jims—yumyum and Corey and I walked around Ufa a bit and took pictures. It looked pretty in the snow.

After court, we went to eat at a nearby restaurant and then went back to the hotel in Ufa. Later that night, we stayed at the hotel in a small gathering area and had snacks and drinks. Corey and Mike stayed out a bit too late and drank a bit too much and were exhausted in the morning.