Day 1 - Busy Busy

MONDAY

Yesterday (Monday) was a super busy day.  I went all over St. Petersburg with our adoption agency’s Russian coordinator “E”.  We went to the passport agency to apply for Joshua’s passport that we will pick up on Friday.  This took hours because the lines were long and there were tons of Russians applying for their passports so they can vacation out of the country.  We also went to the train station to purchase tickets for our ride to Moscow on Sunday.  E was also dropping off documents at the committee and local court houses for other Reece’s Rainbow families so I took cat naps in the car while I waited for her.  I won’t bore you with all the details but I didn’t get back to the hotel until after 4pm. 

E had recommended that my parents not come along to do the adoption paperwork because it was going to be a lot of waiting in lines and just plain boring.  So I lined them up with a tour of Peterhof or the Summer Palace, which turned out to be quite the adventure for them.   I did not make it clear to the tour guide about transportation and she took them on the city bus system and it’s a good 10 minute walk to the station.  While getting off the bus at the bus stop (a mere hour later), my dad fended off a pick pocket.  He felt a man bump up against his back and start to slide his hands down on his hips towards his pockets and my dad quickly turned around and removed his hands.  The pick pocket then started yelling that this guy (my dad) was crazy.  Oh brother!  I remarked that my dad must have looked like good target.  My dad said, “I might as well have USA written on my forehead”.  Haha.  Thankfully, nothing was stolen.  Of course, I called to check on them right after this happened so this all made me a little nervous. I made sure I kept a tight grip on all my important paperwork after that incident.    

Peterhof is beautiful (fountains and gardens) but there is a TON of walking involved.  And just so this story makes sense to those who do not know my dad.  He has a leg affected by polio.  It hardly holds him back from doing anything…………….except maybe lots and lots of walking. AND I think their tour guide, while nice, was just determined for them to see everything and walked them for miles.  Sigh.  They were exhausted.  But it doesn’t end there, on the way back home, again on the bus system, they missed the correct bus stop and had to walk another mile or more to get back to our hotel.  I was quite panicked by this point because it took them an extra hour to get home and I didn’t know where they were.  Exhausted doesn’t quite describe them accurately. 

We took a quick nap and then ate at the Teaspoon.  It was Russian fast food – mostly Blini (crepes with various fillings).  We came back to the hotel and I skyped with Todd.  The kids were all playing outside so I missed talking to them.  

Here are some more  St. Petersburg pictures.......