Here are a few of the lessons we've learned along the way:
Trip 1
We wish we would've had better information concerning the age of the orphanage director! Turns out that she's been a doctor for over 40 years and has been the director of this facility for 22 years! Now don't get me wrong, she is a wonderful lady! Unfortunately, some of the gifts we brought along were geared more for the 30-something crowd, not someone who is in her late-60's/early 70's.
The same goes for the nurses & caregivers. This one may be a little harder as, in our case, there are 13 different ladies assigned to this room. From the few that we met, their ages range from 20's to the 40's.
One nice thing we found out about too late: the Marriot Grand has a luggage room. They will allow you to store extra pieces of luggage there in between trips. In other words... you can spread out your duffle bags of donations over both trips and save yourself the possible overweight charges.
PHOTOS! You will need a picture of parents (i.e. YOU) and your adoptive child together to show the judge. It serves as further proof that you have indeed seen your child per the Russian law requirements and the judge will keep the photo to put into the file. Make sure you have access to a Polaroid, digital camera or inquire about 1 hour processing for film. The Marriott Grand has a business center that will print photo quality sheets from a disk if you take them with your digital. They charge $2.50 per sheet. You will need an additional photo for the Embassy if only one of you will be returning on the second trip.
Vitamins - don't bother bringing American vitamins, at least on your first trip. We were told by the Director that American vitamins give the children skin rashs, especially the Centrum brand. If you want to donate vitamins, bring your money to Russia and purchase them via a local supermarket. As a side note, our translator stated that she has trouble taking American vitamins also. PLEASE NOTE: some regions do want them -- check with the director when you get there.
Ensure you have a Russian driver!!! You would not believe the traffic!!! Take it from someone who has driven in Turkish and Saudi Arabian traffic and who thought he had seen it all - YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DRIVE IN MOSCOW! Besides the obvious problems of street signs, etc., the utter chaos will drive you crazy.
Trip 2
DISPOSABLE "SIPPY" CUPS!!! Found some disposable cups (...think they were from the Glad company). They were light weight, great for the hotel and didn't have to worry about packing them home!
PB & J - Believe it or not, "fancy" food gets old after a while. Tracy made a comment that she sure wished she brought a jar of peanut butter with her. Bread you can get a the local store, as well as jams/jellies. You can even smuggle the jelly from the breakfast buffet.
Souvenier shopping - this is something Tracy wished she had completed during the first trip. Arbat Street is full of shops and they got plenty of our money on both trips. However, it sure would've been easier walking through displays of crystal, porcelin, etc. without a 3 y/o trying to touch EVERYTHING. Not to mention the simple logistics of carrying the packages and Ally once she left the store.
The umbrella stroller - was 95% successful. Sure came in handy on the long days in the offices completing paperwork. Didn't have to carry/hold Ally all day - she could be safely buckled into the stroller. Also, helped while walking quickly between appointments. The difficult part -- snowy Moscow streets and the stairs EVERYWHERE. Very few of the building have elevators and you must use stairs to go up and down the Metro entrances.
Forgot to bring medicine for pediatric diarrhea. The stress, gorging of food and the change of food took it's toll on our little angel. Luckily, we planned ahead and brought pull-ups, expecting problems and mild-regression.
Bath time. Ally seemed like she wasn't used to a bath in a tub! She had two baths the fist night because she was so enamoured with the whole thing. Wish we had packed toys for Ally to play with. Instead, she wanted to flop all around, including doing the "Nestea plunge"... not good in a tub with only a couple of inches of water in it!!! Tracy needed quick hands to keep her from splitting her head each night. She also kept trying to drink the bath water, suds and all.
Baby lotion - Allys' skin was VERY dry when she left the orphanage. The hotel lotion didn't help much since it is scented and seemed to give her a little rash while it was moisturizing her skin.
Childrens shampoo - we noticed during the first trip that Ally's scalp was rather flaky. When we went shopping during the waiting period, we picked up a bottle of infant shampoo designed to treat cradle cap. Tracy was amazed at how much dead skin came off her head during those first two baths!!!
This one is sad to have to note --- beware of the so-called "professional children beggars". They are usually 10-12 years old and they work in teams. While one attracts your attention "begging" for change, another sneaks up behind you and pick-pockets you. Unfortunately, according to Helen, our translator, many of these children are orphans that have run away from the older childrens homes.
