We're so blessed!!

After spending Monday night and Tuesday en route to Russia, Wednesday in St. Petersburg (mostly in the Hermitage), and Wednesday night in the air again, we arrived here, in Tyumen, at 4:30 local time Thursday morning. We were met by our agency's local representative, Sofia Nickolayevna, her husband Vlad, and our translator, Inna. After a few hours to freshen up and sleep(hah!), they picked us up for our 9:00 meeting with the local official from the Ministry of Education. She interviewed us for about 20 minutes, and issued us a letter of invitation to visit Svetlana. Off to the orphanage!!

We arrived at the orphanage around 10:00, and were able to stay until Svetlana's nap time at about noon. She had just been woken from an unscheduled nap when we arrived, so she was a bit groggy at first. Still, she was even more beautiful than we had been led to believe, and she warmed to both of us quickly. She was wearing the same dress she had on in the first photos we saw of her, though we've seen her in two other outfits plus her pj's since. We gave her some new toys and a couple of books. She seemed to take more to the books than the stuffed animals -- not a problem by us.

She is, as I have said (and as I will no doubt say again and again, well past the limits of your patience) beautiful. She also has a very sweet and loving disposition, and seems to be a particular favorite of the orphanage staff. She laughs easily, and we've spent a lot of time finding new ways to make her laugh yesterday and today. Her voice is pretty deep and husky for a baby girl. She is also very curious, checking out the contents of dad's shirt pocket (empty, alas), turning at any sound to see who or what caused it, smiling at anyone who passed. While the staff told us she is speaking, she didn't really speak for us -- just baby sounds and that adorable laugh.

Thursday afternoon, after lunch, we crashed at our hotel, having spent Monday and Wednesday nights more or less sleepless on planes. We napped most of the afternoon, went to bed early, and slept the night through.
Today, we went to see Svetlana twice, before lunch for two hours and then again from 4-6. Each time gets harder to leave her. Tomorrow, when we have to leave her for three months (God willing, not a day longer) will be well nigh impossible. We were able to take a lot of pictures, so we'll spend the time flipping through them over and over.

More soon, but we wanted to get the basics out there. (Our hotel was not that great Thursday night, but it was the only one available (in Siberia, in February, Marriott executives take note). Today, in between out two visits with Svetlana, we moved to a different hotel, and we have internet access at last).