Tips, Tricks, Thoughts and Banter

*** I wrote this post last week on the way to the orphanage so that's why I say "here" a lot because I was in Moscow.

As a side note, before the meat of this post starts, I miss the little guy. Tonight I had dinner with a good friend, showed her pics and we talked about the trip. I got this pit in my gut and hurt in my heart and I really, for the first time, missed him pretty bad. I've gotten that "awww" feeling over the past week looking at his pictures but this was different - not sure I can explain it too well. Anyhow.... here is lots of rambling for you. Something I excel at. :-) *****


I have made so many mental notes this week. I can’t count the number of times I’ve said to Keith “Remind me to post on my blog about….” And of course, here I am, working through the cobwebs to remember what those things are.

Allergies – If you have allergies, don’t assume they’ll go away in Moscow. Lots of trees and lots of pollen. Bring your meds and take them every day as you would at home.

Smog – If you’re coming to the Moscow region, be prepared to breathe in lots of black smoke. Have you ever been behind one of those beaten up jalopies on the road and grimaced at the black smoke coming out of the back? Get used to it, accept it and move on. J Keith had quite a headache at the end of each day. There doesn’t seem to be A/C in the cars (or at least our car) so in order to get air we had to open the window and breathe in the smoke. It’s really icky.

Jacket – Bring a light jacket if traveling this time of year. Temperatures fluctuate quite a bit in Moscow and someone whose name shall go unmentioned (Keith) didn’t listen to his darling wife’s advice and now wishes he had.

Travel toilet paper – Bring it with you. You just never know when/if you’ll need it and it’s great to have for runny noses.

Umbrella – a must have. One minute it is sunny and the next it can be raining. It can also “look” like rain at any time and you need to be prepared.

Breakfast bars/Granola bars – One thing we have not been able to find in the grocery stores here are granola bars or any kind of “on-the-go” bars. We wish we would have had those for a quick snack/breakfast. We packed bags of nuts which were great and next trip we’re going to get peanut butter crackers as well.

Washclothes – We were given towels in our apartment but no washclothes. Being that we shower in a stream of water the size of a quarter, we wish we would have those to help us get our entire body wet. J

Grocery Stores – The grocery stores here are very similar to those at home. You can find pretty much anything if you know what you’re looking for. Karyn showed us what milk to get – it’s warm, on the shelf and is a blue and white box with a lady dressed in blue. You want the 1.5% milk. The reason it’s warm is because it’s highly pasteurized because a lot of people in the region don’t have fridges. I’m not a milk drinker, but Karyn and Norm say it’s yummy.

Water – When you buy water at the grocery store, make sure it’s not sparkling water. We made that mistake the first day and when I took a swig I had to spit it back out. Nice visual, I know. Some of the big jugs have English on one side and Russian on the other. Worst case, just shake it. Also, remember in restaurants to order still water.

Pastries – They have some gorgeous looking pastries. If you can point, you can order them. Just don’t expect to lose any weight.

Safety – Keith and I were rarely uncomfortable walking around Moscow. We did it primarily during daylight (it gets dark at 10:00 here) or, if it was dark, we were with a group. I did not use a money belt (GASP). I had a small purse that I put across my chest and held onto it while walking. I also had my passport and our registration papers in there. We kept US Money in one of our backpacks deep, deep in the bottom and tucked the zipper pulls in. The best advice – be aware of your surroundings. If someone comes up close behind you, move over. We’ve really been comfortable here, but haven’t once let our guard down.

Registration/Passports – If you’re coming to the Moscow region, you are required to be registered by your apartment/hotel within the first 2 days (or maybe it’s 3). In order to be registered you will need a copy of your passport, visa and immigration paper. Your agency should help you obtain a copy of the immigration paper once you’re in country. We brought visa/passport copies with us. You must have your passport, immigration paper and registration paper with you at all times. The police will randomly check people and their papers. We haven’t run into this but have seen them pull people over to do so.

Driving – If you’re easily motion sick, take something with you. Lots of stopping and going. Lots of weaving and bobbing. You’ve never seen traffic/driving until you’ve been in Moscow – and we live in Atlanta.

What we couldn’t live without – A comfortable pair of walking shoes/sneakers, jeans, an umbrella, a comfortable backpack, bubbles, cheerios, stacking cups, our laptops, sunglasses, my own pillow, cameras (duh), on-the-go snacks.

What we could live without – Lots of things to read (at least for the 1st trip, the days are very full), many pairs of dress pants/dress shirts. We actually packed pretty well!

Clothes – We packed mostly dress clothes for this trip and we wish we would have packed more casual clothes or clothes that could go either way. For example, Keith packed his “dressy” polo shirts which look kinda funny with jeans. If he would have packed middle of the road polos it would have been better. I did the same. I honestly think we could have worn jeans to the orphanage all days but Monday. Keith did wear black jeans.

Adapter/Converters – I bought the best power strip ever. Great investment. It is a powerstrip that already has the round plug to plug into the outlet and then allows us to plug any type of plug (in particular our regular plugs) into the strips. I also brought a round adapter. My hair dryer is a 120/220 hair dryer and I had problems with it. I assume it’s because of something in our apartment – it was weird. I was able to dry my hair – the problem was trying not to set my hair on fire when it randomly sparked. J

Bringing groceries with you – We brought soups, oatmeal/grits, easy mac and cheese, beef jerky, microwavable rice, nuts and granola bars. For drinks, I brought tea, instant coffee packs and a lot of different flavors of crystal light on the go. We didn’t have a microwave in the apartment so I wasn’t able microwave the rice and easy mac and cheese. We used one of the soups and ate oatmeal/grits each morning. That worked out really well, actually. Some other things to bring if you’re going to be good little boys and girls and eat in most nights (unlike us who spent a small fortune at TGIF) would be taco seasoning (you can get chicken at the store and make tacos if you want or you can get a rotisserie chicken and make taco soup!), pasta (although you can buy it at the grocery), instant potatoes, real mac and cheese, etc… You get the picture.

Speaking Russian – I am very disappointed that I didn’t take more time to learn some basic Russian. I knew how to say Thank You and Hello but besides that I was lost. I’ve always felt pretty strongly about going to a foreign country and at least being able to say the polite phrases. I feel pretty silly doing charades in the middle of a restaurant. J If you have the time, learn some more. No, you don’t need it – you have a translator, but how frustrated do you get in the US when someone doesn’t speak English? Also, if you’re adopting a toddler, learn the basic toddler phrases. We’ve had to ask our translator to say a lot for us and it would be nice to be able to say things ourselves. Obviously this is my opinion. That and $2.20 will get you a cup of coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts!

Blog in the car – If you’re in the Moscow region you never know how long it will take you to get places. Once you get home you’ll be tired and ready to chill out! I’m in the car right now on the way to the orphanage, actually. On the first day they said it takes 40 minutes to get there but we haven’t gotten there or home in less than an hour – sometimes 2.

Friends – If you know people that are traveling the same time as you, be sure to hook up with one another. One of the absolute best parts of this trip is having the support of people that have been there, done that or are in the same boat as you. We have laughed a ton, compared stories and learned a lot from someone who lives here (Thanks Ron and Dinia!). It has been an amazing experience and I know that these friendships are what helped make it so wonderful.

Have I rattled on enough?? I hope some of the info I’ve given you has been helpful! I’m sure I’ll think of more and will post more as I think of it! If you have any questions, email me!

Toodles!
Becky