Our Family

Our Family

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Facts about Russia

I have decided since we are in the waiting arena, and are unsure as to when we will emerge, I will educate myself and those of you who chose to read our blog a little about Russia.  This idea was kinda stolen by a fellow blogger, she gave great Russia 101 lessons on her blog.

For tonight, just basic Russia info.
  • The largest country in the world, Russia constitutes one-seventh of the world’s landmass and spans eight time zones. This expansive area allows it to neighbor more countries than anywhere else on earth, as well as touch twenty-two bodies of water and hold twelve seas within its borders.
  • You can find the oldest mountains in the world, the Urals, and the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal 1,642 metres (5,387 ft) deep.
  • Russia has a population of 145.5 million people, 80% of whom reside in Western Russia and two-thirds of whom live in cities.
  • Given its vast supply of natural resources, Russia depends heavily on mining. It is the world’s leading producer of energy and military technologies.
  • The official language in Russia is Russian. This language uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Latin and is one of the five most spoken languages in the world.
  • Russia is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and indigenous people. Slavs account for about 75% of the total population. The densest areas of Russia are near the Ural Mountains and in southwestern Siberia.
  • Russian Orthodox is the official religion in Russia. 20% of Russians practice Islam while Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism are not wide spread but have small roles in Russian culture.
  • Moscow and St. Petersburg are three hours ahead of London time and eight hours ahead of New York City. Vladivostok, on the eastern most side of Russia is seven hours ahead of Moscow. It takes about nine hours to fly from New York City to Moscow, three-and-a-half hours from London to Moscow, and ten-and-a-half hours from Tokyo.
All facts are from the website http://www.travelallrussia.com/facts-about-russia/

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Another Case...

Of abuse, this region was the go-to region for our agency.  Well back in November they "shut-down" to reorganize things, according to our agency.  They were going to start putting our referrals again in June, but this story surfaced.  Now they are investigating.  Hopefully with the agreement signed they will start moving along now. 

See below for story

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/10/51579183.html

There is a whole lot more to this story, the original adoption is dissolved by the adoptive parents, and the girl was adopted by the mother's sister, and it was her husband who abused the girl.  So the people who abused her never went through any Russian requirements for adoption.  Sad that this is interfering with adoptions also.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monday, July 11, 2011

Wondering...

I am sure all of you are wondering about what my decision is on taking Camden with us to Russia.  No to trip 1, thank you.  But really leaning towards yes on trip 2.  I know that I would have great people take care of him while we were gone, but we are staying for the full 30 days.  If we stay in the region that we got the first referral from, we have to stay for 30 days due to new rules that the region put out.  I honestly don't think I can stay away from him for 30 days.  He is a very laid back easy going child.  We went on a R.V. trip two summers ago and we sometimes spent 15 hours in the car driving, and he did amazing.  So that is what we are thinking, I think when we go for trip 1 we will ask permission from the director themselves if we may bring him during trip 2 and then we can have whole family bonding time.  That is what I am thinking right now.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Taking your kids to Russia?

Your thoughts?  Randy and I have been going back and forth since the beginning on whether or not we should take Camden to Russia with us.  What are your thoughts?  Mainly this is for people who have gone and experienced everything of course!  Is it toddler friendly?  Are kiddos allowed in the orphanages? Etc?  If you were to adopt again, would you take your adopted child back with you for the second adoption?  Just wanting some opinions!

Denise