The next day (Tuesday, March 22), DW and I awoke to see Ulyanovsk in the light for the first time. We gathered ourselves and headed for breakfast prepared by one of our hostesses at the apartment. Our hostess were a mother and daughter duo respectively named Tatiana and "Nasta". Tatiana is in her mid to late forties, about 5'5" with dark hair and blue eyes. Nasta as I recall is about 20, a little taller, with blue eyes too and blond hair accented with various shades of pink. Tatiana is descended from the Germans that Tsarina Catherine the Great settled along the River Volga in the 18th Century, and accordingly, is sometimes referred to by adoptive parents staying with her as "the German lady."
We relaxed and cooled our heels until early afternoon when our translator called and said that we would be going to the Ministry of Education in a few hours. She also mentioned that it was unlikely we would see the little boy we came to see that day, but perhaps tomorrow. Within a couople of hours a van with our translator appeared, we boarded and set out on a 30 minute ride from our apartment - on the east bank of the River Volga near the "cottage" orphanage - to the Ministry of Education in the part of Ulyanovsk on the west bank of the river.
We arrived at the MoE, climbed a flight of stairs, and waited in a narrow hallway decorated with synthetic wood paneling and placards displayng the ministry's latests news. About 15 minutes into our wait, our coordinator emerged from one of the doorways to announce a recently dicovered problem that would keep us from seeing the boy we came to see. Ostensibly, the birth-mother's relinquishment letter did not have her passport number and was defective. Until this defect was corrected, would not be able to see the candidate. However, she showed us the file on another little boy we could go see, though except for being a boy, he shared hardly another characteristic with the candidate we came to see. She told us to wait and we would meet with the MoE official for more details shortly.
We waited about another 15-20 minutes dodging ministerial traffic in the hall way. It was during this wait that our translator was called away to assist another family. A short time later one of her colleagues arrive to assist us. We were then ushered into the office of the head of the regional MoE section related to adoptions. After polite introductions the official told us of the problem with the absence of the passport number from the birth-mother's relinquishment letter and that becuase of it, we would not be able to visit the candidate. She then added: "I told your agency of this problem and told them to tell you not to come to Ulyanovsk." I was incredulous!
The offical then proceeded to tell us of the little boy our coordinator had mentioned in the hallway. She asked whether we would like to wait and see what happend in efforts to cure the relinquishment letter defect or go and see the alternate candiate. DW and I excused ourselves to causcus at the far end of the hallway outside, decided to wait and see if the passport number problem could be solved, and retuned to inform our coordinator and the MoE official of our decision. They said they would do what they could to resolve the problem as rapidly as they could and we said our good byes and depatred.
The moments afterward were quite ackward. Our van was late picking us up - they have any families and lots to do - and we waited on the sidewalk outside the MoE. The official from the MoE was there too, waiting for her husband to come pick her up after work to go somewhere for his birthday.
The van arrived and took back to our apartment. Later that day we received calls from our local coordinator assuring us that the passport number problem would be resolved soon. I spoke with my agency inthe US late that evening and they assured me that the necessary documentaton would be delivered to the MoE at 8:00 AM the following day (Wednesday, March 23) and we would visit the candidate then.
Well, the next day (Wednesday, March 23) came and went. No documents were delivered and we never left to see the the cnaddiate. We did, however, receive plenty of calls with reassuring updates about all that was being done. But those updates also came with news of expanding problems. Things like the birth-mother had lost her passport in 2001 or 2002 and becuase of that she did not have her passport with her when she signed her relinquishment letter. And becuase of her multiple marriages with different names her passport number could not be found. Becuase the birth-mother had an unsavory past and lived in more remote section of the region, it would be challenging to find out information on her or find her herself in order to cure the defect holding us up. The day went by without progress.
Luckily we had brought our portable DVD player and were able to watch some movies to pass the time. The wait would have been excruciating without it. Knowing we might be in such a situation, I loaded our DVD case with a lot of light comedy. If you can afford the expense and the weight, bring a portable DVD player; you never know where you'll get stuck, for how long, or why. Laughing made me feel better even if it did not improve the situation. As bad as things were, I couldn't help but feel unbrudended when I loaded a disc, flipped in the DVD player, and was greeted by: "Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville and welcome to Jackass."
Additionally, to get out, our hostesses took DW and I to the flea market, the local mall, and the super market. This was great. First, just to get out, and walk around in fresh-air outside of what had become a very gllomy apartment. Second, it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a winter stroll. Third, becuase we had already become very fond of our hostesses during our brief, but intense time together.
On Wenesday evening (March 23) our translator called to tell us that they had located the birth-mother, our local coordinator was going to see her with a notary to get a new, and compliant, relinquishment letter, and that we would be going to visit the candidate tomorrow (Thursday, March 24).
Thursday morning came and with no news from our translator or coordinator. Then late in the afternoon our translator called to tell us that they had discovered all sorts of new problems related to the birth-mother's being married at the time of the birth, the incarceation of she and the birth-father on drug related offenses, but also of their recent release, etc., etc. The sum result of all this was that the candidate we came to see was not avaialable for international adoption. The van would shortly pick-us up and take us to the MoE to hear this officially.
The MoE official explained the problems in a vague and evasive manner so that neither DW nor I could really be sure what was going on. Really, the reasons were not important, we were just not going to see the little boy we traveled from Chicago to see. She then offered us the opportunity to visit the other canddiate mentioned at our first meeting.
The official stepped out of her office to speak with some of her colleagues. What happened next was like having denatured alchohol poured into an open wound. Our coordinator and translator started working DW and I to arouse interest in the alternate candidate that we had already respectfully, but firmly declined. I mean they worked us hard, like a coulpe of car salesmen two cars short of quota on the last day of the month. The only things missing were banners promoting factory rebates or low interest financing. I was waiting for one of them to step out to "talk to her manager and see what she could do." (I hope none of you are car salesmen, no offense intended)We still declined, returned to our apartment, and called our agency back in the US.
Our agency representative told us that they were working on alternate plans and would arrange for our departure from Ulyanovsk. Unfortunately, it was already too late to catch the evening plane. We tried to get on the Friday morning plane, but it was full and there were no seats available on the Friday evening plane so the soonest we could fly back to Moscow was Saturday morning. Otherwise we could take the train. We were eager to leave. I like travel by rail and DW had never taken an overnight train before. So we elected to take the Friday evening train from Ulyanovsk to Moscow. We spent Friday packing-up, at the nearly Internet cafe, and shopping for gifts for our hostesses. At the flea market a couple of days before I observed our hostess Nasta admiring a pink purse. So we went back and we bought it for her. My Russian was doing well enough so that we could shop in the flea market by ourselves and I could translate at the mall for DW as she tried on a pair of boots that she saw a couple of days earlier too.
At about 3:00 PM a van arrived to take us to the train station. Becuase of scheduling demands the van was early and dropped us off at the Venets hotel to wait for a while. Concrned, we left most of our bags in the van and went inside with our translator for some tea. The van returned with all of our bags about 45 minutes later and we departed for the train station.
I'll never know what really happend in Ulyanovsk. I'm sure its a perverse mixture of the bizarre and serendiptitous; fact and fiction interlineated amongst each other. There are no guarantees, we all know that going in. However, here are some of the things that suggest the dubious veracity of the stories DW and I were told in Ulyanovsk.
First, we waited nearly three months for clarification of the medical report on the candidate before we departed to see him. I find it remarkable that during that time no one could have revealed all of the birth-parent related problems, yet within two days after we arrived, the sun suddenly shone upon them.
Second, the official at the MoE did not identify who at my agency she told to not have us come. When exiting the van for our second MoE meeting, I asked our coordinator about this. She said that she called "someone" in from our agency in Moscow and relayed the message, but that we were already in the air on our way from Chicago to Moscow. I find it remarkable that she could not even remotely recall the name of who she spoke to, not even whether they were a man or a woman. I also find it remarkable that between our New York to Moscow and Moscow to Ulyanovsk flights, DW and I drove around Moscow for five hours with our coordinator and not once did he mention any distressing news, least of all instructions relayed from the Ulyanovsk MoE that the canddiate we were coming to see was not available and we should not come. Nor after our arrival in Ulyanovsk as we drove from the airport to our apartment with our coordinator and translator did either mention any problem. Perhaps they said nothing at the time becuase they we confident in finding a solution before our MoE meeting the next day, and/or they did not want to upset us after a long journey. But then they said nothing in the next ,orning or afternoon before our first MoE meeting either. At other times when we were going to receive bad news, they usually primed us by delivering it informally first.
Third, I was "fortunate" that our primary translator was not at the first MoE meting with DW and our Ulyanovsk coordinator. When I later was able to speak with our primary translator and Ulyanovsk coordiantaor seperately, I noticed significant inconsistencies in their stories and their recollection of the sequence of events preceding our arrival and the events that occurred afterwards.
Fourth, the whole story about the birth-mother and her lost passprt is suspect to me. Those of you who've been to Russia know that you can't as much as take a pee without a passport. How did the birth-mother happen to live without her's for two to three years?
These things, among others, arouse my suspicions about what was really going on in that agency-coordiantor-translator-MoE-orphange back-office. You know, the one behind that opaque glass where you can see the silhouttes in frenetic activity, but you can't exactly see who it is or exactly what they are doing.
DW and I keep in mind that adopting from Russia is an unpredictable and sometimes cruel process. That is what we all are signing-up for. We are all at the mercy of the unyielding malice of fortune. However, DW and I've decided that this will not deter us and that our fortunes will change. More on that in the next editions.
A local Home in Ulyanovsk. Note the artistry of the lentils onthe windows.
Another lcoal home. This time note the amount of snow too.
An Ulyanovsk sidewalk with some of the local inhabitants and their pets.
The exterior of a typical Ulyanovsk mid-rise apartment building.
Crossing west accross the River Volga. Atop teh west bank you can see the outline of the tower of the Hotel Venets and the Lenin Museum beneath it.
Looking up the River Volga with a power transformer station in the foregrond.
