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We adopted from Alexandrov and would love to hear from others who have too.
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Same as you -- we were kept in one room and not allowed to see anything else. There did not seem to be any heat at all (and it was late October, 12 degrees out, and sleeting). Did you meet the red-headed doctor? She (and a guy in black leather jacket, who seemed out of place) had broken out the bottle of vodka (not offered to us, which was ok) before we got back from court and paperwork. Translator seemed very afraid of her, as were we (upon returning, we asked one question -- "Does our daughter drink from a bottle or cup" -- and Doctor went ballistic, screaming and shouting at translator and us, to the effect, said translator, that, "She's yours now! What do I care? I don't have to answer any more of your ____ questions!") -- we left as quickly as possible, muttering thanks, which were acknowledged with a snarl and head-toss. Once outside in the car, my husband was separated from me and my daughter (we were in the car), and Mr. Black Leather slid in next to us. We were both very scared (my child was not, as she had been drugged with some bitter something), which she luckily later on threw up (unfortunately all over my only coat). Confusion reigned, but eventually things righted themselves and we were on our way. How was health? We had malnourishment, pinworms, hookworms (?!!? - which no American doc had seen in a human in 30 years or so), anemia (hookworms!), and shigella. We thank God every day and feel we got her out just in the nick of time.
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Whew -- so very happy to hear all went so well for you all. Yes, I remember the Director and thought her very kind, gentle, good, caring, sweet. The Doctor was another thing entirely. And yes, they DID seem to be in a huge rush for me to change her -- but then it was rather late, quite dark, and the roads to Vladimir were icy and dark, so perhaps that's why the rush to have us on our way (or perhaps they were just exhausted and wanted to go to bed). We felt about the same. Thanks for input!
Well, it wasn't late or dark when we got there, they just seemed to want us out with our baby. There was another couple there on their first trip that they (Alexandrov people) did not seem to want us to talk to. It seemed a little odd. They definitely wanted them to go into the room on the side of the "presentation" room. We were all staying at the Radisson, so we all got together and spoke anyway. Just a different culture and ways of doing things, I guess.
Hmmm. Wonder why they wouldn't want you talking with those other folks? Maybe something to do with the first trip vs. second trip dichotomy? Maybe things would be moving more slowly for the first trippers that for second trippers, and they didn't want you all comparing notes. Glad you got to talk with them anyway. And how nice for folks whose translator also was the taper. You got to spend more time.... We had to wait a bit for our daughter to wake up from her nap, and the Director was very nice to us -- cups of real instant coffee (much appreciated due to cold temperatures). How was the Radison? I hear it's nice. We were at The Ukraina. It was ok, although there were some funny things -- the heat in the rooms was so extreme that we all spent most of our time in our undies and we had to open the big windows periodically to cool things off; we got nightly (ALL nightly) calls asking for "Tatiana", who seems to have been an extremely popular young lady; and there were guys roaming the lobby with what appeared to be gun butts sticking out from their jackets (I asked husband, "Do you suppose they're 'fer' us or 'agin us'?") -- but suite was clean and had a huge bath and big fridge -- really quite comfortable. (Oh, the breakfasts were mostly pickled -- pickled cabbage, pickled cucumbers, pickled fish, pickled, pickled, pickled!)
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We stayed at the Ukraina too. I thought it was a very interesting place. I took a stroll from there and went down the street to a "supermarket" to buy some bottled water. I felt strange walking by myself. I am sure I stuck out like a sore thumb with my Fighting Illini coat on, lol.
I also saw the guys with guns raoming around, I saw one talking to a uniformed policeman so I assume they were ok. We didnt get any calls in our room. The buffet breakfast wasnt quite what we expected. I think the Radisson is more for the western tourists but I liked that we got to stay in a Soviet style hotel. It made us appreciate our own beds back home more.
Annabell
Must say I LOVED the linen sheets there -- and the "hall matrons" were very, very kind and helpful. Yes, was rather glad to stay in a really Russian place.
Did you stay with a family in Vladimir? We did. They were soooooooooooooooooooo great to us!!!!!!
Wasn't that experience the best? I've never felt so "taken care of". We were with a family -- husband, wife, 2 daughters (only one of whom we met), and the most wonderfully well-behaved HUGE dog. The heat went out in their building in the middle of the night (and it was 12 degrees outside), so there was no heat, no hot water, and bless them, they soldiered on, wrapping us all in layers of heavy wool blankets. Their kitchen looked like a set from "I Love Lucy" -- soooo neat and cool and sort of kitsch -- red and orange and cheerful polkadots -- for us, it just screamed comfort and home and nurturing. Yes, they fed us and fed us. We will be forever grateful to that fantastic family -- indeed, to all the Russian people we met. I'd always wanted to go there, and neither the people nor the place disappointed. I'd love to go back....
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Our Son is also from Alexandrov baby home. We found it although very old to be pretty clean, and the Dr. was pretty pleasant and Tatiana the orphanage director was so sweet, she cried when we and the other 2 familes left with our boys. Our translator said your Zhenya was her favorite, I told her to thank her for loving him while he was waiting for Mama and Papa. We will choose Vladimir region and Alexandrov baby home in our next adoption. It may take longer with a preference such as this, but we feel it is worth it. We feel our Son was pretty well taken care of, he was small but still on charts. He is very smart, cute, attached.....and I could go on. I love hime more than anything!