An Initial Trip

Of course I have no answers, but that is SO EXCITING!! I am so excited for you!!

We did an initial trip. Although we were not allowed to tell him we were adopting him! He still has not fully forgiven us for that, even though it was not our decision. We left him a photo album, though we made a duplicate that we left at home (and brought on the second trip in case it had gotten lost, but he still had it) We did not get to change his clothes or anything, but we could measure him for sizes. He had a surprising amount of clothing that came with him. I was surprised cause in my Russian adoption you get a naked child basically and they take nothing with them. I left a stuffed animal. I didn't want to leave too much to single him out and I didn't know if it would be kept for him or shared. I did also find out how many children were in his group and brought little toys and candy for them. We were only able to spend a few hours each day with him. I don't know how old your child is, but if she is older, some little games that don't require language might fe fun.

Hi Jennifer, We only had 1 trip, but this is what I would have taken based on my friends who went through Russia, and of course had 2 trips. Take a disposable camera to leave, you might get some pics of the time you miss. Also, get a small, soft baby blanket and sleep with it until you guys go. Leave it with K with the hopes of leaving your "scent" with her. I'd take cheerios (I could only find honey-nut in Poland, and I like plain), Gerber Graduates Puffs, stacking cups (all babies and many toddlers love these & easy to pack), take some baby lotion (good for bonding, you rub on her and she can try to rub some on your hand, arms), bubbles, 1 or 2 baby or toddler book with tactile pictures, ziplock bags...I'm sure I'll think of more! I'll email you or post on your blog. This is so exciting for you guys!!:banana: Kelly

Hi again Jennifer, As for travel to the region, I think it depends on how far from Warsaw you're going and where the other families the facilitator is working with are located. We were driven to our region, Sosnowiec, and it seems like we were pretty close to Katowice also. Our driver spoke English, was in his early 20's, met us before we exited the airport, and had pictures of us as well as our names. My husband has traveled internationally with the Army and he felt safe knowing the driver had our pics, made him more legitimate in his eyes :-) I can't really remember how long we drove, after traveling 24 hours w/o much sleep! But it was at least 4 hours. Kelly

No, we didn't have an 'initial visit', and then stayed for the duration between court dates. Just wanted to say, "Congratulations!" Wow . . . that's just a few weeks away!

Very exciting! We, too, only did one trip, but I have to second momraine's suggestion of creating a duplicate photo album to bring on your second trip. And a duplicate of everything for that matter! We had sent a few gifts ahead of time (his birthday and Christmas were just before we got to Poland), and we did not see ANY of the things we sent to him as presents. We know he got them (he told us all about it), but they did make it out of the orphanage with him... ~sarah

We are also waiting on a travel date for our referral. We were originally told around Easter so we are waiting to see. We are going North, close to Gdansk. We will also have two trips. Are you under the new Visa requirements or the old Visa requirements? We are under the old Visa requirements since we started this a few years ago with Ukraine and switched to Poland the middle of last year. I think there is a difference in timelines depending on the type of Visa you are under. The ideas people left for their first visit were interesting. I hadn't thought of a disposable camera. Even if your daughter can't use it maybe the orphanage staff would be tempted to fill it up for you. I was told not to bring anything that you would be heartbroken if you didn't get it back. My recommendation is not to pack much in case you are taking the train. Good luck -

I did two identical photo albums and also left a stuffed animal (that I had bought two of) I did not leave a camera but the kids from his orphanage went to the seashore between our trips and the orphanage staff took lots of pictures and put them in a book for him. We were told to bring stuff for the other kids in his group because he was not told why we were there on the first trip. So while we did leave him with the stuffed animal and photo album we gave all the kids in his group basically a party favor bag with little toys and candies.

Thanks for all of the experiences and suggestions. We are busy making lists and trying to figure it out as best we can. We truly won't know what to expect until we are there! We are scheduled to be in Poland from April 19-23 so it will be a quick one. We will meet K on the 20th and we are told we will be able to see her a bit on the next couple of days too. Then hopefully they can get the next trip scheduled soon! We are under the old regulations, hopefully that means a little less regulation/delay involved. But who knows!

We just got our travel date as well. We are leaving on the 14th and will be coming back on the 20th. We are flying in and out of Warsaw and were able to use Frequent flyer miles to get the tickets. (hooray!) Looks like we will barely be crossing paths in Warsaw. We were told that it was possible that any toys/clothes we brought might become "orphanage" toys/clothes. Which I said was really fine by me. I liked the idea of getting two of the same stuffed animal for example, and then leaving one there and giving them the new one when you come back (they probably won't even know.) Other helpful tips would be great. Thanks

Congrats!! Yes indeed, we will practically be crossing paths there. We are headed south though. Great idea about the stuffed animal. I'm thinking maybe a rabbit...because it is Easter time. :) This is so great for our Polish board here. Two traveling in the same month!!

Have you decided what you are taking yet? We leave in 8 days so I'm getting a little nervous. My son and I went and bought a small, all cloth baby doll from Target yesterday. (We bought two in case the orphanage keeps it and she becomes attached to it.) Our son isn't going with us this trip (he will for the bonding) so I'm trying to involve him a bit. I've finished the small photo album and put her picture in the front window. It has about 10 pictures in it, hopefully not too many to be overwhelming. Our little girl is just over three so I put together a small bag of things for us to do with her during the three days. My activity bag has: large crayons and paper, the cardboard shapes with holes for lacing (just two), two small 2 and 3 piece puzzles, a cloth book, a small bottle of bubbles, and a set of noun picture cards. Along with a hip carrier it all fits in a gallon sized ziploc bag (so I don't feel it is too much.) I also have a "First Thousand Words In Polish" by Usbourne. She doesn't have a large vocabulary, but I'm thinking the pictures may help with communicating. We are going North up close to the North sea, but the weather doesn't look too much different than the DC area. You mentioned you were going south, will you be near the Czech border or Krakow? We were in Krakow the Christmas before last and really enjoyed the city. I've heard different views on what to wear for the first meeting - very professional, slightly professional but appropriate for crawling on the floor, casual like a parent. What has your agency recommended? Good luck!

We leave in 10 days now, and it is starting to be very real!! We have not decided everything yet, but are getting there. We may have the same cloth baby doll from target. We are trying to decide between this or a stuffed animal. Either way, we are going to do the same as you, get 2 of them. In case she doesn't leave with it, then we will have another one. We also put together the photo album. It is a good plush album with about 6 pictures in it. I am still toying between which pictures to put in there, but it is pretty much together. I think we may put an identical album together just in case it gets lost after we leave.

As for other activity items, we have a few items together. She is 15 months old, so we have more baby-type toys, but ones with sensory/stimulus focus. We have this set of 4 cloth safari blocks, a plush apple with a caterpillar and plush fruit pieces in it, a cloth book and bubbles. I may try to think of one or two more small items to bring, but think this will probably be enough for the few days. I want the items to easily fit in my purse for when we head to the orphanage each day.

We are going south, near Katowice. They have not confirmed the exact location yet. It will be nice to know exactly where we will be staying. Our agency has not specifically recommended attire for the first meeting yet. I think we are leaning on the nice/business casual end. Not a suit, but not jeans. Perhaps a nice blouse/sweater and slacks. Something comfortable enough to crawl around, but nice enough to be special for us and for our first pictures.

I'm so excited for you! Will you be updating your blog while you're gone?

They do seem nervous about giving up location don't they. I had asked for information about the orphanage, references for anyone who had been there before, ie how accurate were they with their medical diagnosis, etc. So I got the location with that information. My family is from the Czech side near Katowice/Krakow. We've been to Krakow and then north of Brno into the Karst region. Really beautiful. Enjoy - especially if you go back in the summer for your next visit. Have you received any indication of the wait between your first visit and the second visit? My understanding is that it completely depends on the case load of the region and doesn't really compare very well. Good luck. We leave in 5.5 days. I don't do well with unknowns and not being able to research everything thoroughly so this feels like jumping off a cliff and hoping that the person you hired to pack your parachute knows what they are doing and you can figure out how to land when the time comes. I keep looking at the pictures and hoping. We will meet her on Thursday (one week from today!) so I'll try to post something before you leave - but we will be in a smaller town (not in one tourist guide book) so I'm not sure how easy it will be to find access.