Taking the adoption process one step at a time...literally

Today was supposed to be a pretty low-key adoption day, with our only official work being picking up some paperwork (a huge stack of papers that constitute our official referral to Alex)…supposedly a five-minute process. But when we arrived at the Ministry of Sports and Culture building (which houses the official adoption bureau), we found a line of other parents waiting outside because the official who was supposed to start handing out the signed referrals at 3 p.m. hadn’t arrived yet. So we waited outside the building for almost an hour. We spent the time shopping for souvenirs (picked up a couple t-shirts), watching the swarm of workers restoring the cobblestone street and the surrounding buildings for the upcoming Eurocup soccer match (a huge deal here, on the order of a Superbowl), admiring a nearby church that was so large and resplendent that it should have been a cathedral (but it wasn’t), chatting with the other adopting couples, and getting to know Ludmilla, one of our facilitators, a little bit better. Ludmilla offered lots of interesting insights into her work, and the way that the adoption system works in this country.

Once the adoption official arrived, the process of signing the proper registry only took a few minutes. (Everything official is done on paper; nothing is electronic, which slows down the process a lot.)

By the time we got out, it was rush hour, and hard to find a cab. So we decided to walk home; our facilitator was going in the same direction, so she joined us. Along the way, she patiently answered our many questions about the culture in this Eastern European country, and gave us some advice on polite behavior: Never wear a hat indoors. Never cross your arms or legs during an official meeting. Don’t whistle indoors. Don’t sit on the floor. (The latter being part of a wider set of beliefs about the dangers of exposure to the cold.) She also pointed out some of the major landmarks along the route as we passed through the city’s historic district.

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant serving the local cuisine, then continued to walk the rest of the way home. We’re walking a lot around here, distances of several miles at a time. It’s like the adoption process…taking it one step at a time will get you there eventually.