Papers To Sign — Nov 17

The next morning Olga and Victor picked us up to dash across town to the notary’s office. There we would sign papers to consent to the adoption and to petition the court. It was a busy place. There was a small waiting area with a dozen chairs. We appeared to the the only non-Russians there and so, likely the only ones there for adoption purposes. There was a delay because the person with whom Olga usually works, was out sick. She sat us down and disappeared into one of the little offices. After a while she popped out and quickly disappeared into another. The same was true of others persons who entered the waiting area while we were there. Most came with someone who seemed to know the system well. They also popped in and out of doors with amusing frequency; much like a British comedy.

One older woman entered, took stock of all the people waiting and asked us something in Russian. We had practiced the Russian expression for “I don’t understand Russian” which sounds like “yahnee pahnee my-yoo pahrooski”, but both of us choked under the pressure of the moment and just shrugged; it got the message across just the same.

Some chose to wait outside...in the cold. They even seemed to enjoy it; these are hearty people!

After maybe half an hour, Olga ushered us into one small office. There was a woman behind a desk, with a young girl sitting in front of the desk controlling the notary book that we must sign. There is no room for anyone else to sit. About a half dozen pages were arranged on the desk for us to sign. Olga indicated the purpose of each, but we were used to signing without question.

That’s it! Olga had done all the other work already. Then we left to speed back to Karachev to meet the orphanage director and see Andrew again!