We're back in Moscow

Elena did arrive on Thursday morning as expected, and all three of us have been doing family-type stuff for the last three days, which is a novelty to all of us.  Unfortunately, the hotel internet went down, so we weren't able to post anything until now; and the computer facilities in this hotel won't let me connect the camera, so pictures will have to wait until we get home.

The first day Teresa and I had to figure out exactly what Elena was like (and I'm sure she was figuring out what we were like). What does she eat?  How much?  When, exactly?  Does it matter?  What is she afraid of? How can we tell if she's sad or scared or angry?  Can we do all this without really knowing much Russian?

It actually turned out easier than I expected it to be.  We made a few mistakes at first, and there were a few miscommunications, but we all lived through the first day, and there weren't even any major incidents.  Elena's much better behaved than I thought she would be (ummm...for now, at least).  Her attention span is short, as you whould expect, but she doesn't throw many tantrums, and takes the occasional "nyet" with equanimity.  She sometimes even obeys.  We've mostly been eating in our room for meals, and she's not that messy of an eater.

We evidently know enough Russian.  It's suprising (at least to me) how far you can extend a conversation using only four or five differnt words, most of them nouns.  It's still a little frustrating, because there's an awful lot of personality within the little person, and we can't quite see all of it.  But she's learning English at approximately the same rate we're learning Russian (lesson for anyone adopting in the future: "сказать" (skaZAT, meaning "say") is an awfully useful word.  Lena, сказать 'dog.' Lena, сказать 'up.' Lena, сказать 'down.' Lena, сказать 'mama.' and so forth.
Anyway, we stayed in Arkhangelsk until Saturday morning, then flew back here to Moscow.  We're staying in the Hotel Peking, a half-mile down the street from the US embassy and a mile from Red Square.  The hotel gives families adopting kids a discount: we've got a fairly large suite with a monstrous bathroom far only a few rubles more than we paid for a conventional double in the same hotel last week.
We'll be in Moscow through Tuesday (when we pick up a visa from the embassy) and we'll fly back to the US on Wednesday.