The internet giveth, yet again

As I've said before, I try to keep tabs on what's happening at the Kotlas baby house.  Thus, I just stumbled across a group that purportedly donates items to the baby house (I say "purportedly" because there seems to be some question about whether monetary donations actually end up where they're intended to go - but, for the moment, that's neither here nor there).  This group has been around for a couple-three years, and has visited the baby house a few times.

And...they took pictures.  Including a visit in May 2011 (this would be a few weeks after we first came to Kotlas) where they delivered some toys.  A few kids were wating for the toys:


Kotlas baby house, May 2011

And those few kids include a little girl in a yellow dress and red bow (in the center).  Yup, that's Elena; another picture of her that we've never seen before.


They also visited in June 2011, when the Baby House celebrates the "Day of the Child" with some costume skits:


Kotlas baby house, June 2011

The kids in the picture are the right age to be Elena, but it's hard to tell.  I asked Elena if she remembers this, and she matter-of-factly identified herself as the third baby chick in the picture above.  It's hard to tell if she's remembering truely, or is just influenced by the yellow dress in the first picture, but it's quite likely she's one of the kids in the picture or just off-camera.

I was just remarking to an acquaintance how rare and special pre-adoption pictures of orphanage kids are, and here are a few more to add to our collection.

Toys and Pictures

From time to time, I check up on what's going on in Kotlas.  It's interesting, because we have a definite, although tenuous, connection to the city; more importantly, Elena spent a lot of her time there and may be interested later in knowing about it.

It's also interesting because I'll run across some news about or pictures of the Baby House.  That's how I found the video history of the baby house I posted a few weeks back, and that's how I found this:



 It's a local TV story about a photography studio who ran a project where they set aside an afternoon every week or so to take portraits, using the proceeds to buy toys for the orphangage. Here's their VK page (for those of you who haven't heard of it, VK is like the Russian Facebook), which includes more still photos from the event.

Wow, that's... really interesting.

As I've pointed out before, the Kotlas orphanage turned 25 earlier this year.  The anniversary hasn't passed unnoticed - I stumbled across an interesting, professionally edited video of Kotlas orphanage as it turns 25.


Фильм к 25-летию Котласского дома ребенка (2013 г.) from Plusnin Alexandr on Vimeo.

Even though I don't understand the Russian, the video is actually really interesting for its look at a lot of different places in the orphanage and shots of what kids of all ages do during the day.  We get to see some of the things that Elena probably experienced, that we never had a chance to see.

Snow baby

Kotlas is pretty snowy, as one might expect from its location in the north of Russia. Here, shamelessly stolen from another blog, is a picture of the playground at the Kotlas orphanage in the dead of winter.

Kotlas orphanage playground, January 2011, via Denise & JJ

Still, fresh air is good for kids, so the thinking goes, and the children will play outside even in the winter.  I don't think they let two-year-olds just wander around in head-high snow (instead, the kids use the playground shelters seen in the picture below), but they do get outside into the snow.

Kotlas orphange playground, April 2011.  The toys in the
first picture are just off-camera to the left.

Detroit, though, doesn't get near as much snow as Kotlas. In fact, here's a graph of average snow depth, courtesy of Weatherspark, for 2011:

Snow depth in Kotlas, Russia: historical average (grey band)
and 2011 actual (bright blue line)

The actual 2011 data shows about 20" of snow on the ground for all of January - March. For reference, Elena was just about 30" tall at that time.  Must be a pretty impressive sight, when you're that small, to see so much snow.

(Oh, and if you're wondering, below is a graph of daily high and low temperatures for 2011, also from Weatherspark. Note the brutal weeks in January and February where the highs were below zero Farenheit.)

The Kotlas Baby House Turns 25.

The Kotlas orphanage opened on January 26, 1988, 25 years ago.  (Interestingly, January 26th is also Elena's birthday).  Here's an article  on the anniversary (English translation) from the Kotlas daily newspaper.  It gives a little history on the building itself, and the staff, and particularly the director who spearheaded the construction of the building.

Speech therapist Irina Kopylova in class with Sonya.
These are the kind of exercises Elena would have done.

 

The Kotlas Baby house, right now.

Just for fun, here's an article from the Kotlas news service (translation) dated December 4.  It's actually about the construction mess on the road in front of the orphanage, and not about the orphanage itself, but it has a picture of the orphanage as it looks right now, in December 2012.


Kotlas orphanage, December 2012

Little bit of snow on the ground in Kotlas, it looks like.  I wonder how noisy the construction equipment is?

Traditional Russian Clothing

As I said a few posts back, we're approaching the year anniversary of our second and third trips to Russia.  The second trip, in August 2011, was when we had our court appearance, and also when we visited Elena in the baby house in Kotlas.

And, as I said in the previous post, Kotlas isn't exactly a tourist mecca.  But it is a mid-sized city, and there really are some interesting things to visit, if you have a few spare hours.  We pointed out some of them way back in this post.  But there are also places to go shopping.  We went to a few of them.  There are a series of souvenir stands at the train station; that's where we bought the little magnets in he picture below, as well as the matroyshka doll and wooden box you can see on the stand in the lower picture:

Souvenir magnets

Kotlas hotel, August 2011

There was also a really nice little bookstore just a couple blocks from the hotel.  It had a good selection of nice children's books, and astonishingly low prices. 

Finally, there was a clothing store literally next door to the hotel.  We browsed through the kid's clothes, and wound up buying a couple things.  One was a little overall dress with Russian-themed embroidery; unfortunately, Elena quickly outgrew it.  The other was a traditional heavy Russian shirt.  Since it's been chilly the last few days, we've pulled it out; it still fits Elena.  Here she is wearing it:

Bad news indeed: August 2012.

The little patch says "vintage apple & smile."  The inner tag is labeled with Chinese characters.

The Swedish are Coming! The Swedish are Coming!

One nice thing about the Blogger software is that it allows us to track, in a general way, who's looking at this blog.  We started it with friends and family in mind, as an easy way to let people know how our trip to Russia was progressing.  However, this blog is indexed by search engines, and a fair number of people find their way here through a search engine.  That's actually really fun - I've had email conversations with half-a-dozen people who we didn't know previously, who had "met" us through this blog.

This isn't a huge number of people - this blog just topped 7000 pageviews, which is relatively tiny as blogs go - but that's OK.  We're talking about pretty specialized subject material, and there's not all that many people who might be interested.

One of the stats Blogger coughs up is the country of origin.  As you might expect, most people reading are from the US - about 65%.  Most of those are probably people we know.  Of the other countries, Russia is, again as you might expect, high on the list.  But it's in the third spot.  The second-most number of people come from Sweden.

Sweden? Why? Well, there's a general answer and a specific answer (more after the cut).

Kotlas: the pictures we wish we'd taken

I just discovered yandex.ru, which is something like google.com; in particular, it has a detailed maps feature, which can be overlaid with some geo-tagged photos. Here's a yandex map, centered on the Sovietskaya Hotel in the center of Kotlas.  Compare that to the Google map in this earlier post of ours.  The cool thing about the yandex map is the sheer volume of the overlaid pictures.

So here are some pictures of Kotlas taken by other people, but ones I wish we had taken.

Here's the Kotlas City Hall; it's right across the street from the hotel.  We did get more than one picture of the City Hall, but this one's taken with snow on the ground, something we didn't see.

This is apparently a picture of a branch, but it's taken in the small park right next to the hotel on a nice sunny day.  I took a few pictures in the park here, but they were all at the end of the day when the light was failing.  This picture makes the park look much more inviting.

This building in a couple blocks south of the hotel.  The first floor has a supermarket we went to more than once (the upper floors have apartments).  Wandering through a supermarket is actually a good way to learn a little about the place where you are.  The supermarket here was well-kept and well-stocked.  The colorful banner on the outside is advertising.

Who else here has seen the Kotlas Baby House? Anyone? Anyone?

Having a blog about one's journey through adoption is not exactly a novel idea.  I was poking around the web, looking for pictures of Kotlas, and found a few other kids who were adopted from the same orphanage Elena was from.  It's interesting to read the parallel stories, and to see pictures of Kotlas and Arkhangelsk in different seasons.  (For our earlier pictures, see "The baby house in Kotlas, illustrated," and "Our baby house schedule," as well as the "Baby house" and "Kotlas" labels to the right.)
Here are other folks's stories:

Xavier, adopted by Denise and JJ in May 2011. 
Their Babycakes blog has a lot of great pictures, including some January pictures of Kotlas, and more of Arkhangelsk.  They also spent three-plus weeks in St Petersburg, so they have some great pictures of the city, and some interesting and thoughtful reflections on Russian food and living there as a tourist. And, of course, more recent images of Xavier.

David and Michael, adopted by Rachael and Chris in March 2011.
Their Sanity is Optional in Texas blog has more pictures of the Kotlas orphanage (similar to some of ours), some of Archagelsk in the snow, and some Moscow / St Petersburg photos. And more of the boys, of course.

Nicholas, adopted by Brian and Kimberly in January 2010.
Their Adopting Nicholas blog has a few pictures from Kotlas in August and from Arkhangelsk and St Petersburg in December.

Anna Beth, adopted by Leigh and Bryan in January 2010.
Their "Oh the Places You Will Go..." blog has a few pictures both inside and outside from August 2009, and more pictures of a very photogenic Anna Beth from January 2010.

Allison, adopted by Christine and Thomas in June 2009.
Their  Allie in the Family is unfortunately short, but has a few pictures and stories.

Kara and Cooper, adopted by Jane and Jim in October 2008.
Their Life with Kara and Copper blog doesn't have too many pictures, but there is a description of their time in Kotlas, and some pictures taken through Arkhangelsk and Moscow. And the most recent pictures are nearly three years from the adoption date.

Jack, adopted by Erik and Jen in June 2007.
Their Russian Baby Adventure blog has a few orphanage pictures (two, one, one, and one) - The first of those links is interesting, because it shows a room with cribs for younger kids like Jack.  Elena lived in the Kotlas orphanage since she was a few months old, so she probably lived in a room very much like the one pictured. Erik and Jen have some more pictures from Moscow (here's Red Square). And, of course, more pictures of Jack through Christmas 2008.

Bonus slide show: Great minds think alike:
Teresa and Andy, August 2011, in front of the Archangelsk courthouse plaque after a successful court petition.
Denise and JJ, May 2011, in front of the Archangelsk courthouse plaque after a successful court petition.
Rachael and Chris, March 2011, in front of the Archangelsk courthouse plaque after a successful court petition.
Brian and Kimberly, December 2009,  in front of the Archangelsk courthouse plaque after a successful court petition.

Our Russian Travels

For those of you following along at home, here's a map of Russia, with place tags in all four cities we visited: St Petersburg, Arkhangelsk (where the court hearing was), Kotlas (where Elena lived), and Moscow.

Or click here to view our travels in a larger map.

The interactive map here is fun because it gives a sense of scale--there are hundreds of miles between each of the four cities, but within each city we walked around to see the sights.

Souvenir Magnets

These magnets show the official seals of Arkhangelsk and Kotlas.  A favorite local character of Arkhangelsk is the tasty Halibut (called Paltus locally), and The city of Kotlas loves the Red Star train that used to go to Moscow in the Soviet days.

Dvina River Geology Lessons from the Plane

You can see thousands of years of the Dvina River's history written in this beautiful succession of meanders and oxbows.  This is near Kotlas where the baby house is --400 miles from Arkhangelsk and the White sea.

Little towns nestled within the many channels of the Dvina River.  The river is even bigger further north 50 miles or so, where the delta expands and empties into the White Sea.

You can see why fresh fish is on the menu for every meal in the area!  YUM!!

Some Pictures from Kotlas and Arkhangelsk

The plane flights from Arhkangelsk to Kotlas are only twice a week.  I like the "porthole" windows on this vintage plane.  You load your own luggage on and off the plane in the small Kotlas airport.

While in Kotlas we use some of our time to get ready for court

We saw this spectacular, folk art inspired car in Arhkangelsk.  These flower motifs are usually painted on wooden bowls.

After the stress of court it was nice to relax for a while during a good meal.  The waitresses were patient with our limited Russian vocabulary.  The ikra and piva were excellent!  (caviar n beer) Then we got on a plane to Saint Petersburg.

A wedding custom in Arkhangelsk is to put a special lock on the bridge to the church.  You can see the couples' names and marriage dates.  There are hundreds edging the bridge.  I like the log cabin lock best.

We have more pictures

Just a few pictures from our most recent trip.  We're now in Arkhangelsk preparing for our court hearing, but we did already get to visit Elena for two mornings in Kotlas.  We took a few pictures; here are some:

Elena noticed that both of us wear glasses. After trying, with a fair amount of success, to steal one of our pairs, she found a pair from Mr Potato Head.  She put them on herself and refused to take them off.

Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Whew. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down....

Everyone likes the water.

There's a big dump truck just out of the picture.

Give 'em enough latitude...and you get an amazing coincidence

Kotlas is pretty far north, well into the cold, sub-arctic realm.  To be numerically exact, the Sovietskaya hotel where we stayed was 61° 15' 12'' N, which is right here:

As a comparison, that same latitude in North America is just north of Anchorage, Alaska.  Here is 61° 15' 12'' N pictured.

We are looking at Beluga Avenue,  a military housing area associated with Fort Richardson.
The fun and coincidental part is that Teresa spent a year or so living on Beluga Avenue in Anchorage, when her father was in the army.  Same latitude, 40+ years later, and half the world apart.

Anchorage Alaska, Beluga Ave, 1969. Teresa P in olive green (still a fave color), and pal.

Teresa P says: You can take the girl out of the far north, but not the far north out of the girl.  (or at least not all of it...I love the snow and sparse pine tree landscape... but hate the cold)

Our baby house schedule

It strikes me that we haven't really explained the travel logistics, when or for how long we were at the Baby House in Kotlas.  We arrived in Kotlas on Wedneday (the 27th), spent all day Thursday there, and left on Friday morning.

Our first opportunity to meet Elena is Thursday morning.  We go to the orphanage at around 9:00 or so, accompanied by Dimitry (the rep from our adoption agency) and Dr. Sofia.  Sophia is a pediatrician based in St. Petersburg who acts as an independent consultant, giving an opinion on the children's medical records and general health.  We asked her to come to Kotlas with us.  This is her:

Both Dimitry and Sofia know the orphanage staff quite well, and all four of us are immediately ushered up into a large meeting room (which you might remember from this earlier post).  We're both a little nervous and very tired from the long travel hours the day before, and expected some preliminary paperwork or something, and so we're surprised when Elena is escorted in just five minutes later.  We blink a few times and ask "What are we supposed to do?"  Answer from Dr Sophia, kindly, "You can sit and play with her."

We brought a few toys, and so for a little while we sit around on the carpet and "tossed" a ball around .  It's important to remember that this is the first time we've met, and just like any other meeting between strangers, it takes a little time to warm up.  Hardest of all is that we have such a small knowledge of Russian words that we cannot really communicate, except with simple hand signals.  Thankfully Elena is obsevant and takes the ball, book, or crayons when we hand it to her, and rolls the big truck like we show her etc....  Take a look at this picture, taken only 15 minutes after we met:

We both look a little stiff, right?  Contrast that to later pictures down the page.

So anyway, most of the rest of the morning was taken up by a little ball-playing, ring stacking, a little truck-driving, and some coloring:

Meanwhile, of course, we're being gently observed by the orphanage staff (note the woman over Teresa's left shoulder) and Sofia.  At about 11:30, Sofia does a medical exam.  The orphanage is staffed by medical doctors, who continuously monitor the children's health, so the physical is routine (literally) for Elena, and she knows exactly what to expect.  Sofia also asks the basic cognitive questions--where's your nose, where's your ear, where's the doll's nose? She also observes Elena. Things like walking skills, concentration etc. 

Let's explore Kotlas

Kotlas is the small city where the baby house is located. It's home to about 60,000 people, according to its Wikipedia page. Kotlas isn't a historic, picturesque city; neither is it a shiny, new city.  But it is, according to the doctor we were working with, representative of the type of city that a lot of Russians live in.  It's a blue-collar town, filled with working people.  A lot of the buildings are Soviet-era structures, solidly built, relatively utilitarian, and in varying stages of repair.  The city is shabby in spots, but manages to be interesting and occasionally quite charming.  The layout and architecture and mix of buildings is noticeably different than it would be in an American city.   On the inside, the hotel, baby house, grocery store and restaurant were well cared for, and very clean.

So I've already posted about the Kotlas baby house, where Elena currently lives.  Let's explore more of the city.  Here's an interactive map of Kotlas; I've marked the location of the Sovietskaya Hotel.  If you zoom out, you can see some other points of interest in the surrounding area.  The baby house is about one mile due north of the hotel.

View Kotlas, Russia in a larger map.

We took a little time to walk around Kotlas during the one full day we were there.  Although most of the day was sunny, the minute we stepped out for a walk it clouded up, so we unfortunately lost the best light for photographing the city. 

Here's the street outside the Sovietskaya Hotel:

The blue building is apartments and retail; the Sovietskaya is just to the left.  It's a U-shaped building; the gambrel-roofed structure next to the blue building is a new wing, and the darker brown building next to that is the older wing.  We had a corner room, third floor, on the street end of the older wing.

So anyway, the highlights of our walk were the The Church of St. Stephan of Perm and the bell-tower by the river.  The church was built in 1788, and the adjacent bell tower in 1825.

And the train station:

 The station still has its statue of Lenin:

 And a historic train out front:

More after the jump:

The baby house in Kotlas, illustrated

In the Russian system, children under four, like Elena, live in what are known as "baby houses."  Older children live in "children's houses." Here's a photo of the baby house in Kotlas where Elena lives:

Very dorm-like, but notice the broad expanse of windows that let in a lot of light in the main rooms-as you can see in the pictures. Structurally, the buildings are very solid, with walls about 2 feet thick to keep out the subartic cold of winter time.  I'm not sure how many kids live here (I found a reference that said about 80 kids; that sounds plausible, but we saw only Elena and, later, seven of her dorm-mates), but there's room for plenty.

If you want to know exactly where Elena is right now, here's the baby house on Google satellite view.  Zoom out to see the rest of Kotlas--the city center, and our hotel ("the" hotel, actually), is about a mile due south of the baby house.  The giant river that the orphanage overlooks flows north to Archangelsk, and the White Sea.  If you zoom out a few more notches you can see the amazing subarctic "taiga" geology of the area-much as it looked from the plane from Archangelsk to Kotlas.  Wild rivers, flooplains, forests, and many swamps and small lakes.  Small towns, woodlots and fields dot the riverside.

Click through here to view a larger map.

Here's a view of the playground in the rear of the building.  You can see the three blue-roofed playhouses on the north side of the building in the Google satellite view above.

If you look west, you can see the river.  The landscape is still brown in what is early spring in Kotlas.  The terrain is flat, generously crisscrossed with streams, rivers large and small, oxbow lakes and bogs.  It reminded us of the Seney section of the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Dimitry, our translator and main guy who gets the most imporatant things done fondly described this exact same view, as "FLAT! Flat as a table", (with his arms outspread).

Pictures of the inside after the jump:

Kotlas

Here is the official website of the city of Kotlas.  That's where we're ultimately headed, because that's where Elena is currently living.  The site is a little difficult to understand, mostly because it's written in Russian.  (What, you expect the official site of a Russian city to be written in English?)

However, just for fun, look at their tourism page.  The intro says something like:

The crossroads of the northern Three Rivers district, Kotlar is built on the names of St. Stephen's Velikopermskiy, prominent reformer S. Witte, northern hero W. Shulya and all those who wrote the story of life in the Russian North. The glory of military victories and the tragedy of forced labor during the Great Patriotic War are carefully preserved and transmitted to future generations.