Friday...

Yesterday I was picked up by my adoption team and headed to region....What a full schedule we had...we were able to get there early and drop off Marcos original birth certificate to get replaced, but they wanted a few things notarized and we had to come back...so we ever so carefully walked on the ice to find a cafe...finally found one to kill some time..had some great ideas and discussed them for vacation tours, adoption and Euro Nannys... when I get back I have some advertising to do..LOL
We ate and laughed and then made our way over the ice hanging on tight to each other not to fall...picked up our documents and birth certificate and headed back to the city and applied for our tax code and stopped at the passport office to get the latest info there...So today Natasha & I traveled back up to region today and started the passport process which has a new paper needed before we are okayed for the passport...SO when we got there Natasha fought her way into the office...wow..while I waited I met a man I saw at the flea market 1/2 way back towards the city..What a nice man..Not sure what country he is from..maybe India...He was very helpful while I shopped for tights with the lady next to him...He speaks pretty good English.. So I promised I would buy something from him for helping.. I bought this little collapsible chair..tiny thing...he was this office for something to do with his passport too. He said it is hard to get his family out of the country..

I feel bad for the people trying to make a living here..I really don't know how some of them survive ..They make $100-500 per month for most average careers..$3-500 is with an education...and the costs of things are the same as home for the most part...very hard on the people here..Many die young from the stress and no insurance and not able to get health care they need.

Which brings me to today...we thought we were going to have trouble with the passport because Marco was not registered anywhere as far as an address..the office told us we would have to try to go back to the house he lived for some time after his mother's death..This was a scary thought..what if the person was not the same and moved..what if they would not cooperate....our nice cab driver took us there and waited...we found it! A little house with a fence in the village where Marco was born...I took a quick picture before we got to the door..which then opened quickly..we were nervous..we heard a dog bark..we were afraid he would be mean...
Out stepped a tall thin weathered man about 60 years old...Natasha went on to explain why we were there with her brief case in hand,,I know this looked intimidating, but we were more intimidated then he was...He was a gentle man and was willing to help us..what a relief...it was so cold waiting outside his door while he looked for his papers..He then came back and told us they were down the street at a friends house...
So off we went in the taxi and picked up his folder....He was leary at first he said but he was fine once I started to cry...The questions I was hoping to get answered came from this man... I needed to know how Marco's mother died and when and why...These answers could help me mother him and nurture him from what I figured was a painful past. Sure enough I heard the words I really didn't want to...His mother died at 32 years old of TB....He was with her when she died and was crying and crying saying what will I do now....I lost it at that point...I was broken thinking of a 7 year old boy crying over his mother's dead body so discouraged... I now know what he needs from me and his new Papa...He seems to be pretty well adjusted despite his past, but we at least have some information to work with while we love him and help him develop into a stable young man... He is a doll..He not only is a gorgeous child, but he is a loving child and a respectful, helpful boy. We are looking forward to get him home with the kids while we all start nurturing his spirit that he so long deserves and needs. His mother was also homeless..so they lived with her friend when she died . This is when this man Aleksander and his wife took Marco in. His mother's friend ran to his house to call the ambulance and then they went over to console Marco... Marco lived with them for the next 3 years..Later on Aleksander's wife took ill and could not care for Marco and they put him into the orphanage. Soon after, his wife died. He didn't want to invite us in he told us later because he said there has been no woman cleaning here since she died..We assured him that was ok and we understood..

Aleksander came with us to the passport office to try to settle this problem and walked into the building and could not see...it was very dim..common for offices here to save electric. He later told us he has glaucoma and needs cateract surgery. They do not have medical insurance and to get this surgery will cost $800. I thought that was pretty reasonable considering the prices in the US..Not a lot for us but for them it is out of their income range and he probably won't get the surgery anytime soon...I can't imagine not being able to see well and he operates some equipment for one of is jobs and parking cars for another..Sounds like a Tricky Tray fund raising event for Aleksanders eye surgery in my future...

On our way back from our busy cold day we stopped off to see Marco and bring him lunch and a cheap cell phone so he could call me and play games. He called me earlier..This was comical..I know about as much Russian as he knows English...we managed to talk a little and then he had something to do...so he will come here for good to be with me on Monday! Gotcha Day.... We will pick him up after we meet with Aleksander again trying to get to the bottom of the address problem. This problem is a first for our team, but all will work our fine they said.

I am exhausted and so I will be going to bed early and sleep in tomorrow. Be back then for more details...