Tyler and David are home, now, safe and sound.  Thanks for all those prayers. 

I hope that my saying that all American couples who come to this country to adopt will be affected by the Interpol issue has not caused confusion.  If you are coming soon, and this issue has not yet been resolved between Interpol offices and the courts, then you will be in the same boat that I am in, just waiting and wondering, unable to go to court because you know the judge will simply deny the adoption due to a failure to comply with their laws.  If you come a few months from now, I cannot imagine that something will not have been decided yet as far as the procedure goes.  I am not an alarmist, and did not mean to upset anyone by my statements.  We just don't know how it will all play out, yet.  Until we do, I would plan on making two trips over.

My advice to bring those microfiber towels was just to apply to your comfort's sake.  Towels have been provided in each apartment that we have been in.  I just find that they are scratchy and don't smell very nice, since there are no dryers.  I have found that milk 'n honey liquid hand soap works well as shampoo when you get all warm and cozy in the tub and discover that you have brought two bottles of conditioner with you into the bathroom, and no shampoo!  Also, ladies, I brought with me some Biore (Olay makes them, too) Daily Cleansing Cloths to remove makeup, instead of bringing the heavy (and possibly leaky) bottles of toner and such that I use at home.  They are lightweight and feel really refreshing.  Crest toothpaste is not here, but Colgate is, if you want to just bring trial size of that, as well.  Brought kitchen sponges but did not use them until this 3rd apartment -- the others had them already.  Oh, there's one here, too, I just wouldn't touch that nasty thing! ha!  Also, I did bring a lightweight pullover sweater to wear over a longsleeved top for those days that I would spend mostly indoors, but still had to go somewhere.  Again, the only time I have been really cold is when walking several blocks when the temp was in the single digits, and it was late afternoon. 

When the local people don't drink the water, that's gotta tell you something.  EVERYBODY carries huge bottles of water home from the grocery, and they have kiosks where they take their empties for refills.  I haven't tried the refills, and don't plan to.  We have had no problems with the water here.  We don't eat veggies washed in it (I only eat cooked veggies here), but we do eat off the dishes and flatware that we've washed ouselves with hot sudsy water.  We brush our teeth with bottled water, too.  The hosting group didn't go to those extremes, and I was honestly surprised.  They ate salads at the restaurant, and actually drank iced tea.  I would never put ice in a drink here; but that's just me.  I'm not taking any chances.  As much as I would not want to get giardia at home, DOUBLE THAT SENTIMENT HERE. 

Sorry if I bore you with details, but for those coming here, these things can really be helpful to know before packing.  As we did with our Russian adoption, we over-packed -- not half as badly this time, but still overpacked.  We brought far too much reading material and food to Russia.  This time, I wish I had a few more granola bars than I have, and David ran out of books. If you like them, you might want to download some ebooks before you come. He's not that guy.  I CANNOT FIND POPCORN ANYWHERE IN THIS TOWN!  It's strictly BYOP, apparently.  And I'm an addict.

I miss my boys and my girls.  I'll be home soon.  I'm going to be a Nana soon, and I would really like to be nearby when my grandson is born!  This adoption will happen.  It just won't be on MY time, obviously.  (I sure didn't want to spend the money and go to the trouble of traveling for another trip, though...)