We had our appointment today with the State Department for Adoptions. Our appointment went really well. The woman with the SDA that we had our meeting with was a very nice woman. She was very friendly and seemed genuinely happy we were adopting Anna. She showed us a picture of Anna taken shortly after her arrival in the orphanage and explained that the picture was not a good representation of Anna. We handed her a photo album with pictures we took of Anna during her stay with us in July. The SDA lady was excited to see the pictures and enjoyed looking at them. She then asked us how we came to know Anna. We explained that she stayed with us for 3 weeks as part of a hosting program. Then, she asked why we wanted to adopt Anna. The first response we had to this question was that we loved her. I also explained that everyone in the family loved Anna. The SDA lady seemed emotionally moved by this response.
The meeting ended with us being informed that we can return to the SDA tomorrow to pick up our referral giving us permission to visit Anna at her orphanage to start the adoption process. After picking up the referral, we will catch the over night train to the region Anna's orphanage is located.
After leaving the SDA, we had lunch at a restaurant with Wifi and employees who spoke English. This was our first time eating out without Victor there to do the translating for us. Having employees who spoke English made this much easier for us.
After eating lunch, we did some shopping and walked around the city close our hotel. We saw Independence Square. Britney Spears will be in concert there tomorrow night. While shopping, I got a few laughs when employees would ask if I needed help and I responded in Russian that "I don't understand Russian." It was all in fun.
Tomorrow will be exciting. After getting the referral, we will do the last bit of traveling needed to get to our little girl. We can't wait to see her.
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