Angelina is living in the Karachev Baby Home, Karachev is a very small town about 40 minutes from the town of Bryansk which is where we stayed. I can definitely say that our experience there was wonderful. The caregivers and doctors care for the children in this baby home
, and we knew that just from watching them interact with the children. This gave us great piece of mind. The baby home was very neat and clean, but also had bare walls. Angelina's play room, and the music/gathering room had toys and gym-type equipment as well. The baby home smelled like boiled cabbage. I'm not sure if I'll be able to ever get that smell out of my memory! Ken and I feel so lucky after seeing the health of our daughter. She can walk and dance on her own, can mimic what Ken and I do (shake head, clap, etc...) and has a healthy weight. She 
has a smile that could melt ice, and she is very lovable. We will need to work on her speech, as she didn't babble much when we were there, but the doctors assured us that she does indeed babble and talk with one-syllable sounds. Outside of the baby home was this long row of lilac trees. We took this as a great sign as the lilac is the state flower of NH, as well as one of our favorite flowers!The town of Bryansk was much cuter and more quaint than wh
at I had pictured in my head. We stayed in the one hotel the town has, and they had good accommodations. Across from the hotel, there was a nice park, and behind the hotel, there was the main street. We shopped in a large department store, and had fun just watching the culture. Ken and I definitely struggled with eating out, as Bryansk has very few English speakers. But, our hotel and the wonderful Italian restaurant in town both had English menus, so basi
cally, we would just point to what we wanted. I would have to say that eating out was the most stressful part of the trip for me. I never realized how hard it is to be in
a country where you can't communicate! We were in Bryansk for one of Russia's major holidays, Victory Day-May 9th. Victory Day celebrates Russia's defeat over Germany in WW2. All over Russia, there were parades and ceremonies. We got to see a parade in 
Bryansk. This was a great experience for us.
at I had pictured in my head. We stayed in the one hotel the town has, and they had good accommodations. Across from the hotel, there was a nice park, and behind the hotel, there was the main street. We shopped in a large department store, and had fun just watching the culture. Ken and I definitely struggled with eating out, as Bryansk has very few English speakers. But, our hotel and the wonderful Italian restaurant in town both had English menus, so basi
cally, we would just point to what we wanted. I would have to say that eating out was the most stressful part of the trip for me. I never realized how hard it is to be in
a country where you can't communicate! We were in Bryansk for one of Russia's major holidays, Victory Day-May 9th. Victory Day celebrates Russia's defeat over Germany in WW2. All over Russia, there were parades and ceremonies. We got to see a parade in 
Bryansk. This was a great experience for us.We left for Moscow on Friday night, rode the 6 hour over night train, and got to Moscow at about 6:15 am on Saturday. Our driver, Vlad, picked us up and took us on a quick city tour before dropping us off at the airport. There is not much I can say about Moscow besides that it is just took my breath away, and it is truly beautiful and awe-inspiring. I'll leave you with a few pictures of our sight-seeing!
This is Ken and I at the 0-KM point in Moscow...Though, you can't see the compass we are standing on!
The Kremlin- I never expected this to be so massive!
Of course, St.Basil's Cathedral which is more beautiful than I imagined.
I've never seen more red and yellow tulips than what I saw in Moscow and Bryansk. They are everywhere and beautiful!
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