Monday, June 18, 2007

Good News May Be On Its Way While We Learn Russian

Is it possible that re-accreditation is on its way?? We hope so. There were rumors swirling around Friday that an agency (not ours) had heard the last two ministries had signed off of the re-accreditation documents in Russia which means that some agencies, ours hopefully included, would begin to receive their documents required to open all regions back up to adoptions. This would mean quicker referrals and long awaited court dates for many families. We know it may not be true, but we spent the weekend praying it is. I will let everyone know as soon as I can!! This could be really, really exciting. Of course we don’t want to get our hopes up too much as we know it could be a false alarm.

In other news...I think I am sore from laughing so hard this weekend – Troy and I trying to learn Russian is extremely hilarious. We spend a lot of time listening to the words going “Huh??” or “What was that??”

But we figure we’re okay – we learned the word for pizza which is “pizza” and soup which is “soup” and most importantly french fries which are “cheapsies”. Our new joke is seeing me order chicken and fries and going up to the counter and flapping my arms making chicken sounds and finishing it with “and cheapsies”!!!

Seriously though we learned hello and goodbye – you know the basic easy ones, not the formal vs. informal because this will be a game of memorization for us. We also learned the words for mother (mot) and father (achyets) and grandmother (babushka) and grandfather (diadushka). The other two big words we learned are dog (sabaka) and cat (koshka) since we have plenty of those around!! It’s actually pretty fun. Our goal is to learn a couple new words every so many days during the wait.

If anyone out there has a word they think we really need to know or just think it would be amusing to hear us say - chime in and we’ll try to learn it!!

On another note – ever since we have started the adoption we’ve seen little signs that we are on the right track. Now I’m not a believer in signs, but Saturday at the SPCA I adopted out a kitten to a family. The kitten’s name was Babushka!!! We normally name the animals as they come in, but no one remembers naming this one. That’s another thing – if you have any good dog and cat names send them on to me!! We are taking in an influx of stray kittens and puppies and are running short on creative names for them!! We even had a litter of puppies someone named Arms, Legs and Lips. We’ve been through cities, fabrics, movies stars, singers, you name it!!

So, here's to learning Russian and some hopefully good news about the re-accreditation!!

11 comments:

Carey and Norman said...

Troy and Rachel,

Thanks for the comment on our blog. I too love reading all the adoption blogs since we haven't made our formal announcement of being "Pregnant on Paper!" We've been slowly telling our close friends and family and hope to share our news openly shortly. We just wanted to make sure that we were accepted and started the paperwork before we got everyone too excited.

I laughed when I read the Russian language part. I too bought a Russian audio CD and book this weekend. I listened to it in the car and I thought this language is crazy. It is nothing like French or Spanish. Everything sounds so harsh. We are going on vacation the week of the 4th, so we thought it would be fun to try to learn some words while we are driving to Canada (trip to Michigan to see Norman's family, Toronto, and Niagara Falls). It should be a fun trip with lots of driving, so maybe we can share some words after our trip.

I hope you are right on the accredidation. That sounds like great and exciting news. I cannot imagine how hard the wait must be. I'm already anxious and I'm going full force with paperwork. I am hoping to have all our homestudy paperwork besides medical and possibly my passport by the time we leave for vacation. Then, I'll start on the Dossier once I return from our trip. I was hoping to have my passport already, but I found out that expedited doesn't necessarily mean expedited anymore.

Sorry to ramble. Best wishes and thanks for the comment on ours. I look forward to sharing our stories over the coming months!!

Carey and Norman too!!

Melissa said...

Yes, Russian is a pretty difficult language! For me, it's not the sounds that are so difficult, but that it is difficult to actually READ (in that their letters/characters don't necessarily match up with ours).

Anyway, do work on actually READING (i.e., pronouncing) the language. That was part of the fun to me - you learn the sounds as they correspond to the Cyrillic alphabet and you can sound out most anything! AND you will find that there are word that match up (well, you've already found that out, with the word 'pizza'). But just driving down the road, you'll sound something out and realize what it is!! For instance, we were going down the road and saw the word "фото"...I sounded it out and realized that it was a place to process your film! The word was "photo"

Cool! I made it a game while we were there, but it gave Nathan a headache b/c it was causing him to think way too hard! ;)

Anyway, learn useful stuff, too, like "Ya Tebya Lublu" - "I Love you".... and other things! Have fun with it!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I might have to order Parker's next chicken nugget happy meal that way!! You guys crack me up! I really hope the good news is for real. We continue to pray!!

Amber

Becky and Keith said...

We have some CDs we're listening to also! I've heard it's helpful to learn to say comforting things like "It's okay", "Don't worry", "Don't cry", etc... The CD I bought is from Fred DeChenes I think. It's Russian Phrases for Children. I put them on my ipod and am listening to them to and from work. Over and over and over again! :-) I love the story about Babushka!

Adrienne, Another Ordinary Miracle said...

LOVED reading about practicing your Russian!! It will definitely help when you're here. Melissa is right about learning to read too, it's fun sounding out the letters!

I laughed out loud reading about your wanting to order chicken and fries. You won't believe it, but two of the dads here (the other 2 couples with us) actually ordered their meat at the deli the other night by making animal sounds!! The only problem was that in Russian, animal sounds are different than ours! Oink oink is something like sloop sloop :O)

Keep up the good work!

Here are the ones I learned:
I love you
It's okay
Thank you
Please
Airplane
Car
Look
Hello
Good-bye

I'm still working on some others for when Owen is with us!

Have fun!
Adrienne

Adrienne, Another Ordinary Miracle said...

Where?, Toilet, Yes, No, Go, Stop, Jump, Sit, Good morning, Good night, Excuse Me, and I'm Sorry are good ones too :O)

Deb said...

Heard another agency is reporting the same rumor. And another person whose agency is very cautious to report things unless they are true report the same (but I don't know the name of their agency).
I think all our prayers are about to be answered.

Russian
Toilet = toilet
Sleep = spat

Theresa Kelleher has a good Russian CD geared towards PAP's.

Amy said...

Hi, my husband and I are adopting from Russia too. We sent our Dossier 1 back in April and waiting and praying for the re-accrediation to be complete. So I was thrilled to hear your rumor. Another mom told me hear agency rumor.

We adopted 2 children from Russia back in 2003 and I was calling my daughter "my little babushka" and our translator asked why I was calling her grandmother...we had a good laugh. I guess I better brush up on our Russian too.

As for names for the kittens and dogs...go with hockey teams. We have a white cat named "Avalanche" bc my husband lived in Colorado and fell in love with their hockey team. We HAD to find a white cat so we could call him that.

I love reading your blog...and I'll keep praying that the accrediation comes sooner (much sooner) than later.

Amy

Allison said...

I'm so excited that there are finally some good rumors circulating out there. Let's hope they come true!
We've vowed before each adoption (now working on our third) that we were going to learn some Russian. Ha! So far it hasn't happened. We know a few basic phrases and I'm familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet which helped a bit. Our interpreter from our region is coming to visit us next month (she's currently studying in the US) so I'm hoping she'll help me brush up on the basics while she's here.

Anonymous said...

Finally......I figured out how to comment! Old dogs can learn new tricks. HEHE....Big Sister here....Would you hurry up and make me an AUNT! Gosh I've been waiting FOREVER! Glad things may be moving faster with the adoption!!!!. I might have to take Auntie Maternity leave once my nephew gets here! Hahahah! I'm so jealous you get to go to Russia. What an awesome trip! Paybacks for me going to Italy and Greece huh! Once all is finished and settled we will plan that big family vacation I owe YOU to Hawaii for that bet I lost! Glad I lost that one though!!(sometimes..HAHAHA)!! Love the other blogs. Didn't have any idea how LOONNNNGGGGGGGGG it takes to adopt. Kudos to you guys for patience. Hey I have 3 you can have...for free!!!!!!!!!! Hhehehehe no just kidding, but really you can have them for the summer if you want....PLEASE!! LMAO.... As we speak Megan is in France with a school thing for two weeks. We are all jealous! Gotta run and clean kitty-litter...EWE.......hehe you have poopy diapers to look forward to!
HAHA!
Love, Aunt CACA

Suz said...

Hi Troy and Rachel, it's good to "meet" you in blogland - it's been pretty quiet lately. Hopefully the blogs will be hopping again soon with great news!

I look forward to following your journey!