September 14, 2011 -- Wednesday

First stop this morning was the medical exam required by the US Embassy.  It was done at a hospital in Moscow.  The waiting room was full of families adopting.  I got to see Katie, and her little girl.  The physician doing the exam spoke good English.  As soon as I started undressing Alexandra, she started screaming.  I was busy hugging her and trying to calm her down when the Dr. told me to sit down at the other side of the room.  He started talking to Alexandra in what I thought was kind of a harsh tone, telling her that no one was listening to her crying and that she needed to stop.  Lo and behold she did.  The Doctor told me that she must have been a favorite at the orphanage b/c she clearly got extra attention from adults.  He also told me that kids pretty quickly figure out that the rules have changed, and now, when they cry, someone jumps.  He told me to note that there were no tears in her eyes, and that basically, it was just for "show".  He encouraged me to be somewhat strict, and not to let her establish a routine that will be much harder to change.  It all sounded kind of cold and heartless, especially looking at my skinny little girl on the examination table.  But, sure enough, she was not crying, until the Dr. stood her up, and turned him toward me so that he could check how well she walked.  As soon as she saw me, she started crying again.  The examination seemed very cursory and routine, the only information I really got is that she had some teeth coming in, so she is probably in a little discomfort and is hypersalivating.

We were supposed to head to the US Embassy afterwards, to drop off the paperwork for Alexandra's immigrant visa.  As is usual here, the plans have changed, and we headed straight home.  It was actually great, b/c the weather was perfect, and the three of us headed out to Izmalyevo Market for some souvenirs.  I went there on my first trip, and had a great time shopping, haggling and looking at some great souvenirs.  And, by now I was so emboldened that I didn't use a map, or anything else.  Moscow, Smochow.   Metro -- no big deal.  And Robin is pretty fearless so she was pretty comfortable with just following me around.  On the other hand, she taught me how to take a stroller down a flight of stairs, take it on the escalators, and countless other little tricks that would have taken me a long time to figure out.

The market was at least 10 times bigger than when I was there in early spring.  On top of it, there was a "honey festival" so there was a line of booths with some interesting looking and smelling honey products. It would have been interesting to sample the different wares, but we had a mission.  The souvenirs were great, just like last time.  There were a lot more people around, and the vendors had a completely different attitude -- not really eager to sell and haggle.  Nevertheless, we found what we needed to get.  There were also people pushing shopping carts and selling sandwiches, coffee and vodka to the vendors.

After Alexandra's afternoon nap (which she was a total champ about) -- we went down to Red Square to walk around and for dinner.  It may sound strange that we always go there, but it's hard to describe the majesty and beauty of that place.  I just couldn't seem to get enough of it.  For dinner, we tried a beet herring salad -- at the cafeteria style restaurant, every single person had it on their tray, and Robin read in Epicurious that it was a popular specialty.  Hmmmm, must be an acquired taste.  It wasn't horrible, just definitely not something I would eat again.  We also tried another popular favorite -- pigeon's milk cake -- apparently, a favorite of the Soviet era -- another miss -- way too sweet, no texture.... not something I'll get again.