The Apartment in Petrozavodsk

The apartment is on the 7th floor of the building, comfortable, and overall a great stay with just one scary moment. Vivi and I had just gotten back to the apartment after having been dropped off by the facilitators. For some reason I just could not make the keys open the door and we couldn't get in! To make things worse, it was beginning to get dark outside. Thankfully I had one of the facilitators' phone numbers with me, and we walked to a small store next to the apartment building and were able to communicate enough to borrow a cell phone, and the facilitator came over and unlocked the door. What a relief! I shudder to think what we would have done, and what might have happened had I not been able to reach someone.

Pictures from Segezha Orphanage

At first meeting, October, 2007


Vivi in her bedroom


Vivi and her good friend Gilla


Vivi with Marina, Orphanage Director

Children on bench - this picture was taken just before we left the orphanage

Vivi and Me

More Pictures from Russia Trip

December 28, 2007 - Gotcha day! Vivi and Sasha Bear ready to leave the orphanage.

Having fun and taking our own picture in the apartment in Petrozavodsk.

First bubble bath!

My Trip to Russia to Bring Home My Daughter

(Article from my company's newsletter, from March, 2008)

My Trip to Russia to Bring Home My Daughter, Violetta

By Lori Miller

On December 22, 2007, I flew Delta Airlines from Nashville, connecting in Atlanta, to Moscow (a 10 hour flight!). I then took an overnight sleeper train to Petrozavodsk, a city in the Karelia region of northwest Russia that borders Finland. The adoption facilitators in Petrozavodsk own an apartment that would become my home for the next three weeks. An American family from Minnesota spent three weeks there finalizing the adoption of a two year-old boy and left just a few days before I arrived. The apartment was well furnished and cozy.

The orphanage is two hours north of Petrozavodsk, by car, in the town of Segezha. The area is heavily forested; the main industry in Segezha is a pulp/paper mill. Rides to and from the orphanage were sometimes harrowing, traveling on bumpy two-lane roads where drivers pass each other at high speed day or night—whether the roads are wet or dry. The facilitator, driver and I made two trips to the orphanage to visit Violetta (Vee-oh-letta) before the December 27th court date.

Court in Russia was a bit intimidating, with a stern-looking female judge, but went smoothly. The facilitator translated (whispered) to me everything as it was said in court. The orphanage director and the orphanage doctor gave statements as to why they thought that the adoption should be granted. I had to give a statement as well. The entire process took about one hour and at the end, the judge read the favorable court decree and dismissed the proceedings. The facilitator congratulated and hugged me, and I noticed the judge and orphanage personnel were smiling too. I was officially a mama! The court decree stated that we could go to Segezha the next day to bring Violetta to Petrozavodsk.

Violetta must have had so many mixed feelings the day she left the orphanage. We arrived in the afternoon to pick her up. The way she ran and hugged me made me wonder if she had been on pins and needles waiting for us—hoping that we would really come to get her. After we got on the road, she ate the snack I made for her and fell asleep. She slept until we got to Petrozavodsk.

We stayed together at the apartment in Petrozavodsk from December 28th until January 16th, and didn't go many places other than the "magazin," the pronunciation of the Russian word for the big grocery/department store we visited about every other day. It was cold and dark outside most of the time, and I'm such a homebody anyway. We took trolley bus #1 back and forth, at 10 rubles (about 50 cents in U.S. money) each way for each of us. Violetta was such a trooper helping to carry in bags of groceries.

I brought a portable DVD player and lots of DVDs that kept her occupied much of the time, and televisions in the living room and kitchen were a great help for both of us. She liked to draw on pads of paper, and I brought ABC and 123 handheld games—she loved those, and learned some English too.

On January 16th, we took the overnight train back to Moscow, and were met by other facilitators. The highlight of that part of the trip was visiting the U.S. Embassy to get Violetta’s travel visa. The first thing you see there is a large American flag. There were 14 other American families there with their newly adopted children, including a couple from Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was great talking with them and comparing experiences—just hearing familiar sounding voices was welcome!

January 19th finally arrived—our day to fly home! Violetta was fascinated by the aircraft, the others on the plane, her headset and her tray table. Violetta Marie Miller became a U.S. citizen when the plane landed in Atlanta.

She has been home for two months and is learning more every day. She has adjusted well to home and school, and takes swim lessons at the YMCA.

I just learned exciting news through a Russian adoption website that I keep up with: a family from Virginia recently visited Segezha and is in the process of adopting a 9-year-old girl named Anya. Anya just happens to be the girl that Violetta shared her room with at the orphanage! The family is using the same facilitators as I did, plans to return to Russia in May to finalize the adoption, and will stay at the same apartment. After the adoption is finalized, I plan to call the apartment so that Anya and Violetta can speak with each other, and hopefully the girls can meet again sometime after the family arrives back in Virginia.