[comit1]

I cant thank you all enough for your responses..VERY BIG HELP!!!! Thankyou so so much..

My husband mentioned "how do we make calls to the states if we need to'??

Do we buy a calling card from Russia or do we purchase one from here??

Also, should we dress up suit/tie and skirt/dress on our first visit to the orphanage??

Should I bring gifts on my first trip???

Thanks again
SARA

[Kasey]

We rented cell phone from Peace Travel, while I did have internation service with my phone, I found the rates cheaper with the rental. There are options, like that, your own cell phone (adding on a international option), calling cards, Skype.

For both adoptions I went business casual to the orphanage for visits, I did not wear skirt as I knew i may be on the floor playing and interacting.

As far as gifts, talk to your agency. We brought donations on the first trip and also asked the orphanage what they need. It also gave us an opportunity to get to know our coordinators, translators drivers, and come up with some ideas for personal gifts. Our agency told us how many in general gifts we would need and gave some ideas as well.
There are alot of things you can buy over there to save on packing space as well.

[MichiAmy]

Get skype -- it's a free download.

[papedge]

I used my own cell phone very expencive $600.00 for 3days away I called my son every day @ 7.00 per minute. As far as Dress i felt like a slob I did not get my luggage I had 1 out fit in my carry on I wish I would of put something nicer in sweater and pants.

Kimberley

[coachmom]

for calls we used skype when we could.you can get a global sat phone too or rent one in country. As far as dress, I wore nice pants,black, brown or dark blue with a nice casual shirt.. layer your clothes.. it was cold outside but warm in the orphanage.
I wore little or no jewelry and even took my diamond off and just wore my gold band..I tried to stay away from too much flash..
I took a bag of goodies for the caregivers the first trip..chocolate, coffee, and tea bags.. The second trip was when I brought the donations for the orphanage and people. I may take a bag too for my 3rd trip..just some more goodies..
Coachmom

[karla-k]

skype is your friend if your internet connection is not fast enough it isn't great though

we added an international calling plan to our phone for 4.99 a month plus 19 cents or something a minute. that was not too bad and we were able to have our cell phones with us. my husband has his own business and it was important that he be available and able to check his voicemail.

[k8c]

If you're staying in a Peace Travel apartment international calls are free.

Skype is great!

If you get a calling card, ask for an Apollo card.They have the best rate to the US that I've found (about 1 ruble/minute) and they are reliable. Others are NOT.

[MamaChinch]

We we told not to wear jeans to the orphanage, but you should wear slacks becasue you will be playing on the floor with your child. OMG>>yes layers!!!! It's blazing hot inside!
I took a bag of toys to donate to Delaney's group on trip one and gifts and donations on trip two. We asked the BH what they needed and the said diapers, so we went to the store and bought out all the diapers they had!
I found it very inexpensive to make calls from the hotel in region. But now, everyone says Skype is the way to go!
Safe Travels!!!

[beckyww]

We subscribed to a so-many-minutes included rate plan to Russia on our home phone and our kids called us every day. After our second trip - I cancelled it (natch.)

If we needed someone to call us - like our agency - I just emailed them and asked them to do so.

I wore a jumper some days and slacks others on our first trip visits. Keith wore a sports shirt and slacks. And yes - layers - MamaChinch is sooo right about the heat. They just love that indoor (sweaty) heat.

The gifts we brought were to gauge Guanna-to-be-Julia's skills. Etch-a-sketch, crayons, blank paper, coloring book, ball, doll, Matchbox cars, etc. We left it all, of course. I also brought clothes in a variety of sizes to figure out what she'd wear home. Plus I traced her feet for shoes. On trip #2, I took three pairs of shoes: The pair I thought would fit her, a pair I thought would be too small and a pair I thought would be too big. And then just left them. Ditto for panties. Clothes - mostly jeans - I had a really good size estimation by taking the different sizes w/me on trip #1.

Trip #2 is where you really ladle out the gifts. And me personally - I figure those women aren't working there for fun. They're trying to feed their own kids. We gave cash in really cute Shutterfly cards with Julia's picture on the front. I used babblefish to translate "thank you for caring for Guanna" - printed that - pasted it in the cards. Cash takes up no suitcase room and is always welcome. They can't feed their kids gloves or hand lotion or tote bags.

Becky
The Woodworth Family in Beautiful San Antonio TX