Alex and Heather's Travel Blog

July 16, 2005 8:00 am - AH

It's been a busy first few days at home. Since we couldn't get either of our cars out of our driveway, my mother came and helped me pick up the dogs at the kennel. M immediately took to our smaller dog (see the PIX section for photo) but he is still a little intimidated by our large male labrador retriever. They are slowly learning to speak each others' language. Both of the dogs like having a new playmate around.

M was surprisingly patient for our first trip to the pediatrician. He really impressed the lab technician when he needed blood drawn - the tech said only about one in ten kids are as cooperative. Of course, it helped that M was promised both stickers AND ice cream if he was good. 

July 14, 2005 8:30 am - AH "Driveway? Who needs a driveway?"

This is the scene at the end of our driveway - it pretty much ensures we'll be enjoying a quiet day at home. M is thrilled with all of the new things to see and play with. We took him in his new wagon to the post office, where we met our Polish neighbor. M enjoyed chatting with her in Polish - now he's convinced our town is filled with nice ladies who speak his language! 

July 13, 2005 1:45 pm - AH

Check in was only moderately scary - from our previous experience in the airport, we not only quickly found the right (long) line, but we actually were able to give a Japanese guy directions to the "hidden" Lufthansa desk, which saved him a lot of time. When we finally made it to the front of our line, we were reassigned back to our original three seats together. I'm not sure why they moved us in the first place - I think they shift between different size planes depending on how full the plane is. I think they may also combine two flights - that may be why they delayed our flight close to the time the second flight of the day leaves.

M was increasingly crabby until we got through security and he could see the planes. Then he was perfectly happy to sit on Heather's lap. He was thrilled when the first plane took off. He has started asking us to sound out words on food packages and he was amused to find out some of the colorful planes are labeled "Wizz Air."

BTW, I noticed the Warsaw airport has big signs promoting the substantial terminal addition planned for 2006 completion. That's good - they need it!

July 13, 2005 11:00 am - AH - HOMECOMING!

We're all packed and ready to head to the airport. Heather took M to the playground for the second time this morning to hopefully wear him out. We've already been warned that our flight is delayed by three hours (apparently this is common with LOT Polish Airlines) and I'm dreading the long check-in line at the Warsaw airport. The airport desperately needs to expand the check-in area and the chaotic check-in for LOT international flights is legendary. If M can withstand that, the rest of the trip may be easier - the check-in may be the worst part of the travel experience. (But did I mention that when LOT changed the flight time, they also changed our seats so that instead of having three in a row, we have two in one section, and one ten seats away? I'm hoping to fix that at check in.) At least the flight is direct.

Unfortunately, the time between leaving our hotel (the equivalent of 6 am EST today) and arriving at our house in the US (1 am EST tomorrow) will be almost twenty hours. We have motion sickness medicine for M that hopefully will help him sleep some on the plane. I'm not really expecting to sleep until we get picked up in NY. I hope folks understand if they don't hear from us for a few days. It is going to take a few days to get M switched over to our time zone. Last time it took us 5 or 6 days.

July 12, 2005 1:00 pm - AH

Heather is recovering from a touch of the flu, but we managed to make it to the zoo this morning so M could say goodbye to "his" lion cubs. Now he is resting on the couch for his afternoon quiet time / nap. I 'm hoping he falls asleep because I could use the break. Heather looks like she is already asleep, hopefully making up for the sleep she lost last night.

July 11, 2005 4:30 pm - AH Visa Day!

After going to the doctor's office, the Polish passport center, and the US Embassy, with an ever growing pile of paperwork, M received his immigrant visa. It came with a big packet of paperwork, which we have to keep sealed until a US immigration officer inspects it. Once he has passed through Customs and Immigration in New York on Wednesday, he will automatically receive US citizenship.

Unfortunately, in the excitement today, Heather possibly broke her toe, chasing M through a revolving door that he suddenly decided he needed to jump inside. If she didn't have a phobia about revolving doors yet, she does now. I know I do!

For his part, M has a bit of a cold, and is predictably grumpy. While he happily played in the fountain this afternoon, he actually turned down an opportunity to go swimming with our traveling companions, preferring to curl up on the couch instead.

July 10, 2005 5pm - HB

We spent yesterday morning at the Warsaw Train Museum, and then sought shelter from the heat at the Galeria Mokotow (the big mall with the cinema and indoor playground). Today was a little cooler, so we headed to Lazienki Park to join in the traditional family stroll on Sunday. We found some crushed animal crackers at the bottom of our backpack and fed them to the peacocks and ducks. There were several outdoor concerts, and we stopped for lunch when M started listing off everything he would be willing to eat. We watched "An American Tail" (appropriate, eh?) and danced in the fountain. M was a bit of a ham and cracked up the crowds. He was soaking wet and shivering by the time we got back to the room, but he was one happy boy. I'm hoping he wakes up from his nap for dinner.

Tomorrow is full of appointments at the doctors and the US Embassy. We'll be meeting up with our traveling companions from the last trip.

July 8, 2005 7:00 pm - AH

After half of "Gdzie Jest Nemo?" on DVD we headed over to the Warsaw University Library to show M the roof and check out the Hula Kula indoor playground in the library basement. On the way back, I took M to watch the animated fountain while Heather stopped at the convenience store. This time, M did more than watch - he chased some older boys through the fountain and got completely soaked. When H got back, I said, "Here's your kid - hope you don't mind if he's a little wet!" Of course, I was the one who ended up carrying him back to the hotel, so it meant I got soaked as well.

Security has noticeably increased here, just in the past six hours. We've passed several armed soldiers on the sidewalk, where previously security was low-key. It reminds me of a New York Times article today which said: Terry Riley, an independent security consultant, said the city was likely to be one of the safest places in Europe for the rest of the summer. "The police will be on their guard," he said. "People will be on their guard." The article was discussing the effect of the London blasts on tourism and security, but this reference could easily have referred to increased security in many of the European capitals. I'll be interested to see if the security changes cause any delays with our appointments on Monday, or our travel home on Wednesday. We're flying direct to New York from Warsaw, which I hope cuts out any potential delay from a connecting flight.

July 8, 2005 1:12 pm - HB

We took a taxi to the BIG playground near Lazienki Park this morning. We enjoyed the change of scenery. The hardest part of this trip so far has been the amount of repetition. We've spent a month in the same part of Warsaw over the past 2 months, so we're walking the same streets, eating at the same restaurants, playing at the same parks. M also is having an emotional repetition of the 1st trip - only on fast forward. Yesterday was all about temper tantrums. Today he's clingy, but testing us less. There's this constant sense of "Oh - we're doing this again." It's not so much the need for routine - it's that the same kind of testing and the same activities within the routine. It will be nice to be home again soon so we can eat out of our own kitchen and fit his routine into our familiar settings. Living out of a hotel room with a 4 year old gets old, fast.

But we had fun today. We fed the ducks at the park, and took a boat ride around the lake by the Palace on the Water.

July 7, 2005 11:45 am - AH

One of the exciting things about visiting Poland now is the level of optimism about economic opportunity, particularly in Warsaw. This is a sharp contrast to twenty years ago, as this entertaining essay by PJ O'Rourke illustrates. The Warsaw we see today doesn't look much like the city O'Rourke describes! Everywhere we look, we see and hear about new development -- and the range and quality of products on store shelves rivals any major US city. (If you ever get a chance, check out the great German comedy, "Goodbye Lenin" about complications behind the transformation from communism to capitalism, or should I say consumerism?)

After a busy morning at our favorite OUTDOOR playground, we are now debating which INDOOR playground to visit this afternoon - one inside Poland's 2nd largest shopping mall, or the Warsaw University Library? We offered M the hotel pool, but he said "plac zabaw" instead.

July 6, 2005 9:30 pm - AH
Here is a carriage-eye's view of Warsaw's New Town, just north of the Old Town, which are both comprehensive reconstructions of historic areas completely destroyed in World War II.

July 6, 2005 8:15 pm - HB

Yes - blogging again. Can you tell we're excited? M was sent home with 2 plastic shopping bags containing some of the toys and clothes we sent him with originally (wasn't counting on these being returned and not sure if they will all make it back to the US), his rabbit, the photo album the Sisters gave him, the album we gave him, an almost completed sticker sheet that we left to help him track our return, and that's about it. I'm struck by 2 reactions to this: 1) WOW - they kept track of all that stuff and made sure it made it back, not to mention how precious those "before Mama and Tata" pics are, and 2) 2 plastic shopping bags? They fit his entire collection of belongings into 2 plastic shopping bags? How many bags would it have taken to collect everything I considered to be mine at age 4?

I have an answer to that, since shortly before I left my mother boxed my childhood belongings up and put them in our garage. I don't remember the exact volume, but it was in multiple, large, cardboard boxes.

M looks like he got every wish in the world, and isn't quite sure what to do with it. He was clingy all day - not wanting to be put down, even to have his shoes tied. At the same time, it's clear that he is pondering what to make of parents who would leave him for 22 days and then suddenly reappear. I'm not sure what to make of it either! So we just held him, and made sure his feet never touched the ground today (except for a brief time at the playground). Now he's sound asleep after multiple cheese sandwiches and a warm bath. And Dobranocs, of course.

July 6, 2005 11:30 am - HB

GOTCHA!!!

M's busy exploring the room. We were happy to be sent with his krolik (stuffed rabbit), and an album of pictures from his time at the children's home - including Santa Claus holding a miserable M with chicken pox. We're off to enjoy the first day of official parenthood...

July 6. 2005 - 11:30 am - AH

We picked up M this morning at the Children's Home. New pictures are posted on the PIX site. If you need instruction to access it, email me at ALEX at ALEXHEATHER.COM.

July 5, 2005 7:30 pm - AH

One of the highlights of our day was a trip to the Warsaw University Library's roof, completed in 2002. (My family jokes that wherever we go, we always end up at a library.) I encourage you to click the link for a better description than I can provide, but in addition to an amazing roof-garden, it also has open-grating walkways that go over the clear glass, sloped gables. We're debating whether we will show M the roof, but the library also has a great game room / indoor playground in the basement that we'll have to visit at least once.

July 5, 2005 6am - HB

Well, we heard from our attorney, but we didn't hear what we wanted to hear. Sister Director and M's legal guardian are out of town today, and they need to be present when we sign him out of the orphanage. So we have to wait for Wednesday (tomorrow) to pick up M. I have to admit that I eyed the bridge crossing the Vistula last night and pondered walking the 10-15 miles to check on our M. But it's just as well - for some reason, the jet lag seems to have particularly hard on this trip, and Alex and I will need the extra day to recuperate. We're thinking of taking a taxi to Lazienki Park and wandering about today, and then maybe doing some shopping.

July 4, 2005 7pm - HB

We arrived safely after a two hour delay at JFK. The delay did allow us to peer in on the Mets game as we drove by, and to catch a whole series of fireworks on the NY skyline. Warsaw is much as we left it - busy. We're both feeling a bit jet lagged (Alex more than Heather), but we went for a walk and and dinner at the Sphinx. We're waiting to hear from A, our attorney, about when we can pick up Mighty-Mighty M. Hopefully, first thing tomorrow morning....

Episode 2 - The Blog is Back!

July 3, 2005 9:15 am - HB

I know you all have been waiting for the next installment - so have we! Alex and I are doing some last minute tidying before we head off to NY, and then on to Warsaw. Yes, our plane has already been delayed. We should arrive in Warsaw sometime tomorrow afternoon, Polish time. We hope to pick up M on Tuesday, but we'll do whatever our attorney tells us to do. She hasn't led us astray, so far.

Thanks to everyone who helped paint baseboards and cleaned up the jungle that was once a lawn, organized and simplified little boy showers, assembled toys and furniture, installed child locks and swept up dog fur (hey - we have hard wood floors! and all this time I thought it was just a beige shag carpet...), fed and watered the zoo-crew in our absence, flew and drove miles and miles to have Heather and Alex time pre-M, packed my office and files (I owe Laurie C, big time!), and listened to our endless venting about paperwork and red tape. And the actual 24-7 parenting hasn't even begun yet...

A few people asked for a pronunciation guide for the words below. Here's a few hints: 1) roll your r's, 2) "sz" sounds like "sh," 3) w's are pronounced as v's 4) "dz" sounds like the j in "jeans," 5) c's usually sounds like the "ts" at the end of "dents." If all else fails, he answers well to most charades. And it doesn't matter in the end, because he'll laugh at you and mock your Polish.

We'll update you in Warsaw!