Thursday September 26^th

Once again we left the hotel and found ourselves sitting in the Moscow traffic.  Our host was so terrific ... we really didn’t mind. We learned so much about Russian history, progress and culture sitting and talking.  It becomes clearer with each conversation how similar our communities and our people are.  Our child welfare systems are also very similar in practice, innovation, intention for improvements, struggles and our common goals of helping families to care for their children safely and helping children when that is not possible.  We recognize that the perceptions that Americans have of the Russian child welfare system is based upon the experiences of parents who visited Russia and adopted children over the past couple of decades and that much progress has been made (in many but not all) regions of the country. 

We were very fortunate to visit the offices of our hosts, the National Foundation for the Prevention of the Cruelty of Children (NFPCC).  We had a tour of the office and met all of their trainers and regional support specialists.  We were engaged in an exciting conversation about possible collaborations, comparative research opportunities, and sharing of our resources.  They have published wonderful standards, resources and practice guides for use in their regional child welfare jurisdictions.  Additionally they have also disseminated the Child Welfare Field Guide, published by CWLA and written by our traveling colleagues Judy Rycus and Ronald Hughes.  We ended our time together with a delicious lunch at a Belarus-Russian restaurant.

This was the most delicious dessert.  Little donuts

 

We spent the afternoon doing some souvenir shopping around Red Square - we got a little out of control. IT was very fun to see the hats, the nesting dolls, flasks, shot glasses, beautiful traditional scarves etc. So much to buy … so little luggage space JWe also looked at the shops within the area Cathedrals and we were able to see an Orthodox service in progress. It was beautiful. I am continually amazed at the full and extensive artwork/internal paintings that completely cover the walls and ceilings of EVERY Cathedral. We ended our afternoon with a tour (yes a tour) of the Moscow subway system. It is nothing short of a museum of amazing stonework, mosaic art, statutes, stained glass etc. It was so amazing, we will devote an entire entry to it in this blog. 

These are styling port-a-potties in Red Square

JaeRan, Tracy and Marina at the Train Station

Headed back to the hotel ...

 

We said good-bye to our host, guide and interpreter Marina. We really grew very fond of her and it was sad to say our good-byes.  We are looking forward to seeing her again.  She put us safely on a train to our hotel by the airport and away we went!