Greetings again from Kazan, Russia, birthplace of one

of America's soon to be newest residents, my own little
guy, Kyle Daniel Fernandes!!! We arrived in Kazan

today weary and wary. Weary from our exhausting

travels, wary because I anxiously await Kyle's responsiveness

to us in our reunion after a month's separation. It has

been an adventure beyond anything I could have ever

imagined or projected.

As I last reported, our arrival in Moscow was accomplished

without two pieces of our luggage and I previously wrote

that the missing items were "allegedly"due to arrive in

Moscow Sunday afternoon and then delivered to our hotel. At
the time of my writing, I didn't know how significant my term

"allegedly" would actually be. The bags did not arrive Sunday,

nor did they arrive Monday. We were told the bags were definitely

in Moscow at the airport, yet customs would not release

them for transfer to our hotel. I can't explain to you how
significant one of the bags was. It contained my Dad's C-pap

machine, a machine.

You see, without the C-Pap, my father's snoring is reminiscent

of a freight train constantly roaring through our hotel room.

We were so exhausted the first night from our sleepless

international travel that I could have slept through a
freight train contantly roaring through our hotel room.

In fact, I did! The next night in Moscow was a somewhat

less tolerable. Day three without the machine was intolerable!

Our flight to Kazan Tuesday morning was scheduled for
7:20 A.M., which meant we had to leave our hotel by 4:50

because of the Moscow traffic. We were advised that we

could pick up the missing bags at the airport.

The freight train awakened me at what I thought was

2:30 A.M. Since we were scheduled to wake up at 3:30,

I got up early and took a long bath, hearing the constant

sound of the roaring freight train even with the bathroom

door shut. I was conscientious enough to let my father sleep

until he had to get up. I wakened the freight train at 3:45.

At least what I thought was 3:45. My father asked, "Why

are you up so early?"

"It's not early," I replied. "It's 3:45. We HAVE to get

to the airport to get your bags before our flight."

"It's not even midnight," he said. "It's 23:45, not 3:45."

In my frustration I had missed the extra 2, which made

it really 11:45, not 3:45. My Dad had been asleep for an

hour and a half. Now he was the one being conscientious, staying
up the rest of the night so that I could sleep!

We arrived at the airport around 5:30. We went to

Lost and Found as instructed. There weren't many

people there, but there were hundreds of suitcases in several
different areas. The Customs people looked through a series

of manual logs (non computerized) searching for the missing

bags. Their efforts appeared futile. I was going to Kazan.

My Dad was staying in Moscow until the breathing machine
was found even if I had to go alone. WE were finally told to

look through the piles of misplaced baggage in what looked to

be an impossible task. Many of the bags looked alike.

Fortunately (Thank you Lord!!!), the key bag was my Father's
UM bag!! Miraculously, after searching hundreds of bags,

near the end of the stack, somehow, my Dad identified

the UM symbol. Even being the proud Gator that I am,

I was never more relieved in my life to see that old UM symbol!! It
was time to go to Kazan and see my little guy.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention about my Monday, which

included an 8 doctor physical exam which lasted several hours.

The clinic is the facility which serves the Kremlin staffers.

It was an interesting experience, which I shared with two
other adopting couples, one from New Brunswick, Canada,

the other from Minneapolis. All went well. The day in Moscow

ended with a sleety snow, which resulted in sidewalks that

resembled skating rinks. Somehow, we survived the
icy terrain without falling, although I must confess that

there were several close calls!

Today was reunion day with Kyle. He just must be

the cutest guy in the whole wide world! I won't say

that he jumped up and down recognizing Grampy and me
after a month's absence, but I will tell you that he did

remember many of the experiences of our first visit. He

still says, "Up," when we take him for rides in the back

of the toy dump truck, just like it did last month. He still
follows our instructions to hold on to the side of the dump

truck before we lift him, just as we taught him in December.

It was a great reunion and our time with him was special.

He has matured some in a month. He is definitely
more focused than we recall. I can't wait to get him

back to South Florida. Tomorrow, he takes his passport

photos, which should be another adventure!

Sorry to make this so long. I will keep you posted.

Trust all is well with all!! Bye for now.