Today's Wednesday, Right?

It's been the longest day ever. We got on our first plane on Wednesday morning and still haven't slept in a real bed. We'll be very ready for the twin beds in the hotel tonight. Thankfully, we did get a nice shower this morning so we smelled much better when we got to meet the translators for the first time.

We got to Moscow with all 21 bags (for our six-person team), but lost Lindsay's coat somewhere in the airport shuffle. She was excited about getting a stylish Russian coat though, so it all worked out.

We toured Christ the Savior church and Shawn was intrigued by the Russian open display of faith while praying with the icons.

Our first bonding experience as a team was on the rush-hour-packed Moscow subway. We all got a little closer than expected, literally. Melanie also learned to always keep your arms up when on a packed subway while around Russian gentleman. Also, Lindsay thinks the baby kicked someone from in utero.

We also went to the market to buy snacks and Shawn was a little disturbed by how familiar the rest of the team was with delicious Russian treats. Praise the Lord, he's now seen the light. He insisted on "hating" yogurt and is now talking about how delicious it is.

On the train, Shawn got to room with the nine checked bags weighing in at 50 lbs a piece while the rest of us roomed with live people. We all slept like babies, except for Steph, who discovered one leg is longer than the other. She swears from now on she'll be sleeping in the left-side bunk only.

When we arrived in Kirov and cleaned up, we visited a local tech school and new Children's HopeChest ministry center. Our team in Kirov is very excited about the ministry center and so our we. This is a huge step for this region because they're going to be able to reach orphans even after the kids have left the orphanage and are out on their own in the world. This could include many of our kids from Velikoretskoye.

After the tech school visit, we ate lunch at the team's favorite cafe in Kirov. We all had whatever Stephanie was having for dessert, except Shawn, who branched out and asked the waitress for the most enticing dessert on the menu, which just happened to be named "enticement."

We then bought the team supplies with limited rubles and declining credit cards. The workers at the second store thought Gina was crazy when she wanted to buy a fan in subzero weather, but they found one, and we were quite the sight walking down the streets of Russia carrying a fan and several large jugs of water.

We spent the rest of the day getting ready for the week, our bags spread out in the hallway to organize. A little boy from across the hall came out at one point and asked us a very well-rehearsed "What is your country?" We think his sisters put him up to it.

And now, we're off to bed. Our new discipler, Koss, who mentors the kids three times a month and brings them our letters, told us how excited the kids are to see us and we can't wait until our adventures with them start tomorrow.