Post for Monday, August 03, 2009:

It is 3:30am and we have been awake for an hour. It will take some time to adjust to the difference in time. We thought we had a major problem last night… went to use the converter set to recharge the computer and found that everything we had was ‘3 prong’ and the converter would only accommodate a ‘2 prong’. After the initial panic that we had just lost our main ability to communicate with home (computer battery was almost depleted), we remembered the surge protector (w/ multiple outlets) and the Leatherman tool we had packed. Tim made a ‘minor’ adjustment using the Leatherman by cutting off the 3rd prong of the surge protector. I was a ‘little’ nervous about using this, but Tim assured me it was safe. It worked, we didn’t shock ourselves and the apartment did not catch on fire. We can now plug it into the converter and plug our electronics into the surge protector. We did unplug it before going to be… just in case! Tim is rather handy to have around! 
We briefly spoke with Yulia (a member of our facilitator team) last night. She is hoping to be able to receive our referrals on Tuesday afternoon instead of having to wait until Wednesday. If so, then we will be heading out of here on the night train Tuesday night to travel to the girls’ region. This would put us meeting the girls on Wednesday instead of Thursday. With everything else on this journey… we will try not to start expecting that to happen so we can be pleasantly surprised if it does happen instead of disappointed if it doesn’t work out! Yulia also gave us encouraging information about the girls’ region. She said it was a ‘good region for adoption’. Doesn’t that sound good?!
Shelby, I wanted to tell you that I watched “Hannah Montana, The Movie” on the flight over here just for you! We also saw 2 McDonalds on our way from the airport to our apartment and were told there may be one in the shopping mall across the street. I thought you might like that!  Give Courtney, Abby and Romney a hug & kiss for us and tell them we said “Hello & We Love You All!” You be good and we will be home as soon as we can. We love you, Mom & Dad.