First Night in Riga

We made it!

We've only slept about 2 hours in the last 36 but it feels great to be here in Latvia.  We flew through Frankfurt and it all went very smoothly.  It was a very rainy, foggy day in Riga, but it didn't lessen the excitement of seeing the airport sign from the plane.

As we walked off the jetway and were surrounded by the sounds of Latvians speaking Latvian, it hit us that we were really here.  Months (and years) of waiting, and we were walking though the Riga airport.  Just a short drive from D.

We made it.

We are blessed to have an amazing interpreter here named Dace who picked us up from the airport and took us to exchange our cash into Euros and to get some groceries for the apartment.

It is so great to have a friend help us traverse the foreign land 

that is a Latvian grocery store.

There were very few things that looked familiar.

Well, some things looked familiar, but upon further inspection...

Not just mushroom.  Creamy forest mushroom.  

What the what?

Dace then drove us to our apartment, which is right in Riga and walking distance from pretty much everything.  We love it.  Thanks Lopez's for the recommendation!

It's on the top floor of an old building and it feels like a perfect home for the month.  

The only scary thing is the super janky elevator.

When we first arrived, the apartment manager told us to only take one person and one suitcase at a time.

Now that's janky with a capital J.

But it adds spice to life when every time you take it, you wonder if this could be your last day on earth.

After we had unpacked, cleaned up, and took a nap, we were ready to rock.  We headed to the first floor of our apartment building for dinner where there is a cute Latvian restaurant called Lido.

That is the door to our apartment building on the right.

Then we walked around a bit and checked out some shops.

We stopped at a bakery and ordered what we thought was a cookie, but when we got it home it turned out to be something like an english muffin with raisins on top.

Not cool, Latvian bakery, not cool.

Things get real when the language barrier starts messing with my pastries.

We decided that since this is our last night ever as a childless couple, we should really go out with a bang.  So we both put on our best leather pants and we are going clubbing til 4am.

Just kidding.

It's 9 pm here and we are going to bed.

Big day tomorrow.

Dace picks us up at 10 am and the day we have been waiting forever for will begin.

We will be at the orphanage around 11 am.

Can't even believe it.

Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, but I am surprisingly calm.  Much better than the previous 48 hours.  My heart was racing and I just felt anxious.  Fans would remind me of a bible verse and of God's perfect peace.

He's a good man.

I did get some tears out, unexpectedly.  It was so random, but it was like 2 am and we were in the air headed to Frankfurt.  I turned on the little movie screen in front of me to check and see the flight status.  So the little airplane pops up on the screen and takes off from O'Hare and starts heading over the Atlantic on it's little path towards Europe, and I saw that little plane and I thought, "Oh my gosh, I'm ON that little plane.  And that little plane is on it's way to LATVIA.  I AM ON MY WAY TO LATVIA."  

And then I started to cry.

It was awkward.

I was just pointing at the little plane and crying.

But I do feel better after letting it out and hopefully 

tomorrow I will be composed when I meet D.

Praising God tonight for a safe and smooth 36 hours of travel.

Praying for a great day tomorrow.

Thanks for coming along on the crazy adoption ride with us.

Time for bed.