Cold Weather

So many people have been asking me about the weather and how they should pack.  It is hard to say, it really depends on the family. 

For us, we really have not needed much more then a warm coat.  We have been outside very little.  Just walking from the building into the car.  But that is because we have been soooooooo busy.  Driving out to Oyash takes 2 hours each way.  All together, with a 2 hour visit, it is 6 hours.  Then we take a 2 hour lunch break and then we head to the baby house.  Because traffic is so bad, it takes a half hour to get there.  Combined with a 2 hour visit, it is a 3 hour trip.  We come home, we take a nap (jet lag) and then eat dinner.  Our day is done.  No time really to walk around outside, be tourists, visit much, etc. 

Tonight we had more time because today we only visited Hallie at the baby house and had lunch and court prep with Anna.  So we decided to walk around town and see what we could see.  It was COLD.  It was well below zero with the wind chill.  We wore our big boots, big coats, thermals, sweaters, scarfs, hats, gloves and we did pretty good.  We did get cold after an hour and our faces were bright red. 

So if you are just going to the baby house once a day you are going to have a lot of time on your hands and will want to pack warmer clothing.  If your child is further away, you might not need much because you won't have time to get out into the weather.

We have been HOT most of our trip because Russians like to really crank up the heat.  So make sure that you have layers you can take off.

If you are staying at the Novosibirsk Hotel do not stress too much about getting just the right clothing size for your child.  Across the street there is a store call GJ.  It has all the clothes you or your child could need at very reasonable prices.  It has snow pants, coats, boots, shirts, pants, socks, shoes, everything for children and adults.  The price of a winter coat is $30, boots are $15, long sleeved shirts are $9 (all for children's sizes).  But Russians are very worried about staying warm, so they will not release the child to you from the orphanage unless they are dressed SUPER WARM.   Of course this is an issue only for trip 3 as you cannot take the child out from the orphanage until then. 

I hope this helps!!