Regions? Huh?

Ok time for a geography quiz! Who even knew Russia had regions? And.....C.W.A. works with 17 of them! I've taken the time to find a map of Russia that was in English (I guess they are rare) and Google the 17 regions and highlight them on a map for your viewing pleasure! Some of these regions are way hard to spell like "Nizhniy Novgorod" Whoa. So here they are! (You can click on the map below and it gets big so you can read it!) I am sorry if I am not my witty self- you either get informational or comedic. You can guess what tonight is.
We didn't get to talk to Anya today- we had a scheduling conflict, but we are talking with her at 3:00 on Thursday (tomorrow) and we are so excited. It's given us a little more time to prepare. It takes us a long time to pick out cheese at the grocery store- imagine a whole county of options. Here are our questions-
1- Which regions are "blind" regions? That means that some regions in Russia call you up when they've matched you with a child and say "we have a boy for you, he's 12 months old" and you get on a plane and fly to Russia. Then you meet the child and then get his health history and information. You fax the records to your doctor. You wait for him to make an opinion. Then you either accept or reject the child, if you decline you ask for another child. It could be a 5 minute wait, it could be a week. That is a blind region. A non-blind region is you make that decision from the United States. You get all of the information up front about a child and you can talk with a doctor before you accept or decline and ultimately travel. Even though we prefer a "non-blind" region we are trusting that God has a perfect match for us and we are confident in either process. But can you imagine meeting a child and deciding that their health issues or other factors would not be feasible for your family and having to say "no thanks, can I see another?" I don't want to even think about that!
2-How close is the region from Moscow? (see the eyeball shaped thingy inside region #1 on the map) Moscow is the hub for adoption. You fly into there then "branch out" to whatever region you are traveling to. Some are a quick car trip or train ride. Others are a 3 hour flight. We all know how I feel about more flying. But once again- what's another 12 hours? This is the most important trip of my life! But logistically the more travel we have the more expense goes into the adoption. And we are going to need pampers when we get home! (and car seats, and strollers, and.....)
3-How adoption friendly is the region? Some regions are more stable than others, more open to Westerners, kinder Judges that may waive the 10 day "post adoption" holding period in the country.
But in the grand scheme of things we are at peace with the whole region thing. When God is in control and already has a perfect person for us, it's really simple. Tomorrow, we will listen to Anya's advise and trust that God has placed her in our life to be his mouthpiece.