No Passport, no Embassy appointment

28 July 2009

We started the day as usual with the breakfast buffet. We were joined by Kara, Marcia and Alina this morning. After breakfast we had a bath and then headed out to explore in the other direction for a change of pace. The central part of town is evidently the other way and there was not much to see this way except for what I assume was a museum of some kind. So we headed back to the room to get Lukas an early lunch and decent nap today since we were suppose to go to the Embassy today at 2:15pm for his US Visa.




Yes, that’s right, we were suppose to got today. We were in the process of putting Lukas down when there was a knock at the door. I opened it to discover and elderly gentleman, named Ushen, at the door asking for Lynda and Wayne Robey. It ends up he is an associate of our Almaty coordinator, Oleg. I’m thinking it may be his father from the descriptions I have heard of him. He is a very kind gentleman compared to Nikoli who is your stereotypical Russian personality of being very gruff. He informed me that Lukas’ passport had not arrived in Almaty yet from Astana where it was being registered and receiving an exit Visa. It would not be ready until Friday. However, for a mere $100 extra they could get it here hopefully by tomorrow morning, Wednesday, by 8am and we could go to the US Embassy for our interview Wednesday afternoon at 2:15pm instead of today. The Power of Attorney in Astana will try to make this happen. He said he would call to let us know when the passport arrives.

Since our flight back is not until 2:15am on Thursday morning it is really no big deal for us. We were wondering how we were going to waste an entire day with a 3 year old in a city we have no clue about anyway. This will help break the day up tomorrow. Unfortunately for our traveling companions, the Docters, they were scheduled to leave tonight and now have to change there tickets. Such is the world of international adoption.

Lukas puts up a fight pretty much every time we try to put him to bed, whether nap-time or bedtime. We usually end up making him stay in bed; he throws a temper tantrum and cries himself silly, then eventually settles down and goes to sleep. I’m not sure if this is typical 3 year old behavior, institutional behavior or a combination of both. We definitely have control issues. He DOES NOT like it when he is not totally in control of what he wants or gets to do quite a bit of the time. I have been told this is to be expected with a child who had been in an orphanage. It doesn’t help to throw 3 yr old issues into the mix.

After nap-time we decided to check out the big shopping area that is a few blocks from our hotel. We were told they had a big section where they sold local crafts and souvenirs. The Tsum here in Almaty is much bigger and more like a real mall than the one in Taraz. It is attached to a long promenade with other stores and restaurants. Lukas was very good with putting up with Mama and Papa doing some shopping so he got to pick some things out for himself.









We ended up eating dinner back at the hotel and met up with the family from Chicago. They had their US Embassy interview today and are done and just waiting to leave on Friday morning. After dinner we went to the little market to get a few items to tide us over until we leave, hopefully, on schedule.

Paka,
Lynda, Wayne, and Lukas

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

I'm hoping this big chill we are experiencing is a good omen that we will travel soon and it is God's way of getting us ready for the colder weather in Taraz, Kazakhstan. That being said, it is actually warmer in Taraz today than it is here. Their 5 day forecast is for highs in the low- mid 30s and lows in the upper teens, minimal windchill.

We are still waiting for our LOI but in all honesty did not expect it to have arrived the first half of the month. They typically seem to give parent's about 2 weeks notice to travel. Now that we are about 2 weeks out from Feb 1st we are waiting with anticipation that it will arrive any day now. Our patience will truely be tested in the coming days and weeks as we wait for word to schedule our first trip.

3 months and still waiting

It has now been 3 months and we are still waiting for our dossier to be submitted. The new Embassador is reviewing the current process and getting his staff situated. So they have not been taking many submissions so far this year. The agency hopes it will pick back up soon. Until then we wait. We have moved up in line but it is disappointing just the same. We were hoping it would clear the Embassy before the summer was over and that we might travel in the fall. I'm not sure that is going to happen if we don't hear something soon. We continue to practise our Russian and gather things for when we will be traveling.

We haven't really done anything about our future childs room since we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl or even how old s/he might be. There is a big difference between setting up a room for a baby versus a pre-schooler.