What a day!!! We have never been so anxious and thoroughly stressed-out
in our lives! Thank goodness the day is finally over.
We didn’t expect our consultation at the U.S. Consulate to be
that bad, but when we arrived this morning, they grilled us about
why we had come, why our family had faxed a letter to them and why
we thought we were so special that we requested they "pull out
all the stops" for us (a direct quote!). In addition, our coordinator
apparently got in a lot of hot water too. All this happened because
we simply requested getting our exit interview scheduled for the morning
instead of the afternoon so that we could get out on a flight four
days earlier. The funny thing is that after all the reprimanding we
got for asking, they agreed to do it!
You’d think we would have left in a great mood since they agreed
to meet with us earlier, but after all the trouble and problems, we
felt like dirt. Apparently, they saw our request as “going over
the head” of our coordinator and agency, so we think that’s
why they were upset at our coordinator. We had no idea that they would
react this way, so we carried a lot of weight on our shoulders after
that, especially after hearing from our coordinator that we may have
jeopardized her job (however we think it caught her off-guard as much
as it caught us).
After the ordeal, we came home and gave Katie a nap, then headed back
out to get Katie’s medical appointment taken care of. Instead
of our normal coordinator, we were picked up by a different woman
who is a translator here. She was excellent and had a great, positive
attitude that helped us relax a little.
The doctor appointment went great. It was at an international, western-style
medical clinic that the Embassy trusts to give accurate medical exams.
The doctor was an older gentleman who we think was from Brittan. He
was very friendly and talked to us about the adoption process, the
price and our experience (apparently he had only been in Kazakhstan
a little while). He said Katie looked fine and that the items listed
on the orphanage medical sheet were just measures that had to be taken
in order for the court to authorize Katie’s adoption. Once we
left with our positive medical report in-hand, our translator delivered
it to the Consulate so it could be processed right away.
Most of the rest of the day was spent at home trying to relax after
everything that had happened. We became extremely worried later in
the day when we realized we had never canceled our flight from Uzbekistan
which left later in the evening. With all the changes that had been
going on, we completely forgot about it! We tried calling all the
numbers we could find for our airline but nothing worked. Finally,
at 9 p.m. we were able to make an international call and reach the
main reservation line for America (this was much more reliable than
the local offices). To our relief, they were able to cancel our flight
and confirm us on the new flight for Tuesday.
Now, we are hoping that all the other loose ends come together so
we can make it out on Tuesday. Here are the big ones you can help
us pray for:
-We still have to find out if we need a transit visa for the Uzbekistan
airport (this could be hard to obtain with such short notice)
-We’re not sure if our coordinator has secured our tickets to
Uzbekistan, so we’re not sure if there is still space on that
flight.
-Katie has to get a “facial” clearance from Washington
D.C. and have it electronically sent to the Consulate before 9 a.m.
Tuesday (meaning it has to be done today since it’s a holiday
weekend).
-If everything works, we will have one hour to get our exit interview
done and arrive at the airport. This will be very tight since the
appointment takes a half an hour and it’s at least a half an
hour drive to the airport.
-Also, if everything works, we are somewhat worried about our long
layover in Uzbekistan because of the problems we’ve been hearing
about. There is also a U.S. travel warning against going there right
now.
Thank you for all the kind e-mails you have sent us. They really keep
our spirits up and help remind us to trust the Lord during these difficult
times. We will try to write more this weekend and update the website
with some pictures of Katie, our hotel room and the beautiful city.
(We know a lot of you have missed seeing new pictures of Katie every
morning.)
In Christ,
Kevin, Sarah and Katie Lockwood