Day 45- July 1st

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


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