Snags with paperwork!!!

I heard from Patrick at around 4:30 a.m EST....he saw Drew earlier in the day and said he immediately recognized Patrick and crawled over to him!!!!! He got laughs and smiles almost immediately...so exciting!! He said Drew looks bigger, has some more teeth and had his hair cut again by the orphanage - I don't know why they keep cuttng his hair...oh well...

When I talked to Patrick, he was on his way to the baby house to pick up Drew FOREVER!!!!!!!

This is from Patrick - writing from Taraz...

"Hi. It’s 9 a.m. Monday morning and I’m in Taraz, writing this from the guest room of Tonya’s apartment.

I’ve got so much to tell you. So I’m not burying the lede, let me say that I’m fine, and I’m told that Drew is fine – I’ll be seeing him this morning and am told I’ll be taking him for good sometime this afternoon. However, there’ve been some snags that I’m working through.

Obviously, e-mail access has been less than perfect and I’ve not been near a live computer since leaving Amsterdam. In addition, problems with our paperwork are making it questionable that we’re going to catch our flight on the 16th. These issues won’t be resolved until Thursday at the earliest, and until then both we and our families should consider Drew’s arrival at 3:25 p.m. in Connecticut tentative.

Let me take this chronologically – I think that makes the most sense.

After my 12-hour layover in Amsterdam, the 6-hour flight to Almaty was completely full. I was unable to get an exit row, but at least had an aisle seat. I believe the plane was roomier than the Luftansa jet, however, and the entertainment system was far superior – each seat had its own entertainment system, where we could choose from dozens of movies, TV shows or video games. I watched two episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” two episodes of “Friends” and a classic episode of “Cheers” and felt very much at home.

I sat across the aisle from a very nice couple from Rhode Island, Chris and Allison. They are adopting from Almaty and were making their first trip and were very excited. I told them what I could about Kazakhstan and how to get through customs – to me that was the most nerve-wracking part of this process, because we had absolutely no preparation for what to do. They seemed very nice and I hope that we stay in touch. I gave them our blog address so if you’re reading, hello!

Problems began when I arrived in Almaty and was met by Galina. She informed me that three pieces of our adoption paperwork contained errors that must be fixed before we could proceed to the U.S. Embassy. First, our court papers from Taraz indicated that we began visiting Drew on Oct. 1 – more than three weeks before our actual first day with him. That document must be retyped (in Russian) and resigned by court officials in Taraz. Second, an adoption certificate handwritten in Russian was incorrectly dated. And third, a petition that Beth and I had signed to the Kazakh government incorrectly indicated the court ruling was made final in October, not November. Galina had me redo the last document on Sunday, but Taraz court officials must create new papers to replace the first two documents. Galina gave me copies of the incorrect files to hand-deliver to our Taraz coordinator, Mira, when I arrive in Taraz Monday morning.

Galina is hopeful that Taraz will have these papers redone before Drew and I catch the train for Almaty Monday night. Then Almaty officials will have 48 hours to rush the paperwork through their system so that Drew and I can have our official interview at the Embassy on Friday. She is concerned that the papers won’t be completed on time; the best thing that I can do is “go with the flow,” as they say.

The second problem – my lack of e-mail access – was caused in part by my fatigue. Galina checked me in to the Alma Ata hotel and left me about 8 a.m. Monday. My plan was to sleep for 2-3 hours, then use the business center to send you an e-mail. However, I slept straight through, until 6 p.m. that day, and the business center was closed before I woke up. I suppose I needed the sleep, but I kicked myself for missing that opportunity.

I’m told Drew and I will be back in that same room when we get back to Almaty. I suppose it’s fine – it has comfortable twin bed, room for a crib and lots of storage space to put our clothes and baby supplies. The shower is awful, however.

On Sunday night, I took the Spanish train from Almaty to Taraz. However, Galina told me that a sleeping compartment was not available, so I ended up in an Amtrak-style car with about 30 other people. It was comfortable enough – more legroom than on the plane, and we were treated to the film “Spider-Man 3” dubbed in Russian before lights dimmed about midnight. Each seat had an individual light, so I read for a couple hours as well, and our train reached Taraz at 6 a.m.
It’s snowing in Taraz! I can’t believe how pretty it looks. Mira and her brother met me at the train station and, to my surprise, took me to Constantine and Tonya’s apartment. We arrived there about 6:30 a.m. and after giving Mira the papers from Galina, the driver took me upstairs, where Tonya led me to a guest room which she said would be mine for the day.

She said we would walk to the orphanage about 10 a.m. today to visit Drew, and then shop and have dinner about 1 p.m. We’ll go back to the orphanage about 3 p.m. to get Drew and will bring him back to Tonya’s apartment, where I’ll stay with him until we catch the train at 10 p.m. tonight. Also, Tonya said her brother-in-law and father-in-law were coming over tonight and we would have “a little party” to celebrate that Tonya received her university diploma last week.

Tonya also said her mother suggested that we purchase a television for the orphanage, instead of clothes and toys. I’ve been thinking about that for several hours and I’m not pleased with the idea – I so wish you were here to discuss this with! I want to get something that’s going to be for children, not the adults who work there.

And I don’t want to give a gift that’s going to end up in someone’s car within the week and be taken home. I’ve decided to ask Tonya to show me where in the orphanage our gift of a TV would be placed, and whether it would be used for staff entertainment or for the older 3-4 year-old children. If I’m not comfortable after asking some questions, I’m going to tell them, politely but firmly, that we will instead purchase gifts for the children. I mean, it’s OUR decision, right?

You wouldn’t believe how crazy it is here with the decorations and lights. You and I thought that Kazakhstan loved neon lights when we were here in November, but that was nothing. I’ve been amazed by the number of neon Christmas tree-style lights I’ve seen on public land, surrounded by references to the New Year. I’ve seen dozens of restaurants, hotels and homes in both Almaty and Taraz with “2008” decorations. This place must go crazy for Jan. 1. I wish I was going to be here to see it, but am also glad that I’ll be leaving before the craziness happens, if that makes sense.

I still have every intention of finding a phone and calling you this afternoon when we get Drew – probably sometime between 4-6 p.m. Taraz time, which is 3-5 a.m. on the East Coast. I hope that I have a chance to send this note before then. And I hope that I can send daily e-mails after today!

I miss you and love you. I can’t wait for us to get home, and I can’t wait to see you again."

So - it's 3 a.m. and I'm trying to stay calm!!! I should have known our smooth process was too good to be true...UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!