No news is not good news. It's annoying. And, it just continues the emotional roller coaster.
Here's the chain of events (or non-events) that have me frustrated:
*About a week ago, it was stated that the strike had ended. This wasn't entirely true. The judges signed an agreement but haven't actually gone back to work in most of the country---including the city where Sara lives. Because of this...
*The embassy is still not issuing Article 5s (essentially Sara's visa). They fear that if they issue Article 5s, people will flood to Colombia to finish their adoptions. They don't want any more people to travel until the strike is over. Because of this....
*The agency won't officially give me a travel date. (I have an unofficial date but it won't be official until we get her Article 5.) Because of this....
*I can't buy a plane ticket. I REALLY want to buy a plane ticket. It would make things so much more real for me. Because of this....
*I can't get my visa. I need to have a plane ticket in order to get my visa from the Consulate in Chicago. Because of this....
*I can't get my final paperwork apostilled. I have to go to the Secretary of State's office downtown to get my paperwork apostilled. This means taking a day off of work to go into the city. I want to do the SOS and the Consulate on the same day so I don't have to take two days off from work. (While I really want to take a day off from work, I need to save every minute of my time off for my leave.) Because of this....
*I feel like I am getting no where. I have all of this stuff done and ready to go and all the money in place and I'm not getting any closer to my child!
I just want the strike to be over so I can get her Article 5, get a travel date, buy a ticket, apply for my visa, apostille my paperwork and be ready to go! Is that really too much to ask?
*On a side note, the embassy in Colombia is hosting a webcast tomorrow to give information about the current state of adoptions there. I'm really hoping for some good, useful, positive information.
Showing posts with label travel date. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel date. Show all posts
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
January 8th, 2013
January 8, 2013! That's the big date. The day I will meet my daughter. For months, I've been praying and crying and hoping that Sara would be home for Christmas. Surprisingly, when I got the date of January 8th yesterday, I wasn't upset. I was THRILLED and excited and giddy! I'm so glad that the wondering and questioning is over. Now I'm just on to waiting. Something that isn't as hard when you know when the waiting will end.
In all honesty, I did not make the decision to postpone travel until January. The agency did. After pouting for a little bit, I realized they are right for a multitude of reasons.
While I really, really wanted to Sara home for Christmas, I've known deep in my heart that it wasn't in her best interest. Christmas is crazy! There are parties and food and music and lights and gifts and people and travel and major sensory overload! Christmas can get stressful for all of us. Now, imagine being a 4-year-old who has left the only home she's ever known, the language she knows, the food she knows, the warm weather she knows, the people she knows and being dropped into December in Chicago and Buffalo. Talk about a shock! While it would have been fun for me to have her to celebrate Christmas with, it could have been very hard on her. (It's also possible that she would have gone with the flow and been fine but who knows.) So, it's probably in her best interest to settle into her new life for a year before she experiences American Christmas!
There are also a couple of major factors that played into the decision to travel in January:
*The majority of the government of Colombia shuts down for a month around mid-December to mid-January. I've heard different dates for when the shut down actually occurs but the bottom line is the same: traveling in November is risky. If you don't get everything done in a timely manner, you could end up getting stuck in Colombia for a very long time. You take custody of your child shortly after arriving in the country so leaving and returning when paperwork is complete is not an option. You are there start to finish.
*The judges in Colombia are still on strike. They went on strike October 11th. Right now, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Even if they were to go back to work on Monday, they are now three weeks behind on their cases. So, even if I got my Article 5 on Monday, I wouldn't be able to get a court date for several weeks which would push things way too far into November.
*The adoption house where Sara lives has had it's license revoked. I don't really understand all the implications of this. I know that the social services agency in Colombia has taken over their active cases. Sara's adoption is not in jeopardy but it will look a little bit different since I will be adopting under social services and not the adoption house. With this added factor, it makes sense to wait until January until the dust has settled a little bit to travel instead of being the first one to try out the new system.
So, while I didn't like it at first, it makes a ton of sense to travel in January. (Plus, I can be off from January until spring break. No one likes working in January/February anyway. Those are the longest school months of the year.)
I'm off to look for plane tickets and start a count down!
In all honesty, I did not make the decision to postpone travel until January. The agency did. After pouting for a little bit, I realized they are right for a multitude of reasons.
While I really, really wanted to Sara home for Christmas, I've known deep in my heart that it wasn't in her best interest. Christmas is crazy! There are parties and food and music and lights and gifts and people and travel and major sensory overload! Christmas can get stressful for all of us. Now, imagine being a 4-year-old who has left the only home she's ever known, the language she knows, the food she knows, the warm weather she knows, the people she knows and being dropped into December in Chicago and Buffalo. Talk about a shock! While it would have been fun for me to have her to celebrate Christmas with, it could have been very hard on her. (It's also possible that she would have gone with the flow and been fine but who knows.) So, it's probably in her best interest to settle into her new life for a year before she experiences American Christmas!
There are also a couple of major factors that played into the decision to travel in January:
*The majority of the government of Colombia shuts down for a month around mid-December to mid-January. I've heard different dates for when the shut down actually occurs but the bottom line is the same: traveling in November is risky. If you don't get everything done in a timely manner, you could end up getting stuck in Colombia for a very long time. You take custody of your child shortly after arriving in the country so leaving and returning when paperwork is complete is not an option. You are there start to finish.
*The judges in Colombia are still on strike. They went on strike October 11th. Right now, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Even if they were to go back to work on Monday, they are now three weeks behind on their cases. So, even if I got my Article 5 on Monday, I wouldn't be able to get a court date for several weeks which would push things way too far into November.
*The adoption house where Sara lives has had it's license revoked. I don't really understand all the implications of this. I know that the social services agency in Colombia has taken over their active cases. Sara's adoption is not in jeopardy but it will look a little bit different since I will be adopting under social services and not the adoption house. With this added factor, it makes sense to wait until January until the dust has settled a little bit to travel instead of being the first one to try out the new system.
So, while I didn't like it at first, it makes a ton of sense to travel in January. (Plus, I can be off from January until spring break. No one likes working in January/February anyway. Those are the longest school months of the year.)
I'm off to look for plane tickets and start a count down!
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