Small World

Well, I have spent the better part of the last two weeks on the computer emailing so many families who have adopted from Semey. I have been on a yahoo group for single moms who have/are adopting from Kaz since I started this process. One woman just came back from Semey and she lives in Atlanta which is only a few hours away. She just returned with her daughter who was in the same group in the baby house as the baby boy I was referred. She actually has a snippet of him on video!! She plans to copy the footage to a DVD to send out. It was from early August which was before the picture I received was taken. Needless to say, I can't wait to see this footage, of course she says it's only about 5 seconds long.

Apparently, most of the children from this group have been referred out to families and some of us will probably be in Semey at the same time. I'm still currently planning on doing this in one trip (still working on getting my boss comfortable with this idea). This means I would spend about 30 days in Semey, hopefully with custody of my son for the last 10 or so days of this time. And then I will spend about a week in Almaty finishing up paperwork. In Almaty, you have to go through an interview at the US embassy and have a medical exam performed on the child at an American clinic.

From the blogs I've read and the emails I've exchanged the typical timeframe seems to go a little something like this:

Days 1-2 - Travel 6000+ miles and arrive in Almaty
Days 2or3 - Travel to Semey (on a very scary old Soviet plane)
Day 3 or 4 - Go to Baby House to meet baby!!!
Days 4-18 - Visit with baby 2 times per day for roughly 2 hours in the morning and
2 hours in the afternoon. Rest of the time is in the apartment and
some sightseeing and shopping. All of this is under the constant care
of a driver and/or translator (and I do mean constant; you're not
allowed to leave the apartment without one of the staff)
Around Day 20- Go to court. Evidently this requires a speech from the adoptive
family. The husband must speak if a couple but of course I will be
the one to make this speech since I am single. This speech must cover
certain points and it has to be memorized, no notes. Should be
interesting. Sounds a little intimidating but I'll cross that bridge
when I get to it.
Around Day 21-If 15 day appeal period is waived, which it usually is in Semey, I
could be granted custody of my son and he would come back to the apt
with me from that day forward.
Days 22-30 - Waiting on paperwork like his passport, etc to be processed. This
time will be my crash course in parenting as my dear mom will be gone
back to the states. Also should be interesting.
Around Day 30 - Fly from Semey to Almaty with new son in tow. Again on very old
scary Soviet plane. Mom will meet us there from the states.
Days 31-38 or so - Finish up paperwork, embassy appointment, and medical exam and Fly
back to the good ole USA!!

Of course, you'll all get to read the blow by blow when I travel. I plan to chronicle my journey daily or every other day at least.

I'm still working on the nursery and preparing for travel. I'll post pics of the nursery as soon as I have it together!