A Surprisingly Busy Week

Last week turned out to be a busy week, which was an unexpected blessing.  I had known that the courts were closed for three or four weeks over the holidays, that the Embassy wasn't holding appointments for two weeks, the lawyer's office was closed for two weeks, and that basically everything was closing.  Well, it turned out that some of the offices opened again for part of New Year's week, so we actually made some progress during the break.  Yay!

On Monday:
☑ we picked up the girls' passports
☑ I called the IOM (which is International Office of Migration or something like that; not Medical anything) and got an appointment.  Even making a phone call and managing to communicate something to someone is a success in this country.  Especially with these children around.
☑ we had the intake and paperwork appointment at the IOM

On Tuesday:
☑ the girls had their preliminary examination at the IOM, including getting the TB shot
☑ we had Hibiscus's hair braided (which is kind of tangentially related to getting paperwork finished, but it was an accomplishment)
☑ I emailed the US Embassy to ask for case numbers
☑ I went through all the paperwork for the Embassy, and realized there were things that I should have had figured out already, like a bazillion more copies of tax returns and employment verifications
☑ Mark and I talked back and forth about all the paperwork, and he got a package in FedEx to get me everything else that I needed

Wednesday was New Year's Day.  We had a rest day at home, with some playing and laundry accomplished.

On Thursday, we also spent the day at home, and:
☑ I met with Miss B from Abato and we had a long talk, so I was able to send information home to several other people who have been worried about how things are going over here.
☑ the Embassy emailed me case numbers for the girls, which meant that I could...
☑ fill out and submit the actual application for a US visa on-line.  I got the numbers in the late afternoon, so I ended up doing that after bedtime, so it was a late night.

On Friday:
☑ we had our final appointment at the IOM; the girls had not even the faintest reaction to the TB test, and they saw the actual doctor, who did not poke them
☑ thanks to my late-night activity, I received an email with an appointment for filing the paperwork at the Embassy: next Wednesday.  They only do intake appointments on Monday and Wednesday morning, so this was the second day available.  So less quick, but I was kind of relieved that I didn't have to have everything ready by Monday, especially with documents coming from the US.
☑ I made copies of important documents and printed out some things from email
☑ the kids went for a pony ride.  Also not exactly related, but after a week with that many errands, very important!


And that was going to be my post.  But I spent the weekend being either busy, exhausted, or irritated, and didn't get it written.  So now I will include a couple more days.  Also, the kids were supposed to go back to school on Tuesday, but the school has to move buildings and they're not ready yet, so they delayed for another week.  This is a major tragedy!  After spending a week trying to do errands with all three kids, I am sick of herding them around and they are sick of sitting around bored in some office or a car.  But there is no choice for it, so we started in together, in our wild herd of busy-child-ness.

On this Monday:
☑ we tracked down the FedEx package.  I elected to hire a car and drive over to their office in a weird part of town instead of continuing the argument that they should actually deliver it to me.  They seem to be a bit confused on this point, and every time they say things like "why don't you just come over and pick it up here?"  Because of issues like "there are many turns on the way to your house."  Or "your house is on the other side (of town) and I have to deliver all my packages on this side.  So it makes it too late for me to come over to your side, so why don't you just come get the package?"  Because you are FedEx.  Because my family in America paid a small fortune to have you deliver the package and they meant that you were actually supposed to bring it to ME.  Anyway, I gave in this time, because I actually wanted the package NOW.
☑ printed out more documents
☑ since we had a car anyway, went back to the resort with the stables and Hibiscus had a real riding lesson

On Tuesday:
☑ we spent the day at home.  I tried to get all the documents filled out and organized, which also took various calls and emails to confirm information.  And way too much filling-out.  Everything has to be done in capital letters and black ink.  You know what?  I absolutely hate writing in all capital letters.  There is something about my handwriting that makes is really difficult and painful.  And there were all these crazy legal terms, which were often confusing because they were written for someone applying for a residence visa, and usually aimed at an adult applicant.  So I kept trying to figure out if the "you" was the child, or me, or someone else.  And I had to write our address in Oregon approximately 50 million times ("what is your mailing address.  What is the sponsor's address.  What is your intended address in the US.  What is your mother's address.  What is your father's address.")  By the end, I was almost misspelling "Oregon," and my own maiden name.

On Wednesday:
☑ I had the intake appointment at the Embassy, and managed to leave all three kids at school although it hasn't started yet.  I was worried about arriving on time American-style, but this actually wasn't important, as I waited for about two hours for my appointment.  The person who took my documents told me to change a couple of things, I was able to hand her everything she wanted, and that was it.  No appointment for a visa hearing, which is the final step.  We are supposed to get a final appointment at the intake appointment, but they said with the situation in South Sudan, they are working day-to-day, and they will "call me later" with an appointment.  This is very frustrating, since we have other plans to make that are dependent on when the final appointment happens.

Now it's Thursday, and back to waiting limbo.  Nothing else to do until I hear from the Embassy.

It has been a busy couple of weeks.  After spending so much time waiting for a certain piece of paper or getting to an appointment, it has felt somewhat unbelievable to have so many things happen right in a row.  We expected this to be the lead-up all the way to the end, but it seems that once again we have hit a random and unexpected "wait until something happens" time.  How rude of those South Sudanese, to start a war right when I'm trying to finish my paperwork!