Passports

 

Wow, we are exhausted.  We had another very long day.  We left the guesthouse at 10 this morning. Our agenda: apply for the kids' passports.  Nothing here is easy.  Nothing.  Especially with four children in tow.

 

We arrived at the passport office.  It was crazy crowded and of course, no air conditioning.  It was already hot.  First thing we had to do was get their pictures taken.  Asa does not like having his picture taken.  He will tolerate our small camera, but barely.  The first kid went, the pics were quick and easy.  Asa was next.  They put him in the chair and pointed the camera at him and his face immediately went down into his lap.  They (strangers with big flashing cameras) tried to encourage him to sit up.  He slouched further down.   And then he collapsed into tears.  Daddy picked him up, got the tears to stop and tried to put him back into the chair.  Asa became a board. You know, the stiff, impossible to bend resistant pose kids use when they do not want to sit in the car seat or grocery cart or restaurant high chair?  Yes, that one.  And he is heavy and strong.  And he was wailing by this point.  And we were trying to be inconspicuous.

 

Next please.  Bakyt, his best friend, jumps in chair.  "Look Vladik!  Bakyt is doing it!  Look, Bakyt gets an M&M because he is sitting in the chair!  Look what a big boy Bakyt is."  Asa is looking on, no tears, and really enjoying the show Bakyt was putting on.  And then Daddy picks him up to put him in the chair.  Again, the wailing, the stiffening, and the trauma, and the not so inconspicuous white people with a screaming Asian kid.  In comes adoption agency representative. Very sweet Asian grandmother type.  Her 3 year old granddaughter was actually with us. Agency lady talks the photographer into letting her hold Asa and then photoshopping her out of the pictures.  Worked perfectly.  We now have nice passport photos and he is not wailing.  Success!

 

Once the pictures were taken, the actual applications had to be filled out.  All four of them.  In the office.  Not beforehand, but right there.  We took a seat and occasionally one of the parents would be called forward to sign something.  Mind you, we have four children with us.  Children who have never been in public before.  Never*ever*been*in*public.  At noon, agency lady takes us outside and explains that we are still not done but that the office had to close for lunch, so we had to come back.  In one hour.  We had already been there almost two hours.

 

We were trying very hard not to have the kids in public.  Things are tense here.  And now we have less than an hour to feed the kids lunch and get back to the passport office because we have another appointment at 2 pm.  We ended up at a small coffee shop and it was very nice.  It was the kids' first time to eat out.  Asa shared a chicken panini and strawberry banana smoothie with us.  The smoothie was a hit.  Big time.

 

After lunch, it was back to the passport office.  We waited our turn and finally, signed things one.more.time.  Everyone files back to the van and loads up.  And we wait.  Agency lady comes to van.  "Oh, they need one more signature."  If we were the murdering type, someone might have died at that moment.  One parent from each family followed agency lady back into the office while the rest of us sat in the NOT air conditioned van and watched a very poorly pirated Russian version of Disney's The Lion King on the van's DVD player.  And, it was way past the kids' nap time.  And we were already late for our appointment at the US Embassy to go over our immigration paperwork.

 

Finally, passport applications finished.  We headed to the US Embassy, already late for our appointment. Of course, on the way we had to stop for gas.  Because if you were driving a van load of people around to important appointments you would NOT make sure you have enough gas to last the day, would you?  Nope, not here.  We arrive at the embassy and it is truly more intense than any airport security you have ever seen.  Only US passport holders allowed inside.  One person at a time goes inside first building.  Metal detector.  Pockets empty.  Purses and bags left with security.  No electronic devices at all including cell phones and cameras.  Clear.  Walk 50 yards to the next building.  Metal detector.  Passport check.  And then into the waiting area.  One person at a time.  It took 15 minutes for all of us to get into the waiting area.  We spent 15 minutes going over everyone's immigration paperwork and got to meet the US ambassador to "here".  And then we were done. 

 

At 4 pm we finally got back to the guesthouse and were able to relax a bit.  We had the blow up pool filled with water and the kids played in the water.  It started raining and we were still letting the kids play in the water, but were told that we had to take them inside.  Apparently rainwater falling on small children causes bronchitis.  This is according to the guesthouse security dude.

 

Tonight we had our agency representative explain to Vladik that Mommy and Daddy had chosen a very special name for him and that we will be calling him Asa.  She asked if he liked that name and he said, "Yes".  We will alternate calling him Asa Vladik and Asa to transition him to respond to the name Asa.  I anticipate that we will still call him  Vladik as kind of a family nickname but for all intent and purposes, he will go by Asa. 

 

The kids missed their naps today and by 7:45 Asa was exhausted.  When it was time to pray, he began crying.  We prayed and I laid down with him in our bed.  He was asleep within 15 minutes.  We would really love it if he is able to sleep in our bed at home.  We truly believe that co-sleeping is one of the best ways to promote healthy attachment and bonding between parent and child; for all children whether they join a family by birth, adopted as newborn babies or children who join their family as toddlers or preschoolers.  We have co-slept with all four of the other kids at various stages and would love to be able to do this with Asa as well.  He does have a bed in our room as well, in case we need to make some modifications to the sleeping arrangements and for napping during the day.

 

Tomorrow we have a free day!  No plans except playing in the blow up pool and just enjoying our kids.

 

love to all of you,

mike&karla&asa