The Lowdown

While Becky and I wait for our grand departure on Saturday, January 19, 2008, I will attempt to layout what we expect to happen:

Operation Kazakhstan will begin with a flight from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Almaty, Kazakhstan in one fell swoop, requiring a little in excess of 24 hours for the complete trip. The orphanage, however, is not in Almaty but much further north in Karaganda, requiring yet another leg for the trip. We have a coordinated greeter that will meet us at the airport in Almaty to oversee our Karaganda connection and otherwise help to set us on a good foot in this foreign land. Due to a quirky itinerary, we will actually arrive in Almaty the night before our Karaganda flight, so Becky and I will get a hotel room and hopefully get some rest. Upon arrival in Karaganda, we will be greeted again, chauffeured to a small apartment that will be our temporary home, and will make our first visit to the orphanage the following day.
Now, as far as our to-be-adopted child is concerned, we do not have a "post-card" child that has already been determined for us. On our first day at the orphanage--to the best of my understanding--the orphans will be trooped out to greet the prospective parents, and the parents will then set about selecting which child they will claim as their own. The decision must be made on the first day. For all of those that I have explained this selection process too, I have had one of two responses: 1) "This sounds awful! I don't see how you could possibly bear to choose among..." 2) "Zen will take over and a child will emerge without you having to anguish." I think I have taken membership with the second camp. This is good enough for me and I have chosen not to worry further until the time comes.
In the wake of the selection process, we will continue to visit the orphanage daily for the following 2-weeks. Our visitations are in shifts, 2 visits per day (one in the morning and another after a European-long lunch break). I understand that in fair weather, parents are allowed to take their child back to the apartment or the market or wherever, but in the thick of January with the Siberian border just overhead to the north, I am not expecting too much gallivanting. The purpose of the visitations, of course, is to bond with the child and to meld the transition to a new home for the little one. Then comes the dreaded waiting period: the month long period needed to satisfy our mandatory court appearances in Kazakhstan.
Following the 15-day period of daily visits, we will not see our child again until we are able to bring him/her home. Two court dates are required to make official the adoption and make way for us to leave the country with the child. As you might imagine, herein lies the drudgery of bureaucracy. I am hoping that the actual appearances are not too arduous, but simply getting the court dates in a timely manner is what makes me anxious. Actually, the whole deal makes me anxious, but I guess that's what we signed up for.
During the lag between court dates--the first should occur not long after our visitation period concludes--Becky will return to the States and I will continue to wait in Europe, rested and ready to return to Kazakhstan as soon as I am summoned. The final court appearance will be in Almaty. Also in Almaty will be our little trooper, having been brought down from Karaganda. With baby gear and travel arrangements all in situ, the mad dash back to the U.S. will begin. In Amsterdam, a dear friend of Becky and mine from Germany, Yovanka, will climb on board and assist me for the final distances home.

Charles