Day 38 - Got-cha Day!

The 10 day wait is over! It is official now. We have Rimma Roge'. Today, our facilitator picked up the court decree and I accompanied her to the registrar's office to sign documents for who knows what. I think it was to get a tax ID number for Rimma, an authorization to change the birth certificate tomorrow, and paperwork to get the passport ball rolling. And then there's that whole registering and de-registering of an Ukrainian citizen, a throwback to former Soviet times.

Tomorrow at 6am, we travel to the town where Rimma was born to change the birth certificate and to get our copy. The last half of the day will be the passport application work. Then it's a wait until we get the passport. Last word is that the passport issue has been resolved and it will take up to four days to get it.

I'm fairly certain that we will not make our flight on Saturday. Everything has to fall into place by Wednesday night so we can get on that night's train to Kiev. Medical & Visa appointments would have to be done before the Embassy closes on Friday at 10 am (note to PAPs: the Embassy closes the last Friday of every month at 10 am for training). Barring a miracle, the passport wait will push us into the weekend.

Fair enough! I realized that during the 10 day wait and it's no biggie. I'm OK with being here a few more days and we can certainly change the flights. Last time we bought our own airfare, this time we went through Golden Rule (Eldo) for the same price and I don't have to sweat the details! We just call him up and he takes care of us.

So, we should be flying home sometime between Saturday the 27th to Wednesday the 3rd. I told Rimma that this will be her last week in the orphanage and Lizzie is getting prepared, albeit sadly. I am attempting to get as much love in as possible and I'm gathering friends to be with her when we leave.

Game on! These next several days promises to be a busy and fun week. Keep reading as we make our eventual homecoming! Here we come!