THE BLACK HOLE

I have been wanting to give you an update, but the last week has been anything but clear cut. If you read my last update, you know that we were told that our paperwork was sent to the US Embassy in the Philippines on September 5. We were looking for something in the mail indicating a time that we could travel to Manila. Well, a few days later, Allen just couldn't stand it any longer. He called the US embassy in Manila to see if anyone might know the status of our paperwork. After numerous recordings, he FINALLY was able to talk to an English-speaking person. This person confirmed that our case was indeed in the computer, but they hadn't received the paper copies. After receiving the paperwork, they would process it and send ANOTHER packet of paperwork back to the US for us to fill out. The process (according to this person) would normally take three months. THREE MONTHS??? This can't be! All I can say is that Allen was rather frustrated after speaking with this woman. It was evident that he seemed to understand the process much better than she did. In other words, we are not sure she really knew what she was talking about.?? It feels like we are in a black hole. Allen has tried to talk to someone else at the embassy, but always gets caught in (what he calls) "phone jail". It is next to impossible to talk to a real person. So...here we sit. Allen has been very tenacious in trying to connect with someone in the Philippines to see if there is some way to move things along.

NEWS FLASH!! - I just talked with Allen. He has made a few more calls today and managed to make some headway. He had been trying different numbers that were listed on the State Department website to see if he might have any luck. After navigating through "ten portals of phone options" (his description!) he talked to someone who was actually quite helpful. This person was evidently located in Washington D.C. She pulled up our data base which includes all that has happened to this point regarding the immigration. We now have case numbers for all three of our kids (which will be very helpful if we need to reference them). She also said that "No, you do not need to fill out another packet of paperwork." (YEAH!) All paperwork from here on out will be completed in the Philippines. The bad news is that it could still be several weeks until we hear anything. She said to call her back in 7-10 days.

As an aside, today I was at the high school pool when a girl on the middle school swim team came up to me and asked if we were adopting three kids from the Philippines. Her name is Angel and she knows Roselyn from when she lived at CSC. Angel and her sister came to Cambridge about 1 - 2 years ago. I knew of her but had never met her. She looked so sweet in her little swimsuit and cap. I am so glad that she introduced herself to me! I will look forward to the time(s) when she and Roselyn can get together. Very cool.

Wow, if you made sense of all of that, you are amazing. I know that what I just wrote is confusing...but that is my news for the day. Thanks for checking and thanks for being interested.