Lurkers

It's crazy to think that this blog has had SO MANY people visit it - but no one is posting any comments! I know you're out there! Post something! All you need to do is click the "0 Comments" below each post.

the bigger meaning of things

So - for the past few weeks, I seem to be pushed - tested. First, it was with a woman who was part of a project I did with a friend a few weeks ago (I blogged about in the post that refers to the song "East / West"). I am/was grateful she is out of my life - however, she is still causing storms with several of my friends. It's sad when a business relationship causes such chaos in people's personal lives!

Well, then there was the mail man. Long story short - there is a guy at the Bristol post office who takes his job a little too seriously. He has all these "rules" he never tells anyone - but expects you to abide by. I almost went postal on him (no pun intended) - I got so mad, I had to hand the phone over to my hubby!!

Of course, there was the whole situation with the Embassy that ruffled my feathers.

Now there is a client of my husbands...the client has an employee who is incompetent...so instead of listening - he is always thinking of the next thing to say to cover his butt. In the business of advertising, that is a bad deal. He is one of those people who start every comment by saying "with all due respect, ma'am...." and all I hear is "I'm covering my butt right now and bla blaing on and on to buy time until I can come up with something to say"

My blood pressure must be sky high. I really feel like I am going to completely lose my temper - like I am being pushed and pushed and pushed - to see how much I will take before I go completely ape on someone. That's right - I said ape!

Then I wonder...why?

What am I supposed to be learning? What is the bigger picture? Am I being tested because this is how the judge is going to treat me - and I need to get comfortable with biting my tongue?

I just don't get it.

Tornado hits Nappannee

A Tornado touched down Thursday in a small town called Nappanee - this is very close to our house. Thursday night, we were on our way to Lowe's, and the radio weather guy came on and said, "dangerous storm system heading East...towns in the path of the storm are Goshen, Dunlap, Bristol" Well, we were in Dunlap, heading to Goshn from Bristol. Anyone who knows me at all knows I DO NOT like storms!

After eating dinner, and thinking that all the rhetoric on the radio and TV about the storms was a scare tactic...we learned about what was happening a little south of us.

I saw some photos today of the destruction on another blog...

Derry Prenkert: Tornado Touch Down in Nappanee

on traveling to Russia

This is a Fodor's travel reporter on a trip to Russia. Pretty accurate from what I read.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=35068558

more bla bla from Embassy

We FINALLY got a note from MArk Seibel - the man from the Embassy who I spoke with. Here is what he said:

Dear Mrs. Friend:

The Consul General's letter regarding his trip to Irkutsk was intended to provide an overview and general assessment of the trip for all of the families with pending adoption cases in the region. I do want to assure you that information about the specific problems you have encountered was provided to the regional court, as well as the Prosecutor’s and the human rights offices for the Irkutsk region. This includes the problems you noted regarding apostilles and medical examination requirements. We also specifically underscored the problem of allowing independent adoptions in our follow-up correspondence to the court, and pointed out that the regional court's position on this issue differs from that of judges in other regions in the Russian Federation.


In your case, we understand that there is no need for you to request refusal documentation from the court, as your attorney already has correspondence from the court. While I cannot give legal advise, I would offer a couple of ideas based on the advice given to the Consul General by the Prosecutor’s office and the regional human rights representative. You could run these ideas by your attorney to see if she thinks they are worth pursuing. As noted in the Consul General's letter, the chairman of the court said that all persons have a right to appeal to him if their dossier is rejected for any reason. In your case, the judge seems to be stalling you with perpetual demands for additional documentation, which constitute at least an interim rejection of your dossier. It seems to me that your attorney might be able to appeal that decision to the chairman of the court. I would be happy to provide you with a document from the Hague working group on apostilles that may help make the case that the judge's rejection of those documents was not proper (the same document we provided under cover of our diplomatic note). If the chairman of the court were to reject an appeal, you would at that point have the right to bring the matter up as a complaint to the human rights office in Irkutsk or to the office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights in Moscow. Such a course of action could raise the profile of your case and bring the judge's actions under the scrutiny of others. We would also be happy to speak to your attorney if she wishes to call us, or to correspond with her, to explore ways in which we might be of assistance.

Best regards,

Mark Seibel

So - what does this mean? Your guesses are as good as mine! I'm open to intrepertation!

Well - we FINALLY heard from the Embassy. Below is the letter that we got via email today. Apparently it was also mailed - but because I've been trying to get in touch with them every day for a week...I am sure they decided emailing it to me would shut me up.

Let me say that I am HIGHLY disappointed with the Embassy. This letter is clearly a form letter, and doesn't address ANY of the specific issues about our case that was to be brought up in Irkutsk.

bottom line...talking with, sharing information with, and putting ANY hope in the Embassy helping was a colossal waste of time.

______________________________





Embassy of the United States of America Moscow, Russia
October 15, 2007


Mr. and Mrs. Friend
55754 County Road 19
Bristol, IN 46507

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Friend:

I write to thank you for providing us with information about the difficulties you have encountered in attempting to adopt in the Irkutsk region, and to update you on our efforts to resolve the ongoing impasse there.

I traveled to Irkutsk last week and met with senior members of the Governor’s office, the Chairman of the Irkutsk Regional Court, the regional human rights office, the General Prosecutor, officials in the Ministry of Education, and adoption facilitators serving American families in Irkutsk.

I was encouraged by the fact that the Governor’s staff, the chairman of the court, and others were willing to meet with me to discuss your problems. I presented the chairman of the court, the prosecutor’s office, and the human rights representative with case summaries based on the information that you provided, and asked that they review your case. My exchanges with these officials underscored the fact that there remains deep skepticism on the part of local authorities and the general public in Irkutsk toward international adoptions, notwithstanding official Russian government support for adoptions. Progress on this issue is likely to be slow at best.

That said, the chairman of the regional court in Irkutsk affirmed to me that whenever a judge rejects an adoption dossier before the court, the judge is obliged to provide a written notice of the denial, including the legal reasons for denial. He also affirmed that any person whose case is denied has the right to appeal the decision to the chairman of the regional court. You or your representative have the right to demand such a written notification if the court has rejected your dossier. This document would be an important part of any appeal you or your representative may file with the chairman of the court.

If you have a copy of a notice of rejection from the court, or can obtain one from your representative, I would encourage you to send a copy to the Embassy (unless you have already done so). This information will be helpful to me and my staff as we follow up with the authorities in Irkutsk, which we were encouraged to do.

I also met recently with a senior Ministry of Education official in Moscow to urge expeditious consideration of pending applications for accreditation. As you know, the absence of accreditation for most of the adoption service providers operating in Irkutsk is an ongoing roadblock, as these providers are unable to do business with the regional court. The Ministry of Education indicated that several more adoption agencies may be re-accredited in the near future. I am hopeful that progress in this area will remove a major obstacle for many of the pending adoptions in Irkutsk.

Although the situation in Irkutsk remains difficult, we will continue to work with local and federal authorities on your behalf and on behalf of the many young Russian orphans who deserve better.

Please accept my best wishes.





Sincerely,



Kurt Amend
Consul General

laundry

Well, today we've been home a month...1 month ago, I was having the WORST travel experience of my life!

Today - I FINALLY got caught up on laundry! I'm not kidding - it was OUT OF CONTROL! I feel like we've been going a million miles an hour since our plane touched down in South Bend. I finally had a few days off to catch my breath - so I did laundry. Oh ya, and cleaned my office (it was bad!)

So tomorrow, I can hit the ground running again - while we wait to hear something from Irkutsk (or Moscow!)! Currently, it is 8:10am in Moscow, and 1:10pm in Irkutsk...ya, I am staying up late 'just in case'!

updates

Many of you have been emailing me wondering if we've heard anything about the meeting(s) in Irkutsk. We've heard nothing. Which isn't uncommon. Anytime there is a meeting, it takes days for us to hear anything. I promise, as soon as I know anything, I will post it here.

East from West

The past 8-10 days have been yuck for me and one of my close friends. It is all wrapped up in a work project. One thing that I've learned through the adoption process is to sit back and wait to react...not something I've been known for in the business world prior to a few years ago. I was very reactive, and took everything personally. With the garbage surrounding this recent project, I felt myself going back to that reactive way...at one point, I was ready to get on the phone and tell 'so-and-so' exactly what I thought! Probaby not the best idea...I got in my car, and this song came on. It's one I hear all the time - but really spoke to me this week - for MANY MANY reasons...so I thought I would share it.

Casting Crowns
East To West

Here I am Lord,
and I'm drowning
in your sea of forgetfulness
the chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I dont want to end up where you found me
and it echoes in my mind,
keeps me awake tonight

I know you cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
and I stand before you now,
as if I've never sinned
but today I feel like I'm just one mistake away
from you leaving me this way

and Jesus can you show me
just how far the east is from the west
cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
rising up in me again
in the arms of your mercy I find rest,
cause you know just how far the East is from the West
from one scarred hand to the other.

I start the day the war begins
endless reminding of my sin
time and time again your truth is drowned out
by the storm I'm in
today I feel like I'm just one mistake away,
from you leaving me this way and Jesus can you show me,
just how far the East is from the West
cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
rising up in me again
in the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know
just how far the East is from the West
from one scarred hand to the other.

I know you've washed me white,
turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through,
to get me through this night
can't live by what I feel
but by the Truth your Word reveals,
I'm not holding on to you
but you're holding on to me,
you're holding on to me

Jesus you know
just how far the East is from the West
I don't have to see the man I've been,
rising up in me again
in the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know just how far the East is from the West,
just how far,
from one scarred hand to the other.

updates on documents

Nothing can be easy. How long do I need to be at this to know that? Seriously???

Last week, I spent some time on the phone with Mark Seibel from the Embassy. Yes - the same Mark Siebel I sent the email to (see in post about the Embassy letter). Well, he is a really nice man, and is actually DOING something. The Chief Deputy Council bla bla bla...is going to Irkutsk this weekend to meet with the Chief Judge on behalf of American families. THIS IS CRAZY! Our case is the most complete and most current, so Mr. Siebel was interested to talk with us at length.

We thought our (new) documents would be presented to the Judge next week - so the timing was going to be perfect.

But then we learned that the Judge has decided to take a vacation until Nov. 5. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The good news is that the Chief Judge will accept our documents since Judge Stepanova will be out.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the meeting with the Embassy and Chief Judge. I am sitting on pins and needles!!!