Dossier on its way to Kaz and House for sale

Yesterday Liana sent off our Dossier to Aktobe. She expects it to be there in 5 days or so, then around 5 days for the Kazakh translations to be added by Tanya there and sent off to Astana. So, by 13th dec it should be in Astana.

In other news, the purchase of our new home is coming along well, and tomorrow (Friday) all conditions will be waived as well. Now we need to QUICKLY sell our own home. If anyone knows someone looking to buy a nice bright End Unit 2000 sq ft 4 Bedroom/3 Bath Townhome in Ottawa, Canada, pls let me know. :) It goes on Grapevine listing today and MLS next week.

Yippeee! Last Canadian part all done! File off to Kaz tomorrow!

Yippee!!! So Dee went to the Kaz consulate today and tried his best charms on them to try and convince them to give him the complete file today. And they did!!!
Yippee! Now the Dossier is on its way to Toronto to our agency co-ordinator, the lovely Liana, and then tomorrow she will be sending it on to Kazakhstan!!! On track to hear good news in January. Keeping our fingers crossed.

And tonight we sign the papers on the offer for our new home, closing end of March-to time it with the beginning of our lives with our little one!

Wow! 1005 visitors to the blog thus far.

Just a few days back I noticed it was about 300 something. To all of you who read the blog from all over the world, thanks for being here and following us on this journey. Pls pray that everything works out nicely for us with the least amount of hiccups if at all. Power of thought and power of prayer irrespective of region, religion, caste and creed has the strength to do a lot, IMHO. :)

Here's hoping Monday/Tuesday brings some good news. Amen.

P.S.: If you or anyone you know is currently in the process of adopting a baby from Kazakhstan, and live anywhere in the world not just Canada/USA, pls send me a msg and/or write a comment to let us know how things are in your corner of the world proceeding with the process. :)

Someone is slacking at the Embassy. Grrr! Kaz Consulate update

I wonder if the people working in the consulate in Ottawa are held to any productivity standards. It surely doesnt feel as if they are. It is now exactly 1 month since we sent the Dossier to the consulate. Excuses have come easily thus far. First, he's not here, then he's here but he needs more paperwork and needs even the index sheet stamped by the External affairs ministry in Canada. Then he promises Dee (my hubby) that the file will be ready for him to be picked up on Friday. Well, today is Friday and since Dee is out of town on work, I went to the consulate. Guess what!??? Niet. Nada. No. Monsieur Consul has again gone out somewhere and the file is still not completed. When I asked them why doesnt anyone answer the phone when Iv been trying to call since morning to avoid an unnecessary trip...I get a strange look saying "we must have been busy". Everytime someone has gone there it is empty! There is no one there! And how much work do they get everyday that they have still not completed a 1 month old file, I wonder!?

This is when they have no other adoption files to work on. I wonder when the files do start trickling in, what their turn around will be.

I doubt they realise that they are controlling the time when families will be created and completed. I doubt they care.Not happy. Yes, delays are normal, but someone working in Canada should at least be more productive.

Update after Liana's meeting at the Kazakhstan Consulate

So, Liana came to Ottawa from Toronto for the scheduled meeting. The consul, however, was not available all day till 3pm. We were in a bit of a panic as her train back was at 5:30pm and we knew he probably wouldn't complete the file that day as there was hardly any time then.
She met him when he called her in at 3pm and he went through the file and asked for some more papers from Liana which she will send today and also wanted the 1st page of the document-the index page stating what all pages are there in the Dossier-to be stamped by Foreign Affairs. :) By now, we almost expect something additional to be needed/asked for. So, today, Deepak will head back to the Foreign Affairs Ministry office (thank God we live in Ottawa itself!) and request them to stamp that 1st page. Hope they dont have a problem doing that.
Then he is to deliver the file himself to the consul and request him to allow him to pick it up next week as promised to Liana that the file will be completed by 23rd Nov. Which is next Friday. Arrgh!

So, now, we wait for 23rd November.

In other news... we made the mistake of looking at new homes on Sunday. Yes, mistake. Because we fell in love with one! So, now we're wondering, how we can prepare/list/sell our own home and buy/close both homes when we dont know when we will be asked to travel to Kaz. But one can't even put life on hold in anticipation of events to come. And we would love to start this new chapter of our lives in the home we saw and fell in love with. We can already envision our little one running around in her shirt and diaper, playing hide and seek with mommy and daddy and leaving toys all around for us to pick up...you get the picture.

So, in the middle of this anxiety-filled journey we may now be throwing in a dollop or 2 more of the same. Good thing is it will keep my mind and self occupied while we wait for the process to reach the referral stage.

Diwali diyas in our home. The festival of lights celebrating the win of light over darkness, good over evil.

Yesterday was Diwali, a big festival in India, and we celebrated by going to the Sikh temple (Gurudwara as it is called) for the evening prayers, and langar (community meal which btw is absolutely delicious and just so you know...free to the public so next time in Nov find out when Diwali is and head to the Gurudwara in your area to witness this lovely celebration). We couldn't help but think that next yr, hopefully, we will be going to the Gurudwara (Sikh temple) with our little one! Fingers crossed! Happy Diwali to everyone! May the goodness in all of us always win over the evil.

A pre-baby couple's getaway and Liana has an appointment with the Kaz consulate!

Liana has scored an appointment with the consul on the 14th November! Yippee! So, wednesday next week she will come up to Ottawa from Toronto to get him to work on our dossier. Let's hope he completes it and hands it over the same day to her. Then it goes to Kazakhstan for translation into Kazakh, notarize there, legalise there and put together and off to the Ministry of Education in Astana! We hope top hear some good news by end of Jan (finger crossed), if that happens.

Dee and I are taking a short break right now, at the Couples Resort in Whitney, Algonquin (3.5 hrs from Ottawa). We love coming here every 2 yrs or so. The fine dining, luxurious suites with the in-room jacuzzi, lake views from the suites/cabins, massages, spa, did I mention the fine dining... Mmm Love this place! Its our 4th or 5th time here and its great to unwind, and enjoy great 5 course meals.

Next update:  After Liana meets Mr Consul.

Kaz consulate update

Heard back from Liana today. The Kaz consul is finally back from his trip and said is busy right now with work, so will confirm next week if L can come down to Ottawa to see him in the 2nd week of November. We dont know if that means the dossier will be legalised (or whatever else they need to do to it in the Consulate here) when she sees him or that he will give an update about when that may happen. So, for now, we have no choice but to wait for about 2 weeks to see what happens. L says if we're lucky it may get done by then, or else it can sometimes sit in their office for months. I'd like to put faith in things and hope that its the former.

Pls pray for things to go well and as fast as possible, for us. The wait is the worst past, everyone rightly says.

Another young couple from Toronto (who I have a feeling we will meet somewhere along our journey in Kaz, if not go together or be there the same time at least for part of it), got their letter from immigration that their application is also good to go. So, that's 2 couples (us and them) who look forward to completing their families and meet their children hopefully in the next 3-4 months. Fingers crossed.