US Consulate Interview

Good News….we are nearing the end of our journey!  Today was the interview at the US Consulate for Miriam’s immigration visa to enter the US.  I felt very anxious about the interview knowing that any glitches would delay our return.  Today is the 6 week mark of our trip and I am so ready to be home. 

Our consulate appointment was at 1pm and we were told to arrive early to get in line.  We waited in line from 12:30-1:30 before we finally made it into the building.  Then we waited some more inside.  Thankfully, I remembered it was a long wait the last time and took activities for the girls.  Prior to the actual interview I had to submit various paperwork and I was relieved that I had everything they requested (thanks to the excellent preparation of the South African adoption agency who compiled a giant binder filled with paperwork for me to bring to the interview).  The immigration officer was an American.  He was friendly and very helpful in expediting the visa process.  He actually tried to get the visa printed today (which is unheard of).  He told us we could return at 4pm to see if it was ready.  Unfortunately, the visa wasn’t ready. We waited until closing time at 5pm but it wasn’t finished.  We are to return tomorrow at 10am to pick it up, which is still amazingly fast. 

So, if all goes as planned we will receive Miriam’s visa on Wednesday and fly home on Thursday!  Woohoo!  We are celebrating and thanking God.

The travel agency has been phenomenal at getting last minute fares at low prices.  We are using adoptionairfare.com and they specialize in humanitarian plane tickets.  They were able to book one way tickets today for us to fly home on Thursday and we can even cancel them tomorrow (without a penalty) if needed.

On the other hand, today was a really rough day with Miriam.  Unlike the beginning of our trip where she ate everything in sight, meal times were power struggles today.  At lunch she didn’t want to eat at all.  We were eating early before the consulate interview and I wanted her to eat so she wasn’t miserable and hungry at the consulate.  At first she didn’t eat, then she said she had to go to the toilet (which was just a ploy to leave the table).  When I tried to help her take a few bites she clamped her mouth shut and pushed herself away from the table.  In the end, I begged, cajoled, and force-fed her about half her lunch.  Tonight at dinner she ate her chicken without complaint but didn’t want to eat her carrots (which have been one of her favorites until tonight).  When I said she couldn’t have more chicken until she ate her veggies then all of sudden she had to go to the toilet and the routine from this morning started all over again.  We were eating really late, so tonight I told her she could choose to eat her carrots or go to bed.  She chose to go to bed.  Of course, then she was upset when she had to go to bed and Miranda didn’t…I hope this is a not a prolonged developmental stage.