Progress!

Our last stop of the evening; the Tsurupinsk Courthouse

Well, as I write, Igor is in Kiev with our local papers. Praise to God in the Highest! What a day yesterday. Our morning started with going to see the local administration building first, thinking papers would be ready at a.m. We were told to come back later. So we headed to the orphanage to see the director, hoping she would be ready to put her necessary signature on some papers. After much conversation with Igor, she reached for a pen and signed. After that, we went to visit with Maxim. Igor left us with the understanding that he would be back to pick us up for a 1 p.m. appointment back at the administration building. At 2, he had not come. At 3 he had not come. Around 3:10, he arrived, and said okay, let's go. He whisked us to the courthouse and we signed papers there, then off to the administration building again. The people there told us to come back tomorrow, as the papers there were not yet prepared. Igor boldly but civilly insisted that since we had been told we could come back and get the papers that day and he had already purchased a train ticket to Kiev, we were not leaving until the job was done. Forty-five minutes later we met the top woman there. She had concerns about the issue with Maxim having a half-brother, but after discussing the situation with Igor and us, and how the boys' mother made the split years ago, she signed the paper.
Next, a mad dash back to the court to drop off a paper. Then Igor rushed to a copy place (they just happened to be working late that day, as this was after five). It took him at least an hour there to make three copies of our entire dossier and the local paperwork. During this time, Daniel and I were waiting in the car, hoping the people at the courthouse would really stay there for Igor as he was expecting. He assured us they would but we couldn't quite believe it. Around 6:30, Igor had the copies in hand, rushed around the corner to the courthouse, and they were there ready to receive everything. Igor says that if you're told you're the last client of the day, it really means the people will wait while you run back and forth and get the job done.
When Igor came back out of the courthouse, he had a judge's assistant with him, who he had offered a ride to, since she'd stayed late for us.
Last of all, Igor drove very fast back to the flat, so he could quickly pack and make the 8:00 p.m. train to Kiev.
So now that you've read this hair-raising update, you can all breathe a sigh of relief. We certainly did.

Right now, we expect the court date will be Monday, December 1 (preliminary introduction to the judge) and Tuesday, December 2 (actual hearing). Then we are into the 10-11 day waiting period with Maxim at the flat.

More loose ends to tie up in Kiev after that, but we feel like the hurdle is not quite so big now.

Today, Daniel and I took the bus to Tsurupinsk by ourselves (we're on our own while Igor is in Kiev), which went fine. We're still trying to figure out the payment system. Basically, if the driver has no assistant to take payments, there's a flat fee of 4 Rivna (about $.75) but if he has an assistant to walk through the bus taking money and giving change, we may ride for about 3.80 Rivna. These are one prices for a thirty minute ride. Not bad.

We may be joining some other Americans for Thanksgiving. Debbie, an email friend, put us in touch with someone here who knows of a gathering and we received an invitation. Hopefully, this will work out, but knowing our way around town without Igor and figuring out complicated transportation will be what determines our day. We'll see.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. Hopefully, we'll post again tomorrow.