Embassy Day
Tuesday (9/22)
Embassy Day!
We drove to the U.S. Embassy for our interviews with the U.S. government and for our final hurdle before taking Mihret home with us. There was some drama in the moments leading up to our appointment because one of the families had been informed that the Embassy did not have all of their paperwork. Without the paperwork, no visa approval. Without the visa aproval, no flight home with their daughter. Not good.
We arrived at the Embassy and were told very explicitly, “No pictures.” This is true with all government buildings in Ethiopia, but they were especially serious when it came to the Embassy. No cameras. No cell phones. No potential weapons of any kind.
We entered a small holding area where we went through secrurity one by one This included putting any large items like diaper bags and purses through an x-ray machine. Without thought, I put the diaper bag onto the conveyor belt. A few seconds later, the security guard asked, “Sir – do you have any cameras or cell phones in your bag?”
“No,” I replied.
“Are you sure?” She asked. “I saw a cell phone in your bag.”
So I stood there and emptied the diaper bag, looking for the elusive cell phone. I couldn’t find it. After what was probably just a minute or two (although it felt like decades), I finally looked in a hidden pocket in the diaper bag and found it under a bib, some tissues, and a packet of formula mix. Christy and I had completely forgotten about her phone. I’m glad they were understanding and didn’t send the guys carrying the big guns after me.
With the cell phone safely placed in their care, I quickly threw the stuff back into the diaper bag and entered the Embassy. As I was walking out of the security area, I heard the guard ask another member of our travel group if he’d left a cell phone in his bag. He was just as flustered as I was when they asked me.
“Just say yes,” I said with a smile. “Because she knows you forgot about it.”
The waiting area was similar to a visit to any Bureau (or Department) of Motor Vehicles. A bunch of stiff chairs with drab walls and an intercom that was so muffled you could only understand every-other word. But at least there was a play area for the kids.
Mihret sat with me and I discovered all of her tickle spots and played peek-a-boo with her. She also pulled up on my arms and stood on my lap. I was almost in tears when she did this because doctors had warned that she might not ever have the strength to even consider standing and walking.
As we waited for our turn with the representative from the Embassy, many of us gathered with the family that was having visa issues and prayed that the bureaucratic mess would be resolved. While we were praying with them, our name was called and we went in for our interview.
The interview probably lasted 5-10 minutes. And that was it. We were approved. We went back into the waiting area and the rest of the families applauded. We did that for every family as they came back in. We had jumped through every hoop that was before us and now we were on the brink of bringing our children home with us! There was definite cause for celebration.
At the last minute, the family’s visa problems were resolved. Yet another confirmation that God was at work through this process!
After the Embassy appointments, we stayed in the hotel for the rest of the evening; eating dinner with some of the other families and beginning to prepare for the long flight home.
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That picture is one of my favorites that I have seen 🙂 I get nervous here going through securities and such hoping I didn’t scatter brainly (that’s not a word) forget something. I could only imagine how nervous one would be in another country!!
It certainly rattled me. Not nearly as much as having to get the full-body scan in Indy because something I accidentally left in my pocket set off the metal detector.