"V" is for Vladimir

TOP TEN FAMOUS RUSSIAN VLADIMIRS!



10. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (born May 13, 1942) was a cosmonaut who made five flights.

9. Vladimir Vladimirovitch Mayakovsky July 1893- April 14, 1930 was one of the foremost Russian poets of the early 20th century. He was imprisoned on numerous occasions for his political views. During a period of solitary confinement in Butyrka prison in 1909 he began writing poetry.

8. Vladimir Horowitz (October 1, 1903 - November 5, 1989) was a classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

7. Vladimir Petrov (July 22, 1896 – January 7, 1966) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 24 films between 1928 and 1964. Vladimir Petrov was awarded Stalin Prize five times. I think this was like the Stalin Academy Awards- I wonder if they had a little gold Stalin?

6. Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977), wrote first in Russian, then in English, author of Lolita. I'll admit- this is the first Vladimir I've actually known. That's why he's number 6 in my book.

5. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1889-1982) is a pioneer of television. Zworykin invented the iconoscope, a television transmitting tube and the kinescope, the tube that projects pictures it receives onto a screen. He also invented the electron microscope. I was impressed so I put him as number 5! He sounds smart.

4. Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (March 16, 1927 - April 24, 1967) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was the first human who died during a space mission, on Soyuz 1. I felt sorry for him dying, so I gave him a high rank.

3. Vladimir Petrov ice hockey player, gold metalist, and former president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. I put him as number 3 because I thought he was the cute hockey player I see in the news all the time from Pskov, and I wanted to show you his picture- but it turns out he's not. I am just too lazy to re-do the numbers.

2. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (April 1870- January 21, 1924), who adopted the pseudonym Lenin was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first leader of the Soviet Union and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. Lenin was born in Simbirsk and died in Leninskie Gorki after a series of strokes after an attempted assassination. His embalmed body is on permanent exhibition in the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow.

1. Vladimir Putin, born in 1952 in Leningrad, is the current prime minister of Russia. Putin served two terms as President of Russia from March 2000-March 2008 and is considered one of the most beloved leaders of Russia.

I'm sure I forgot a few! Vladimir is a very popular name!

*On a side note: We received an e-mail from the Russian Consulate stating that they received our "Cable 37" confirming that we are cleared to adopt one Russian boy or girl up to age 2. Yipppee! They really do know about us!

Great News! (but not THE news)

I did a mobile update yesterday- but it's obviously lost in outer space! Sorry- I thought you already knew the good news!

We received our I-171-H approval in the mail yesterday from USCIS. That means- our fingerprints went through, our federal background check went through, SC DSS submitted an approved copy of our home study and all of those things orchestrated together and our approval letter and Visa 37 Cable was sent to Moscow! In layman's terms we are officially approved by the US Government to bring one darling Russian child into the United States. Or as the certificate reads "It has been determined that you are able to furnish proper care to an orphan as defined by section 101(B)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." Yipppeee!

Our fingerprints expire on 9/27/2010 and our I-171H expires on 1/13/11. Once our child has been identified we will need to file another form (I-600) requesting that specific child be granted passage into the country. As for now-we are thrilled to be one step closer!

News, but not "the" news....

On the Adoption news front: Today in the mail we were copied on a letter from SC Department of Social Services to USCIS offices. The director of human services, Patricia J. Cokley, sent a letter to the District Adjudications Officer, Diane Zedde, of USCIS enclosing a copy of our home study and verifying that "the study has been read and approved in fulfillment of SC Statute (Children's Code, Sec. 63-9-520, SC Code of Laws, 1976, amended. The letter was dated June 30th, so all of our USCIS pieces are coming together nicely. As for our Dossier, I am taking the stance that no news is good news. I am assuming now 1 month post translation of documents there were no problems. Since I don't anticipate any news any time soon, I am thinking about two options for future blog posts. Stay tuned. Mom- I promise I'll get more regular posting. It has been insano on the home front (1 dinner at home this week!)

On the global news front: No fall out between Russian and American relations with President Obama's visit to Moscow. El' President is now in Italy as I understand. I had a few news stories posted, but I didn't want to bore you, so I deleted them. That, and the fact that all reports are such a mix between very positive and very negative ones. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle and we have a ways to go "bridging the gap" between our cultures. I read somewhere that a "reset" button between the US and Russia has been set, but there is no "easy button". Our relationship is fragile and needs to be nurtured with mutual respect for each others global perspectives. They seems enamoured with Ms. Obama (as everyone seems to be) as she visited orphanages and traded gardening tips. I think she read my blog and tried a more domestic approach to winning over the Russian people. :0)

On the Deetz news front: I have bamboozled my sister into taking Course II of cake decorating. Our first class was this last Monday- we only make one cake in this class so I won't have anymore cake pics until July 28th. But I learned how to make mums and rosebuds. Oh joy!
Police have killed the serial killer living in the next county over. What a relief. This last week was eerie and made everyone rethink the "small town=safe" mentality. The murders of 5 Cherokee County folks was just heartbreaking and frightening.
This is not my mum, but I made some just like it. My mum lives in Florida.
TTFN. I love you Baby Deetz!

USCIS: Part II

Today was the day..... USCIS "biometrics" testing. Our appointment was at 1:00. We arrived in Charlotte early so we had plenty of time to have lunch and visit a baby furniture store, Bellini. Mom and Dad came with us to Charlotte, so we dropped them off at a nearby shopping center because on the bottom of our official looking appointment card (complete with watermark and "United States of America" seal that was printed in the same "font" they use for money) it said "no visitors allowed inside the waiting room". Anyway, here is a picture of the nondescript government building this time. No signs, no frills, just a vacant looking office space. We arrived at USCIS at 12:30.

This time, I wasn't even allowed to bring my purse inside. The security guard was once again, all business. This time he asked to see both sides of our hands? Hmmm..... Chad thought maybe it was to make sure we weren't wearing "fake fingers" for our printing. I think it might have been to make sure we didn't have any open wounds on our fingers. Either way, we didn't ask Gus the Bus any questions.

Gus: "Appointment cards?"

C&S: "Yes, Sir"

Gus: "Any cell phones, cameras, recording devises?"

C&S: "No, Sir"

Gus: "Passports or other I.D.?"

C&S: "Yes, Sir"

Gus: "Have a seat and fill this out"

C&S: "Yes, Sir"

We fill out a brief form, bring it to Rico behind the front desk. (Who by the way was an excellent stamper. He stamped the dates and form numbers on the appointment card and form with ease.) Chad said "Wow, you've done that a few times before, huh?" Rico: "Uhh Yeah." O.K. Rico and Gus definitely did not win "Mr. Congeniality" in USCIS University. We sit and wait for our number. We barely made it back to our molded plastic, standard government issued oatmeal colored chairs and my number is up. Glenda, who was also a woman of few words, starts entering in my information and scans in the bar code on my appointment card. I stand on this foam mat in front of a computer screen and she goes to work, spraying the finger pad screen with mystery liquid (water? rubbing alcohol? acid removing my fingerprints forever?) working a foot petal like a sewing machine while simultaneously rolling my fingers around in said mystery liquid. My fingerprints appear on the computer screen. I say "Ohhh wow! That is so cool!" Glenda says "uh huh". Ok- I've once again lost the silent game. I never was good at that game anyway. She reviews her handiwork silently, and presses enter. Each print pops up and a little green box highlights a "unique pattern" in each print. Good news, I am not a clone! Each of my prints have a unique qualifier. Cool! I keep my enthusiasm to myself this time.

Chad's number is called, I have a seat and Glenda goes to work on him. His pinky finger on his left hand doesn't want to take. Glenda rolls it over and over again. Poof, he's done in a few minutes too. He was disappointed there was no DNA swab. Personally, I don't want Gus, Rico, or Glenda swabbing anything on my person.

They ask us to fill out a comment card before we leave about the quality of their service. I check all "Excellents" even on the "customer service" question. These people are just doing their jobs, they can't help it that they are one step away from florescent lighting induced insanity. They weren't mean or rude, just incredibly bored. Maybe they should add some color to the walls and pipe in a little "mu-sac" over the speakers to make life worth living. I didn't write that on the comment card.

Anyway, we picked up mom and dad at 12:52. The whole thing only took 22 minutes! We had enough time to spare to visit the Mega-Target complete with it's own PARKING GARAGE! It was like in the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy leaves the black in white Kansas and arrives in Technicolor Oz. It was like sensory overload leaving drab USCIS to the wonderful world of Tar'get.

P.S.- We also made another very important stop in Charlotte, more on that tomorrow......

Hooray!

Our federal fingerprinting appointment cards for USCIS came in the mail today! They call it “biometrics testing” which I guess makes people feel better about spending $80 per person for the fingerprinting. It makes it seem all high-tech like something James Bond or Batman would do, not some government employee with an ink pad named Flo. It even came on officially looking paper with a watermark and seal! Like top secret stuff! Anyway, that was a lot faster than we anticipated…..
Our appointment is set for next weekend (no missing more time off work) and we’ll be “biometrically tested” in Charlotte so we won’t need to drive all the way to Charleston. Since my parents are in town, they get to join in the fun too. I will remember not to carry any laundry products in my bag this time, trust me. We are moving right along.
It’s kinda exciting because we are doing things now that expire! So just to think we may have a little one before everything “expires” in a year is an exciting prospect. Either that or we’ll be renewing everything and going through this all over again. I am definitely hoping for the first option, that someone in their infinite wisdom has found that 12 months is more than enough time to be fingerprinted, travel twice, and be home with their child in that time span. Maybe it was Flo, Biometric Tester by day, USCIS Knowledge Guru by night.

Clear.

This afternoon I noticed our USCIS check and our DSS check (for them to send our approved home study to USCIS) have both cleared the bank today. That means something right?

Possibilities:
#1-They both just like money and wanted it right away so they cashed our checks and put our paperwork back into a pile for another day.
#2- They've processed everything and have sent our fingerprinting appointment in the mail today as well.
#3- All the planets have aligned and people are actually working instead of enjoying their summer breaks/vacations.
#4- I should stop over thinking before my tiny little brain peters out. (chug-chug-chug-kaaapoof)
That's what sound it would make (FYI)

Easy-Peasy, Lemon-Squeezy

Today we ventured to USCIS (United States Citizen and Immigration Services). No, it wasn’t like that t.v. show, NCIS. I don’t know what that stands for, but there was a guy with a gun at USCIS. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

USCIS does a lot of technical stuff concerning immigration/naturalization/etc. The purpose of USCIS in our case is to file an I600-A form. Basically, that is a Petition to the United States government to allow us to bring an unknown, at this time, orphan into the country. The form itself is only one page, front and back, so that was like cake compared to the virtual mountain of paperwork we have completed. We also needed a copy of our birth certificates and our marriage license to accompany the form. (Also super easy). We paid $830.00 by check. (Easy but crappy) to file the form and pay for our fingerprints. Once the paperwork is processed, USCIS mails us a card to be federally fingerprinted. At some point, within a year of our application, DSS must directly send a copy of our Home Study to USCIS. (We paid $225 for that a few weeks ago). Then, when we are approved, a cable is sent to the Consulate in Moscow to be registered and we are sent a certificate that says we are A-OK to travel and get Baby Deetz and bring them home. Once an orphan is identified, then we must file another form with USCIS to bring that particular child into our country. (Fortunately, that doesn’t cost anything.) Really, not that bad of a process. I spent more time on the phone trying to figure out if our birth certificates needed to be original “copies” or photocopies. I brought both to be on the safe side.

The whole hang-up was the unknown, what would USCIS look like? Would it be some kinda huge government building like the Secretary of State’s office? The whole experience reminded me of the time when Heidi and I were invited to take a blimp ride…. The only gauge we had concerning a blimp was that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you know the one where Indy and his father were escaping the Nazi’s on the blimp out of Germany? It was like a grand ballroom-“Tickets please!” Ladies were drinking tea and gentlemen were reading the daily paper. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EHwxFaLyWM . The blimp we were on was not like that! It was like a hollow shell with a cockpit. We did get to fly over Sea World and Universal Studios and we even got to fly it ourselves which was totally cool (and really scary). But anyway….not like the movies. USCIS was not like Ellis Island (With the Immigrants and the Statue of Liberty and sailors hugging their girlfriends and that stuff….) It was kinda weird.

It was in Greer. If you are from this area, that says it all. Greer is a sleepy little suburb of Greenville. It is about 20 minutes from the house, isn’t this a great theme we’ve been having? Everything is only a drive away! But needless to say, it’s not in a booming cityscape like Columbia. And it was in an area that looked like a warehouse loading dock. The office was in a strip mall. It had tinted windows and signs hanging all over stating “leave your weapons and cell phones in the car” Uhhhh…. There was one car waiting for the office to open when we arrived for our 8:00am appointment. The lady was chain smoking and digging in her ear. When we got to the door she said “Y’all look like Americans”. Uhhh….thank you? I guess she was too, but the lady she was with was from Germany. It was kinda like airport security inside. There was a guy with a gun at the door. You signed in with your driver’s license, dropped your keys in the tray, put your purse through the x-ray machine. Then “step on the black mat” for the frisk up and down.

I lost our “InfoPass” appointment card and was hoping that would not tie us up. We tore the house up last night looking for it (see mountain of paperwork as described earlier). The lady at the window said “Sarah?” and said it was no problem that I lost the notice. Whew. 10 minutes and $830 later we were done. Easy-Peesy, Lemon-Squeezy. The lady was super nice. She recommended that we avoid Charleston for the fingerprinting and request that our prints be taken in Charlotte. (3 hours of driving vs. 6 hours of driving) so we hand wrote a little note to accompany our paperwork and signed it. She said if we have any trouble to come and talk to her and she’ll get us an appointment in Charlotte. Maybe we can stop by Ikea on the way home……



P.S.- Happy Birthday Grandma, I wish you were here to meet your Great-Grandchild when they arrive.... But please know that Mom is going to do a terrific job spoiling them for the both of you. You did a great job showing her the way to properly spoil a child rotten.