Today we were on "our own". The morning started with Murat taking us and Katie and her family to the US Embassy. This time it was not nearly as crowded as yesterday. And this time we all got to go inside. As we were winding through the different lines of paying for our visas, submitting our receipts etc. etc., we met other American families their for their children's visas. They came from various parts of Russia, just recently arriving in Moscow, with stories of little towns, 3-4 hour drives to the orphanage, nothing to do during long days of waiting. Again, I felt grateful that I was in Moscow, and got to spend a total of three weeks in this fantastic city.
Finally, the consular officer came out, and gave the nuts and bolts of how everything was going to work -- how we needed to proceed through immigration upon arrival to the United States, what documents we were going to receive. She also told us that our children were going to remain Russian citizens, unless they renounce it after age 18 (the one obnoxious woman from yesterday exclaimed loudly that she'd do so immediately).... After that, the process was pretty quick and mundane -- signed some more papers, and finally received a stack of Russian documents, with official English translations -- including the adoption decree, Alexandra's birth certificate, the actual Court Order.... And then.... WE WERE DONE.
It turns out that several of the families were on the same Aeroflot flight tomorrow, so we'd see most of those guys at the airport.
It was a bittersweet evening ... my last in Moscow for a long time. We went back to Red Square, to see everything one last time. It was a gorgeous evening. The Kremlin looked imposing, majestic, mysterious as always -- St. Basil and the History Museum providing the perfect counterpoints --- and as I had done many many times before, I walked out through Resurrection Gate, looking back at this gorgeous place -- and for the first time in over 8 months, I did not know when I would see this heartstoppingly beautiful place again.
Hooray for being done :)
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