A bad day for the home team

Well in all the frustration of trying to get the broadcast for yesterday's loss to South Carolina (we were having major audio problems), I forgot to write a blog. The news wasn't particularly good either. We do have the passport in hand now, which is a good step but there was a bit of trouble with one of the papers that need need to go with us to the Consulate. Plus, the Consulate is so busy right now, they hadn't even looked at our papers yet and would not give us a interview date. So, we are definitely not going in this week. Hopefully Monday. Barbara is going to deal with the paperwork problem today and then take it over personally to beg for a Monday visa appointment. I have also spoken personally with the lady a the Consulate who is very polite but has not be able to give me an answer about when we can come in.

Wait till you hear what the paperwork problem is. Kerwin was taken in for a physical several months ago but you do not pick up the physical form until you have the passport in hand. Don't ask me why things are done in this order it makes no sense to me. So when she went to pick up the physical form yesterday she sees that somehow they failed to document that Kerwin is handicapped even though she specifically told the doctor this and he said to her, "Yes, I can see that." I was there and heard the whole exchange. However, somewhere between him examining Kerwin and the report being written the fact the he had CP and was deaf was forgotten. So now we have to take in documentation of Kerwin's disabilities so they can fill it in on the "Diagnosis" blank. AAAHHH! The incompetence.

If you don't care to read my diatribe you can just stop here because the news for today is over. But I have yet to really rail on the government or the culture or the way thing are done here but I am about to. I'll probaly go back and delete this later but for those of you who caught it now, here it is. I have a tendency to lose my tolerance and ability to remain focused toward the end of something. I found this to be true when I spent the summer in Russia. By the last two weeks I was already home and my tolerance for that place, what we were doing, and my teammates changed drastically. I feel the same thing happening here. There is one thing I don't think I could ever deal with if I were called to overseas missions. I cannot just take this attitude of, "Well, that's just they way they do things here and you have to just accept it." Well I do not. I do not accept it. It is pitiful. It's not just different, it's worse. If you have seen better you cannot deny it. I'm sorry. I know incompetence and corruption and apathy occur all over, but nowhere is it tolerated and expected like it is here. It's wrong to have to always wonder if every person you talk to is lying to you. It's wrong that people in offices that are supposed to be helping children, the "employees" are sitting around playing computer games, sleeping, laughing it up with their buddies, and just generally passing time. And unfortunately I do not have any great overarching plan for fixing this place. It's not an easy (or even possible) thing to do. I do, however, reserve my right to be disgruntled.

These annoyances not withstanding, we are all happy and generally doing well. It's very nice to have Mike around to give me a few minutes to myself every now and then. Kerwin is definitely enjoying having both Mom and Dad around. We actually told him that we are going to be leaving soon. He is much more excited about getting in the "big airplane" at this point than he is about going home. But he is excited about that too. Hoping for good news this afternoon.