A Breakthrough

We have a court date, November 3! After sending a frustrated email with questions to Kay at TOL on Sunday, Daniel asked the Bulgarian agency for an update and we got the news today. We don't have a possible travel date yet, but Daniel said he would let us know as soon as he does. Usually it is 4 to 8 weeks after court, so we are still hopeful that we will have Gracie home before the end of the year. Please be praying that everything goes well at court and that we get a travel date for the beginning of December.

The Beginnng of Bulgarian Winter

During the wait, I have continued to read the Sofia News headlines everyday on http://www.novinite.com/ , so I found out this week that Bulgaria turned their clocks ahead for daylight savings time and that today was a special celebration in the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church. Today, October 26, is St. Dimitar Day which heralds the start of winter. According to tradition, St. Dimitar rides a red horse and the first snowflakes fall from his snow white beard. Here is an excerpt from the Sofia News:

The church holiday is in honor of the Holy Martyr St Dimitar. Legend has it that he was born in the town of Thessaloniki. After the death of his father, he became a chief of town, accepted the Christian religion and started teaching the residents of Thessaloniki that they should not believe and pray to idols but that they should open their hearts to Jesus Christ.

That was why emperor Maximillian ordered that Dimitar was thrown in a dungeon. Even locked in prison, St. Dimitar continued spreading his faith among the people and because of that he was murdered - speared in the ribs. After some time, during the digging of a ditch, St. Dimitar's holy remains, which radiated healing and fragrant "miro", were discovered.

On this day traditionally, seasonal workers were paid and superstitions abound. For instance, if the first visitor of the day is young and wealthy, it is thought to signal financial prosperity and health for the household. If the first visitor is male, an abundance of male animals are expected in the herds, etc. People with a name derived from Dimitar celebrate this name day with parties and this is a popular day for wedding engagements. This is St. Dimitar:

Busy Mark

I think Mark is "nesting." Last week, he had the last sweet gum tree cut down in the back yard, so those little prickly balls won't hurt Gracie's feet when she plays outside. Then Mark and Adam tried to take down the old clothesline poles yesterday...After digging a three feet wide hole that was three feet deep, they decided that whoever put in those clothesline poles did not intend for anyone to ever remove them. I think he is going to cut the poles out of the concrete to finish that job. After working for over an hour, they still couldn't budge the poles.

Mark is assembling the dresser and toy chest today, so parts are spread all over the family room. He already finished the headboard and night stand, but we need a replacement for one panel of the headboard since it looks like it has a smudge across the front. For relatively inexpensive furniture, from Target, it has a nice white finish and is solid wood. I think Mark is enjoying putting it all together anyway. He is antsy, too. It is so nice to go into Gracie's room and see the bed all made up with her bedspread, pillows, and the doll just waiting for her. We are really glad that we got two identical dolls, so she has one with her in Bulgaria and one dolly waiting for her at home. Here's the handiman at work.

A Tiny Break in the Clouds

Since we hadn't heard any news, I emailed Kay from TOL tonight and got an immediate response. She forwarded this email from Bulgaria that said:   

The dossiers of Dunham and XXXXXXX families are already in the Court, we still haven't a date for the hearing, but it will be soon. So could you write us urgently if the families already have their updated Medical letters.

The good news...the MOJ has signed our documents and sent them to court. I was confused by the email since we updated our medical letters in August and the date of the cover letter for sending them to Oregon was dated August 29. The letters should have arrived in Oregon and been forwarded to Bulgaria a month ago. I emailed Kay back and she said she would double check. The problem is that medicals are only good for 6 months and our original medicals were dated April 1. Expiration: October 1. If we have a court date on the old documents, our medicals won't pass "inspection." I am hoping that this request for new medicals is standard procedure and that they already have our documents...

Kay is going to double check on the medicals...She thought they would have immediately been sent to Bulgaria a month ago...If not, I am hoping we don't have a court date before the new documents arrive. Now that is a switch; I'm hoping NOT to have a court date in the next week. Hmmmm

9 Weeks and Still Waiting

On September 5th we were told that it would take 5 days to get the MOJ signature and 20-30 days to get a court date...Today is 35 days and we have heard nothing. I called Kay, the International Program Director at TOL, last night because we really wanted reassurance that there is not a problem. She said that there are two other families besides us who got caught in the vacation/election/government switch, and she already sent an email to Bulgaria yesterday to try to get an update. Somehow it is comforting just to know that we aren't alone. I'm sorry others are waiting, but at least I know that our paperwork isn't lost at the bottom of a stack somewhere. Kay is hoping that we already are scheduled for a court date, and that the Bulgarian agency had just neglected to notify us. Apparently, she didn't hear anything because she didn't call today, and she promised to let us know as soon as she got a response.

She did tell me that the laws have changed and on the day of court, Grace will be officially ours. The 7 day waiting period for protest has been eliminated. After court the Bulgarian agency, Vesta, will be able to predict fairly accurately how long it will take to get the new birth certificate, passport, and embassy appointment, so we should have about 4 weeks notice prior to travel. Kay said that she hopes it will only be 4 weeks instead of the 6 to 8 weeks after our court date before we can travel to pick her up. She is still hopeful that we will have her home this year. Sometimes Kay gives unrealistically positive time lines, so I really expect that it may be 2 more months of waiting...but less would be better.

Getting (More) Restless

Since we hadn't heard from Tree of Life concerning our documents or a court date since September 16th, we sent an email to Daniel yesterday to see if he had received copies of the corrected documents (the ones with our name misspelled) and to get an update. We got an email back with one corrected document from Bulgaria attached, the "Certificate 17 Ministry". Our name IS correct. Daniel also said he was going to contact the attorney in Bulgaria (Milena) and that he would let us know when he hears something. It would be great to hear good news tomorrow for Mark's Birthday. Yes, I'm praying for birthday news...Daddy would like that, too.

We also got news from Kay at TOL today explaining several changes in procedure. The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice has begun allowing the documents of waiting children to be sent to multiple agencies at the same time. Although this sounds like good news for the children, it really changes the adoption process in negative ways. Now, more than one family from different agencies could request the same child and the Ministry of Justice would then have to make a determination. It also means that parents will be under time pressure to make a decision and may not feel free to research the child's medical needs. Can you imagine deciding to adopt a child, completing all of the documentation, mailing it to Bulgaria, and having the MOJ tell you that someone else chose the same child. It also means that many prospective adoptive parents are starting to "shop" for children through multiple Bulgarian agencies without having their dossiers completed and without actually checking on the integrity of the agency who would handle their adoption. Sometimes agencies are presenting a less than honest profile of the special needs of the children to encourage "business" which could result in children being placed with families who are unprepared for their physical and emotional needs.

I am really proud of Tree of Life for deciding not to participate in these questionable practices. They have decided to restrict the information that they will release from the children's files only to their own clients who they know have researched their agency, spoken with previous clients, and understand the adoption requirements and timelines. Tree of Life is one of the most respected agencies in Bulgaria because they continued working in the country during the 5 year slowdown (and the others stopped doing charitable work and adoptions), so they are hoping that their response to this policy will encourage the Ministry of Justice to change it. In addition, the Tree of Life attorney has been invited to attend the next meeting of the International Adoption Council, where I am sure this controversial policy will be discussed.

I am so glad that we don't have to worry about these changes...Our paperwork has already completed these initial stages and the MOJ has already approved our adoption proposal. Whew!

Novinite News

Since I can't get any direct news about Grace, I settle everyday for indirect information about the country of Bulgaria. In addition to following a couple of blogs from other adoptive parents and checking the daily weather forecast, I read, well actually, I skim the headlines and read a few articles here and there from the digital version of the Sofia Morning News. Over the past few months, here are summaries of a few of the most memorable (but not very positive) news stories:

Bulgaria Police Warn Parents of Sofia Syringe Stabber: This man was injecting children with an unidentified liquid in a syringe. To date they have a composite sketch of the man, but have made no arrests.
Eleven Patients Infected with Hepatitis C in Bulgarian Hospital: Reuse of syringes was blamed for the epidemic.
Bulgaria Second in Europe Smoking Research: 46% of Bulgarian men and 32% of Bulgarian women smoke. Of course the newest article tells about the increased tobacco tax that was passed this month.

Bulgaria Investigates Consecutive Draws with Same Lottery Numbers: Lottery officials drew the exact same lottery numbers two days in a row, and decided that there was no evidence of corruption. Which is interesting considering the next article...

Bulgaria Most Corrupt in Central, SE Europe - TI Report: The Global Corruption Report of 2009 found that 54% of business owners said that corruption occurs often or always in Bulgaria, and one-third said that corruption had a negative impact on their businesses.

Another Election, Another Government in Bulgaria: The GERB Party (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) won the election which was the 7th parliamentary election since 1989-90 when Bulgaria moved away from having single party communist rule. Bulgaria's GERB party is newly developed since the last election, which shows how volatile the government is at this point. This election has caused increased uncertainty about adoptions in Bulgaria.

Health Minister Reports First Swine Flu Death in Bulgaria: 72 cases of swine flu have been reported in Bulgaria.

Light Quake Shakes Southwest Bulgaria: A small quake of 2.7 on the Richter Scale occurred 100 kilometers from Sofia but most citizens did not notice it.

Bulgaria Plans to Adopt Euro by 2013: Bulgaria still uses the lev.
Bulgaria with Worst Healthcare System in Europe: Bulgaria lacks patient protection, access to new innovations, and medicines as well as having the lowest patient outcome rating of 33 European nations.

15 Bulgarians Dead as Boat Sinks in Macedonia Lake: This tragedy in Ohrid caused Bulgaria to cancel all Unification Day celebrations across the nation. Unification Day is a celebration of the treaty between Bulgaria and the Ottomans in 1885.

Bulgaria Bishop: God's Wrath over Madonna Concert Caused Ohrid Tragedy: The Bulgarian Bishop said that God had punished Bulgarians for too much celebrating and partying at the Madonna concert in Sofia by causing the Ohrid Tragedy described  in the above article.

Bulgaria Fire Dancing Gets UNESCO Protected Cultural Status: On our last day in Bulgaria, Mark and I saw traditional Bulgarian dancers and watched a man dance on fire and eat hot coals. This man actually danced across the pit of coals several times...