Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Stalled out 12/20/2004

Our documents are currently being held by Customs in Kiev. “Shipment Exception” is the status listing at Fed-Ex tracking with the details being shown as: “Regulatory agency clearance delay.”

This is probably not unusual. When I traveled to Russia for the very first time in 1992 I made the mistake of leaving one of the zipper compartments on one of my suitcases unlocked. When I received my luggage in the states, all the contents from that section were gone, including the extra suitcase strap! I have since always made sure everything is locked up tight!

In this case, they will probably open our package, read all the contents, hopefully determine there is nothing illegal, espionage-related, or that they themselves can benefit from, and release it for delivery. Thankfully there are no checks or other monies in the package!

Now that you, my readers, have a better idea of how the system works over there, I am accepting suggestions for the best response to the question: “When will you get to travel to adopt your child?” as I get asked this question several times each week and need a better answer than ” I don’t know, maybe April or May” since it feels now like it could be anywhere between April, 2005 and December 2008. The Christian cliché answer is that we’ll get L.T. “in God’s timing”, and I really do know that and even believe it! But surely there is something I can say to people to get them to understand that the system in Ukraine is inconsistent at best and further delays are not only possible, but likely. So, bring on the suggestions, ’cause I really need a good laugh today!