Peru - 2010 the way home

Hello everyone once again. Chris and I are relaxing in Roger's home once again. We can't thank him enough for the way he has hosted us and helped us. Since my last entry much has happened, and much has not! We went back to the Canadian embassy at 2:00 pm to check on the status of the fax needed to prove that Chris is indeed Joycegina's son. She had gone to the Canadian Passport office and did what she had to do, but the lady at the desk said the fax could take up to 3 - 4 days to be processed. I found that somewhat disconcerting to say the least. Once back at the Embassy, I discovered that the fax wasn't there yet. I had a decision to make. Either sit back and let the wheels of Gov't grind very slowly, or give them a bit of a push and see if any momentum would be gained by it. I decided on the latter. I've come to realize that in many ways, we were on our own when it came to the Gov't. The ladies at the Embassy were, and have been, the most helpful in this whole process. My own Gov't has not. : ( I had two ladies from the Embassy calling Passport Canada to try to find out what had happened to this fax. It was 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm your time. I knew that the Ottawa office closes at 4:30 pm, and by 4:15 pm they would not be taking calls, so time was pressing. After 20 minutes of waiting, one of the ladies actually called us into the secure area of the embassy, not something done very often I understand, in order to talk to someone at Passport Canada. This lady proved to be less than helpful. Neither the Embassy worker, nor myself could make her move on anything. Yes, Nancy, God is teaching me patience, but maybe I need more in quantity : ). Anyway, I did manage to get the lady in Canada to TRY to contact the Ottawa office, but, as I feared, by now that office was closing. I was not proud to be a Canadian Citizen at that time, knowing that in this building I was in was proof already that Chris was Joycegina's son. That proof was in the previous application done less than a year ago. That proof meant nothing to anyone and I find that more than a bit frustrating. So, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we weren't leaving Peru tonight. I then had the notion that it's not what you know, but who you know that gets the wheels moving in certain things, and I decided to at least give that a try. Knowing someone in my church that works in the Gov't I made a call and asked for some help. With nothing left to do but wait, we did just that. Rogers house was starting to fill with people. He is a socialite for sure. Things were getting a bit crazy for us, and we were tired, so Chris and I went to bed. Roger stays in his mother's home, and on the first floor there were some beds for us to use. Very quiet and restful. We awoke at 7 am ready to see what God has in store for us. Roger drove us to the embassy and we waited. Thankfully the lady at the embassy walked into the reception area with the fax needed in her hands. I have no idea if my friend helped with this or not, but I was just very happy to see that fax. We should be picking up our passports at noon today, and then heading out on our flight tonight, arriving back in Ottawa, Canada at 4:10 pm. There are still a few more hurdles to cover, like Peru customs, US customs, getting on our flight, etc, but we are one step closer. I'll be letting Joycegina know when we are booked on our flight and just about to enter security. She can then let you all know via the blog. So, we are hopefully one step closer to being home. Having those passports in my hand will be a good feeling for sure. When we are home, and we will be home eventually, I'll take some time to reflect on this entire experience more clearly. Lots on my mind to mull over and discuss with my MP for sure. : ) As Nancy says, we have our health, the stuff can be replaced. As Patti says, next time the video can be replaced (and I do see the importance and value of returning to Peru, especially with a new found sense of caution and .....BTW, if I haven't asked you yet Cindy, do you think you could copy all those pics on to some DVD's and snail mail them to me sometime soon. I should be arrive back in Canada about the same time they arrive at my home (tee, hee). The next time I post you a blog entry, it is my hope that it is back on Canadian soil. Thank you all again for your gracious comments. They have helped sustain us while waiting......somewhat patiently............ : )