Finally . . . Progress!

Can you hear us screaming?  I have Sean properly trained, and he actually said to me "Touchdown, Auburn!"  We drove to Sumy (again), got to the right office to get the correct piece of paper, then Svetlana took that critical piece of paper to another office that absolutely had to have that piece of paper, and we headed to a different building 10-15 minutes away where the passport photo would be taken.  Svetlana banged on a door, which eventually opened, only to find out that on Thursdays, that office did not open until 2:00 pm.  It was only 10:30.  So we set out for the DHL office, and found it with no problem.  We went in, trying to figure out how to print the final translation I needed of the original birth certificate.  The lady was very helpful, and just let me sit at her computer and get into my email, and print it.  Easy!  So the critical package to immigration is now in the hands of DHL, set to be delivered in Missouri on Monday.  However, DHL did not take a credit card, so between the hotel bill, DHL, and the taxi fare, my hryvnias were wiped out.  No problem.  We still had plenty of time, so we found a local bank.  This was a funny experience.  Mine was either the first American passport they had ever seen, or it was a new women helping me, or both, or even a third option, but it was painful waiting for them to do all the paperwork and computer entry they did to change out my money.  But eventually, they handed it over.  Still more time to kill, so we went to lunch.  We ate at a Ukrainian restaurant (which had an American West theme).  It was very good.  We lounged around for a bit and finally it was time to go back for the photos.  This was more torture.  Svetlana would disappear in a door for a while, then reappear and go to a different door, etc.  But eventually she returned, and right as she got to the car, she started smiling and said we were done!  Tomorrow, we check out of the hotel that has been our home for about three weeks, have Julia's pizza party, and head to Kiev.  To help celebrate, the Foxes invited us over for dinner.  It is like a relay race.  We have finished our leg, and they start the whole process tomorrow.