I'll back up a little. Our visa application got to Nairobi on Sept. 10. We had noticed that lately visas were taking around 10-16 days, and so we were hopeful we would get our visa on the 23rd, or maybe the 30th. (Visas are send in a diplomatic pouch on Wednesdays and it is usually opened on Mondays). We didn't get it on the 23rd, which we knew was on the early side. But things were further complicated by the fact that there was a terrorist attack at an upscale mall in Nairobi, killing over 70 people and injuring hundreds more. Among those killed was a Canadian diplomat from CIC. So we had heard that the High Commission was closed, except for emergencies.
They were "closed" for all of the week after the attack, and most of the next week, too. I will admit to being frustrated. My understanding of "closed" was "no one is going to work" except for one or two people who would be there to address "emergencies" (in my mind, I imagined things like Canadian victims of crime in Kenya?). So I was frustrated at the idea that everyone was at home for almost two weeks.
It turns out that was hardly accurate. My understanding now is that the staff was hard at work providing consular assistance to Canadians in Kenya directly impacted by the terror attack. Arranging medi-vac transports, repatriating the deceased, that sort of thing. Important stuff.
AND- they did continue work on our visa. In fact, I believe that they notified the embassy that it was in the pouch, and that is why Martha was notified today instead of Monday. Which we hugely appreciate, as it gives us more time to arrange flights.
It is a little bittersweet. We are the only family that got our visa. The others are all still waiting. And two of the families have flights booked for the ninth that they will have to change (at large expense). So I'm sad for them.
Anyway, that is our good news for today! It is Faith's birthday, and I can't think of a better present! We are going to have the other families over for pizza and cake tonight to celebrate. We were going to go bowling, but our ride didn't work out, so we will go another day.
Thank you so much for your love and support over this excruciating process... We are almost done... And then "real life" can begin! Praise God for all the blessings in our life!
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