Two Years Ago on Dec.22nd-23rd

Monday was a pretty boring day. We waited around all day at our hotel hoping the phone would ring and the USCIS would tell us, "We got the cable from Denver and we're now ready to offer you an interview." But, instead, nothing happened. So, on Tuesday, we decided to take a taxi cab to downtown Bangkok to see what we could do to hopefully get something moving in our case. Instead, when we got there we were told that they had not gone across the street to the Embassy to get the cable, yet. We were also told that we had not given them sufficient proof that her parents had truly relinquished their rights and that the substitute document in place of the original birth certificate would not suffice. While they told us the paperwork we had submitted was lacking, they didn't give any clue as to how to rectify the situation. So, we were at a loss and decided that we should try to contact our social worker assigned to us through the DSDW (Thai Dept. of Social Development and Welfare). With Penny's help, and acting like a dumb foreigner, I managed to ask a stranger if I could somehow borrow their cell phone. When we called the DSDW our social worker told us to walk across the street and explain our situation and have them fax to her the form stating what was lacking in our paper work. They would try to figure out what else they could supply to satisfy the USCIS.

After lunch at the Sizzler, we went across the street and managed to cut in a line in order to be seen. There was a very nice Thai woman working at the Embassy who was willing to help us. I was upset to hear that she was surprised that the USCIS would not acknowledge the form that had been drawn up as a substitute for the original birth certificate. Apparently, the Embassy had seen such documents several times in the past and had always accepted them. Well, after being the last ones to leave the Embassy at 3 p.m. we caught a taxi to take us to our new hotel, the Bangna Novetel. Here are photos of the view from our room at that hotel.


Penny fell asleep on my shoulder during the taxi ride. We were all exhausted and Jay and I were beginning to get sick from what we believe were the under cooked eggs from our noisy little hotel near the airport. We realized that if the paperwork didn't come through pronto, we would be once again, rescheduling our departure from Bangkok. Needless to say, we were feeling rather down, as we had hoped to be home by Christmas.