written excuse

Please excuse Kate from her recent blogger absence. She has had a full, buzzy head and was unable to post. We expect her to be recovered and participating in her usual activities soon.

My head has been full. In the absence of accreditation, I've been looking at agencies again. Here's what I've got so far:

1. Stay with my agency.
Pro: no money lost, it's the devil I know, great in-region team
Con: little faith in the facilitators, not allowed contact with in-region team

2. Switch to agency 2.
Pro: can be registered now in Leningrad Region--d2b home soon, v. little travel
Con: not sure how this is possible or if it's entirely legal, will cost 26K more than what I've already spent (I don't have that much in the bank)

3. Switch to agency 3.
Pro: program to underwrite the costs of adoption of children over age seven and reduction in the cost to adopt younger sibling, they have ex-pat experience and assign an advocate to every single pap, they submitted papers the same time as agency 1 and have ngo status
Con: they say to expect a referral in 6-12 months--could keep me in exile longer

I haven't come to any decision...and probably won't very soon. Looking at it written down, agency 2 has little to reccomend it other than time. They felt dodgy when I first looked at them and the uneasiness continues. My friend here reminds me to trust my instinct.

While there is nothing happening accreditation-wise, I feel a strong sense of urgency. But, I can't let that blind me to the other important factors.

I'll post about Easter tomorrow.

Hmmm...