Kalila visa application

We got the letter from Boston Children's Hospital requesting a visa yesterday, and Genevieve has gone to great lengths through her State Dept contacts to secure a visa appointment for Kalila for next Thursday. So today Kalila and I went to the embassy today to confirm.

I was allowed in because I'm an American citizen, and I took Kalila in with me because really, who was going to stop me? I think that that half hour was the longest I've ever been solely responsible for a child under the age of 8, and I'm very pleased to say that we both came out of not only unscathed but actually quite entertained! The embassy officer I spoke with also seemed quite taken with her, which was really the main point of taking her in with me.

Oh, and I almost forgot the biggest news of the day: Kalila is now saying my full name, "Taren." I'm so proud.

The first photo is Kalila and Uncle Negro, my mom's old friend from graduate school in Australia over 30 years ago and Kalila's grandfather (who she calls "da"). The second (unrotated) is of Kalila and her Uncle Rafiq, who is her fundraising campaign manager here on the Ghanaian side of the ocean (she calls him "Fafiq"). Rafiq, Kalila, Faiza and I have spent a lot of quality time together in the car over the last few days running errands, from going to the embassy to getting passport photos, so we're best buds now :-)