Be warned:
1.) This is a long tale.
2.) Know that it's just Part 1. With God, hope is never lost completely. I am going to Russia. I'm just not there yet. I'll post Part 2 later today.
The facts:
To go to Russia, you must have a Visa. To get a Visa, you must have an "invitation" to visit Russia. The Visa procurement process has several steps and a specific timeline - you can't apply more than 45 days before you're supposed to arrive.
The process:
The team I am traveling with from Trinity UMC filled out our individual visa applications, and worked with representatives from the UM Russia Initiative who get the invitations from Moscow and then work with a visa-procurement company. The company walks the paperwork through the Russian embassy who generates the visa which is applied directly to your passport, and then the company returns the passport with visa to you.
Critical info:
- You have to give up your passport to the visa-procurement company who takes it to the embassy.
- I was departing from the USA on July 23 to head to Canada for a week with my husband's family.
- I was departing from Ottawa, Canada on July 30 and traveling to St. Petersburg (via Washington Dulles).
- The team was departing from Washington-Dulles on Aug. 1 bound for Moscow.
So, back in June I surrendered my passport and began waiting for the Visa. There was a delay in getting the invitations out of Moscow, thanks to a broken scanner. (Ah, technology...) In our last team meeting on July 10, we learned that the process wasn't moving along as fast as we hoped.
I think Team Leaders Charles and Karen were a little bit nervous, but I really wasn't. I reviewed my plans and back-up plans and felt confident that it would all be ok. We waited and prayed and hoped and prayed that the passports and visas would arrive in time. And then the news - the passports and visa would arrive on July 23. (Hooray!)
Except they didn't. It would seem that the visa-procurement company somehow dropped the ball and the visas weren't ready. (It seems like the company just sort-of forgot when we needed them.) Not a huge deal. I could get into Canada with my birth certificate and driver's license, and my passport could be overnighted to me via FedEx or UPS. (Note: while you can get into Canada via car with your birth certificate and driver's license, you need a passport to get back into the USA.)
Monday, July 26 came and went, and my passport wasn't shipped. On Tuesday, I put a call to the visa-procurement company to check the status and reminded them about when I was leaving. They sent it via FedEx on Tuesday, and it was supposed to arrive on Wednesday. Except it didn't. Apparently, the FedEx guy got lost.
So, let's ask the obvious question - why didn't he ask for directions? The house is on MapQuest and Google maps, and the phone number was on the shipping label so he could have called. According to FedEx, their drivers a.) don't use MapQuest, Google maps, or any GPS devices; and b.) do not carry cell phones.
On Wednesday evening, we provide specific directions to the house and FedEx promises it will arrive on Thursday. To this point, I've done a pretty good job keeping my worries at bay. FedEx will get here. I'll get on the plane on Friday. It'll be fine.
At 1pm on Thursday, we started tracking the FedEx package, receiving assurances that it was "on the way." The hours rolled by and FedEx promised us it was coming by 5pm. Except it didn't. More phone calls, more promises, more tracking. FedEx can't find its driver.
At 6:45pm, the FedEx guy pulls up and (seriously) you never saw a family rejoice as much as we did. Hooray, hooray! The passport is here. I can go to Russia!
Except the Visa is wrong. It says I am arriving on August 1. I am arriving on July 31. It's off by a day. With my plane scheduled to land at 1pm, it's off by 11 hours.
So, what happens if you arrive in Russia without a valid visa? Can you hang out at the airport? Is there an invisible line that you have to stay behind until the magic moment of midnight? Do they turn you around and send you home? Do they throw you in a Russian jail or hit you with a steep fine?
We make calls. We try to figure out how and where this thing went wrong. More importantly, Adam (my husband, best friend and problem-solver extraordinaire) and I look for solutions. It becomes clear that I need a correct visa and those come from the Embassy. Can the Russian Embassy in Ottawa help me? And can they do it in time for me to make a 2pm flight?
Adam's extended family includes several diplomats and politicians, so I make a call to his cousin, Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons.
Me: Peter, do you know anyone at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa?
Peter: I know the Ambassador. Will that work?
On Friday morning, Adam and I go to the Russian Embassy, armed with hope from our call with Peter and knowledge about what happened. The dates on my visa application were correct, but when the UM-representatives sent the info to Moscow, they sent the wrong dates. We have copies of all the paperwork. The invitation from Moscow was wrong. The visa matched it. No one caught it.
The Russian Embassy representatives let me know that invitations come from Moscow and they can't issue a Visa without that invitation. The all-powerful Ambassador is in Russia on holiday and unreachable. And when asked what happens if you show up in Russia without a Visa, the only thing the Embassy representatives will say is "You can't."
I walked out of the Embassy and did the only thing that one can do in these sorts of situations: I cried. Great, big gulping sobs of complete and total hopelessness. And anger. And epic failure. I was supposed to go to Russia to serve God and now, I wasn't even going to get into the country.
I looked at Adam and said, "I want to go home." And here I am.