This is why I have not posted...

The Unthinkable happened!!

I was at the translator's office Monday afternoon. She asked to see my passport and as I dug through my purse I was very surprised not to find it. Only after I emptied my purse three times onto her desk was I satisfied that it was not there...

The next few days were a blur of activity, looking in every nook and cranny, retracing my steps, searching garbage cans to phoning the Canadian embassy. Never before had I been asked "where did you lose it?" so many times!!

Thursday was the day that was most difficult!I was calling my embassy that afternoon again asking for more clarity about everything I had to have in place to get a new passport. I went over my situation again, maybe she did not hear me the first time or had been distracted with something else but this time she said I was in trouble...

Normally when someone loses a passport it is just a matter of reapplying at your embassy for a new one. The added factor in my situation was that my Russian visa expired in 5 days time and 3 of those days no govermental offices were open due to the weekend and a holiday.

That left me 2 days to...

1. buy a plane ticket to Canada with no passport (because I need a plane ticket to get the emergency passport)
2. go to Moscow to get an emergency passport
3. come back to Rostov
4. apply for an exit visa in order to leave the country legally

I hung up the phone and cried. I was ready to give up and just let them deport me and not be allowed back into the country.God had other plans though and we quickly began to see His intervention.

I had two Olya's at our local visa issusing office interceding on my behalf; I've been told that they caused quite a commotion!! In the end we found favor and my visa was extended until all that needed to be done was completed.YEAH GOD!!!!

So basically the immediate stress was gone. The only timeline was that the Emergency Passport is only good for 2 weeks and regarding that the Visa people said they would work within my time frame!!!!

So Thursday ended very well, I knew I would be in Rostov until Sunday. I climbed into bed tired after a good game of ping pong - I lost the game!

Early Sunday morning I left for Moscow on the train, I arrived in Moscow early Monday morning. After I figured out the metro and made my way to the Canadian Embassy - I was an hour early! At 9:00am though, I was first in line and everything was completed quickly... I walked out of the Canadain Embassy with my Emergency passport in hand at 11:00am.

The rest of the day I enjoyed the sights, sounds, tastes and cold weather of Moscow. I got on the train back to Rostov on Don, Monday evening.

Wednesday had me going down to our visa issuing office with my application for an exit visa.

Friday I picked up my exit visa.... record time on their part!!

Next Tuesday, November 11th, 2008, I am flying home to Canada. From there I will be applying for a new passport and Russian visa and will be returning as soon as possible!

Until Next Time!!