AIT

We had our visit with AIT yesterday (AIT is the American Institute in Taiwan - Taiwan's version of an Embassy) to get Island Boy's Visa for travel to the US. In order to do so, we had to be interviewed to make sure the baby won't become a ward of the state if we can't support him. We were a little nervous. The place is crawling with security and we had to check all of our cameras (four of them), so didn't get any photos. There were FOUR families waiting for their appointments yesterday (most days there is one family at most) and it was fun to meet the other babies and parents while we waited.

We had a few tense moments when we were asked to review the paperwork for accuracy. Wouldn't you know it? We found an error. The physician that had performed Island Boy's medical exam decided that he had performed it in 2006. Really?! This for a boy born in 2007?? And this date appeared in THREE places!! I stared at the inaccurate date and held an internal debate on whether to say anything or not. Feeling there was no other choice, I went ahead and pointed it out. The very helpful gentleman processing our paperwork asked when we were planning to leave Taiwan and cringed a bit when I said "tomorrow". Yikes!! We waited nervously while he asked his boss whether the paperwork would have to be redone. Luckily, the physician signed the report with the correct date, so we were able to correct and initial the erroneous information. Whew! Next hurdle: the interview.

The boss was the person doing the interviews and when it finally came time for ours, Island Boy decided to have a meltdown. Perfect timing! Thankfully, this gentleman was also nicer than nice; the interview went smoothly, and we were told we could pick up his travel Visa today! Hurray!