Moving On

(Still catching up, obviously.)

After Kinaya was born, one big priority was to start getting her ready to travel. There is a long series of steps necessary for this to happen, and I’m not talking about neck pillows and magazines. Once a child is born, he or she needs a passport to travel. This is also the basis for her residence permit/visa for Burundi. But to have a passport you need a social security number. But to get a social security number you need a birth certificate. But to get a birth certificate, you have to wait for the hospital to let the government know that there was a birth.

for now they get along

This whole process is long and cumbersome. Each step takes far longer than you might think. There is no accountability for the system so if it’s not that efficient, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who really cares. Anyway, Priya did a wonderful job of tracking the whole thing and we also had learned from doing this with Kiran. In the end, mission was accomplished about a week before we were to board our plane in Louisville. Kinaya’s passport was in hand.

evening ritual with grandpa

In the meantime, while all this was going on in the background, we continued our time in the US with what has now become a family of four. Still weird to think about. We had a couple more weeks in the US before we would fly to Indiana to introduce Kinaya to the other side of her family. 

adoring auntie

So our last couple weeks in Idaho we spent making the rounds with our new baby, entertaining Kiran, finalizing the purchase of a house (to be rented) and even going to a county fair and rodeo.

made me feel better about having only one baby

I hadn’t been to a fair or rodeo since I was probably in high school. These things take place in the late summer and fall and I’m usually not in the US. This time, due to the birth, we were around and, surprisingly, Priya was keen on the idea.

trying my hand at rodeo photography

Turned out to be a good time and we could have done the whole thing again the next night if we’d had time.

lots of sleep happening

We also visited the Boise Zoo, something I hadn’t done since I was in college. It’s not at all the place that I remember. Very kid friendly and more educational – aspects to which I pay more attention nowadays. Back in the day I remember it being more about a bunch of animals in pens and cages. I have to say, it didn't sit well with me. After growing accustomed to seeing many of these animals roaming free in Africa, it was a bit odd to see them in confined spaces.

breaking in the new home

The month and a half in Idaho finally drew to a close. It was sad in a way but we were also anxious to get moving. There was more to do in Indiana and, eventually, we would be wanting to get back to the routines of our lives in Burundi.