Peruvian Consulate, Jorge Bacilio Nunez Demcuk & Other Random Thoughts

On Friday, we ventured to Chicago, despite a mini-blizzard, and despite the fact that most Chicago schools were closed down, and despite the fact that the Chicago news stations were telling people to stay home! We went to Chicago with a mission, and nothing (except perhaps another January tornado) was going to stop us!

We went to Chicago in order to get the ball rolling on a very important part of our Peruvian adoption: Applying for George's Peruvian Passport at the Peruvian Consulate. If you are a Peruvian citizen, this provides much preference in the Peruvian adoption system. George has dual citizenship (USA & Peru), but needs a Peruvian ID card & Peruvian passport to submit as proof to the adoption powers-that-be.

[[Background Info: As many of you may know, George (AKA Jorge Bacilio Nunez Demcuk) was born in Peru. When he was 4 years old, he moved to America/Chicago. He was adopted by his step-father, at which time his name was changed to "Jorge Bacilio Kutschma". Jorge, being the patriotic academic he was at the age of 8, decided he wanted to be more like this guy named GEORGE WASHINGTON whom he was learning about in his classes! Thus, his name was legally changed to GEORGE BACILIO KUTSCHMA. ]]

Sooo. Back to our Chicago adventure. Bill, George's uncle, came along to Chicago with us to be our offical "Spanish interpreter" at the Consulate. However, when we arrived at the Peruvian Consulate, things quickly turned LOCO. I somehow became the unofficial "Spanish interpreter" while Bill somehow became Marcella's babysitter at the Consulate! After I introduced our situation to the Peruvian Consulate (through a thick glass window) & in Spanglish, this was the answer we received (in spanish) "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU, WE MUST HEAR FROM JORGE/GEORGE. HE IS THE ONE APPLYING FOR HIS CITIZENSHIP DOCUMENTATION AND THEREFORE, HE MUST SPEAK THE SPANISH!!!". Uh oh...... George can understand alot of Spanish, but he, admittedly so, cannot speak it so bueno.... As it turned out, the Consulate backed off on this scare tactic for the most part, but every once in awhile during our tango at their office, they would randomly insist that JORGE/GEORGE be the one to respond in Spanish. It was slightly neurotic and a bit of a power-trip for them, but the more we venture down this adoption road, the more we find that is the unfortunate reality of the situation...

To make a very long story short(er), I will tell you the end result of our Consulate visit. They did agree to issue George his Peruvian national ID card (which is a prerequisite to obtaining a Peruvian passport)---however, they would only issue it in his birth name (Jorge Bacilio Nunez Demcuk). They did not care (despite the loads of documentation we brought along with us) that 1) Jorge was no longer Jorge; that 2) Jorge was only trying to do this so that George could adopt a Peruvian child; and that 3) Jorge was now a married man. Oh no... They refused to recognize any American documentation of any sort, and informed us that if Jorge wanted to change his name, he could hire an attorney in Peru to attempt to amend his birth certificate with the Peruvian courts. Ay yi yi yi yi. (Editor's note: After pseudo-interpretting for George/Jorge all day, I am completely convinced that the Consulate lady who was handling our paperwork, wanted Jorge to remain Jorge--a 'single' eligible bachelor in the eyes of the peruvian law---so that she could arrange a marriage for her daughter...that is another subject for another day...) In the meantime, George will remain Jorge, and we will continue to brainstorm how to remedy this entirely confusing, chaotic, & slightly controversial consulate CLUSTER.

One interesting piece of info that we have come to learn through this whole process is that noone (not our adoption agency, not the other adoption agencies we researched, not the Peruvian consulate, noone) has dealt with a case such as George/Jorge's. He is truly in a category all his own. Now, the only thing we need to figure out is how to make that 'category' eligible for a Peruvian adoption!!!

I believe our next step will be to proceed with all of our other mounds & mounds & mounds of adoption paperwork, just as if we were a 'routine' American couple, and if/when his Peruvian paperwork is corrected to reflect the 21st century, then perhaps we will supplement our adoption case with this information down the road....?????

Two things are for certain: 1) this adoption process is never boring; and 2) the 'adoption rollercoaster', however difficult & crazy, is leading us towards the child that is meant for us...and that really is all that matters. We have Marcella to be a constant reminder to us that all of the confusion, longing, hard work, turmoil, and road blocks, are soooooooooooooooooooooo very worth it in the end.

Photo: A fun way to end a hectic day: A shopping trip to our favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's with Princesita Mar-Mar.