A (further) tale of visas

So the latest on our visa situation:

I gave Mendel an ink pen and some blank paper. He scribbled on the paper, and then found a stack of interesting papers to color on. Thank G-d, they were not hard to replace documents, but our passport photos. He didn't color too much, but if you were to be really nit-picky - and the Russians always are - Baila is down to 2 pictures, and I am down to four. We need 5 each.

In other news, Yisroel and Ivan Ivanov (have you noticed that I get a kick out of writing his name?) met today with some fellow high in the previous communist party. They cannot accept our application, as the quota is full, as of July 1. However, if someone's application should be rejected, we are first on the waiting list. We were also given permission to appoint someone with power-of-attorney to hand in our documents in case this happens while we are away. Ivan Ivanov has friends who work on the decisions committee for permanent residency applications. He promised to make sure that a a whole bunch of people are rejected, as soon as possible.