Second day at court

Needless to say, our first day at court was a hard day. It was horrible being dismissed from court and knowing we had only 1 day with Steve still in Uganda to finalize everything. I was upset with the lawyer, and baffled by the expectations of the judge. The people he wanted to see - the probation officer and the director of Fort's first orphanage- were obviously relevant people to our case, but it seemed like a crazy bone to pick since there were sworn affidavits. 

And of course, getting people to one place is not easy in Uganda. I heard most of this story later- the probation officer did not spend the night with the lawyer. He instead "borrowed" 40,000 shillings (about $16) to go get a few drinks. At 5am, our lawyer began driving around to find him. He did find him, and got him some breakfast and had him ready to go at 8:30am. It sounds like the sleazy guy that you pay to impersonate a probation officer, but no- this was the real guy. He was no longer working (because all probation officers have been fired-????- what???) so just mainly got drunk. But he was the guy who did the report and follow ups when Fort was found. Just couldn't remember a damn thing. 

And we also brought the woman who runs the government home. She was scared to come before the judge and not a fan of international adoptions. But she was very warm when we met her at breakfast, and remembered Fort well. He really is so comfortable with me, and was sitting in my lap. Whether or not that was the reason, she seemed to take a liking to us. 

So our meeting with the judge was to be at 9:30am, and I was shocked and thrilled beyond belief that we actually managed to get all these people to court. And then I was horrified when they told us he had to reschedule to midday because of an emergency. How can we keep tabs on these people??  We were outside, exchanging phone numbers to find everyone again, when the clerk came out and said he was able to see us now.  Ok, that was crazy close. It almost slipped through our fingers. 

So we went back in, and truly, my heart was pounding and I was sweating. First, after chastising our lawyer for wasting his time the day before, the judge called up Drunk Probation Officer.  It didn't go so well. He was nervous (and maybe in withdrawal?) and had trouble recalling any of the circumstances. At one point the judge asked, "Do I look stupid to you?". I kept looking at Steve. Then there was a complication of the birth certificate, which was made up after he was found as is required, with an estimated date based on his apparent age. That was called into question. Then came the other center's director,  and low and behold, she tells the judge he needed to be in a family. I think he was moved when he asked how many kids in the home right now. Unimaginably over crowded.

Then he called me up and I was ready to be grilled. He asked me to tell how we came into being interested in adopting Fort. So I told him, slowly, and without going into too much unnecessary detail. It seemed good. Then he said see you next Friday for the ruling and we were done. Jurjanne & Chris definitely were feeling that it went well & we should celebrate. I suppose it is possible that it will not be a favorable ruling, but I cannot figure why that would be. He said he'd let the birth certificate slide, and he could've asked for another court date- more papers, more people. But he 
didn't - so case closed.  I think. I hope?

Steve goes home now, and if something else comes up, it will be exponentially more difficult to solve. So here's for a straight forward ruling next week.