The letter's in the mail

Today Anna was able to track the invitation letter she mailed to me last week. It passed through customs in Moscow on June 26 and is well on its way to me. I hope it will be here by early next week although the person at the Postal Annex said it will probably take 10 days if I am lucky. I am lucky though. How else would I be able to gain the love of a woman as beautiful as Anna? So given my luck it should be here soon. And for those of you wanting to hear what we talked about today, I will tell you we spent some time talking of Archaeology(which was a shared dream of ours when we were young) and Attila The Hun. The subject of Archaeology came up because of a recent discovery of an ancient civilization and some dolmens discovered near Sochi in Russia. Of course Attila was a natural detour for our conversation. We never know where our conversation will lead at any given moment in time.

Hello Anna finally broadcast in London.

Yesterday our story was finally broadcast on BBC 4 Radio in London, England on an episode of "Don't Log off", hosted by Alan Dein. Although I think I sound absolutely horrible on the radio, I  hope everyone enjoys the podcast at http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/dlo/dlo_20120620-1102a.mp3.

Good News from Russia!!!

Today was a great day for Anna. She finally has hot water coming from the faucet after 13 long days without hot water.
She will no longer have to boil gallons of water to take a bath and to bathe the children. The frustration is finally over and they celebrated by visiting the beach.
Other good news is that the official letter of invitation is finally ready and she will once again make a long trip to pick it up and put it directly in the mail to send to me. Finally we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Once I receive the letter, I will then send that along with the visa application to the Russian Consulate in Seattle, Washington. At a price tag of almost $200.00 I should receive the visa that gives me a 90 day window to visit Anna in Russia.
I can assure you that both Anna and I are very much looking forward to that time.

Family Life in Russia....

I wish that I could tell everyone today that Anna is finally coming to America today but I cannot. There is still much that needs to be done including the finalization of my divorce that should happen within the next 2 weeks or so (God Willing). And of course I still need to take a trip to Russia to visit her in order to obtain the photos of us together to apply for the necessary visa for her and the children to come here and she is still waiting for the official letter of invitation that I need to apply for the visit there.

Hopefully she will have the letter some time next week. We just need to continue to take it one step at a time.

Today Anna sent me a link to an animated video that represents the typical family life in Russia. I think this is a good representation of family life just about anywhere with many families. I have seen this in many family experiences. I enjoy watching truth portrayed through all forms of art. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Dead Camels...

Due to a high demand, Anna and I decided to put 5 pages of our correspondence on the blog for you all to read. This particular excerpt will be from a chapter that is called "Dead Camels".

Of course the title is not what you would expect but you will understand after you read the actual correspondence. You will find it here http://privetanna.blogspot.com/p/hello-anna-sneak-preview.html

We hope you all enjoy it. This particular portion of our correspondence is considered one of our favorites.

What's next and when will this story come to an end.

It is said that true love stories never have an end. I believe this is the case with Anna and I. Our story will never end and it will extend far beyond the day that the very last copy of our book is sold. Yet every story needs an ending and as many of you already know "Hello Anna!" is quickly becoming a book that will soon be in high demand.

Unfortunately, there are many things that must happen to bring about the conclusion of the book. First, there must come an end to my first marriage through legal divorce proceedings and I can assure you all that progress is being made but it is not final yet. Hopefully soon there will be a final date set to bring the past to an end and allow the future to begin for Anna and I.

In addition to all of this, Anna and I still await the arrival of the official "Letter of Invitation" from the Russian government that is necessary for me to obtain a visa to visit the country of Russia. All of the paperwork has been approved and filed, but it is now a waiting game as both Anna and I must wait for this document to finally arrive. We expect it should arrive on or about the 16th of this month.

Upon receiving the document, Anna will have to mail it to me so that I can send the original document along with the application to the Russian Consulate in Seattle who will then review the application and issue the visa. Once I receive the visa, I will have a 3 month window to schedule a trip to Russia to visit Anna.

This trip is necessary for us because the U.S. Government requires proof of us together via a photograph of  us together somewhere in order for us to obtain the necessary documents for her and the children to relocate to the United States.

When all of this happens, our story will begin here in America, but our book will be complete. We hope that this process will take less than a year, but neither of us has any idea of a date. We may not know a date for quite some time.

Until that time our story continues to be written and currently is over 1350 pages in length unedited. Our story will be broadcast on the radio in London on the BBC Network soon after the 13th of this month. Feel free to view the podcast when it is available. The show is called "Don't Log Off" by Alan Dein.

What does the future hold?

What do you consider 1300 + pages of written correspondence between Anna and I? 

Every word we ever spoke to one another is written in this 1300 page document. It includes 25 pages of poetry that Anna has compared to William Shakespeare.

While I will never compare my poetry to one of the greats, I believe that in the end this will become a book. It has a great possibility of even becoming a movie. Our story will be broadcast on BBC 4 Radio in London over the next month. What do you think is going to come of all this?

Please feel free to comment. Both Anna and I really enjoy reading your comments.

On the street where you live!

Today I sent some video links to Anna that were on youtube. They were actual videos that were taken on the street that she live on in Russia.

She confirmed them to be in her neighborhood. They revealed the school her children attend, a hardware store that she frequently shops at and an apartment building just down the street from where she lives. It was actually nice to actually see things that she sees every day.

It will not be long before I can walk hand in hand with her down the street and look at it and point out the places I have already seen on youtube. 

If you have not read our story yet Click here to read it.

We read to each other

Today Anna sent an audio recording of her and the children reading a book to me in Russian so that I can hear the words as I learn to speak Russian. I have to say that I love to hear her and the children read to me.
She also asked me to record a script that she sent so that she could also practice the words to help her study her English. Click here to listen to my audio recording to her.
Here is a link to the audio file she sent me so you can hear her and the children read to me. Due to the format it was recorded in you will either need Apple Quicktime to listen to it or you can download VLC Media player to listen to it.

If you have not read our story yet Click here to read it.

Our first picture together

Yesterday Anna sent me a picture that she took of me through Skype. It was completely unexpected but I thought it would be an interesting addition to the blog.

This is how Anna see's me Through Skype.

This is our very first photo together. You will see her up in the upper left hand corner of the image. Hopefully soon we will have our pictures taken together in person.

I will try to get a picture of her through Skype later today.