My wife and I went to register our new daughter Emily at the local ZAKS, the place where births, marriages, and deaths are registered here in Russia. We first went last Wednesday, and were told that the documents we needed to register Emily were different from the time when my first daughter Camilla was born 6 years ago. 'Have the rules been changed?', we asked and received the prompt reply, 'No, we have a new boss.' Instead of looking at my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo", (Russian green card) they now only wanted to look at my national passport and required a notarized translation.
So we trudged back on Friday with the necessary documents. Everything seemed to be in order except for the fact that in my U.S. passport my name is spelled Philip with one 'p' which is different than my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo" where it is spelled Philipp with two 'p's. So since my first daughter was registered according to my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo" her name and patronymic are listed as Camilla Philippovna while my second daughter, registered according to my U.S. passport is listed as Emily Philipovna. When we complained about this and asked them to spell the patryonymic so that it would be the same as my first daughter, they refused point blank. We asked if this would present any problems and the lady in charge of registering our daughter simply smiled and said, 'well it just means you have two daughters from two different fathers.' Furthermore, she added, we may have difficulties leaving the country with both daughters at the same time since permission is needed from both parents.
Yes, it is a bureaucratic nightmare, and yes we will figure out how to sort this out somehow!
Vocabulary:
prompt = fast, quick, speedy.
trudge = a long, difficult walk.
patronymic = a personal name based on the name of your father
listed = written on a list or form
in charge = responsible for
refuse point blank = refuse completely, without any compromises
nightmare = a bad dream
furthermore = in addition
figure out = find the solution to.
sort out = make clear, put in order.
somehow = in some way or manner
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1 comment:
Hi, Phil
Do you remember me? I'm Galina, your wife's former student. :)
I agree that even living in Russia for so long it's hard to get used to its bureaucratic system. You never know what to expect from the authorities here, don't you?
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