Where is the LOI?

The Letter of Invitation has not yet surfaced. This piece of documentation gets telexed from Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, to the Kazakstani embassy in D.C. It gives them permission to give me a business visa rather than a tourist visa. Without it I can not get a visa or set dates for travel.

But the tentative plans are still to be in Karaganda on September 3. It seems so far away, and yet the calendar is completely booked between now and then.