Much to tell...

Sorry to have waited so long to update everyone but after we received sentencia things got REALLY busy. Here's what we have been up to the last 3 days. The bottom line is we will be heading home next Tuesday, 08.21.07!

Monday started off around 4:00 a.m. I had to get up and be ready by 5 in order to start the trek back to Chinquinquira with Mario to pick up the sentencia papers. Then we headed a bit farther north to Buena Vista (the town where Carol, Jhon-Fredy and Anji were born). After that we had to go back to Chinquinquira to do more paperwork then back to Bogota. The whole day took about 12 hours. Some of the roads were unpaved and rocky so it was tough going. But it was great to see more of Colombia - especially knowing my children were from the place I was seeing.

Driving with Mario is a life changing experience. Check this out. Note the vantage point of the camera...the double yellow line...and the fact that we are approaching a bend.





I know I've said this before but Colombia is a beautiful country. I was able to get this shot of the sunrise before I fell asleep (Mario was very polite and let me just nod off).





And here is a shot of Buena Vista. It's taken from the town cemetery. It is an EXTREMELY small village in the mountains. There are these steps at the back of the town that lead a little farther up the mountain to this cemetery. Apparently when someone dies they carry the casket up these steps up to the cemetery. Pretty impressive because it's a long haul.





Donna did great back here at the hotel with the kids all day - everyone here at the hotel helped out with keeping them busy. It really is a community environment. That night after we got them bathed and in bed I fell asleep with Carol - fully clothed and with my contacts in - I was exhausted.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we went and got the Colombian passports for the kids. This actually was the most difficult procedure of anything so far. Difficult due to the fact that the kids are expected to sit for an hour or two in this extremely warm room with security guards walking around making sure no fun is being had by ANY 2, 4, or 6 year old. They were troopers though. The passport photos are pretty funny. Last night were sitting around with friends at the hotel looking at them and we came up with descriptors for each to capture the looks on each of the kids face when the picture was taken. Carol's was "The Princess"...Jhon-Fredy's was "The Lady's Man"...and Anji's was "To hell with you all...I AIN'T smiling"...she was none too happy to be going through this process and was cooperating at the bare minimum level.

We then came back and Anji took a nap, Donna started in on flight arrangements and Carol and Jhon-Fredy hung out with their friends here at the hotel. Meanwhile I was trying to get a large sum of pesos exchanged for US dollars to be able to pay the embassy today when we went to go apply for the visas. Not only did I have to find a way to get the correct amount of pesos and then get them converted...but, apparently the embassy doesn't accept any bills larger than $50s. This was not easy task but with the help of some of the folks here at the hotel with translating and to the hotel itself for floating me the pesos until this morning...we were able to arrange for the correct amount of dollars to pay the embassy.

After that we shuffled the kids off to a 6pm doctors appointment. The embassy requires that they be examined by an assigned doctor. So, very reluctantly, the kids endured the doctor's poking and prodding. They did SO well. I was really proud of them and all three seem to be in good health. Although Anji is a bit smaller than average, due to malnutrition, but the doctor said that in a few months from now she should be on the road to catching up.

We got out of the appointment by 8p.m. and the kids were pretty tired. Jhon-Fredy fell asleep on the way back to the hotel while Carol graciously provided her shoulder as a pillow.





Anji was WIDE awake and still raring to go.





Wednesday morning we were up by 6:30a.m. to meet with Mario to go over paperwork before we headed off to the Colombian embassy to apply for the kids visas - the last step. We were on the road to the embassy by 9a.m. with Andres - another driver. Cool story here. After we parked and started walking to the embassy - Carol asked if I would let her ride on my shoulders (they are really digging this - they argue over who is going to ride first or second). So I hike her up onto my shoulders and as she's getting settled in she says "I love you" to me IN ENGLISH and gives me a big kiss on my cheek. I couldn't believe it. THAT made this whole trip worthwhile.

When we got to the embassy it was quite the experience to go through security. I thought they could have at least bought me dinner before they patted me down the way they did but they were all business.

The embassy itself is HUGE but actually a very beautiful building. The waiting area is part inside and part outside - giving it this "open air" feeling. It was great for the kids because they could play outside while we waited. And we met up with another couple from Boston who were adopting an infant and were staying in a hotel not too far from where we are staying. So the kids got to play with some other children and the time passed pretty quickly. Again, they did REALLY well. I get the sense that they actually KNOW what's going on and that they j ust have to get through the waiting to get on with their lives. The business at the embassy took about 2.5 hours and we were back at the hotel by 1pm. The rest of the day the kids played and I worked a bit.

During all of this we have been battling it out with Delta Airlines and Mastercard. After we got the Colombian passports we were able to start in on travel arrangements for getting back home. When Donna called to get flight information and book the flights - Delta apparently ran oour card a few too many times and ended up max-ing out our card. So we have been on the phone with them for a good 4-5 hours trying to get this fixed. We still haven't gotten the situation resolved. But we continue to plod onward. I really hope we don't need to use our card anytime soon. The last time we called Delta they promised to have an executive representative call us ASAP to resolve the situation. That was yesterday afternoon - we have heard nothing.

Today we head back to the embassy just to pick up the visas and we are done. We just need to wait until we leave on Tuesday. Which is the earliest flight they could get us on. So we wait.

Well I think that brings you all up to date. We will try to make sure we keep things current here.

later,
Scott