Day one in Pereira

As, promised here is another update. This is Paul writing, and if Chris is up to it later she might post a note too. I’ll start from this morning. We got up around 6am this morning because that is when the guy at the front desk said breakfast was going to be served. I for one was a little disappointed that breakfast was so early. We actually got up on time though and made it to breakfast. There was nothing fancy with the breakfast, just scrambled eggs, banana, and coffee. I was glad it was normal type food, because I was not really in the experimentation type of mood. After breakfast we walked down the street to an ATM machine to get money. It is going to take a while to get used to the money down here. A lot of zeros! Example: 400,000 pesos = about $200.00USD. After the ATM trip, we went back to the hotel and went back to bed for a while. No one had given us any instructions yet on what the plans were for the day, so we thought it best to just stay in the room AND we really wanted to get a little more sleep. Around 10am Lucia (the lady kind of in charge of the adoption process here in Colombia for Childrens Hope) called us and told us to be ready to leave in a half an hour to go to the airport. When we got to the airport Andres helped us get tickets and got us up to the security check point. Andres was a very nice guy. He doesn’t speak any English, but he is definitely able to get his point across. As we were sitting there waiting for our flight to Pereira, there was a guy sitting close to us who asked if we were Americans. My first thought was, "Great! We really do stick out like sore thumbs." Then I realized my United States of America passport was sitting right there in my lap. I also think he heard us trying to translate what our boarding ticket said. He ended up being a great help. He was headed to Pereira too. He told us he would translate the messages for us, and he helped us get on the plane. This is the type of hospitality we have received from everyone so far. It has been incredible!
When we got to Pereira our lawyer and translator were waiting for us. The lawyer brought his car, but because of our luggage there was not room for all of us in his car. So he took all the luggage except the one suitcase that we brought that did not fit. The taxi that we were riding in was small too and the only way to get the suitcase in the car was to stick it the front seat. I cannot tell you how glad I was that that suitcase was blocking my view. That taxi driver was driving like a mad man. After we made it to our Bed and Breakfast (El Cortijo) and I kissed the pavement a few times and thanked the Lord that I still had all of my extremities attached. The owner of the El Cortijo opened the gate and welcomed us in. What an absolutely beautiful place! I will let Chris describe it for you when she posts. The owner’s name is Rosario. She offered to take us to the mall after we got settled in. If she was offering to take us out, we were definitely going to take her up on it! At 4:30 we hopped in a taxi (without the large suitcase unfortunately) and headed to the mall. She actually ended up going to three malls (they were with walking distance of each other. Pereira Plaza, Victorian plaza, and Exito. The information she provided to us was incredible! She told us what the good stores where, ice cream shops, play paces for the girls etc. During our walk, we stopped in the mall’s food court and got a drink. We were able to just sit and ask Rosario all kinds of questions. That’s when we found she had recently been to the orphanage and had probably seen our girls at one point! She said the orphanage that they are in is one of the best around. It is owned by a man from Spain and that he only provided the best for the girls there (there are only 25 girls there at one time). We were excited that she knew so much about the orphanage! She said the girls also go to one of the best schools in the city. Rosario told us she has dedicated her life to helping children. That is one reason why she opened the bed and breakfast for families adopting. We feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to receive so much information from her!

Right now we are trying to get things ready to go for tomorrow! The big day when we meet them! Please continue to pray that we will bond quickly with them, and that we will be able to overcome any language barriers. I’m going to sign off now. I’ll try to put some pictures on flickr before I go to bed. But if not, I will do it tomorrow.
Buenas Noches! (Good Night)