Friday, January 23, 2009
Zoo day
Good evening everyone! We are exhausted tonight so it will be a short post.... sorry. We went to the zoo today and had a great time. We also had a meeting with a social worker this morning from ICBF. The meeting went good too. The social worker was very nice and was there to answer any questions or help with any problems. We didn't have much to say really. So it was a quick visit. I posted some more pics of our zoo outing today. i hope you enjoy! Good Night!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Cute Stuff
I want to make sure I get some things in here before I forget. Our daughters are so cute! They refer to Manuela as “Manu.” But they say it a couple of times in a row, so it sounds kind of like “Nanoo, nanoo.” It’s so funny! The girls refer to Vanesa as “Vanny” and Angee as “Ang.”
They all have such sweet little voices. Vanesa speaks very softly. Manuela is not quite as soft and she squeals when she is excited. Angee is VERY shy and soft spoken. It’s so cute when she talks because she nods her head at you too.
Today they had their first little girl fight. Vanesa was handing out dolls and Angee ended up with 3 and Manuela none. Then, when Vanesa pulled out one that Angee wanted, but gave it to Manu, Angee tried to grab it and give Manu the others. There was some screaming, then intervention, and crying. I was just cracking up because it was such a girly incident.
They began begging to go to the pool first thing in the morning. I just pretended like I didn’t ever learn that word yesterday. They just keep asking and asking. I wasn’t going to take them, but we ended up walking to the store today and it was really hot. The trip there was great, but it was all up hill on the way home and I had a sleeping 30 lb. baby and a 15 lb. backpack. Paul had Manuela in the stroller and Vanesa holding his hand. One of the ladies here took us there and ended up carrying lots of our stuff back. We are definitely taking a cab next time! Anyway, I was so worn out and hot, that the pool was sounding really good. They hadn’t mentioned it for a while, so it was nice to get to ask them if they wanted to go instead of them begging us.
They are all very good at entertaining themselves. We brought a pack of construction paper and they each sit down and color on it for long periods of time. Paul painted with Manu & Angee today. Vanesa has very neat handwriting and can understand the difference between upper and lower case letters. She knows when to use capital letters. She can count to 10 in English. She is learning to write her new name (Vanesa Sinclair, but she spells it with 2 “s’s.” Her birth cert. only has one). She loves the computer. She is good at translating our “sign language” into Spanish.
Manuela loves to color. She likes to brush her hair. Today she fixed my hair after we got back from the store. It was crazy looking, but it felt nice to have it up so I could cool off. She is much stronger than she looks – it kinda hurt, but I certainly didn’t mind. She also had a great time with the stroller. She kept putting toys in it and pushing it around the room. At one point, she put Angee in there. The drove past me and Angee said, “Ciao!” and waved as they went past.
Angee loves to wash her hands. Sometimes I think she wants to “chi chi” just so she can wash her hands afterwards. She HATES cold water. The orphanage warned us about this. She did not like the cold water in the pool, but at least she enjoys keeping the rest of us company down there. She likes to look at the pictures we sent to them when we applied for 3 siblings. Yesterday she was looking at the pictures of Bailey (our dog) and talking – we didn’t know what she was saying. Then I realized she was saying “bow wow.” This little girl can put the food down!!! She loves food. For lunch we had some chicken and fries. She refused the chicken, then Rosario brought out a cake for one of the worker’s birthday. Angee’s eyes were glued to the cake. She couldn’t hear a thing anyone was saying to her - Paul waved his hand in front of her face and she didn’t even blink.
This morning we thought we would try to distract them by teaching them a song. We chose “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” We don’t know how to say “stand up” and they were not really in the mood for it. We did it anyway. They decided they liked it. Manu has been singing a lot today.
Before we had our first meal, we told the girls that we were going to talk to God before we eat. This was certainly not a new concept for them. When we got to the table and folded our hands, they began to recite a prayer in unison. It was cute. Then Paul said a prayer. Now, when we eat, they recite their prayer (which is quite long), then say “Now Papi.”
We had some really cute pictures and videos from today, but we accidentally deleted them. I’m sorry about that. We need to take more pictures, but neither of us wants to miss anything while holding the camera.
They all have such sweet little voices. Vanesa speaks very softly. Manuela is not quite as soft and she squeals when she is excited. Angee is VERY shy and soft spoken. It’s so cute when she talks because she nods her head at you too.
Today they had their first little girl fight. Vanesa was handing out dolls and Angee ended up with 3 and Manuela none. Then, when Vanesa pulled out one that Angee wanted, but gave it to Manu, Angee tried to grab it and give Manu the others. There was some screaming, then intervention, and crying. I was just cracking up because it was such a girly incident.
They began begging to go to the pool first thing in the morning. I just pretended like I didn’t ever learn that word yesterday. They just keep asking and asking. I wasn’t going to take them, but we ended up walking to the store today and it was really hot. The trip there was great, but it was all up hill on the way home and I had a sleeping 30 lb. baby and a 15 lb. backpack. Paul had Manuela in the stroller and Vanesa holding his hand. One of the ladies here took us there and ended up carrying lots of our stuff back. We are definitely taking a cab next time! Anyway, I was so worn out and hot, that the pool was sounding really good. They hadn’t mentioned it for a while, so it was nice to get to ask them if they wanted to go instead of them begging us.
They are all very good at entertaining themselves. We brought a pack of construction paper and they each sit down and color on it for long periods of time. Paul painted with Manu & Angee today. Vanesa has very neat handwriting and can understand the difference between upper and lower case letters. She knows when to use capital letters. She can count to 10 in English. She is learning to write her new name (Vanesa Sinclair, but she spells it with 2 “s’s.” Her birth cert. only has one). She loves the computer. She is good at translating our “sign language” into Spanish.
Manuela loves to color. She likes to brush her hair. Today she fixed my hair after we got back from the store. It was crazy looking, but it felt nice to have it up so I could cool off. She is much stronger than she looks – it kinda hurt, but I certainly didn’t mind. She also had a great time with the stroller. She kept putting toys in it and pushing it around the room. At one point, she put Angee in there. The drove past me and Angee said, “Ciao!” and waved as they went past.
Angee loves to wash her hands. Sometimes I think she wants to “chi chi” just so she can wash her hands afterwards. She HATES cold water. The orphanage warned us about this. She did not like the cold water in the pool, but at least she enjoys keeping the rest of us company down there. She likes to look at the pictures we sent to them when we applied for 3 siblings. Yesterday she was looking at the pictures of Bailey (our dog) and talking – we didn’t know what she was saying. Then I realized she was saying “bow wow.” This little girl can put the food down!!! She loves food. For lunch we had some chicken and fries. She refused the chicken, then Rosario brought out a cake for one of the worker’s birthday. Angee’s eyes were glued to the cake. She couldn’t hear a thing anyone was saying to her - Paul waved his hand in front of her face and she didn’t even blink.
This morning we thought we would try to distract them by teaching them a song. We chose “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” We don’t know how to say “stand up” and they were not really in the mood for it. We did it anyway. They decided they liked it. Manu has been singing a lot today.
Before we had our first meal, we told the girls that we were going to talk to God before we eat. This was certainly not a new concept for them. When we got to the table and folded our hands, they began to recite a prayer in unison. It was cute. Then Paul said a prayer. Now, when we eat, they recite their prayer (which is quite long), then say “Now Papi.”
We had some really cute pictures and videos from today, but we accidentally deleted them. I’m sorry about that. We need to take more pictures, but neither of us wants to miss anything while holding the camera.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Chris's 2 Cents
I'll try to be brief. Today was full of anxiety and aniticipation in the morning. After some paperwork, our interpreter took us for a walk. It really helped relax us.
Everyone is so punctual here (we were told not to expect that). Our meeting with the girls was to start at 11Am - it did. I was expecting more paperwork, but they said we only needed to sign a paper then the girls would be in. A couple minutes they came in with big smiles. They were accompanied by the social worker, the caretaker of the orphanage and another assistant. The girls came to us immediately. I was surprised at how happy and unshy they were. Manuela gave me a kiss right on the lips. They were very open to hugs and us rubbing their backs.
The orphanage caretaker had so much stuff for us and the girls. They are still playing with all of the toys they came with. We really haven't given them anything other than a few books and the stuff in their backpacks. They also provided brand new pajamas (tags still on), a photo album - which Vanesa was eager to share with me when we met, certificates from their school, notebooks from school, dolls, lip gloss, ...
Vanesa is very smart. She really catches on quickly. She is also fearless. When we went to the pool, she went down a couple steps, then jumped into the water. She sank and I grabbed her and she came up laughing. It didn't phase her at all. She is a good helper too. I can ask her if things are too hot for them or what is the word for this thing I'm holding.
Tonight at dinner, the ladies in the house were asking the girls their names. Manuela piped up and said "Angee y Vanesa y Manuela y Mami y Papi." Manuela likes to be silly. She does like to have her picture taken, just like Vanesa. She was trying to take some pictures of us and had the camera upside down, but she figured it out (we didn't post any of those b/c there were of her cheek or her hand :)
Angee is very quiet. She has already attached to Paul pretty well. Angee and Paul were playing with markers on the porch and she pinched her finger in the cap. She started to cry a little; it sounded like a sad cry. Paul put her on his lap and rocked her and talked gently to her and she stopped crying soon. She gives Paul an ornery grin when she wants him to chase her.
We are looking forward to the 2nd day as a family. I think we will try to go shopping (the girls are a little smaller than I thought) and hopefully get some icecream.
Everyone is so punctual here (we were told not to expect that). Our meeting with the girls was to start at 11Am - it did. I was expecting more paperwork, but they said we only needed to sign a paper then the girls would be in. A couple minutes they came in with big smiles. They were accompanied by the social worker, the caretaker of the orphanage and another assistant. The girls came to us immediately. I was surprised at how happy and unshy they were. Manuela gave me a kiss right on the lips. They were very open to hugs and us rubbing their backs.
The orphanage caretaker had so much stuff for us and the girls. They are still playing with all of the toys they came with. We really haven't given them anything other than a few books and the stuff in their backpacks. They also provided brand new pajamas (tags still on), a photo album - which Vanesa was eager to share with me when we met, certificates from their school, notebooks from school, dolls, lip gloss, ...
Vanesa is very smart. She really catches on quickly. She is also fearless. When we went to the pool, she went down a couple steps, then jumped into the water. She sank and I grabbed her and she came up laughing. It didn't phase her at all. She is a good helper too. I can ask her if things are too hot for them or what is the word for this thing I'm holding.
Tonight at dinner, the ladies in the house were asking the girls their names. Manuela piped up and said "Angee y Vanesa y Manuela y Mami y Papi." Manuela likes to be silly. She does like to have her picture taken, just like Vanesa. She was trying to take some pictures of us and had the camera upside down, but she figured it out (we didn't post any of those b/c there were of her cheek or her hand :)
Angee is very quiet. She has already attached to Paul pretty well. Angee and Paul were playing with markers on the porch and she pinched her finger in the cap. She started to cry a little; it sounded like a sad cry. Paul put her on his lap and rocked her and talked gently to her and she stopped crying soon. She gives Paul an ornery grin when she wants him to chase her.
We are looking forward to the 2nd day as a family. I think we will try to go shopping (the girls are a little smaller than I thought) and hopefully get some icecream.
Pictures....get your pictures!!!!!
Click the flickr button for pictures of today. We had a blast! The girls are so sweet. We could not have asked for this day to go any better! This is Paul writing by the way. We have bonded very well so far. It is so cool to hear three little girls yelling Papi! The girls kept hiding in the room and would yell. Papi come find me (of course I translated that for you)! I would go find them and tickle them and they loved it. We also went for a swim today because Vanesa was begging us to go. I can definitely say I’ve learned more Spanish in one day than in my entire life.
The meal times went well. Vanesa is a fast eater so she gets bored waiting for everyone else to finish. Wow do these girls eat! I might have to get a second job just to feed them. There was definitely no forcing when it came to food. If it’s put out, they eat. Even Angee! We had spaghetti for dinner and Angie had a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other and they were alternating places in her mouth.
All I can say is, God is good! There is no doubt in my mind these girls are supposed to be in our family. For the most part we are able to overcome the language barrier. Vanesa gets a little frustrated sometimes because we don’t understand something she says, but she is handling it well. I am soooo thankful the internet works in our room. I keep a translator website open on the laptop and just type stuff in when I need to. Babelfish has been the best site for translating that I have found so far.
After bath time we got the girls in their pajamas and read them a book. While Chris was reading Angee fell asleep in my arms. After we were done with the book I put Angee in here bed and we said prayers with Vanesa and Manuela. We kissed them and tucked them in and told them we loved them and turned the light out. Vanesa and Manuela were out cold in about 15 minutes. Since we have 2 double beds Vanesa and Manuela are sharing a bed. They brought a pack and play type bed up for us to use for Angee.
I’m sure we will have our bumpy moments in the near future, but we are sooooo glad today went good. I give all the glory to God. We feel so blessed. We can’t wait for everyone to meet them. They are a lot of fun. Well it’s my turn for a shower so I will sign off. If Chris is feeling up to it she might add her 2 cents. Enjoy the pictures!!
The meal times went well. Vanesa is a fast eater so she gets bored waiting for everyone else to finish. Wow do these girls eat! I might have to get a second job just to feed them. There was definitely no forcing when it came to food. If it’s put out, they eat. Even Angee! We had spaghetti for dinner and Angie had a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other and they were alternating places in her mouth.
All I can say is, God is good! There is no doubt in my mind these girls are supposed to be in our family. For the most part we are able to overcome the language barrier. Vanesa gets a little frustrated sometimes because we don’t understand something she says, but she is handling it well. I am soooo thankful the internet works in our room. I keep a translator website open on the laptop and just type stuff in when I need to. Babelfish has been the best site for translating that I have found so far.
After bath time we got the girls in their pajamas and read them a book. While Chris was reading Angee fell asleep in my arms. After we were done with the book I put Angee in here bed and we said prayers with Vanesa and Manuela. We kissed them and tucked them in and told them we loved them and turned the light out. Vanesa and Manuela were out cold in about 15 minutes. Since we have 2 double beds Vanesa and Manuela are sharing a bed. They brought a pack and play type bed up for us to use for Angee.
I’m sure we will have our bumpy moments in the near future, but we are sooooo glad today went good. I give all the glory to God. We feel so blessed. We can’t wait for everyone to meet them. They are a lot of fun. Well it’s my turn for a shower so I will sign off. If Chris is feeling up to it she might add her 2 cents. Enjoy the pictures!!
Family of 5!
I don't have much time, but wanted to let everyone know that today has been fantastic so far! The girls are wonderful!! We will try to post more after to girls go to bed.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Chris's first day in Pereira
This morning I was very excited to leave Bogota - I have nothing against the city, but I wanted to see where our daughters live.
When we started to learn about Pereira, I wondered what it smelled like there. I hoped it smelled like fresh plants and flowers. I envisioned lots of beautiful flowers and deep green plants and trees. I was not disappointed when we arrived! (I even enjoyed the crazy taxi ride - we were some place warm and all the windows were down and the wind was blowing into the car.)
When we pulled into the drive of our B&B, we saw a huge beautiful purple azaela growing over the outer gate. The house is white with lots of windows. When we came to the gate, it smelled like fresh flowers! It was the smell I was hoping for and it made it feel like we were walking into a place as familiar as our home.
The B&B is much nicer than anything I could have imagined. It feels like we are in a resort. Our room is upstairs and at the front of the house. It is much larger than the one last night. We have 2 double beds with white linens, a huge closet (bigger than needed for the 5 of us), a marble bathroom with a nice tub/shower, and we have our own balcony that overlooks the front yard and the pool. I think this is the closest I have ever come to paradise. There are lots of tables outside to each at and a couple covered porches with chairs and tables. One of the neatest things is that the plant that is growing outside our bedroom window is planted downstairs, in the livingroom, in a planter that is inside, but the leaves and flowers are growing on the outside of the house - amazing, just amazing to me.
After we had a few minutes to look over our room, we went downstairs to talk to the attorney (Hector) and the interpreter (Morisio). There was a woman there that I assumed was Rosario, the owner of the B&B. She greeted us and said, "Make yourself at home." A few minutes later I asked if this is her home, she said "It is your home." She said it with such sincerity. I feel at home.
This has been the perfect day. I kept thinking, "Can it get any better?" And you know what? It kept getting better. Here are some more highlights.
- Shortly after arriving, Rosario asked if we had had lunch and if we like meat and potatoes. Before we knew it, the table was set for two and there was hot soup and fresh salad. The soup was wonderful, as was the salad (it had tuna on it). When I was almost finished, they brought us both a plate of more food. This time steak and fries and rice. It was all very, very good. The juice is awesome!
- We found out that Rosaria regularly volunteers at the orphanage. It is very close to her home. She had only good things to say about it and how well the children are taken care of. We were able to ask her questions that we were planning to ask tomorrow at the adoption office.
- Rosario took us to 3 malls. One of them has a place called "Archie's Pizza." She said it is a good place to take your children because they have a place where they let the children make their own pizza. How cool is that?! We love to cook and wanted to get them started right away. I told her that Paul & I really like to cook and she said something to the effect of, "Well, maybe you and the girls can cook in my kitchen." What a treat - I'm looking forward to it!
-Rosario taught us what to expect a taxi to cost. She told us to practice our Spanish with her. She answered every question we had. One funny thing, she was telling us something about Nieva Blanco and 7 little people. I thought she was saying that there is one person who takes care of the same 7 girls at the orphanage. NO - she was telling us that the orphanage looks just like Snow White's house - haha! Cracks me up.
There are so many other blessings from the day and our trip so far. We really appreciate everyone's prayers and we hope you will continue to pray for us.
We are looking forward to our next post.
When we started to learn about Pereira, I wondered what it smelled like there. I hoped it smelled like fresh plants and flowers. I envisioned lots of beautiful flowers and deep green plants and trees. I was not disappointed when we arrived! (I even enjoyed the crazy taxi ride - we were some place warm and all the windows were down and the wind was blowing into the car.)
When we pulled into the drive of our B&B, we saw a huge beautiful purple azaela growing over the outer gate. The house is white with lots of windows. When we came to the gate, it smelled like fresh flowers! It was the smell I was hoping for and it made it feel like we were walking into a place as familiar as our home.
The B&B is much nicer than anything I could have imagined. It feels like we are in a resort. Our room is upstairs and at the front of the house. It is much larger than the one last night. We have 2 double beds with white linens, a huge closet (bigger than needed for the 5 of us), a marble bathroom with a nice tub/shower, and we have our own balcony that overlooks the front yard and the pool. I think this is the closest I have ever come to paradise. There are lots of tables outside to each at and a couple covered porches with chairs and tables. One of the neatest things is that the plant that is growing outside our bedroom window is planted downstairs, in the livingroom, in a planter that is inside, but the leaves and flowers are growing on the outside of the house - amazing, just amazing to me.
After we had a few minutes to look over our room, we went downstairs to talk to the attorney (Hector) and the interpreter (Morisio). There was a woman there that I assumed was Rosario, the owner of the B&B. She greeted us and said, "Make yourself at home." A few minutes later I asked if this is her home, she said "It is your home." She said it with such sincerity. I feel at home.
This has been the perfect day. I kept thinking, "Can it get any better?" And you know what? It kept getting better. Here are some more highlights.
- Shortly after arriving, Rosario asked if we had had lunch and if we like meat and potatoes. Before we knew it, the table was set for two and there was hot soup and fresh salad. The soup was wonderful, as was the salad (it had tuna on it). When I was almost finished, they brought us both a plate of more food. This time steak and fries and rice. It was all very, very good. The juice is awesome!
- We found out that Rosaria regularly volunteers at the orphanage. It is very close to her home. She had only good things to say about it and how well the children are taken care of. We were able to ask her questions that we were planning to ask tomorrow at the adoption office.
- Rosario took us to 3 malls. One of them has a place called "Archie's Pizza." She said it is a good place to take your children because they have a place where they let the children make their own pizza. How cool is that?! We love to cook and wanted to get them started right away. I told her that Paul & I really like to cook and she said something to the effect of, "Well, maybe you and the girls can cook in my kitchen." What a treat - I'm looking forward to it!
-Rosario taught us what to expect a taxi to cost. She told us to practice our Spanish with her. She answered every question we had. One funny thing, she was telling us something about Nieva Blanco and 7 little people. I thought she was saying that there is one person who takes care of the same 7 girls at the orphanage. NO - she was telling us that the orphanage looks just like Snow White's house - haha! Cracks me up.
There are so many other blessings from the day and our trip so far. We really appreciate everyone's prayers and we hope you will continue to pray for us.
We are looking forward to our next post.
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)
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)
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