Back Again

So I have been gone for a while, allow me to explain. Since Rachel and Addie are back home, I decided to take a 7-year boy old I  barely know, to a tiny 16th Century village I have never heard of, in a country I have never been to, where no one speaks English, on 2 buses I have no idea how to negotiate, for 4 days...isolated and alone. sounds fun, right? That's how I roll. I decide to get out of Bogota and head to Villa De Leyva, a small village in the center of Colombia that was founded in 1544 (I think). The village is largely untouched by the 21st Century (or the 17th century for that matter). Cobblestone streets, the largest village square in the country complete with a well in the center where water has been drawn for centuries, and more burros and dogs you can shake a stick at. I needed a change of scenery. Harry and I headed to the bus station (really just a stop along the highway) not knowing a thing about how the buses work here. we ended up hoping on a bus to the town of Tunja. at least I was hoping this was the case. I did not know how long the ride to Tunja was, nor did I know what it looked like to know when we should get off. Tunja is a larger city about 3 hours North of Bogota, it was founded as the starting point for expeditions looking for El Dorado. Really. From Tunja we wandered aimlessly looking for another ride to the Villa, and found a van that looked promising. again, I had no way to confirm this was the right bus or how long it would take. The fare was 2 chickens but I bartered them down to 1 chicken, a goat and a jar full of teeth. just kidding. it cost $12 USD for both of us. it was a 45 minute ride and we stopped at the station, and yet again, wandered around until we found the main square, Plaza Mayor, and wobbled on the cobblestones until I found a suitable looking room to rent. I miss this feeling of being dropped off in a place I was totally unfamiliar with and walking without any agenda except food and shelter. it reminds me of trekking through Europe, except this time I had a kid in tow, which changes the dynamic dramatically.
Our conversations continue to be strained, my Spanish is improving faster than his English, but I feel compelled to speak English to him so he can learn, but also because he is the ONLY one around me who does speak English. Harry travels reasonably well, and rolls with the punches easily, taking it all in stride. I can only imagine what he is thinking at any given moment. It occurred to me that right now, I am frustrated because I am in an unfamiliar land, with customs, habits, rituals, etc. that are not my own, I dont speak the language (well), and am trying to get to know a new family member. This is all going to be reversed in a few weeks for Harry, as he wil be in a strange land, learning the language, customs, etc. himself. we are living the same story, told at slightly different times, concluding at the same place somewhere in the future. I already have the rough manuscript for a children's book in my notes. There is no internet in Villa De Leyva with the exception of a few random cafes, they dont take credit cards anywhere, and not much to do except hike around. We did take a taxi to a Dinosaur park that was pretty cool. We retuned to Bogota just fine, except the Police stopped the bus and took everyone's i.d. on the trip back, which freaked me out a little.
Both Rachel and I continue to pursue any and all avenues we can to get back home as fast as humanly possible. This process simply takes too long and Harry needs school, a dentist, and structure he is not getting here. if anyone knows the US Ambassador to Colombia, please email me.
I am giving a presentation at a University here on Wednesday night at the request of some very nice people ( Hello Ricardo, Diego and Camilo!!) So far 119 people are signed up to listen.
the first pic below is our room, then some shots of the square, our hike, etc. There are so many dogs running 'wild' in the streets, I have never wanted to be rich so much in my life as I did then, so I could take care of all these sweet dogs! The little one under our table adopted us for a day or so, whenever she saw us across the square, she came and laid at our feet.

The Waiting Game

It's been a few day since the last post. this is due to several reasons. As has been the case throughout this whole process, there have been snags and setbacks at virtually every stage. Miscommunication, government "governmentness", and cultural differences have made us get re-re-re-re-refingerprinted, and has those sent to Houston for verification, then back to D.C. then back to Bogota, all the while our prints were already IN Houston and the judge may not need them after all. Adios $200.00. We met with Harry's defender, but he was only assigned the case THE SECOND WE SHOWED UP FOR THE MEETING. The prior defender was removed from the case by a mysterious judge. and yes, that was the defender we waited an extra 4 days for to return from vacation that delayed the placement date with Harry. The big 'intervention' meeting where we are or are not deemed a suitable match took all of 5 minutes and we were simply asked what we did the last week. it could have been done over the phone. In fact, our lawyer had to fight to keep this meeting, as they (ICBF) wanted to delay it further for reasons unknown. The tension was taking its toll on Rachel. It is simply too much to handle when all you want to do is start your family-life together, and it is stalled at every turn. My first car ran better than this operation and it bellowed smoke and had no doors. So Rachel and Addie returned home on Tuesday night. They were both frisked at the airport before they could board the plane, but luckily they we allowed to waive the 'exit tax' that Colombia imposes on people staying less than 2 weeks. Thanks for staying, now here is your bill! But they are safe and sound at home, getting re-acquainted with the dogs, cats, snow, etc.
Harry and I remain, and face 2 more weeks of boredom. there simply isnt that much to do with a 7 year old and it is not easy to get around. But, the good news is that we got our court assigned! After the intervention meeting, our case is assigned one of 23 courts set aside for adoptions. Our lawyer knows the judges in 12 of them, and we need her to expedite the paperwork FAST, so we were hoping to get a 'friendly' court. They all have numbers, and courts 10 and 20 are notoriously bad. bad meaning slow and not friendly. IF we were to get a bad court, there is no telling the toll it would take on us. This is like the lottery to see if you get to go to Heaven or Hell. We got court #2. so far, so good. our lawyer started her process today and is having lunch with the judge. This seems inappropriate to me, but who am I to question, right? so there is the potential we could have all the paperwork done in about 2 weeks, but the reality is closer to 3. and here is why this becomes a problem: our days are filled with playing in the park, walking around town, reading books, playing soccer, going to museums, etc. We are supposed to bond, right? I also try to instigate an hour of learning English per day. ONLY 1 HOUR. this is met with a ferocious fight from Harry every time. so we glare at each other, sulk, and it ruins the rest of the day. Harry also has a tooth coming in but has not lost the baby tooth inb its place yet! I think he is going to need surgery. so we need school and a dentist but we 'get' fighting and playing. There is little structure when structure is the one thing he needs. so I do the best I can, and we figure out how to communicate in new and interesting ways. He continues to be a good kid for the most part, given his horrible first 5 years, I think he is doing remarkably well. More pictures soon, either of fun things around town, or of men in white coats dragging me away.

7 million people and 6 million taxis

If you have ever traveled in a foreign country, you probably remember the thrill of getting out to see new things to say you have seen it or been there. While we are here for an entirely different reason, we still feel the urge to go out and 'do' rather than just 'be'. We also want pictures for Harry to have of where he is from, so he has a connection to his homeland and part of his story to make his life well-rounded. So here we come Plaza de Simone Bolivar! This Plaza is in the old part of Bogota, over four hundred and seventy years as the city's center. The Catedral Primada anchoring one corner, was orginially built in 1538 from straw and mud. Its had many upgrades to keep it around this long! The plaza also is home to the government buildings that house the president (Colombia's white house). Mind you, no one told us that the day we picked might not be the best day to go due to a huge Pope John Paul II memorial of some sort. But we have a knack fro picking the most difficult times to do the simplest things. People were packed in the square like a Tokyo subway. Folks were lined up 3/4 of the perimeter just to get in the church, and this is a BIG square! Elway couldn't throw a football from one end to the other. Army soliders and God's soliders (nuns) were marching all around. We felt as if all of Bogota had the same idea as we did. This is a very Catholic town, and apparently the Pope still hold some sway among the locals. Now, I've been up and down 5th av. in Manhattan during Christmas time, and I've been in the Hong Kong airport during peak hours, but I have NEVER seen this many people in one place. it was as if the entire world tilted toward Colombia and the entire population of the planet tumbled down to Bogota as if in a funnel. an we have two tired kids in tow. The way we usually catch a taxi here, as we mentioned, is to call Manuela when we are ready to go home, and she calls a cab and gives them our address, she then calls us back and tells us the cab's i.d . number, and we wait for it to arrive, safe in the knowledge that we will not be kidnapped. I don't trust my Spanish enough to interpret numbers over the phone. but....with 7 million people trying to get a taxi, the cab companies wouldn't even answer their phones. so we had to hail one on the street, which took about a half an hour. We (or at least I) was white knuckled the whole way home until I recognized the area I was in. Nothing like a few good kidnapping tales to frighten you silly. This is a hard town.
Addie continues to do great, she is sprinkling her sentences with Spanish very naturally now, and doing her best to cope in the new surroundings. I doubt I would have been that easy if I were 4 years old in a totally foreign environment. what a trooper!
Harry is doing better, and we monitor his level of anxiety almsot all the time. He is getting to know us and we him, and its going to take some time before any of us is totally relaxed. This is by far the hardest thing we have ever done. The language barrier is huge, I can get by just fine in town, but when I need to get a point across to a belligerent kid, I fear my message is weakened. in the madness we also went to the Historical museum in an old, old, old former prison, saw a cool soccer exhibit, and today we went to the kids Science Museum and hailed a cab home. I want to write exclusively about the adoption process we are currently living, as I have a lot to say and I remember looking for just such a thing about a year ago, but that will be another post. Tomorrow we get out lawyer, and have our Integration meeting (where we could call the whole thing off) and get fingerprinted again. I am drained and exhausted, and I have 2+ weeks in front of me where it will be just Harry and myself. Marathon parenting is not for the weak. -Brian

How do you say 'snookered' in Spanish?

There are a lot of things to be cautious about in Bogota; the drinking water, fake police who will rob you, being kidnapped by a taxi driver, crossing the street as a pedestrian, etc. and we, in this overly-cautious state, approached Harry's learning ability with kid gloves. In an attempt to establish a learning routine, we wrote some lessons for Harry. We were told that "he loves math!" so Rachel wrote out some simple equations, and I wangled him to sit and show me his skills.  He shut down like Portland in a snow storm. I asked him 'what is 4 plus 4" and he managed to scribble (reluctantly) a line that looked like a sun-baked worm. We freaked (internally). This set off a series of discussions between Rachel and I about 'does he have ADHD? ADD? Dyslexia??' along with trying to schedule counseling back home, holding him back in school, and on and on. Needless to say, the lesson ended. The next day, I got him to 'learn' 5 new words in English and we played a game that involved some learning (tricky!) but he pouted for a good 20 minutes before I could coaxe him in to this. But then a discovery. We have never been accused of being the best detectives, despite watching Dexter and other shows that let us string together clues, but we (finally) decided to look in his backpack that he brought with him from the orphanage. I know, I know, why did we wait so long? I offer no reasonable explanation. In it we found SEVERAL school books of his with pages and pages of completed assignments, both in English and Spanish! There was math, cursive, spelling, drawings, grammar....We knew we had been horswaggled by a 7 year old! The little brat was fully capable of writing and already knew several words in English. He was just sandbagging so he didn't have to do his lessons. If he only knew about the therapy and counseling we were  planning for him to get him to learn! We spoke to Manuela the following day (on a trip to the US Embassy, more on that later) and asked her if she thought he was testing us. She giggled out loud and suggested we try again. So we tried again. This time he wrote his name three times, perfectly legible, completed simple math and wrote letters in script. and was happy to do it! no pouting! It was 30 minutes of bliss, not only because he does not have the severe learning problems we created, but because we were on to his schemes and feel prepared (insert chuckle here) for more tests. Harry does not yet realize that he is being adopted by two extremely stubborn parents.

Yesterday, we set out with Manuela for "short trip" to the notary. While we were out, Manuela decided after conferring with our Colombian lawyer that we all needed to go to the US Embassy. It seems that yet again, we need to get fingerprinted to make sure there are no problems with our paperwork that has been submitted to the Colombian family court. For those who have heard us complaining before, sorry, but to catch up others following the blog, we have been fingerprinted by 1) the state of NY, 2) the Rochester police department, 3) Homeland security in Buffalo (TWICE). Now, the US Embassy will do it again, Monday at 9am. Of course, we had five hours of waiting at the embassy to figure this out. Brian is extremely tempted to break the law now because CLEARLY there are no records of his fingerprints anywhere between the U.S and Colombia. It will be the perfect crime!

Also, a huge light at the end of the tunnel that is our tortured waiting period in Colombia- Harry's doctor is going to write a letter to the family court saying that because of Harry's medical condition, he cannot wait for weeks for the family court to process his adoption. If the court listens, Harry and Brian might be coming home together and our family will only be split for two weeks, instead of four. Rachel has already calculated the savings in money, how to change our airline tickets and when Harry could make appointments in the US for his new doctor, his school assessment and meeting his new US social worker. Did i mention that Rachel has already packed her bags in anticipation?

The only picture I took lately was of a run-down, thatch covered 'internet cafe' outside the Embassy, and I was run-down by a guard while taking it, so it didn't turn out well. But, we are off on an adventure today (the bus! where you never really know where you're going and that is peppered with unschedule stops and unplanned routes; should be fun) to another museum, so we will have more soon. -B&R

another day another 2,000 pesos

alright, our wits are back about us! as expected, things calmed down immensely as soon as we left the Bing-Bong Palace of Perpetual Anxiety. we got back to a more 'normal' schedule today. I am still insisting on learning 5 new words in English every day ( Harry, not me) which is usually met with the stubbornness of an angry mule, but we fight our way through. The reward is the park. In terms of personal insight, we are going around and around about how much 'learning' he needs now, and how much just pure family fun he needs, since this has been in short supply for his entire life. Do we wait until we get back home to introduce learning in a structured environment and simply enjoy our time here, which might give him the false impression that every day is going to be like this (dad home all day, fun in the park, etc.) OR, do we instill structure right away so that his transition to NY is smoother, but forgo the opportunity to bond as a family, enjoying each others company for its own sake. These are the problems we are currently negotiating. We have decided on a little of both, structured learning for a little while in the morning, then fun in the afternoon. And no more arcades or life-sized game shows like we experienced yesterday. But, Harry is really a good kid; he tells everyone that he gets to have dogs sleep on his bed when he gets to NY, he has a healthy smart-ass wit (which I appreciate) and is the current CEO of the clean plate club. I thought I'd just post some video today so you can see him and Addie in action, on a calm day in the park. Deep breaths.

Love to all -Brian

The Honeymoon Ends

Rachel is writing for a change. It is hard to follow Brian’s eloquence and humor, but my jealousy has gotten the best of me, so I am writing tonight.

Background info that you need to know- my lack of control over our lives is strangling me in Colombia. I, unlike Brian, can’t talk to almost anyone, don’t want to force Harry to bond with me and feel completely non-confident about what to do. Therefore, suggestions on things to do are taken without any thinking through, “is this a good idea?” Flash forward to this morning. We are heading to west of Bogota to a huge mall (they really love malls in Colombia- did not expect this at all) to a famous “DiverCity,” a kid museum of sorts that allows kids to pretend they are fire fighters, vets, racecar drivers, etc. In retrospect, taking a seven-year-old child who is brand new to your family and the world at large, to the most overwhelming, over-stimulating place on the planet, was not actually the best idea. Also, important to picture, everything is in another language, so our other child wants to take part as well, but the scare factor is huge. Parents are not allowed in each exhibit. Parents are not also directly told important things like “where is the exit” or “ you can’t leave unless everyone in your group leaves at the same time.” (This will make sense in a minute). After one hour, Harry was not listening to anything Brian was trying to tell him and Addie was in tears (mom too). After hour number two, Addie had mellowed quite a bit and was waiting patiently to do the “how to make yogurt “exhibit. Harry was demanding to do only what he wanted, regardless of his parents’ requests or Addie’s feelings.  So, we finally said “no” to Harry. Now imagine loud howling and screaming from a seven year old. We knew that this would happen. We were not really thinking it would come so soon in the honeymoon period. I picked him up and attempted to find the exit, thinking like most parents, remove the kid from the problem, the problem gets much smaller and easier to handle. Believe it or not, it is not easy to carry a screaming seven year old around a place where you can’t find the exit. To make matters worse, two of the women working there know a little bit of English and are trying to help. They then talk to Harry in Spanish and, in an attempt to get him to calm down, ask him if he wants to go play some more! The exact opposite of what we want/need! Brian quickly corrects them. But, my limited Spanish only allows a few words and phrases, one which is 'Ayudmame", which I repeated over and over, thinking I could get him to "Help me" help him. (Ayudame translates to 'Help me'). Later I realized that this is the name of the orphanage we just took him out of, and he probably thinks I was telling him that we were going to return him to Ayudame! Then, the big shocker comes in- we can’t leave. I just pick a place on the floor and hold Harry, trying to rock him and soothe him, while Brian and Addie are found. Not fun for either of us (more crying from both Harry and mom). Fifteen minutes later, we are all leaving the place, but can’t find the damn exit of the mall with our screaming Harry. Finally, we do exit before security comes to arrest us. Harry gets outside and stops howling. We go home. The rest of the day was a wash- two worn out parents trying to play with both kids and recover from a not so banner day.  Tomorrow will be much calmer.

One more note- in defense of women everywhere- on Brian’s last post, he wrote we left the gold museum because of Addie refusing to use a seat less toilet. He made that up. Both Addie and I chose to not use such a toilet, but stayed in the museum for another hour. We left after pleas from both kids that they had had enough culture & history for the day. Brian thinks I am being silly to baulk at his “editorializing.” I feel Addie’s rep as a tough, “take everything in stride” girl is very important to defend!  Thanks again for all the comments and encouragement from all over the US! It definitely helps us have courage! You all ROCK!

some observations

I am guessing that a lot of you are no longer reading this. but then again, how would I know? for those of you who are still around, here is an update. Bur first, some history; Harry had an abusive past, primarily from his father, and it has always been a major concern about how he would attach to a male authority figure. In rencent months at the orphanage, he was able to switch to a male therapist and the Director's son was able to take him to some soccer games, so there was always hope that he could bond with a male again, it was just (potentially) going to be difficult. We knew this going in to it. But I will say this: so far Harry has bonded to me extremely well. He helps me get dressed in the morning, sits in the bathroom waiting for me until I am done with my shower, and holds my hand when we are walking without even asking. He seems very comfortable with me already. in fact, maybe too comfortable. As expected, Addie is having a hard time sharing my time with Harry. She is working pretty hard at getting my attention. Not that I am that distracted with Harry, but it is all new to her. So I am pulled in directions I never knew existed. Honestly, how does anyone handle more than 2 kids?!!
so I had the 'this is your forever family' conversation with Harry. Who hasn't had that one, right? I had to rely on google Translate to get me through so I didnt accidentally say we were taking him back to the orphanage or something. He responded with a loud and long " Siiiiiiii!" Colombia may be a drug haven, but I swear that was more powerful than anything grown on trees.

We took our first adventure out to the old downtown ( and I mean OLD, built in the 1500's). In Bogota, you dont hail a cab on the street, apparently. there is a (slight) possibility you will be kidnapped. Not really kidnapped like in the movies, but maybe taken way out of your way and forced to withdraw all your money from an ATM. How do they force you, you ask? they make you smell  something (the name I forget but it is a great name, trust me) that temporarily makes you lose your will. Then they rob you and take your money. BUT, if you call for a cab ahead of time, it is safer. but you still have that image in your head as they zip in and out of traffic to who-knows-where. So we went to the Gold Museum today, with a REAL pirates treasure chest and Gold from the pre-colombian era. very cool. There is a custom on Sundays called Ciclovîa, where everyone rides bikes instead of driving. so the main streets are closed and there are people everywhere. Jugglers, street performers, thieves and beggars all right up in your grill. Its a pretty intimidating place to be as one of only a few gringos. But we survived with all our limbs and cash. The picture of Harry and Addie is probably the only time all day he wasn't smiling or running, but we were at a museum, so what do you expect? Addie did great but freaked out at the seat-less toilets in the museum, so we had to leave. And the van on the street was selling men's underwear out of the back of a van. What a great idea! The water here must be harder on the digestive track than I was told. Oh, we have it so easy in the states. The bottom picture is how we feel after one of Mariaellena's home cooked Colombian meals.  -Brian

Day 2, and a look in to the future!

First off, I want to say thanks for all the super-awesome emails, comments, facebook posts, etc. from all our friends and family! You have made an overwhelming situation even more overwhelming (in a good way) because it is so amazing to be reminded of the great life that awaits Harry, with all of your help. I dont know how many posts I will make after this one, as it will start to get in to a daily routine for all of our benefits, and I'm sure you dont want to read about that. So I want to at least fill you in on Harry and our lives:
There is obviously a 'honeymoon period' in all of this, and we are in it. I'm sure the teeth grinding phase is around the bend, but in the meantime, Harry is really a great kid. He is eager to help, very polite, very talkative already even though he doesn't know a word in English. He and Addie get along famously, although the language barrier is formidable. Harry has  a natural inclination to protect and help girls. We were told at the adoption that before he heven knew about us, he requested a family with a younger sister he could take care of. voila! done! We went to the park today and played so great together. I have a soccer prodigy on my hands. I told him we could go to a Colombia National game and he about peed himself.  He seems engaged, happy, not at all frightened, and fun. He is very intelligent, loves the ipad, is committed to 5 new words in English a day, and shows no signs of all the freaking out we have been warned about from the very first day of this process. I am posting pictures of the other kids at Ayudame, in hopes that some of you will follow our lead, they all look so happy and need good homes! The kid in the Elmo shirt was a riot, the girl who looks like she is attacking the camera was showing me her teeth (she was very proud), and the group swarming around Rachel was when they got their pencils. So look for a few new posts about the process (there are a lot of meetings we need to go to), mainly because I want to share the experience for anyone who might be thinking of doing the same thing. Plus, it promises to be an adventure!
-Brian

Each day seems a little more like normal, whatever that is, and from here we try to exist as a family. We will do some touristy things this weekend, and at the end of next week, we have an update meeting. Then Rachel and Addie go home and Harry and I stay for more meetings (and hopefully a visit from Abuela J!)

It's a boy!

It is 5pm on the craziest day of our lives! After an afternoon waiting at the orphanage and wading through mounds of paperwork, we FINALLY have Harry! Harold (haven't quite gotten him used to a nickname yet) is wearing Brian out playing fütbal and teaching him how the ipad works. He is a sweet, sweet boy that does not speak a lick of english, but he has Addie's name down and yelling papa, papa, papa! Addie is amazing as a little sister- she loves touching his hair and chasing after him. She definitely has left single childhood behind without so much as a blink of regret! Brian will add more later, when he has a break, so look for a post in 2050. we are all so happy!

okay, the kids are in bed, the first afternoon as a foursome is over. now let me explain the day a little more. We arrived at Ayudame at 11:30, and spoke with the director and various other people (his teacher, psychologists, etc.) for what seemed like forever. maybe 2 hours. I even caught Harry peeping around the corner to catch a glimpse of us! The he was going to be brought upstairs to meet us. but first, about 7 or 8 people came in the room and lined up looking at us like we were on stage and owed them a show. the minutes took FOREVER to come. Rachel, Addie and I were in chairs lined up in a row, with Addie in the middle. Harry came in with a worker, stopped, took a quick glance at all of us, then ran straight to Rachel and gave her a big hug. People were snapping pictures like we were Brad and Angelina's baby. then, the details get fuzzy because my mind was not my own for about the  next 6 hours. The room FILLED with all the kids from the orphanage, clamoring on us, swarming us, literally knocking me over. "Are you Harold's papa?" They'd ask in Spanish. si, si.... They were fascinated with my tattoo and wanted to see the one on my back, so my shirt was nearly torn from my body. The were in our laps, posing for pictures, laughing, asking a ton of questions. it was absolutely amazing. You HAVE to try it! I drew some pictures for them,  which sent them in to hysterics, they took my camera and took pictures of me and of themselves. Rachel gave them pencils and the freaked. The Director had to break it up and we left with Harold. But, he did leave with some things; a backpack, a few toys, some drawings. We hopped in a car and got hamburgers. Then it was home for soccer and staring at each other. I just want to sit and stare at him, examine him, pinch him to see if he is real. so far he seems very content and eager to be a part of the family. I cannot, repeat, cannot, believe this day has actually come and gone. More pics coming soon. Hello to everyone back home and thanks for all the well-wishes!!!! -Brian

careful what you wish for

so, remember in the last post how I mentioned that this waiting was like not knowing when we got to go to the hospital when Rachel was pregnant? well, I guess that was enough for the forces at work to send us to the hospital. Permitanme explicar: yesterday we met with Harry's doctors and psychiatrists at Ayudame. They were very helpful and gave us a good (or pretty good) background on his behavior, fears, etc. And again, he is very excited to meet us and to be adopted. more on that later.... We left Ayudame with a placement date of Friday because the director broke her wrist and had a doctor's appointment on Thursday (honestly people, get it together). Then Addie started feeling awful. She had a slight cold when we left, but she was coughing and making awful noises now and was looking a little flush. Manuela's husband is a doctor (and former ambassador to Costa Rica) so we went the her house so he could listen to her lungs. He said she did not sound well at all and suggested a trip to the hospital. Manuela called her daughter's pediatrician and off we went. He met us (after waiting for about an hour) and told us we needed x-rays and to have her blood drawn. so we went to another office down the street. she had several tests done (she was very scared, all these people poking her and talking to her in Spanish) and we went to a third office. At this point we were just following Manuela and trusting her. We had to pay for all the procedures out of pocket, and while not cheap, it was still less than in the states. Sometimes they take our credit card, but sometimes Manuela had to pay and now we owe her. I cant imagine how hard this would have been without her. So now she has an antibiotic, it came in powder form that we had to add hot water to, not a pill like back home. So today we are resting and relaxing at Betty's Place.
on another unrelated note; driving in Bogota is insane! at one point we were darting in between other cars, narrowly missing other bumpers, jerking to stops and starts, diverting random motorcycles that zip past us at twice our speed, just missed nailing some wandering pedestrians, and avoiding several accidents, and all this was in a parking garage! I am not making this up. The streets are even worse. But everyone drives this way and no one gets angry in the process. My head would pop off like a dandelion if I lived here.

So we get Harry tomorrow (although they do not use the name 'Harry' here, so he will need to get sued to that. 'Harold' is too formal for us). and then the real fun starts. Thanks for all the well-wishes everyone! about the pics: The top pic is Manuela, she is great! the second is the view from the hospital waiting room, and then the waiting room ( I had some time to kill), then a very un-patient Addie, the man in the orange shirt is Harry's psychologist, the outside of Ayudame, and the street corner the orphanage is on.

so freakin close!

alright, so I think this was covered, but here is the latest: we were supposed to meet and get harry today, Tuesday, but his official case worker is on vacation (did no one know this a month ago?!) until Friday. so we got all excited for nothing. This is not un-like when Rachel was about to give birth to Addie; not knowing when we would get to go to the hospital. With Addie, I rubbed Rachel's ankles a specific way and she went in to labor, I am threatening to do the same thing now and see if it moves up our placement date. But...we just heard from Manuela who stopped by and talked with Harry earlier today. according to her, he is super excited to meet us, nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs (as are we), but he was waiting for her at the window and rushed out to hug her and asked her a ton of questions about us. We sent him a small photo album a month back with pictures of us and the dogs, house, etc. in it and apparently he does not let it leave his sight, even sleeping with it under his pillow. The fact that he hugs her so easily is, to me, a great sign! He will leave the orphanage with NOTHING, just the clothes on his back. not even a toy to take with him. so we are going to go shopping and get him more clothes and soccer gear ( I guess he LOVES soccer!! yea!!) and fresh underwear. What kid doesn't love fresh underwear? and what a great first experience for him. ha ha, I joke. We walked around today and found some local parks and a gym where he can swim in the mornings. Except he doesn't know how to swim yet. So, tomorrow we get to meet his doctors, psychologists, the orphanage director, etc. and ask all the questions we want about him. Then we get to meet and 'get' him on Thursday! I get all verklempt thinking about it. I feel much better after just being here. Bettys place (where we are staying) is lined, literally floor to ceiling in every room, with pictures of adopted kids and families who have stayed here and they all look so happy and comfortable. it provides a great atmosphere. It still rains in the afternoons here, but it is warm and not at all muggy (take that, Rochester!) I will post tomorrow after the meeting at Ayudame! The pic is of the street just around the corner from us and another of the courtyard at Betty's Place, and the third is how I felt when we heard our placement was delayed.  There are beer stores everywhere, I think I'll wander out......