Thursday was a busy day for us. Isabel picked Maria and I up at 10:15 a.m. so that we could be at the notary's office by 11:00 a.m. when they open. (The reason for going to the notary is to get Maria's new birth certificate.) When we got there, we walked right up to the window and our papers were sitting there ready to review and sign. I looked everything over, signed my name, paid, and that was it! It took maybe five, ten minutes tops. It was so fast that Isabel said I should give the notary a tip, so I did. And then we were on to the rest of our day....
We got back into the car and Isabel said that she didn't end up cancelling with Los Pisingos and we have plenty of time to get there by 11:30 for our tour. This was great news, except I wasn't planning on going to Los Pisingos so I didn't have my camera with me or our donations. Ugh. I was so disappointed, but I didn't say anything to Isabel.
When we got there and walked into the main building, we were greeted by Maria's group/foster mother and the psychologist. They were so happy to see her! She was very shy and reserved though, and kept burying her face into my chest. I'm sure she was very confused and nervous about whether she was coming back to stay there or not. So I just kept whispering to her, "Soy tu mama siempre. Tu eres mi hija siempre. No te preocupe. Mama esta aqui." (I am your mama always. You are my daughter always. Don't worry. Mama is here.) They then showed us into a waiting room, the same waiting room that we were at the day we picked up Maria. There were a few blocks in there so we played on the floor until Andres, the assistant director, came in. He was so happy to see Maria as well! He asked how she is and how everything is going. A few minutes later Carlos, the director, came in and he was amazed at how different, how healthy, and how happy she looks! He said she has changed so much over these short weeks. We've definitely noticed more personality in her since when we first got her, but it's been gradual so we didn't realize it would be obvious to other people. It was great to hear!
Maria and I went on the tour with Andres, and it was really good to see all of the rooms, but also sad. All these babies in their little incubator type beds - they need to be cuddled! I know they are receiving good care, but with only two care givers to fifteen babies let's say (I don't know the exact ratio), they aren't getting as much holding and talking to and cuddling and rocking and loving as they need! It was hard to see.
I got to see where Maria's room was, but I couldn't go in there and see her bed because the room was being cleaned. We did get to see Natalia again, which was sweet, and sad. Again the girls just stared at each other. I blew her kisses and I felt so bad saying good bye to those big beautiful brown eyes.
After the tour we went back to the waiting room and Isabel and I talked with Andres and Carlos for a few more minutes. The speech therapist also came in and talk with me for a few minutes. She said that she wasn't able to talk with us at our original meeting the day before we picked up Maria because she was sick, but she wanted to meet me and see how Maria is doing and to make sure that I know that she will need continued speech and language therapy when we get home. I assured her that we would do that. I was really glad to meet her.
We left LP around 12:40 and went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we went to the passport office and we took Carlos with us because he was missing me and didn't want to be at the hotel for several more hours without me.
Maria cried so hard while getting her picture taken, we're not sure why, so her passport photo looks so sad! We were at the passport office for maybe 45 minutes and then left with her Colombian passport in hand. It takes months in the States to get a passport, but less than an hour in Colombia! Hmmm....
On our walk from the passport office to the taxi (Isabel hires a taxi for the day and it's always one of three drivers), which was about half a block away, she got mugged! She was holding Carlos's hand, I was holding Maria, and then all of a sudden this young guy runs up behind her, rubs her ear lobs, and then darts off into the traffic! It all happend in seconds, before we even knew what happened! He ripped her earrings right out of her ears - thankfully they didn't have backs on them, they were just looped through, otherwise her ear lobs would have been ripped! We just stood there shocked for a moment. It was so fast. Her ears hurt, but we were so thankful she was not hurt worse, and that he didn't take our purses (mine was in my diaper bag, which I'm so thankful for, because who would want a bag full of baby stuff - not knowing my passport and money was in there!)
Poor Isabel! She's this sweet 70 year old woman, nicely dressed, and very sharp, but so sweet and petite. I heard the next day that she did not sleep well that night and her ears hurt. It was a very unfortunate incident, but it was an excellent reminder at how fast things can happen, and that they do happen. All of us need to be very aware and smart about things whereever we are outside of the hotel, no matter who we are with.
It was about 3:00 p.m. and we had our appointment with the U.S. Embassy doctor at 4:30 p.m. I asked Isabel if she wanted to rest and get some coffee or something, but she said no, we should just go to the doctor's and wait there for our appointment. When we got there at 3:30 they said that our appointment got moved to 5:00 p.m. Ugh. An hour and a half wait with two tired (Maria hadn't napped that day) children in a doctor's office waiting room! Lucky for us, but very unfortunate for our friend Phyllis from the hotel, we ended up being seen at 4:30 because she was there with her son but wasn't told she needed to bring his immunization records. She had to go back to the hotel to get them and then come back later to be seen, so we got moved into her time slot.
The doctor flipped through Maria's medical file, did a quick exam, and talked with me for a bit before signing off that she was healthy and could come to the U.S.
We came back to the hotel exhausted and ready for dinner!
The next morning Rachel Thompson and I left the hotel with our girls and with Carmen, Isabel's assistant and went to the ICBF headquarters to pick up our letters. We then went to the U.S. Embassy to apply for our girls' visas. This is the last step before bringing our new little one's home. It all went really well and we will come back on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. to pick up the visas! And then that's it! We're done! We can all travel home! Kevin booked a flight for next Saturday to come to Bogota, and we'll be flying home as a family of four on Tuesday, March 30th! We're so excited!
Meanwhile, my sister Natalie flew in late Thursday night. Hi, glad you're here, I gotta leave first thing in the morning and Carlos is staying with you at the hotel - have fun! Welcome to Colombia! :) They actually had a great time - they played dinosaurs for two hours! Carlos is thrilled to have Tia Natalie here! :) I am too!
I do have some photos to post from Monday and from today, but I'm just way too tired to post them tonight. I will try to do it tomorrow or Monday! Good night!
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