Back to Bogota!

We made it out of Cartagena without a hitch (and with my new belt notch intact). We had to wear our “Bogota clothes” to the airport which meant pants for everyone. If the Cartagena airport was air conditioned, I sure couldn’t tell. They had fans going everywhere, but unless you were seated right in front of one it was pretty miserable. The only hiccup came when we arrived in Bogota and our ride wasn’t there to meet us at the airport. We waited around for a while looking for someone carrying a sign with our name on it but pretty soon the baggage area was clear and we were the last ones left. Against advice and better judgment, we snagged a cab. However, everything turned out great. Our cabbie gave us a reasonable rate and got us back to our home-away-from-home in good time. Turns out that I think I gave the incorrect arrival time to our hosts here in Bogota. So, the cab they sent arrived at the airport about the same time we arrived back at El Refugio. My bad. I hope I get a chance to make it up to the guy who drove out to the airport looking for us.

We were greeted at El Refugio by our French friends Cathy and Tony (boys are David and Jeremy). I think Luke was kind of happy to see David since they get along pretty well. We were also surprised to see the U.S. family that made a quick one-night stop here at the compound while we were here last. I can’t recall if I mentioned them before they just stayed a quick night before leaving early the next morning for Florencia – which is pretty much Amazon country. They have two teenaged daughters who came on the trip and adopted a 9 year old girl. She is very sweet and a cute kid. However, the two girls and their dad are heading back to Spokane, WA tomorrow at about 5:30 a.m. It was nice to see them again, however briefly. It’s always nice to converse is clear English with someone. They are sleeping in our old room upstairs and we are across the hall (where the Adelmans stayed). In fact, I accidentally walked in there later in the evening out of habit. It was embarrassing but could have been much worse (everyone was decent).

We were a little disappointed that some of the families were gone. In fact, the only people still here were Cathy, Tony and their boys. During our absence, we lost Natalie and her mom, the other Spanish family that gave us a copy of the “Pincho” song for Maria, and two French families that were also very nice. We did gain another French family, Carmen and her new daughter (Advice to people staying in El Refugio in the future – you might want to pick up a couple French phrases. We’ve had lots of families from France). I was really kind of hoping the Pincho family would stick around a bit longer. They were really fun although their English was worse than my Spanish and speaking was difficult. Wilma, one of the housekeepers/cooks/guides that works here, said it was a pretty sad day last Friday and they had a line of cabs out front taking people away. The place seems much quiter and isn't nearly as full.

Speaking of Wilma, she is clearly my favorite of the housekeepers in the compound. She is always very nice and extremely patient with my Spanish. She is also the one who complimented me on my Spanish in our first couple days here which gave her an immediate leg up on anyone else. She also keeps talking to me and pushing me to speak more Spanish. It kind of hurts my head after a while but I suppose it is good for me. She works here for 24 hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and sleeps in a little room in the back. It takes a special kind of person to put up with all of the kids running around here and people like me for weeks on end (she even has three kids of her own at home). Another sort of funny Wilma story . . . we weren’t in the door more than a couple minutes when she reminded us that the kids need jackets if they are going outside to play. What is it with the Colombians and their “cold” weather? It’s kind of like the people in Bogota are trying to remind us that all of Colombia isn’t the hot, muggy place we see in the movies. Nevertheless, we had Maria’s jacket handy because we knew people in the airport would give us “looks” if our kids ran around with short sleeves.

We arrived too late for lunch and tried putting the ninos down for a naps. We left Luke “in charge” while Traci and I ran out to get diapers and some more cash. When we returned, everyone was up and running around. So much for naps today! The kids were clearly tired, but I think a little excited to be back at the compound. Additionally, some of the kids here were anxious to see them and I think they were going into our room to look at them. So, even though Luke was “in charge,” it really isn’t his fault.

Dinner was fried plantain and some chicken & rice dish with some sliced salchichas mixed in. Desert was fresh oranges. We had a late breakfast this morning and the ninos got a snack (of somewhat dubious nutritional value) on the plane. So, we were all pretty hungry by the time dinner was served at 7:00 p.m. Luke, however, reverted back to his old ways and turned his nose up at the plantain and chicken & rice. He did eat some of the oranges. The poor kid hasn’t eaten much in the last couple days. I may have to take him out for something if he doesn’t get a good breakfast and lunch in tomorrow.

Now, the good news of the day . . . As I predicted, Lucia called tonight with some important information. The judge wants to meet the family tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Lucia’s son, David (our translator for the day), will be meeting us here at 12:30 to take us all to the court (I still can’t recall where it is, looking at the map, I want to say it is in Zipaquira which isn’t quite as far north as Ubate). From what I understand, this is fairly common in the smaller courts and usually the judge gets the “sentencia,” or final adoption decree, signed by the next day. If that happens, there is a chance that we could be home next Tuesday or Wednesday night of next week (conservatively estimating). So, if you are the praying sort of people, keep them coming.

The kids went to bed tonight with some difficulty. In Cartagena, they did pretty well with us leaving the room to go next door to our room. They were joined rooms and we left the door cracked. Tonight, we tried laying them down and leaving the room, but Maria started screaming for “papi” at the top of her lungs. I will chalk it up to over-tired. We will try again tomorrow night. Otherwise, I may end up sleeping in the hallway between their two rooms when I get home.

I am sorry, but there will be no pictures on this blog entry. I think we took a couple but nothing that would be of interest to anyone. I mean, how many times do you want to see pictures of us on a plane or standing by our luggage? So, I will save you that.

I’ve been lingering over my blog listening to the Pens v. Red Wings game on the internet (still haven't been able to find anything on TV). Depressing! The Wings almost had it won in regulation but the Penguins tied it up with about 30 seconds left. Then I had to sit through almost exactly 2.5 overtimes just to hear my Wings get beat. Maybe the Bob Probert Wings jersey is bad luck. I will have to throw it in the laundry before game 6 to wash out some of the bad karma from this game.