Our Journey to Adoption: First 2 teeth!!!

Friday was a lazy morning of getting caught up on school work and work. A seemed a lot more fussy that normal so we were not sure what was going on with her. We decided to hang out at the hotel and venture to the grocery store Carulla for lunch. They have an amazing deli there that we have been scoping out. Rotisserie/broasted chicken is very popular here so we decided to try it. It was great! After lunch we stopped off at place called Sammy’s to get Isaac’s hair cut. We joke that when his hair starts to get a bit long it looks like lego snap on hair as it is so thick. He was so worried that they would not know what to do or how to cut it. We were pleasantly surprised at the great job they did and the fact that it was $7 plus free limeaid while we waited. Our friends the Bosley’s have had Sentencia and have been in Bogota working on all the paperwork to bring their 3 boys back to New Orleans. We are really going to miss them as they are leaving at 4:30am in the morning. We decided to send them off with a fiesta/dance party Friday night. We turned the dining room in to a dance floor and blasted the Colombian music. Those boys can dance that is for sure!! Even Jeff got out on the floor and shook his groove thing with Juanita. I caught it all on video!! So funny. The kids were up late dancing, jumping on beds and having a great time. What a great night hanging out with new friends filled with so much laughter!

Saturday am we slept in a bit as A did not sleep well at night. We realized in the am that 2 bottom teeth are poking through. YAY!!! This explains the crabbiness and excessive drooling!! :-) After a long nap she was back to her happy self. It is going to be a long weekend here as Monday is a holiday. We love the weekends but we also know not much is happening with our stuff in the courts. We ventured out for a walk to the Santa Barbara Mall for lunch at Andres Carne de Res express and did some shopping. We were surprised to find some of the markets open. We also ran in to a driver for one of the families at the hotel hanging out with his friends. Our friend Carol says that when you are in a city of 8 million people and you run in to people you know you have been there too long!! HA!! Behind the mall we found a trampoline type ride for kids. Isaac gave it a try and I was so surprised as usually he is so cautious. It was crazy and he loved every minute of it!! We played at McDonalds play land before walking back to the hotel. It was a great day and beautiful weather!! It is a bit quiet at our hotel now!! We are so happy our friends are back home however!! Isaac met up with Jefferson at the park to play soccer before dinner.

Sunday Freddy came and picked us up around 9:30. We headed down to La Candalaria for a walking tour and to a traditional Colombian flea market that the locals go to. On our way we passed Monserrate and we were shocked at the people waiting in line. Majority of them were locals. I bet there were more that 1,000 people waiting to go up the mountain. Freddy said there is a mass held every hour on Sundays and people will wait in line for hours to attend! La Candalaria is like the old city and has a lot of Spanish Colonial architecture which I have fallen in love with. So beautiful and so much detail!! I can only imagine what these buildings looked like when they were brand new! Freddy is so knowledgeable about the history. Every street has a name with some significance and history. The street that the old jail was on was named Calle del Divorcio. When we asked why Freddy explained that if a married woman was caught cheating with another man her husband would file for divorce and while they waited for the divorce papers to be final the woman would have to wait in jail. When I asked if this would happen if a man was cheating and his wife was filing Freddy laughed and said of coarse not!! HA!! Many of these buildings are very old and some are being restored. I hope to bring something home that represents this architecture. We wanted to visit a place with antiques but it was closed today so we may have to venture back here. Freddy also took us to a flea market where furniture is sold and that many locals visit. I loved everything but don’t have a suitcase big enough to fit anything!! We stopped at a little stand where Isaac tried a traditional Colombian dessert. It is called Obleas con arequipe . It was like a wafer sandwich with the middle smeared with arequipe (caramel like frosting) and topped with sprinkles, coconut and chocolate chips. Another wafer is put on the top and you eat it like a sandwich. It was delicious and I think Isaac has another Colombian favorite like the ajiaco soup!! We passed by an area of restaurants that Freddy said serve guinea pig which is a delicacy. Needless to say we kept walking. He said he likes it but we had no desire to try it. What they refer to as a guinea pig sounds a bit different than what we think of but we were still not interested!! Yuck!! :-) After we toured the area and went to few markets we went to the Botero art museum. This has many works by Botero and also other famous painters such as Monet and Picasso. It was a free museum to get in to. Attached to this museum is a money museum. Isaac was excited to learn the history of Colombian money and see old coins made of gold. We were also able to see the presses that make different coins and even some that make the money they use today. We spent some time jewelry shopping downtown before heading to lunch. We had a late lunch with Freddy at a cool restaurant that had an extensive collection of toys hanging from the walls and in display cases. Such an amazing day!! We were able to end the day Skyping with my parents. It was great to catch up with them and we miss them terribly!!

Pilar has emailed Jeff stating that she had talked to our attorney as she was supposed to go out of town for a day this coming week. He told her she would be OK to go this week so I am sure we will not hear any news this coming week as it will be week 4 of the papers being in the courts. Pray that this comes for us soon!

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and will not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 NLT)

Here are some pics for you!!