Breath of Fresh Air

Today we were really 'bumming' about the delay we're experiencing in our paper work but this afternoon we met an incredible couple from Missouri who are also adopting from Colombia that offered us great wisdom. After a short conversation we discovered they're adopting a sibling set of 5 girls and last year they were here adopting another sibling set of 5 girls, 3 years prior they adopted a sibling set of 4 also from Colombia, and prior to that they adopted 1 son from the states, and previous to that they began their family with two biological children.This is a living, breathing, 21st century 'Ma and Pa Kettle.' The woman even wore her hair in a bun and her husband was slim as a rail...& though I didn't see a cob pipe peeking out of his pocket it could have very well been in there! They were so down to earth and a breath of fresh air to chat with!!. Having 17 children was something they were  very nonchalant about. We were moved when they expressed how 4 weeks wasn't long at all to wait for the gift of receiving a Colombian child into one's family. What an well timed 'shot in the arm' for us. We both felt a renewal in our spirits to endure this longer wait and yet kind of wimpy about adopting only one nina.

Bogota

Yesterday we went to a  lovely church called "El Senor Caido", The Church of the Fallen Lord. It was built by slaves on the mountain of Monserrate.We had to ride a cable car to reach the top which put us up to10,000 feet above sea level. The view of the city below was incredible even though we had a bit of rain.We then headed to the historical area called 'Old Bogota' where the first church and homes were built. The streets are cobbled and very narrow like what you would find in the ancient towns of Europe.

We did a few adoption related tasks today...not as many as we would have hoped to accomplish due to a 2 1/2 hour wait in one office... Ugh!! So we continue to spend our down time playing games, practicing math facts and English vocabulary cards, doing crafts, and watching movies. We will do some shopping tomorrow. The weather in Bogota is cooler than we anticipated so we need to buy a few sweaters and closed toe shoes for me...my feet have been freezing in my sandels!! We also found a nice health club one block from our hotel which Joe and I take turns going to.

Missing everyone at home!!

Court Date & Flight to Bogota

Saturday: We saw the Judge and signed all the papers yesterday. Alejandra Teresa is officially our daughter!!We are so happy to be catching a 5:15pm flight to Bogota today to continue the process but an
unexpected feeling of ' bittersweetness' has overcome me about leaving Florencia... we are pulling
Alejandra Teresa away from all the people she knows & her city of origin and yet offering her oppportunties she would never of had here.

In the photos above: the judge is the women on the far right and the woman on the far left is our attorney, Arascelly. Gina Alejandra, our translator, posed with Teresa after the court date. Both our attorney and translator have been our guardian angels throughout our time here.

Sunday:  Our flight went very smoothly. Teresa was so excited about this new experience! She loved it when we rose above the clouds and the view turned 'heavenly.' She also was quite impressed with the collapable tray table. As we drank our coffee together on our flight (yes, she drinks coffee...kids do here:) I realized she is showing some Krpan family traits as well...the obvious being her love of coffee and her hearty belly laugh about the quirky and silly things happening around us.

This morning after Mass we did a little exploring and noticed several good coffee shops and restaurants nearby. We feel more comfortable with things being more westerized here. The side walks and streets are much wider and cleaner. People are out riding bikes, rollar blading, and walking their dogs...no starving stray dogs lying about the streets here. Women's fashions and hairstyles are also more westerized. It's interesting of what a difference an hour flight can make in the quality of life and local customs one observes.

We feel our attorneys worked very hard for us in Florencia to speed things along and we are hoping for that to be the case for our time in Bogota. Since Monday is an official holiday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, we are unable to do any adoption related tasks so we hired a tour guide for a full day of sight seeing and shopping. We will post a ton of photos tomorrow.

What Was I Thinking?

As our time in Florencia is coming to a close and I begin to pack up I realize just how far off base I was on my prepartions to come. On the wise advise of 'not to stand out as foreigners' I left my white sneakers behind and packed a low key attire of simple shirts and capris. Well, this neutral attire had quite the opposite effect that I had planned for. Like those fun children's puzzles of  'what does NOT belong here'...I was the lone gal without skin tight pants, high waited-low cut shirts, dangling earrings, and high heels. The frumpy, comfortable, & very happy woman with an adorable nina by her side best describes me in Florencia. I think my feelings of frumpiness were compounded by the fact that there was beauty queen convention at our hotel.:)

Another thing I am wondering about is what to do with this load of hazardous waste I packed. Having been advised by Loyola's travel nurse that we would be entering an area described as 'high risk' for the mosquito born illnesses of yellow fever and typhus due to Florencia's low elevation and close proximity to the Amazon Rainforest I stocked up on the most potent of bug sprays. I have enough here to live with Tarzan and Jane for a year...what was I thinking?? The true irony is that we have not seen ONE mosquito!!!

Will post again soon!

The Road Less Traveled

June 23, 2011

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. Twenty years ago we would never have guessed we'd be here in Colombia celebrating this occasion. Adoption was not on our radar back then. As young newlyweds we would have never have anticipated having any difficulty creating our family...little did we know the challenges that were ahead. We also had no idea of how rewarding 'the road less traveled' could be. What a valuable lesson life taught us.

Journeying through this second adoption we've experienced the all 'too familiar' issues of loads of paperwork, obtaining criminal clearances (multiple times), immunizations, & of course, totally second guessing ourselves on this huge decision. Fortunately all of that has been tempered by the excitement of receiving a referral, lovingly discerning all the features of Alejandra Teresa's small referral photo, anticipating what her needs might be with a mother's heart, and finally traveling half way around the world to embrace this sweet child in need of a family.

As new and exciting Florencia was to us initially we are ready to wrap up our time here.We are praying for our court date to come by Thursday or Friday which will enable us to get settled in Bogota over the weekend. If that happens we stand a good chance of being home by the 4th of July.Teresa's reaction to our firework displays is going to be PRICELESS...just using my blow dryer in the morning sends her into a stream of happiness & wonder!

Sorry for my delays in posting. Access to the internet has been spotty at best the last 3 days

Miss you all!!

Following Teresa's Lead

Whatever Alejandra Teresa orders at meal time is ALWAYS the preferred dish on the table!!!
Yesterday she ordered this breakfast egg soup which was incredibly delicious and this morning
she ordered herself a veggie omlette which she proceeded to chop up and  mix with
the side order of rice. Joe and I were practically salivating as she finished it up! From now on
my food order is strictly going to be 'whatever SHE is having!'

There are also quite a variety of tropical fruits that are native to this area. We often let her order fresh fruit jugo (juice) when we are traveling about town. They all look delicious & I am so tempted to just take a little taste but we have been advised not to because they might be mixed with water. We also discovered that it is customary for Colombians to add milk to their juices.This makes them thicker and richer tasting. Whole milk is primarily served here... no wonder my morning 'cafe leches' taste soo yummy!!

We met a nice couple from Germany(about our age) who are also staying here & are adopting from Colombia.Today they just received there dos ninas (2 girls) ages 4 years and 15 months...who are just adorable!! They told us they waited four years for their referral.They looked enormously happy as they 'tried' to eat their dinner with their new little ones in tow.We enjoyed chatting with them as we calmly played 3 rounds of 'Go Fish' with Alejandra Teresa while having our dinner..8 year olds are GREAT!!!

Alejandra Teresa seems to make a new friends at the pool every day. Today she was chatting away with a
young girl, about 17 years old, who works at the hotel. After a few minutes of conversation she showed her all the photos Joe had on his iphone of her new siblings. She especially loves the photo of Maria holding her American Girl doll as they wear matching outfits. Alejandra Teresa is so happy to have her own family.
She is counting down the days until we leave for America!!

Another Good Day

Today we had extra time with our interpretor so we asked many questions about the Colombian culture
particularily about the holidays they celebrate. We discovered that the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause do cover this territory but the Easter Bunny doesn't travel this far south. I also asked for more 'terms of endearments' that parents might affectionately call their children. I discovered that the phrase I had been frequently using meant something totally different. So every nite I thought I was doing such a good job of tucking Alejandra Teresa in bed with an endearing phrase of  'good night my pretty girl' en espanol but I was actually saying 'good night sweet chicken.' LOL...Oh well... this 'mother hen' deserves a gold star for effort and her little chicadee an A+ in patience!! :)

This afternoon Alejandra Teresa was playing with other children in the pool again. This time it was dos ninos (two boys). One of the boys had special needs and I was so proud of the way Alejandra Teresa did not shy away from him but engaged him in play and shared all her toys with him for the whole time she was in the pool. She also gave her only towel to the other boy who needed to leave early.We are so proud of her!

Our meeting with the psychologist and social worker went very well. She gave us the 'thumbs up' so tomorrow our paperwork will start moving through the judicial system here. They both thought Thursday was
a realistic date for us to expect to appear before the judge...keep your fingers crossed.

We also found out the Alejandra Teresa is showing more signs of being a true Brennan...she LOVES all the Shrek movies and she WANTS to wear suncreen to protect her skin. If she asks me to buy her a sombero tomorrow I know I'm in big trouble.LOL!

Missing all of you!

Not Your Ordinary Sunday

Today we went to 9 am Mass at the cathedral. The music was lovely. It was prerecorded and played over the speakers...very lively and festive. At the end of Mass the priest called all the men forward. We weren't sure what was going on but Alejandra Teresa insisted Joe go join them. It turns out the priest was calling
call the fathers to the altar to receive a special blessing...we totally forgot it was Father's day!  I know it was a beautiful blessing even if I couldn't understand a word of it! I think God was smiling down on Joe on this special day as he accepts another nina into his familia!

We spent the afternoon at the pool. Alejandra Teresa was so happy to see dos nina (2 girls ) her age  playing in the pisano. They swam and played for 3 solid hours!! I was able to communicate a little with
the girls' parents. They were both Colombian psychologists from Florencia and remarked how intelligent and happy our daughter is!

Manana, a social worker and a pychologist are coming to the hotel to check on how things are going for
Alejandra Teresa. If all goes well with this meeting and with some luck we may have our court date here
on Thurday. That means we can fly to Bogota on Friday to pick up Alejandra Teresa's passport and visa...
which means we are one step closer to home.

A few minutes ago I pulled out the containers of playdo....she was sooo curious...absolutely
LOVES it!!! She  has made cats, dogs, birdnests, bracelets, necklaces, and the grand finale was
angel's halo. What a playful, creative soul she has! Maria is going to be 'over the moon' to have her as a sister! We are soo lucky!!!

Happy Father's Day to all!!

Fashionista

We have a little 'fashionista' here! Alejandra Teresa enjoys creating different outfit options every morning.
Since it was a raining morning we had more time to dress and had the chance to play a little 'Beauty Shop."
Never wore flourescent green eye shadow before.lol. I love brushing her hair and putting in all the fun
hair accessories from Claire's Boutique. Alejandra Teresa has incredibly hair...it is so thick and shiny.
I've never had such a thick pony in my life even with all my crazy perms in the 80's.

We also had time to work on some math this afternoon. I have a good feeling of where Alejandra Teresa's
skills are in math. I also had her read some sections of the newspaper today which she did so very fluently.
Most newspapers are written on a fourth or fifth grade level.

Alejandra Teresa remains very easy going and is up for doing just about anything which is great since there is a lot of downtime for us here and we are always trying to fill our days with different ativities. Today we located a fitness center nearby. It is very different from anything we have in the states.It was a building with with open air windows...no screens or anything. It had 2 ellipticals and and an assortment of dead weights.
There also was a large poster high on the wall of the last supper.

We are heading out for a late lunch now.

Sorry many of you are having trouble posting on our blog.
We have enjoyed the your comments you have sent via our email.
Just in case you don't have our email it is: jbren4@comcast.net

We miss you and will post again manana (tomorrow).

Exploration

We took our usual morning walk and explored the city a bit more.
Joe amazingly has already figured out where everything is...where as each intersection looks exactly the
same to me and there are no road signs to mark your location and rarely do you see a
stop sign or light. There are a ton more motorcycles than cars here and a few horse and wagons are about.We took many photos of all of this in the city, as well as  the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes today.

Alejandra Teresa seems to enjoy these excursions since we almost always stop at the
bakery or buy her a little something or other. She continues to laugh and smile easily
and she has the cutest dimples. She is also receptive to all our hugs and kisses.
We are always holding hands wherever we go except when we walk in the city.
The sidewalks are so narrow we often have to proceed single file.

We all just showered after the pool and are enjoying some downtime with Cartoon
Network. In a little while we will go over our language flashcards..she teaches us
Spanish and we teach English. My 13 years of French is not helping me out much here:)
Alejandra Teresa loves playing Trouble, Memory, and last nite we played the LONGEST game of War. Tonite it's Crazy 8's.

The clothing we brought fits Alejandra Teresa perfectly!! Size 8 tops and 8-10 shorts and dresses.
She is pretty tall for her age. The shorts she put on today were a little tight for my taste but
she thought they fit perfectly!:) I can understand why. The vast majority of women
wear the tightest clothing and highest of heels. It is something to see when they are
riding about on their motorcyles with their little children...some with helmets some without.


We miss everyone and will post again tomorrow!

Second Full Day

Today is our second full day here and our first full day with Maria Alejandra
which after some discussion we are now calling her Alejandra Teresa.
Her formal name on all her documents will be Maria Alejandra Teresa Brennan.
Now we are calling her Alejandra Teresa but will eventually just call her Teresa.
She had a huge grin on her face when we told her Grandmother's and Aunt's name
is Therese. She was also happy to learn that she has now 20 cousins!


Alejandra Terese is very thoughtful,sensitive, and generous. She is always willing to share her
food with us and when we were out in the city today she saw a man walking
barefoot in the road. She made a very sad face about this. She also loves
to color in her coloring books, play with her Barbie dolls, and watch Cartoon Network on TV.
She loves pets especially dogs and she is not allergeric to them...so Maria don't worry
Scout and Blossom can stay with us.

We are trying to develop a routine. In the morning we go to a nearby bakery
for 'cafe de leche' which is soo delicious with pasteries. We then go back
to hotel to swim. Alejandra Teresa swims very well and was overjoyed
to finally get in the pool this morning. We play a few games like Trouble
and Memory and then go for lunch. The food has been very good at
the hotel resaurant. We are mostly eating chicken,beef, or pork served
in a delicious sauce with rice on the side. Tonite we are trying something new
... sarapos.

We included some photos of the city from our hotel. We plan to take more
tomorrow at the cathedral in the town square.

We miss everyone at home!!

First Meeting

We settled into our hotel yesterday afternoon after 24hours of traveling.
The people have been very friendly and helpful to us.
It took us a while to get used to the poverty of the city
in regards to the roads and buildings. We took our
fastest shower ever this morning since there is no
hot water. Today we are feeling more acclamated
to things here.

Our interpretor, Marcelo, has been extremely helpful
in our meetings with the lawyer . It helps that
he has a very good sense of humor which makes us feel
more at ease.

Today, we met Maria Alejandra, for the first time.
She is absolutely beautiful!! We both were fighting
back tears of joy during our meeting with the social workers
when they were telling us about her, as well as, during
our first embraces.Alejandra's nature, at least intially,
has been quiet and shy. We are seeing more smiles
coming forth in the last few hours.

We will post photos in just a bit.

What a happy day it is for us!