Botanical Garden and More

If you have been keeping up with our blogs you know that when we are out-and-about Little Miss Dana can be found riding in her Baby Bjorn. I thought I would share the beautiful view that I have when I look down at Dana. We just can't tell you enough just how gorgeous she is. You will soon see her for yourselves:)






Well, what have we been up to lately, you ask? Last Friday, Mark and I celebrated our 16th anniversary by going out for lunch at a place called Crepes & Waffles. Jeaneth from our guest house offered to watch Andy and Dana so that we could go alone, but Andy wanted to come with us. It actually turned out to be a good opportunity to spend time with just Andy. He ordered a cute ice cream sundae for dessert. As you may have guessed, he ate the chocolate eyes first. He is our chocolate lover, that is for sure.

Yesterday, we went to the Botanical Garden here in Bogota. It was so nice. We enjoyed how quiet and peaceful it was there. It was hard to believe we were in the middle of the city. Freddie was our driver and guide for the trip; and Sidsel, Allan, and Jonathan (a Danish family from our guest house) joined us as well. We took so many gorgeous pictures of flowers and other Colombian vegetation. The park had different areas showing the various habitats found throughout Colombia. It gave us a great picture of the diversity in the landscape of this country.Always time for a family picture.

A very pretty pond .

The national flower of Colombia, the orchid.

Sidsel, Allan, and Jonathan. They arrived in Bogota the same day we did and have not received their Sentencia yet, but we are hoping that it will happen this coming week for them.

We have met so many nice people during our stay here. We Americans don't really know too much about Denmark, and I believe this is the first time we have even met anyone from Denmark. We can tell you though that from our experience, Danish people rock! Today we said good-bye to another family (pictured below). This is Tomba, Metta, Emilia, and Sebastian. They were here for 4 weeks. Andy and Emilia played a lot together so it was hard to see them go. It was funny--when they were getting ready to leave, Andy was chasing Emilia trying to give her a hug. She was definitely enjoying the chase.

Below is a picture of Sebastian and Dana. They were actually born only 5 days apart. Dana on Dec. 21 and Sebastian on Dec. 26. As you can see they have the exact same hairdoos.

The picture below was taken right before the Danish family left. It will be quiet around here tonight with just us and Sidsel, Allan, and Jonathan. The family from Belgium left this morning for Santa Marta for 9 days. Tomorrow there will be 3 families with older adopted Colombian children arriving. They have come to show their children the country they were born in.

Another family from Denmark arrived a couple days ago with their 2 teenaged Colombian children. They are not staying right at Las Palmas but instead are staying in an apartment a few blocks away that is owned by, you guessed it, the "dynasty." They come here for dinners and to just hang out. Today they walked with us to the market. Once again, another nice Danish family. The kids' names are Katharine and Casper. Below is a picture of Andy with Katharine and then one with Dana and Katharine. She is really cute.

Walking on Sundays around here is great because they close parts of the streets for bikers and pedestrians. It sure makes getting to the market a lot less stressful.

Dos Amigos!! This is Andy and Pedro. Pedro is 7 and is being adopted by the Belgium family. He and Andy like to play together, and Pedro loves to kiss Dana. He's not shy about puckering up and planting one on her.

Just a really cute picture of Dana and Daddy. She loves her Big Daddy.

Sentencia!!!

Hi everyone,

When Jodie and I got back from our anniversary lunch today (16 years) we got the call from Cecilia that the judge signed off on our paperwork for Sentencia. We are very happy that this happened before his deadline.

We will have another approximate 10 days here, as the Defender of Minors office has 3-5 business days to sign off on our documents, Monday the 30th is a Colombian Holiday, Friday the 4th is a US holiday and the US Embassy is closed. So most likely if all goes well we should be traveling home the week of the 7th-11th!

We are very glad to know that we have that hurdle done, and can work on the return to our home!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers during our time away!

Love,

Life at Las Palmas

As you may know, we are staying at a guest house that specializes in accomodations for couples who are adopting children from Colombia. The name of the house we are staying at is Las Palmas. There are a number of other guest houses in Bogota that are also for families who are adopting. The picture below is the outside of Las Palmas. Different parts of Bogota are given ratings that reflect the safety of the area. Our neighborhood is in a Zone 6 which is the highest rating. A Zone 1 would be a very unsafe poorer area. So for our parents who may be worried about us, we are staying at a good place:)

In order to get into our guest house, you have to ring a doorbell and be let in by an employee. It is locked 24 hours a day.

Our room is located right behind the palm tree on the second floor. We actually have a little balcony.

As you may remember, when we first arrived here about 3 years ago (just kidding) we were in a very tiny room. There is only one good-sized room here and a Danish couple was in it. They graciously offered to give us their room because there are 4 of us. We are very grateful because our room now is much better. There are 8 guest rooms in all here. We have felt pretty guilty having the best room because there are other families here who also have 4 people in a room. In fact, the Belgium family is in a room like our original one and they have 2 children who are 7 and 9. This guest house does not have the best accomodations for families of more than 3, but the owner continues to pack in as many people as he can.

This is our room. It has a double bed that is actually harder than sleeping on the floor, a single bed, a crib, and as you can see below bunkbeds that are in a little back room. I (Jodie) can not sleep in the double bed with Mark; it is too hard. Andy slept in the bunkbed for awhile but has since moved in with Mark. I have been sleeping in the twin bed which is one step up from sleeping on the floor. I apologize for all the complaints about the beds, but we are really missing our bed at home.

There are a number of common areas here where all guests can gather. This is a sitting area on the second floor.

Las Palmas has a small enclosed backyard with a little swing set and a slide. There are also a couple tables and chairs out there. It's good to have a place where Andy can go outside.

Below is a picture of the dining room where we eat all of our meals together with the other families. Breakfast is served at 8; lunch at 12:30, and dinner at 6. They set food out and we help ourselves. For Breakfast they always have juice, cereal, toast, ham, cheese, and then they have a rotation of scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and pancakes. One morning they threw hot dogs into the morning rotation. Nothing like hot dogs for breakfast! Lunches and dinners almost always consist of rice, a meat (fish, chicken, pork, or steak), maybe a salad, soup, or fruits, sometimes potatoes or maybe brocolli or another veggie. Our favorite thing so far was a traditional Colombian soup. It was delicious! Otherwise, the food has just been OK. The owner of this place does the grocery shopping and it is obvious that he is not into purchasing a variety of foods or quality foods. You would think that we would be given the freshest, most delicious fruits because we are right at the source. We have seen beautiful fruits at the grocery store and also being sold on the streets by vendors so we know they are available. But at Las Palmas, the fruit is always pretty beat up. I'm not quite sure where he is getting it from, but I bet he is getting it cheap.

Pictured below are the 4 best things about staying at Las Palmas. Jeaneth, the manager, and Marissa who does cleaning and some cooking are in the first picture. Luciolo (sp) and Andy are in the second picture. Luciolo also does cleaning and cooking. Dana and Blanca are in the last picture. Blanca is the cook. These 4 ladies work so hard (for very little money) and are so loving and kind. We have been very fortunate to be taken care of by them. Jeaneth is absolutely priceless. She arranges trips for us, gives us information, answers all of our questions about anything, plays with our kids, she even walked with me to go get a cake for Mark's birthday. She does everything! She has the best personality and this whole place comes alive the minute she shows up in the morning. Obviously, we adore her. Andy and Dana are spoiled by all the attention they get from all of these ladies. They truly represent the best of Colombia.

Unfortunately, not everyone here has the best of intentions. There is a huge conflict of interest going on. The man who owns this guest house happens to be married to the woman who works for the adoption agency that represents the Danish families. In addition, their son owns the tour company that provides our transportation and tours. We refer to them as the "dynasty." Everything seems to be centered around them making money for themselves. They treat their employees terribly and seem to have no problem telling lie after lie to their guests. You can tell by my tone that I am absolutely appalled by their behavior. It has been hard for us to watch what is going on here. Maybe we'll write a book about it when we get home:) but for now I'll give you a couple of the most disturbing examples of what is going on. 2 of the Danish families that were here made arrangements before they arrived in Bogota to stay at a different guest house. Their representative had them picked up at the airport and brought to Las Palmas instead. They did not even realize right away that they were not at the house they had chosen. Hmmm. I wonder why all these Danish families need to stay here even if they choose to or not. We have even been told that some Danish families have been lied to when they get here and told that the guest house they chose is booked. They definitely have the market on the Danish families and are making lots of money off of their guests. Here's another example of the dynasty at work: Another one of the Danish families received Sentencia earlier this week. After you get Sentencia, it usually takes 2-3 days to get the new birth certificate, and the passports, then you can go home. Their representative, Helena, is in Argentina this week shopping with her granddaughter so her assistant has been helping the Danish families in her absence. The assistant was to pick up the Danish family yesterday morning at 9 to take them to get their passports for their baby. She was ordered by Helena's husband, the owner of Las Palmas, to slow down their process and that she should stay back at the office to do paperwork instead of showing up on time to pick up the Danish family. She showed up way late so that the Danish family would be unable to get the needed passport yesterday from the Danish consulate because their office closed at 11. Hmmmm. I wonder why the owner of Las Palmas is trying to delay the progress of their adoption so that they could go home? Remember, it's all about making money. Here are just a couple of examples. We have many more. We are certainly not happy about filling the pockets of such people. You know, it just goes to show that no matter where you go, there are good people and bad people. We have met the extremes here. When we return home, we definitely need to have a talk with LSS because I don't believe that they realize the situation here and I don't think that they should be associated with the "dynasty." Sorry to end on a negative note. Our experiences in Colombia, as you have read in our previous blogs, have been awesome and positive. We just thought people should know about the "dynasty."

Emmanuel Hospital and CRAN Orphanage

Hi,

Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to visit the hospital where Dana was born. Freddie picked us up around 10:30 and we went to the hospital. It is in a rougher part of town. We went in and spoke with the Administrator and she allowed me to go up to the maternity ward and take some pictures, while Jodie stayed in the reception area with Andy, Dana, and Freddie.

When I went up there they asked me to take off my coat, and have me scrub my hands and arms up to my elbows. Before I knew it I was performing a surgery. ;) Anyhow I felt like I was on E.R. and wanted to shout orders of a CBC Stat! haha. Anyhow back to reality. They had me put on a gown and facemask and I was taken on a short tour. The first room was for normal weight children (pictures below). I was able to take some pictures in there, however they didn't want me to take pictures in the ICU, just in case the flash would go off and disturb the children.

It was very heartbreaking to see how many children were in the ICU. They were so small, and I have never had the experience to see that firsthand. Luckily the hospital staff seemed well equipped and ready to handle anything.

The hospital itself isn't like any hospital that I have been in back in the U.S. The hallways were just wide enough for two people to pass each other.

While I was upstairs, Jodie asked Freddie what happens to people who don't have insurance or money to pay for their Dr. visits, and he said that they turn people away no matter how bad their illness is. It is a different system that what we are accustomed to. He did say that there are a very few clinics that don't charge and will take in anyone who doesn't have money. Freddie mentioned to Jodie as well that he has seen mothers begging for money for their sick child outside of the hospital, and it was apparent that the child was very sick and discolored. So sad.

After our hospital visit we were going to try to go to the Botanical Gardens, but Andy ended up falling asleep and it started raining out, so we decided to have lunch and head back to Las Palmas instead. Freddie took us to a Mexican restaurant in Zona Rosa near the Atlantis mall, and it was excellent. The Colombian food is completely different from Mexican food, and we enjoyed every last bite of our lunch!

Today (Wed) we had our official CRAN Orphanage visit. Cecilia and Santiago picked us up at 9. When we arrived we had a chance to ask the Orphanage Director more detailed questions on Dana's history and her birthmother. We also got an update on our case with Court #20.

As we have mentioned in prior blogs, Court #20 is a "slow" court. The director gets updates from our lawyer daily, and our paperwork hit the Judge's desk on Thursday the 19th. Apparently in her opinion, the Judge doesn't like international adoptions, so he takes the maximum time allowed to sign, and also has another unnecessary signature of someone in the Government that takes an additional 3-4 business days. So by our calculations we may be looking at leaving the 17-18th of July, which will make it 8 weeks here. ;( We have enjoyed our time here so far and have done lots of things, but we are starting to feel homesick and want to get home sooner than later. Anyhow please keep us in your prayers for a quick turnaround.

After our meeting with the Director, Natalie was introduced to us and she told us that she is in charge of raising funds and outreach for CRAN. She was a very nice young lady and showed us the facilities. There are lots of pictures below. We were impressed in the care that is given to the children. Many of the children at CRAN were taken from their parent(s) because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, etc. and are in protective custody at CRAN. The hope is for the parent(s) to fix whatever their problem is so that the children can return. Some of the children will be adopted out eventually. A priority that impressed us is that they always keep siblings together. CRAN looks like a mini college campus. Awesome facility.

When we returned to the hotel it was barbeque day, so we had a very nice lunch of steaks and chicken on the grill. Brian and Malene and Magnus received their Sentencia on Monday and were able to leave for Denmark today, so it was sad to see them go. Andy said last night "now that Brian is leaving tomorrow, who is going to be my new best friend?" All of the Danish dads have been so good to Andy and play lots of pool with him, and he loves it! Andy has had to experience more sad good-byes than a 4 year old should have to. He gets so attached to people. Unfortunately, there will be another good-bye in the next few days. Andy's friend Emilie will be leaving to return to Denmark with her family and his other friend Pedro is going to San Andres (on the coast). By the looks of things though, we will still be here when Pedro and his family return. (They are from Belgium.) Next week there are 2 Danish and 1 Norwegian family coming to Las Palmas. These families have teenage kids who were adopted from Colombia and are returning to visit. This will be fun to meet these kids. Someday this will be us returning to show Dana her country of birth. We haven't heard of any new families with babies that will be coming.

Tomorrow our big adventure is to walk to the Atlantis mall area with our Danish hotelmates and show them the area as they haven't been there yet. Friday hopefully the Botanical Gardens.

Enjoy the rest of the week.




Emmanuel Hospital main entrance.


Maternity area for normal weight babies. There are babies in the cribs.


A few more babies, and one under the sunlight for their Vitamin D.


Dana doing her cheerleading routine for Team Bro Bro.

Andy and Magnus at our final lunch together today.

The master chef's at work.

Andy and Brian. Andy was sad to see them leave today!

Children at CRAN in the classroom.

View of CRAN from the classrooms at the top of the hill. Quite the view's of the city below!

A small classroom for family visits and different subjects.

You can see how steep it is from the dorms up to the classrooms.

Playtime for the toddlers.

Volunteer college age girls came in to play with the toddlers.

Wash area for the toddler dorm.

Crib room for the dorm.

The closet is organized with everyones clothes. Very neat and tidy.

There are 4 dorms for children of similar ages. This facility houses kids from 3-7 years old. Infants stay in foster homes.

Library area.

Snack time in the cafeteria.

Physical therapy room.

Here is the room that the babies are kept in prior to presentation. This is where the nurses change the babies into the clothes that the adoptive parents bring for presentation. Andy told us that this is the room where he met Dana before we did. Good memory!

All dressed up and ready to go to CRAN.

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! We did some fun things.

On Saturday we took the Danish families to Andres Carne de Res out in Chia. Mauricio picked us up at 11 and we got there about 12 noon. We were one of the first there, so we were able to sit out in the kids area this time, and that worked out great for Andy and Emilie. They were able to do face masks, and get a temporary tattoo, and make their own cookies and pizza. Lots of fun.

On Saturday night, Jeaneth, Brian, and I went to see Mauricio and Freddie's band "Memphis Belle" play a gig at a local dive bar. When I say dive bar that is a compliment. Anyhow it was fun to get out at night and see another part of the city and their band. They play harder rock, which wasn't any of our preference, but there were a couple of cover songs from the Doors, and Stone Temple Pilots that we recognized and enjoyed. All in all it was good to get out.

On Sunday we took a good walk after lunch with Brian and Malene and Magnus to the Atlantis Mall. It is a newer mall about 20 blocks away and was good to get some exercise. Of course we had to stop at El Corral Gourmet for a brownie and piece of pie. Yum!! There is a Hard Rock Cafe there, and many fine stores. There is also a neighborhood bar/restaurant scene there as well with about 25-30 fine restaurants. We will be going back there for dinner one of these nights.

Today we have just hung out at the hotel. Andy and Emilie and her mom and I went over to the park across the street and played on the slides. Andy fell off of a slide so he has a good goose egg on his noggin. He is fine so nothing to worry about. Jodie has a little cold so isn't 100% today.

Tomorrow we are going to go to the hospital that Dana was born at for a little field trip. On Wednesday we have our CRAN Orphanage official tour, and for lunch the hotel is doing another barbeque.

Our hotelmates Brian and Malene just got their Sentencia today, so we have a good feeling that we will be the next up, hopefully this week but most likely next. We just have to be patient, which is hard to do after 6 weeks. :)

Here are some of the photo's:



Andy and Emilie taking a break from the jungle gym.

Sliding pals!

"Faster, faster!"

Hanging with Daddy after a bottle.

Memphis Belle. Mauricio on the bass, and Freddie on the guitar. They both went to University as music majors and are really good. The lead singer had a little work to do, but the band itself was good.

Brian, Jeaneth, and I enjoying the show.

Andy and his Batman temporary tattoo at Andres Carne de Res.

We had a seamstress visit us. She designed a beautiful suit for me with plenty of ruffles, flowers, top hat (like I need any more height). Not sure why she painted her face, but one of the freaky characters there.

Here is the jacket, needs a few alterations! All the kids got a kick out of me putting on silly clothes.

Dana hanging out after her bottle.

Cheek time!

Andy's pizza this time was hot dog, cheese, corn, ham, and more cheese. He ate quite a bit of it.

Andy and Emilie rolling out their dough. Very serious work.

Bath time. Jodie loves to give her a bath and wash all of her rolls and cracks and crevices! Dana just sits there and smiles, and kicks up the water.

Rolling over on the floor.

Andy and Luciola. All of the maids adore Andy and call him "preciouso, or muneca" (precious, or doll). They say the same to Dana as well. They work so hard, as they are up and getting things ready for breakfast around 7, clean the place all day, make lunch and dinner, and are up until about 10 p.m. They work 6 days a week. We don't know how much they make, but minimum wage is $140,000 pesos a month (about $70 USD). Luckily they get their food and room as part of the deal. Anyhow they are very nice women.