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."