Bogota Again

Whew – today was a long day.

We went to Mass this morning with Chris and Mary and the kidos. The children got sprinkled with Holy Water (they loved it)! It was a beautiful Catholic church – well attended – with the occasional stray dog dodging through the pews. I’m glad we attended. I like it that their last memories in Neiva were with their brother and sister at Mass.

Now they get to be little Presbyterians and Methodists.

After Mass and a quick snack, we said our goodbyes and head back to the “casa”. We took one last dip in the pool (burned the energy), ate a quick lunch, and then off to the airport. While waiting to board we sat near an American who lives with his Colombian wife in Cali. They’re both teachers. And they’re both in the process of adopting as nationals. He loved the girls. We wished him well!

For Kelly, the plane ride was a blast. Our plane was the small, twin turbo prop type (am I getting that right dad?) – noisy and just a bit scary. Monica did not enjoy it. I think she has a bit of a sinus cold so pressure kept hurting her head. She finally just put her head on my lap and went to sleep.

And now we’re in Bogota staying at the same B&B as our first night. Except that this time it’s full of families. A French couple (who cooked a fantastic meal of crepes this evening) who adopted a 4 month old. An American family from Florida (two older boys). And another American family from Wisconsin who have the quite challenging task of 3 boys, all under the age of 4 and 1/2. Monica and Kelly promptly got around to charming everyone. Man, are they charmers.

Take Monica for example. She’s really shy around people at first, but when she gets comfortable she loves to play the diva. In some respects she totally reminds me of her Tia Leah and Tia Carrie. She’s super affectionate with her Papi. She loves it when I carry and cradle her. She’s always wanting to be the trickster – which can make for some very funny moments (and difficult too – it’s hard to get her to stop). Tonight, for the very first time in a week, she went to sleep without us having to do a timein! Tonight’s also the first time they’re sleeping in separate beds.

Kelly’s nickname is chatterbox. She picks up English words and then keeps saying them over and over. When we got to the B&B she wanted to role play house. She’d walk me around the B&B, describing all the rooms, lead me to the sofa, take my shoes off and tell me it was time for me to go to sleep. All the while it’s hard to tell if she’s breathing because she’s chattering so fast (punctuated by lots and lots of laughter).

Tomorrow it’s passports and doctor visit. Right now it’s looking like we’ll be leaving on Thursday – although we might get bumped for Friday. Pray that there will actually be some seats (we haven’t changed our date yet because we need to make certain that the embassy is open Tuesday and Wednesday)!

Ren’s dead asleep besides me (it’s only 9:30). I’m yawning too. I’m proud of the girls today. They did very well. And they can’t wait to go to the United States.