Arrived in Bogota, Colombia

Saturday, September 12, 2009: We arrived in Bogota, Colombia at 9:15 pM. We are staying with my aunt and cousins. We haven´t seen each other since my sister´s wedding in Cartagena in 2005. My cousin, Andres Felipe, is also my godson, so I am really happy to be here with him before picking up our baby boy, Andres, on Monday morning.

Information about Colombia

Here we are, 2 days away from traveling to Colombia, and 4 days away from picking up our baby boy, Andres. This week has been filled with running errands, packing, working, worrying, laughing, praying, meditating, practicing yoga, and so many things. We still don't know how we are going to pack it all in just a few suitcases.

In order to relax a little, I thought I would take the time to give some information about Colombia so that you can all learn about this beautiful country in South America. We received this information from our agency in our travel notes.

Capital: Bogota is the third highest capital in South America after La Paz and Quito. It is located on a mountain-rimmed plateau known as the Sabana de Bogota high in the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes Mountains.

Religion: The official religion is Roman Catholic. In fact, Andres will be baptized on December 20, 2009, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Worthington. Godmother: Doug's sister, Daniele Yannucci and Godfather: My brother, Jonathan Galindez.

National Tree: Wax Palm Tree

National Flower: Orchid

Race: Mestizo (Indians and Spaniards), Mulato (Black and Spaniards), Zambo (Black and Indian)

Typical Colombian Food: Ajiaco, which is a potato soup with chicken, sweet corn, avocado, cream, and a special herb called guasca. Sancocho, which is a meat and vegetable soup. Arepa, which is sort of a cornmeal pancake.

Family: Family life is very important for people in Colombia. All members' opinions are always taken into consideration for family matters. The elderly people's advice is always listened to, and they are well respected. The older parents live with their children or close by. The father is the head of the household.

Women: Love to dress up! Women wait for the man who is in the group to pull out a chair for them, open the door, help to get her coat on, etc.

Men: They dress elegantly and fashionably! They are eloquent and charming. Men like to flirt with women and it is common that men compliment women, even if they do not know each other.

Children: Most of the Colombian children attend school, where they get education, entertainment, and games. They respect adults and older people. The common salute is to say Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening, or Good night.

Worrying like a MOM already

Tuesday, September 8, 2009: What a rollercoaster experience this morning. I received a call from our agency telling us that they had just received news about Andres being sick. Of course, our agency starts out by saying "Don't panic, but..." The first thing i did was panic. They told us he was just diagnosed with scarlet fever. I couldn't believe this was happening at this time. All I could think of was how fast could I get to Colombia to be with our baby boy.

I immediately called the pediatrician here at the International Adoption Clinic at Nationwide Children's Hospital. He thought it was very strange to have a 5-month old with scarlet fever. He said that is something found in 5 year olds not 5 months old. He asked me to confirm some other tests with the orphanage, and an email went out to them with my questions.

After a few hours, I got another email, saying that he in fact did NOT have scarlet fever. They apologized for alarming us, and that what Andres has is a respiratory infection with a rash, and it looked like scarlet fever, but was NOT. Whew! Of course, having him with a respiratory infection doesn't make me feel too good either, but he is on antibiotics and doing well.

Please pray for our little boy to be nursed back to health soon. We plan to give him the best medicine when we get him - LOTS OF LOVE!

Travel Clearance

Yeah!!! I just got a call from our agency representative at 6:30 PM, tonight. We have received clearance to travel to Colombia to pick our baby boy. Our presentation date (the day we pick up Andres) is Monday, September 14th, 8:30 AM.

We need to be in Cali, Colombia, on Sunday, September 13th. Can't wait!

Baby Shower - August 30, 2009

My mother and father hosted a family baby shower for us in Miami, FL. It was wonderful to continue celebrating our journey with our family. Everyone is really looking forward to welcoming Andres to our family and can't wait to meet him.

We had an array of sushi and chinese appetizers at our shower.

Baby Shower - August 29, 2009

My friend, Kristin, hosted a lovely baby shower for me at her home in Coral Gables, FL. She is an interior decorator, so you could imagine the lovely decorations and delicious food she had prepared for us that day. There were only 12 of us in total, and it was just perfect! She even had a vegan chocolate cake especially made by Whole Foods. Delicious!

Thank you, again and again, for hosting such an amazing baby shower for me to celebrate with family and friends.

Not Traveling Yet

We have been in touch with our agency representative almost every day. At this point, we are waiting to hear when we can travel. Last we heard, the orphanage wants us to go pick up Andres on Monday, September 14th. We are waiting to get more of a confirmation so that we can book our flights to travel the weekend of the 12th.

Waiting is getting harder and harder, but spending time with family and friends this past weekend in Miami really helped to keep us staying positive and patient.