After a long day, we are finally in Monteria - and of course, watching the SuperBowl as I type this.
We hung out at the Bogota bed and breakfast this morning. It was really fun because there was another American family there. What are the odds that they would be avid Green Bay fans? But they are - even their newly adopted little boy was wearing a Green Bay jersey. We had a fun time talking smack with each other. We really wish that we could have watched the game with them tonight! But alas, our flight left before then.
We managed to make it on the flight to Monteria. What have we learned? Follow the masses. It worked today, and we got off our flight and found our representative pretty quickly.
However, then mass chaos hit. Of course, not being very smart, we really don't know as much Spanish as we should. The driver and the person who escorted us around insisted we check out the cheaper hotels in the area. They went so far as to actually check us into one of the cheap hotels and bring our bags up to the room! We finally INSISTED strongly that we wanted someone who spoke English to come and help us. The agency said that we would be taken from the airport to someone who spoke English, and at that point, no one was there. Luckily, a few minutes later, our temporary translator Maribel (yes, Julia - I gave her the photos!) listened to our pleas to please just take us to Hotel Sinu which is where we were supposed to be in the first place. She got them to get our bags, take us to Hotel Sinu, and get us checked into a room. By that point, we were exhausted, irritated, and just ready to settle down for the night.
Something that made us feel better? The bellboy found ESPN on our TV - and that meant - Super Bowl! Woohoo! I love the bellboy here. He is trying so hard to speak English. He apologized for his poor English, and we said - no worries, we obviously have poor Spanish!
We unpacked our bags and prepared the room for our little girls. It is a HUGE room with lots of room to play. We will post pictures soon.
So, although it was a tough day, we are now relaxing and enjoying the air conditioning. Did I mention it is a FURNACE here? OK - so I know I'm not getting any sympathy from all of you in snow territory right now, but it IS hot. We are also thanking God for once again keeping us safe and where we need to be. It has been exciting to see Him work throughout this entire process, and I am doubly excited to see how he blesses our time with the girls!
Oh, and in case you wanted to know, we are scheduled to leave here at 9am to meet our girls! Wish us luck!
At least you get a little bit of time to catch your breath before meeting the girls. We went straight from the airport to the ICBF office. Maribel is the best. Angelica had to go to the hospital an hour or so after we got her. i'm not sure what we would have done if she would not have been there and the hotel staff that carried her from the hotel to the hospital. Try to get some rest tonight (I know it will be hard..tomorrow you become parents). WOOHOO!! (and try to recover from that Steelers loss).
ReplyDeleteGet some rest tonight! Glad you got to the hotel safe and sound despite all you had to go through to get there! Very excited for you both! Hey, and I know this is random praise, but yay for the A/C!! :)Can't WAIT to see pics of you with your daughters!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you made it!! Maribel is wonderful! She is amazing! The hotel staff treated us so well. They were just starting English classes when we were there & practiced on us. Saudil worked in the restaurant & spoke the most English (if I remember correctly). Best of luck tomorrow! I can't wait to read about it & see pictures! So excited for you guys :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish so badly we had Maribel while we are here. She just came temporarily to help us in our situation. We have a different translator while we are here though because she has some life stuff going on. So sad about that! But she said she would try to see us while we are here.
ReplyDeleteAn exciting day ahead. Can't wait to hear all about it! At some point, it will get hard and you will be ready to go home, but SOAK IT ALL UP! It is such a blessing to spend the time in their country, bonding, hugging, just being together without all of the every-day distractions. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteTraci Jensen