Rubber Ducky...

I bet you are all thinking this is a strange title for a post from Colombia. Let me introduce you to the "Rubber Ducky"... I don't know how I have survived 40 years without him. He is essential here in Monteria, Colombia! As you can see from the pictures he makes a great bath tub for Ruben. He also has a second and third job. This duck not only quacks, and bathes Ruben, he works off hours as a laundry machine and in his spare time a dishwasher. The hot water here at the Hotel Sinu is very spotty at best. I have cut back on the need for coffee due to the cold showers that come out of the "hot faucet". We did have hot water on two occasions. Our friends from Boston across the hall have a theory on this. There is a conference going on as well here. We think due to the conference that the water furnace got turned on. The picture of the roof tops has what looks like large garbage cans that have small white pvc pipe running down. Our interpreter validated what i thought. this collects the rain water, and also supplies shower and water in the buildings. Lets just say we are showering "all natural" here in Monteria. We don't drink the tap water for obvious reasons. We go to the local market and buy 5 liter jugs for drinking water.

We signed one more document today, which we thought we were going to have to wait until Monday to do. this means we can travel. We have a college student who speaks english that is going to ride the bus ( 5 hrs) to Cartagena tomorrow. the student (Mario) is then going to ride the bus 5hrs back to Monteria, then come up on Tuesday and ride back with us on Wednesday. We are paying his ticket ( 43,000 colombian peso's) 1$ = 1800 colombian pesos roughly. As well as compensate him for his time.

We ate at what turns out to be our favorite place again tonight. Italia piccolo's pizza pub. I find it very ironic that we are deep in S. America with almost entirely spanish speaking people in the Italian restaraunt, listening to American Music. Journey's Wheel in the sky, and Faithful" were blasting in the pub. I think we were the only ones that could understand it. However, the pizza is great and fairly reasonable. I had pasta (alfredo), and Tracey had a personal greek pizza and two coca cola lights ( that is diet cokes) for only $33,000 colombian peso's. Well better stop for now. We are going to leave our main luggage here at the hotel, and just take one checked bag and a carry on and stroller for our 4 day trip to Cartagena. Let the road trip begin...

Integracion Day...

We had our "integracion" meeting today. This is where the psychologist comes that knows Ruben, and asks us a bunch of questions, and at the end " Do you still want him" Her name was Brenda, or something similar. She drove about two hours from Terrialta, where Ruben is from. she is very nice (group picture). She spoke to Ruben in spanish and called him "chicha", which he recognized and smiled. Ruben appeared at ease in her presence. It was also reassuring to Tracey and I that Ruben and is not slow, just doesn't understand english. Ruben and I have been working on this. I have tought him "high 5" and we clap hands. We also started to use some basic sign language gestures, which Ruben is starting to grasp. Our interpreter "Maribel" is in the picture below with Ruben. She is very nice and helpful. She took us to the mall today. I must tell you, if I lived here and had to deal with this traffic, I would have an ulcer. I soooo appreciate our Montana round abouts now. Never will I curse them again. We drove to the mall at 630pm here, and during major rush hour. People don't slow down, with more traffic, they just drive crazier and faster to get through. Constant horns going off, motorcycles and bicycles merging with taxi's and bus's at all different angles. No traffic lights. I literally closed my eyes and prayed that we would make it. Maribel told me i could reopen them. We went to "Exito", which is like a target or walmart, except they sell everything, including a row of motorcycles by the checkout stand. I did find the authentic coffee section, which i'm sure will make me popular at work upon my return...
I have started a theory over the past few days, and Ruben is proving me right. I think the farther south one goes, the stinkier the poop is. I think it might have something to do with the proximity to the equator, and all the heat... Poor Rubens belly is getting different food then what he is use to, and boy once that kid poops, everone knows it. Being a nurse, I have seen a lot of stinky poop, but his takes the cake. I thought Tracey was going to pass out. I even learned a few new words to go along with this occasion. "cochina", which means nasty in spanish. the maids see me coming and know exactly what is going on. I tip them extra for their trouble. Ok sorry to gross you all out, but we waited for almost two days for Ruben to poop, and now it won't stop.
We met our attorney as well, she said we need to sign a paper on Monday, then we can travel anywhere in Colombia for a week. The final judge decree will come anywhere from 7-15 days past Monday, then we return to Bogota for about 5 days and then back home...

A Walk In The Park...

We are getting braver and starting to explore our surroundings outside the hotel. Within a few blocks from our hotel is a very large park "en parque" next to the Sinu River. There are a couple of different paths. a biking path, and a walking path. We found out that we were walking on the wrong path, when bikers came right at us and starting waving their arms and shouting something that sounded like "carbono" and pointing to the walking path. Again we survived without injury. We had a meal in the park at a hamburger stand. i tried to ask for my drinks without ice, and i think they though i wanted the drinks for free. they showed me the price on the menu. i said si, and just waited for the man to reach for the ice, then said no por favor, and it actually worked... we sat down to eat, and within a few minutes a couple of boys about 8-9 came up to us and started speaking very quickly, we couldn't tell what they wanted, but when i pointed to the fries, they grabbed them and ran off. I thought about going after them, but thought, they needed them worse then me. The park has all sorts of critters as it's inhabitants. There are large iquanas, sloths, and monkeys. we haven't seen the monkeys yet. But sure we will see one or two by the time we leave Monteria. There are many people selling all sorts of items from jewelry to internet "movie star" minutes, to hats and other homemade items. Ruben handles the stroller well, infact it is the only way we have been able to get him to take a nap.
The park is very popular at night, since during the day it is very hot and humid. We feel like we are drenched before we even make it back to the motel. We might try the park later this evening, but you just never know what is lerking out there that might get you. (picture below)
Well Ruben and mom are ready to go to the pool, so I better quit for now, and save some memories for later...

Adjusting to a new way of life...

Well 24hrs into this new life, and we are setteling in. Ruben finally fell a sleep last night about 930 and slept through the night until 700am. He is a very happy child, but enjoys hearing himself and slapping anything that makes noise. Today was a free day with no legal meetings. We had breakfast in the Hotel Sinu restaraunt. I asked for hot cereal for Ruben, but got something mushy, and couldn't tell you what it was. However, the juice tasted like they just picked the fruit and gave it a good squeeze. We took a venture out into the streets and didn't get hit. We are getting the hang of it. I almost feel like we are fitting in, but Tracey with her blonde hair and blue eyes is giving away Ruben and my cover... We took Ruben to the pool today to try and wear him out. However, I through in the towel before Ruben. He was like a fish without fins. I should say I felt like Rocky looked like in the first Rocky movie. That kid just splashed and beat me up. He was loving it. I think it is safe to say he loves this new life and family. I can't wait to get him home and let him go a round with his sisters... We also went to the park , but will talk about that later. I smell something brewing, and I don't think it is dinner. Maybe Ruben finally pooped:)

GOTCHA DAY!!!

Gotcha day is finally here. We got picked up at the hotel at 0930 and drove across town to the ICBF office. Driving in Colombia is like being on a thrill ride at Disney world, you never know what's coming around the corner. On the good side, I didn't notice any elderly drivers. (I don't think they could keep up the pace). The "Encuentro" meeting was very informal. We were brought into a small office, within 5 minutes the social worker brought Ruben in. It was so sureal (sp), it is hard to explain in words. I guess that is why we were told to have the interpreter video record the meeting, so when we can pay more attention later, we can watch and understand what happend. Ruben with his big brown eyes appeared very happy and as if it was just another ordinary day. Even though I'm sure he has never heard english spoken. I would say the majority of the clothes we brought are going to be too big. I will just put Ruben on the Daddy diet, and he will be in those clothes in no time. I asked to have Ruben weighed and measured. He weighed in at 21 pounds and 75 cm., but appeared healthy. The Montana chocolates and carmal was a big hit with the ICBF staff (thanks grandma). We went back to the hotel and in moments Ruben was exploring the new place. Tracey and I forgot what it was like to chase a toddler. For a moment, I was wishing I packed the duct tape. I thought of a new use... That stuff works for everything. lol... We were told the next meeting "Integration" is on Thursday :) After that, we wait for the legal process to work. We can then travel anywhere within Colombia. Enough info for now. More to come...

Hey everyone, Tracey here, Matt finally is letting me blog! just a few things he forgot about our arrival. when we arrived in Bogota at the Airport, we did make it through custom, and security without any physical pat downs and our luggage did not even get search once in our presence!! Keep the prayer chains going!
Also if you can believe it there is another US couple here adopting and their room at the hotel is across from ours, soooo nice to hear a bit more english! more later

BOGOTA

We made it to Bogota... We flew out at 630 in Billings and connected in SLC, New York, and eventually to Bogota at 1030 last night. Just like in the Wizard of Oz, "were not in Kansas anymore". We arrived to a steady rain and no english. We hauled all of our bags through immigration and customs. Our driver Andres was waiting out front with his sign"MILLER" we drove 30 minutes to our casa. la lanthana. We were greeted by the staff who let us in the locked gait, and given some orange juice. "hugo de naranja". it was watered down, but we were greatful for something cool and wet. This morning we woke up to kiddos playing downstairs loudly. we had breakfast here. toast and fried huevos. staff speaks no english, so i hope my rosetta stone pays off. i was surprised at how much i could understand or make my self understood. Tracey is basically at the mercy of my translation, which is good enough to be dangerous... we met one other family from France who are adopting 3 kiddos. they speak a little english and spanish, so together we are trying to communicate. It reminds me of dances with wolves and kevin costner trying to speak to the tribe. They showed us the local atm and grocery store. we took out some money, but still trying to figure out how much i was charged. we get picked up later today at 2pm to go back to the airport to fly to Monteria, where we will be the majority of our stay. Then on Monday we meet Ruben at the "Encuentro" meeting. Will post later...

Ruben

Well, two weeks and closing into our journey to Colombia. I thought I would attach the latest picture we have of Ruben. He is in the same clothes as the last picture we recieved, but his hair is all shaved off. He is still smiling, so this is a good sign. Tonight we had our 2hr phone call meeting with our adoption agency. I didn't think it would actually take two hours, but it went the whole time. Pretty much a run down of paperwork we needed, and step by step process of the general routine, but this is an international adoption and in a different country. Things are bound to be a little off routine. Tracey and I are excited, scared, and nervous all at the same time. We are looking forward to meeting our new son, but yet sad to leave our girls and family behind. It kind of reminds me of college, and studying and stuffing as much information into my brain as possible before the test. The difference, is in college you took the test and then could talk to someone in english about it. This will be a 5 week test with not many people speaking the same language to ask how you are doing afterwards.

Travel Date...

We finally have a set travel date of September 24th! We took our last summer weekend getaway over the labor day holiday to visit family and friends in Boise (Go Broncos...) We got the confirmation call about half way between Billings and Boise. I don't even know how we got cell service, but very glad we did. It's confirmed. We have an Encuentro date on Sept. 26th (this is the date that the Colombian officials bring us Ruben). We drove straight to the Boise airport to firm up our tickets. This took about an hour. Delta has an "adoption rate ticket", most delta staff don't even know what this is, because it is very rare and complicated. The wait was worth it, as the two round trip tickets for Tracey and I and a one way ticket for Ruben saved us about 1/2 the price. Well worth the wait, also it is %100 flexible, so we can change the date if we happen to get done sooner. Wishful thinking I am sure. We booked our return ticket for 5 weeks as instructed. As soon as we finished with our tickets, it was off to the nearest Fed ex, so that we could send passports and other necessary documents to the consulate in San Francisco. We hope that this is a speedy process and we get our travel visa's and passports back in a week. Much preperation and packing to do. Stay posted. the adventure is about to begin...