Ecuador Day 22- Flor's Goodbye Party

Today marks three weeks since we have been here in Ecuador! Crazy that it has been that long and yet we have not made any progress in the legal process. Sigh. Oh well, we are learning patience...that is for sure!

Today was the big going away party at the orphanage for Flor. We were up and ready to go by 9:30 so that we could get a taxi and be there by 10. FHC is about 20 minutes away and we got there just in time. We were greeted by Jen Schneider, who is FHC's International Coordinator. She is from New York and so of course speaks fluent English. She had been home for Christmas, so we hadn't met her on our previous visits to FHC. She was so friendly and we enjoyed getting to know her. We met up with Pamela and went to the backyard of the kids' house, where the party was to be held.

The party guests were all of the kids who live in Flor's old house, plus the older babies. All in all, there was probably 15 kids, 4-5 tias, the social worker, psychologist, office workers who stopped in, the in country director, two or three volunteers, and two INFA workers. We fed the kids Ecuador's version of a cheetoh and then some cake. The kids sang some songs and that was adorable. One little boy was just singing at the top of his lungs-- it was so cute. They also sang "Happy Birthday" to Flor to celebrate her day on Friday. They lit candles in the cake we brought, plus one in the big roll we brought for her since she can't have sugar. Poor thing. She rejected the roll...but I certainly don't blame her. Instead she went from person to person attempting to get some juice. One volunteer who didn't know that she can't have sugar quickly became her best friend when he let her have his juice. Oops.

After the food, the kids played in the backyard for a while. Flor walked around and gave everyone hugs on her own, which was really cute. She seemed very happy and content; not sad at all to be at the orphanage. I really think that she is just unaware of what was going on. She did continually run over to Devin and give him hugs, mostly while her tias and some of the other orphanage workers were watching her.

We presented the tias and other workers with some gifts, then signed some paperwork with the social worker. While sitting there waiting for her to type a document, Hallie piped up, "Necesitas el bano!" to Flor ("You need the bathroom!") The social worker thought it was hilarious and was quite impressed that she speaks Spanish! We assured her that Hallie does not speak Spanish and we were quite shocked that that came out of her mouth, too. She is picking up phrases all the time and repeats them, though I am not sure if she knows what she is saying. She prefers to watch shows with Flor in Spanish instead of English, which I think is funny because she can't really be getting that much out of them! Anyway, we finished the paperwork and then went to say goodbye to Pamela, who has been so wonderful in this process. Pamela was sitting right then and there doing her report for INFA. She had the workers wait so that she could send it with them. She is so on top of things and has been so amazing to work with.

Speaking of the INFA ladies..I made casual conversation with one about getting this report done and then the next steps for court, when she commented that they have not written their report and that it would probably take a week to do so. I almost died right then and there. A WEEK!? What have we been doing this whole time?! I can't fathom waiting another week just to get into the court system...then who knows how long an actual court date will take after that. It is looking like we will be here longer and longer every day. I am sure the INFA worker could tell that I was shocked as she made some comment about it-- so I told her that we really need to get home as soon as possible and that if there is anyway they could get the report done faster, we would be so grateful. She didn't say anything then, but later told me that I should have our in country rep call on Thursday or something to see if the report is done. I am thinking I will have her call Wednesday. The sooner the better! So please, please pray with us that INFA's report will be done before a week's time. We really need to get things moving in this process.

The INFA driver was kind enough to drive us home from the orphanage, saving us a taxi ride. That was nice. Flor did not have a hard time leaving the orphanage, just as she did not have a hard time coming to the orphanage. Like I said, I really just think she didn't know what was happening. She was happy to see her friends and it was apparent that she knew and recognized the tias, yet she was not sad to leave anyone either. Probably for the best.

For pictures of the party, see facebook as there are way too many to post here, plus I don't want to break any privacy laws by posting pictures of the children. Rest assured, there are over a hundred pictures posted on FB. haha.

After a late lunch and naps, we decided to try to get to the Metropolitano Park again. This time we hailed a taxi and just our luck, he had no idea how to get there. I think he hasn't been driving for very long as he looked 15 and as a taxi driver you would think you would know where the largest park in the city is. He stopped and asked two people and we finally made it. The park is huge and gorgeous. It is very secluded and quiet. It has a ton of large, fully grown trees, walking paths, etc. We will definitely visit this park again. We didn't get to stay long as it looked like it was about to rain. We walked home, which was a good 45 minute walk.

Since our internet is being nicer today, we were able to Skype with some family members, which again is always nice.

Here are a few pictures of the later part of the day:

Just some daddy/daughter play time

Hallie decided that she wanted to hail the taxi today, so she parked herself on this flower bed clear away from the road and stuck out her finger. Not working...

At the park, we found a section with play-things, including this HUGE teeter-totter. Jace and Devin sat on one end and the girls and I were on the other. It was quite the riot.

The park also had this huge zip-line with a swing as the seat. Wahoo! Hallie and I took a ride on it together-- good thing we didn't send her alone like she wanted to...it was speedy and had a bit of whiplash involved in the end when the seat boomeranged back. Quite fun!

This park also offered really pretty views of the city as it is fairly high up. Here are a few view pictures that we took on the walk back down. I really do love this city-- it is so beautiful and unique.

And this is classic Ecuadorian as well-- if you can't afford a barbed wire fence (or even if you can, for double protection), a few broken up beer bottles on the top of the fence go a long way. This is all over the place. Always a beautiful site.

Alright, that's it for today. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We would appreciate further prayers that things can get moving with this process. We can feel the prayers being offered in our behalf, and we are grateful.