Ecuador Day 31

Well, what a day. It started out good then went south. Way south. We'll get to that.

This morning we had arranged with Andres (the owner of our apartment) to have him take us to the hospital where Flor was born. The hospital is at the very south end of the city and is quite the drive from where we are. We were also told that the area where the hospital is can be quite dangerous, so it was not advised to go on our own. Andres recruited his friend, Sherry, to come with us as she had worked in that area of the city for a long time and knows it well. Sherry is from Canada, so speaks English. Andres also speaks English, which is nice.

The drive there took 45 minutes or so and some serious navigation and a battle with the police. Yes, it's true. We made a stop at a light were a cop was standing requesting each passing driver's license and registration. Not sure if this is standard practice in Ecuador, but we have learned that pretty much anything goes here. So, Andres handed over his license and registration and for some reason the cop didn't like what he saw. He and Andres had some words while the huge line of cars honked their horns incessantly to get us moving. The cop decided to have us pull up to the next block and pull over. Andres got out, Sherry got out, the cop marched up, and well, there was some words. A lot of words. It seemed to be escalating...but Sherry used her flirtatious skills to calm things down. The cop decided to take a bribe (money) to let Andres go. Yep, he just wanted money. The issue turned out to be that Andres' registration had expired, and though he had paid to renew it and the cop could see that this was so on his little hand held system, Andres had failed to pick up the actual piece of paper. Whoops. An inside look at how things work here.

Once we arrived at the hospital, Andres and Sherry went to get something to eat in a little cafe and we walked around the grounds of the hospital and took pictures. I walked into the packed waiting room too and glanced around, but we didn't go any further than that. Still, it was really nice to be able to see where Flor started her life. Like I said before, she has a whole history that we don't know, so we hang on to the bits and pieces that we do know. It will be nice to have the pictures for her personal history.

The hospital was very run down and in a really poor part of town. It is totally a different world from where we live. Sherry described the neighborhoods as we drove through them and pointed out the poorest areas. It is really sad and eye opening to see the conditions that some people live in. Flor's birth mom apparently had moved from another city a year prior to Flor's birth and lived in one of these poor neighborhoods at the time of Flor's birth. I don't know where she is now, but its possible that she is still around there. She is a housekeeper by trade and illiterate according to the reports that we have.

Anyway, it was a good morning, spent learning a little bit about Flor's roots.

We also stopped by Sherry's old workplace, a place where the poorest in the city come to be connected to services to help them. The place has a school, a cafeteria (the meals there are 15 cents), areas where trades can be taught (jewelry making, barber-shop, pottery, etc.), a nurse, psychologist, etc. I was really impressed! The place offers so many services and strives to help people get out of the poverty they are in. We saw a bunch of the kids in school, some families eating in the cafeteria, and all the different trade teaching areas. A lot of the kids came up to ask us if Hallie, Jace, and Flor are our kids. They were shocked to know that they are. I'm not sure where the shock comes from...but it was kind of funny.

The ride home is when things started on the down hill slope. We got a call from MJ saying that she thinks that court will be next Thursday or Friday. NEXT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY??? She speaks so fast, delivers her message, then hangs up, so no questions could be asked. But, suffice it to say, we are frustrated. I emailed our US rep when we got home and confirmed that yes, they are thinking next Thur or Friday. I don't know why-- no reason probably, but it is frustrating. By next Thursday or Friday, we will have been here almost 6 weeks. ALMOST 6 weeks and NOTHING has been done. I know it is no one's fault really, but the system is just so messed up here, it drives me crazy. Our friend Erin is finally going to be able to go home this weekend, 3 weeks after she went to court. 3 weeks plus 6 weeks equals 9 weeks. Good math, huh. So, 9 weeks we will likely be here. We planned for 7, which means we will need to change our tickets. We will likely send Devin, Hallie, and Jace home so as to not have to change their tickets, and Flor and I will stay. We will need to find a new place to stay as Andres is planning on moving back in on the 6th. So great. Just so many things that are going to be difficult about this situation, but we have no choice at this point but to sit and wait and sit and wait some more until the system here decides to get moving. Anyway, I know nothing can be done, but prayers are appreciated that things can still speed up after court.

Another downer is that Jacer bug has been very sick. Poor boy is suffering from a variety of ailments. He has had a fever of 102-103 for the past few days and severe diarrhea. Because of the D he has a terrible rash. He also has lost his voice, so probably has a sore throat too. The poor baby. We are trying to keep him hydrated by feeding him Pedialyte, but he isn't eating much. His fever has not dropped, even with ibuprofen ever 6 hours. So, tomorrow we will look for a doctor for him if his fever hasn't broken. Wish us luck on that. I have no idea where to even start with that. You know he is sick when he wants to just sit and cuddle, which is mostly what he has wanted to do today.

Anyway, downer day, but I am sure things will look up again soon. Here are some pictures of the Hospital Enrique Garces, where our dear Flor was born.

 

This is overlooking part of the city on our drive back. I just think the whole view is so pretty!

I tried to upload a cute video of Hallie reading Little Critter books to Flor, but it won't work. Darn it!

Just out of the blue, Hallie sat down on the couch with Flor and started reading to her. It was the cutest thing.