So far everything has gone just right this week, just like we had hoped! Yay! Now we are just waiting to hear from MJ that the judge has signed our salida and we can GO HOME. We are really praying that we get it today so that we can go home tomorrow.
Yesterday was an eventful day in Guayaquil. Flor and I left at 6:45 to be at the airport by 7. We had just enough time, with all the chaos at the airport, to get onto our flight at 8:15.
The flight was...interesting. It was only 35 minutes long, but Flor was not on her best behavior. Wish me luck on getting her home in one piece. She did not like being seat belted in and was sure to let me know. She kicked the chair in front of us quite often as well. Lovely. The stewardess was very nice, though, and brought a cup full of candies for Flor. Well, since Flor can't have sugar, guess who got the candies? Thank you, flight attendant.
We made it safely and proceeded to take a taxi to the US consulate. We met our lawyer, Sylvia, at the hotel next door (which was super duper fancy by the way). I had heard from other people that we needed to stash our bags at a locker nearby because the consulate won't let you in with them. I mentioned this to Sylvia (we were her first case) and she assured me that there would not be a problem. So, we followed her over to the consulate with my purse, plus a huge old red bag I had.
The guards made a huge production of checking everything in my bags, taking each item out one by one and laying them on a table. Meanwhile, they also checked all three of us with a scanner-thingy. After they had taken each and every item out of both bags and sufficiently made fun of me for all the things I had, they then put everything back in the bags and announced that I would not be able to take them in with me because they were too big. What?! So, what was the point of looking through everything if they were just going to tell me I couldn't bring them in?
We walked down the street to stash the bags in a locker place and as we did so, I pulled all the money out of my purse. It was then that I noticed that $40 was missing. So my only likely conclusion is that the guards took $20 each during their search. They could have easily pocketed it without my noticing. Its either that or someone stuck their hand in my purse while it was on my body, unzipped the zipper and took the money. Not nearly as likely.
Anyway, we then returned to the consulate and went in. The attorney had translated all necessary documents ahead of time to English and then had them notarized, but when we got there we noticed that the back of Flor's birth certificate was not translated. Ugh...so Sylvia had to run and find an internet cafe, translate it, and then go get it notarized. So that delayed things a bit. We were the last ones out of there-- and it was a packed building.
Flor and I then went and sat in the hotel next door to wait for the visa. We ate lunch there while we waited-- we had our choice of 4 different really fancy looking restaurants. We chose the one that looked "cheapest". It had a $28 buffet if that gives you any idea. We chose from the menu instead. :)
I am sure the people there were impressed with Flor's manners given this was a fine dining establishment, but we didn't really care. We enjoyed the food and took our time as we had time to burn. After, we sat in the lobby in super comfy couches until it was time to pick up the visa (I was hoping Flor would take a nap- but no). We returned at 2:30 and got the visa by 3, along with a huge sealed package that we are supposed to leave unopened until we get to the US customs on our trip home.
We had time to burn, so Flor and I decided to take a taxi to see the Temple in Guayaquil. I told the taxi driver that we wanted to see the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He drove us to some building that looked like a courthouse. I told him that wasn't it- and then said the Temple of the Mormons. He then knew what we were talking about. :) It was close to the airport, which was nice. We walked around the grounds and took some pictures. It is beautiful and has a really nice view of the city. We stayed for only 20 minutes or so as we had to get back to the airport.
The flight home was just as good as the flight there, except that this time the flight attendants didn't provide me with any candy. Dang. Flor kept touching the man next to her and kicking the seat. Eeek. Spacial issues and personal boundaries are something we are really trying to work on and will need to continue to work on when we get home. She has no concept of strangers and wants to hug and touch everyone she sees. I can understand why this is so given that she never had one consistent care provider for all these years and that there have always been people in and out of the orphanages caring for her, so this is something that is going to take time. But it is something that I think is important- that she learn that we are her family and that her main source of affection will be from us. It will be hard when we are home because there are going to be so many people around all the time.
Anyway, once we landed, I tried hard to get a hold of MJ to see if she had any news about our salida. She never answered, which I took to mean no news. I heard this morning just that--nothing happened yesterday, though the judge did have the paper all day long. So- MJ is camping out today in front of her office to get that signature. Flor and I might join her this afternoon. The more the merrier, right? If she has to step over us every time she goes in and out, you'd think she would take the 2 seconds to sign the paper. Time will tell. I really hope it happens though as I have my mind set on going home tomorrow.
Here are some pictures from our day trip to Guayaquil:
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| The US Consulate. The US flag was such a welcome sight-- I can't even tell you. I even got a little emotional when I saw it, which is not generally like me! |
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| Guayaquil is bigger than Quito and seems to be more modernized. It is also a heck of a lot hotter/more humid. I carried around my sweatshirt all day long-- bad idea to bring it! |
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| There is a little river going through town... |
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| And the temple! Also a welcome sight. |
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| Self portraits are my favorite. |
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| The temple is situated on a little hill, providing great views of that part of the city. |
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| I took this picture a LOT of times. There isn't one where Flor would participate and look at the camera. Oh well. |
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| On the flight home-- this is a view of Cotopaxi, I think, the volcano the Schinnerers visited with us a few weeks ago. |
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| Coming into town! You can see the soccer stadium right out the window. Our first apartment was right behind it- so it was kind of fun to see a view from up in the air. We loved watching the planes fly by day and night through the window there. |
1 comment:
text me when you hear!
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