Ecuador Day 26: IT's OFFICIAL!!

Well, here it is. Today was the day we went to court. YAY HURRAY AND FINALLY!!! (although I really can't complain- day 26 versus Day 40 is a big difference!) Just in the nick of time too, Devin and girls head home tomorrow. 

Here's a bit about how the day went. It wasn't without its bumps, but it all turned out okay.

Ramiro picked us up at 12:30 and then we drove downtown to meet our attorney (never even heard of him before, let alone met him, so that's interesting). When we got to the appointed roundabout where he was supposed to meet us at the appointed time (1:00), Ramiro started muttering under his breath and no one was in sight, so we knew it was not good. Ramiro jumped out of the car and started walking down the road, leaving us sitting, parked, in the middle of the roundabout with people honking like mad around us. Don't even worry, that's just how things are done in Ecuador. Ramiro finally came back about 5 minutes later and said he couldn't see William (the attorney) anywhere, and that we had better move before the police catch us just sitting there. Yeah. I suggested that maybe we try to call William? And he said that he does not have William's phone number. Because of course, that would be too easy. So I suggested that we call MJB instead and get the number from her. No, Ramiro said, we can't, because MJB apparently didn't pay her phone bill and her phone got turned off. Beauty. No wonder she hasn't been answering my calls for days. Indeed, I tried just in case, and sure enough the phone was disconnected. Yes, this is what things look like around here.

We decided to move out of traffic and drive around to give William time to show up. I was sweating bullets by this time. Not only was it a million degrees in the car, but I was so nervous that we weren't going to make it on time and WE NEEDED TO GO TO COURT TODAY!! We drove a few streets up, made a U-turn and attempted to go back, but we sat at one red light for 4 rotations before we finally made it through. Horrible traffic at this hour- just what we needed. About this time, Ramiro got a call from MJB (borrowed someone's phone) and found out our dilemma, so she said she would call William to find out whats up. Nevermind giving Ramiro William's number so they could figure things out themselves. Always complicated. She called back a few minutes later and said that William was stuck in a taxi in traffic and was 10-15 minutes away. So we drove around some more, all the while my heart was beating wildly at the thought of all this being ruined by some crazy attorney named William who we've never even heard of or knew played a big role in our case until today. Ugh. Not a good feeling. Anyway, we finally found William at the designated location a mere half hour later than he was supposed to be there. Good old William just hopped in the car, cool as a cucumber, and mentioned nothing. Sheesh. Not a good start. 

William. The best I could do to discretely get a picture of him, but best leave the identity of the guilty hidden anyway.

 Luckily, we have learned that Ramiro can be an extra speedy driver when he wants to be, and today he didn't disappoint. Not only that, but today he took us through a tunnel that cuts all the way through the mountain and drops us off on the other side, shaving a good 20 minutes off of the drive from yesterday. And it only cost 40 cents to go through the toll. Why we didn't do that yesterday, I have no idea. I would have shelled out the 40 cents happily. Anyway, MJB had called again by this point from some other random person's phone and told us that in order to save time, we wouldn't need to stop by her house and pick her up on the way, but rather she'd take a taxi and meet us on a corner somewhere. Why not directly at the court house, I have no idea. Well you guessed it. We showed up at the designated corner, and no MJB to be found. So we did the logical thing and took a dirt road for like a mile into the middle of nowhere because it's a complete surety that we would find her roaming on some deserted path. Who knows what goes on in these people's minds sometimes? If you thought I was having a heart attack before, I was certainly having one now.  Remember MJB- no phone??

We finally turned around from the dirt road and came crawling back to the corner where we were supposed to find MJB. Luckily as we were stopped at the light, she decided to call again. She was about a half a block away, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, not on a corner at all. Of course. She quickly said goodbye to the new friend whose phone she had borrowed and hopped on in with us for the rest of the drive to the court house (a few more blocks away). Luckily, we were STILL on time by the time all that happened. Thank you, Ramiro.

We made our way into the court house and MJB plopped us down in a waiting room and then promptly disappeared (as is her norm). Some man tried to call us up to his desk to assist us with whatever we needed. Devin just told him we were with Maria Jose and he understood and didn't bug us anymore. :) Finally, she returned in time to lead us upstairs to the third floor. Now, these are NOT anything like any sort of courthouses we have in the US. Nothing formal about them and everything is dirty, crammed together, and there are no waiting areas, other than the one downstairs. We got up there and stood in a tiny hallway for about 20 minutes while MJB and William spoke to some clerks.

Oh, I liked this. Secretarios (as). And yes. all the secretaries were male. And the judge a female. Same as our last judge in Quito-- she was a female and her secretary was a male. Go judges.

Here is the tiny hall where we stood for ages. No one tells us what's going on, or what to do, so parking it in the hall is the best we can figure out to do for ourselves. :)

 Finally, we were invited into the room with MJB and William for signature verification. Last time we had to do this the day before court, so to do it at the same time was great. This simply means we sign a piece of paper while the clerk hides our passports so that we can't cheat. If the signature is the same, we pass, which I think we did.

We were then ushered into the court room. Again, nothing like what we know as a court room. There were two rusty desks in there with four chairs behind them, all facing two more run down desks in front. The room is tiny, probably about 10 x 15 feet. The one desk had a nice rolling black chair, which indicated to me that this was the judge's seat. At least this time we were in a courtroom of sorts- last time we were shoved into the judge's tiny office. Anyway, as we came in, two attorneys were sitting with their clients at the desks, finishing what looked to be a nasty divorce. We watched them talk back and forth a bit before they finally left. The judge came in momentarily (I had to ask MJB if she WAS the judge- no difference between her or anyone else in that place- no gown or robe or gavel. At least she was in a dress whereas our last judge was in jeans and a sweatshirt). The judge told us she'd be back in a few minutes and we sat there another 20 or so.

Finally, she re-arrived and jumped right to it. She hardly greeted us, but told William he could proceed. He produced a piece of paper and read to her, line by line, what was written on the paper, while she typed it at her desk. I have no idea what this was all about. Only once did she look up or communicate back to him, and it was when he said "el menor" (the minor) and she yelled "WHAT?" so he repeated "el menor" about four more times with her shouting his name after each time, before he finally said, "I don't know what you want me to say." She then yelled at him about how we never use the term "minor" in her court room. He can use "la nina" (the girl) or the girl's actual name. Because "the girl" is so much better than "the minor?" I was very confused. And so was William. Anyway, he adjusted his word and read on. When he was done, she talked to us for a brief minute, just long enough to remind us that she had done us a large favor getting us into court this early. She then asked Mishell her name, her age, and the names of her siblings. That's it. No questions to us at all.

She did promise she would have the decree done by Tuesday (tomorrow is a holiday, so that gives her Monday to work on it). I will take it! This means we will be going to the civil service registry Monday next week when my mom and sister are here. Oh well, you can't win them all. I will leave Jace with them and send them to Carolina Park or something.

So no  big fanfare involved, but we are super grateful that Mishell is officially ours! Another Perry Perry. We are grateful that things have picked up in the process. I should definitely be done in 2 weeks to return home, barring no major disasters. Hallelujah!!

I asked MJB to take a picture of us outside the courthouse. I thought she took many. My mistake. This is all we got. Best family photo ever, I do believe....

The courthouse

We had Ramiro drop us off at pizza hut when we got back to town. We got takeout and came home to watch the second Harry Potter movie, since we finished the book yesterday. So that was a fun little celebration. All that to say, here are the girls and dad at Pizza Hut.

And Jace wanted his picture taken too, naturally.

Since our first family photo as an official family of 6 was such a gem, we had to settle for a selfie. :) 

So sad to have Devin leave tomorrow. I am dreading thinking about it. Luckily, I only have a week by myself and then my mom and sister arrive. Wahoo!!

Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf!! Look at the power of prayer!