Final post from Colombia!

OK, so maybe packing wasn't the ONLY thing I did on the last day. The manicurist also came to the hotel. It was 10,000 pesos ($5) for a manicure or 22,000 pesos ($11) for a manicure and a pedicure. You can see I treated myself to both!


The awesome staff at Hotel Paris.



The yummy dessert I ordered for supper tonight. Can you see the cream???

Wow. I can’t believe that in 8 hours I will on my way to the airport. Now that the day is finally here, I do feel a tiny bit of sadness at leaving this beautiful country. Having all this one-on-one time with Kariana has been fantastic and I know that from now on that time will be limited. That thought does make me feel guilty as I know Kerry and the boys have been missing her like crazy but its been nice just us girls too. I have been thinking about Kariana and what tomorrow is going to be like for her. I hope for her sake (and the rest of the passengers on the plane) that she takes to flying. Tomorrow she will finally get to see her Dad and brothers in person for the first time in over 4 weeks. Although we Skype often, I am not sure how much she absorbs from the computer screen.

I picked up her visa from the U.S. Embassy today without any problems and have spent most of the day packing. Yesterday I realized that I was going to be SIGNIFICANTLY short on luggage space so my options were to either leave a lot here or go buy another bag so this morning I went shopping! I actually found a very decent bag for about $15 so I was happy. You never know with prices here. Some things are extremely cheap compared to U.S. prices (like pineapple) and some things are extremely expensive (like baby strollers). The regular luggage was very expensive but I found a large backpack bag that was very reasonable.

For supper tonight I had the owner of the hotel order a special desert to celebrate our departure. I can’t remember what it is called in Spanish but it translates to “1,000 layers” and has all these flakey layers with cream oozing out and powdered sugar on top. It was delicious and a number of the Americans at the hotel right now had never had it so it was fun to introduce them to it. After supper was over, I had the staff take a picture with Kariana and there were lots of hugs and kisses since we will be leaving here at 6 am tomorrow. All of the staff are taken with Kariana and she laughs and coos at them all. On the day we got Sentencia, the owner of the hotel, Katyia, hugged me and said “I am so happy for you. I will really miss your daughter!” It was pretty funny as I am positive she had no idea what she had said. The staff here at Hotel Paris are absolutely outstanding and they really help make the hotel have a family atmosphere. The service has been awesome and I will be forever thankful to them for taking care of me those times when I was by myself. Many of them would even take Kariana so I could eat a meal or take her while I had a cup of coffee and relaxed a little bit.

I think that is about it. I still can’t believe it but this is my last post from Colombia. Talk to you in the states!

Signing off from Colombia,
Cresta

Monday

In less than 48 hours, Kariana and I will be halfway home to Minnesota. Yeah!!! We spent the morning going to ICBF to get the final paperwork we needed and then off to the U.S. Embassy to get her visa. Since she is flying on a Colombian passport, she needs a visa to get into the U.S. (Similar to the visa Kerry and I needed to get into Colombia for the adoption). They sure needed a lot of paperwork to process her visa though. The folder I gave her was a couple inches thick! The lady said everything looked good though and she was approved so now I go back tomorrow afternoon to pick it up and we are out of here!

While we were at ICBF picking up the last document, I did find an error on the paper. They had her name as Kariana Lea Melcher II Priebe. I am assuming they got that from Kerry’s name being Kerry Jon Melcher II. After we showed him her birth certificate and he called Los Pisingos, he quickly fixed it and we were out of there pretty quickly. All her Colombian papers have her new name as Kariana Lea Melcher Priebe since using the father’s last name and then the mother’s maiden name is the Colombian way even though her name will be Kariana Lea Melcher when we hit the United States.

We fly out of here around 9:30 am on Wednesday. Although I love Colombia, I am more than ready to go home and have our family together again. This living apart stuff is for the birds!

I have a couple of last minute gifts to pick up this afternoon and then its hard core packing time. Dad took home a lot of stuff for me on Sunday though so it should be pretty easy packing. I’m just happy to be doing it!

Dad got home last night. It was great to have him here keeping me busy and I'm really glad he got to be here for her Sentencia. It was really nice to share that experience with someone since Kerry couldn't be here. I think he had a good time in Colombia and he sure loved getting to know his granddaughter. They got a lot of one-on-one time that I am sure made my mom really jealous......

Getting close now,
Cresta

Saturday

Dad and Kariana on his last night in Bogota.



Enjoying the Emerald Museam.



At the Miltary Museum.

Dad and I have been staying busy exploring Bogota the last couple of days. Yesterday, we were hoping to go to Mosserate but the weather didn’t look great in the morning so we went for a long walk while we hoped the weather cleared up enough to make the trip but it never did so we decided to grab a taxi and go to the Military Museum (with passports this time). They even had an English speaking military guide for us. The museum was fairly interesting with lots of guns, ammo, and uniforms so it was all right up Dad’s alley. After that, we wondered around Old Town looking for some lunch, grabbing food from some street vendors, and searching for the Emerald Museum. Emeralds are big in Colombia and you see them everywhere. After searching around for awhile, we finally realized it was on the 23rd floor of a much larger building so it wasn’t advertised on the outside. No wonder we had problems finding it! The museum was interesting and Mom would have loved it with her passion for jewels. They had some really cool things there but some of it we had trouble seeing because the staff was surrounding Kariana. We can’t figure out where they all came from! Kariana was in fine form once again flirting with everyone and squealing. She is such a flirt. We were the only ones in the museum so we must have been the entertainment of the afternoon.

Today the weather looked more promising so once again we grabbed a cab and went to Mosserate. The weather turned out to be just fine and the view was fabulous as usual. This was the third time I have been there and it was still amazing to me. I just love it up there. Its so peaceful. We took our time and spent quite a bit of time on the mountain. Dad was fascinated with the view as is everyone who visits there. Pictures just do not do it justice. It is truly breathtaking how large the city is. We spent a lot of time wondering around the vendors that are near the church and Dad even found a leather-wrapped glass bottle for his wine. We were also feeling adventurous regarding food so we tried a number of different things from the vendors. We timed it perfectly because right when we got to the bottom of the mountain, it started raining.

When we got back, we packed up some suitcases as Dad is going to take one of my suitcases back so I have less to deal with when I travel back with Kariana. Dad leaves early tomorrow morning so we called for a driver and he is all set now.

Count down: 4 days until home

Cresta

SENTENCIA!!!!

After the signing, Dad, the judge, Kariana and I.


The judge having fun with Kariana.

Martha (replacing Cecilia while she is on vacation) and Kariana.

Papa and Kariana waiting for the judge to come.

Yesterday we finally got "the" call that we have been waiting for for weeks. Sentencia!!! Our agency worker called around noon to let me know that the judge was ready to sign and our appointment was for today (Thursday) at 11 am. You cannot believe the emotions after that phone call. I just wanted to scream and jump and down! Finally!!! Because of the court we were now in, I was told that I needed to bring a cake, Coke, glasses, plates, and forks besides the usual passport and other paperwork. Of course, I had to let Kerry know right away by email. Then, since it was lunch time anyway, Dad and I took off for the grocery store for some lunch and the required party gear. We picked out a yummy chocolate tort cake, a large bottle of Coke, and the rest of the stuff and headed back to the hotel to wait for today! It poured rain all afternoon anyway so we just hung around the hotel. I wanted to post the really good news but I was so afraid I would jinx it that I decided to wait until today when the deed was done.

This morning we were at breakfast when I got a phone call from our agency worker who told me our appointment was moved up to 10 and the driver would be there in 45 minutes. Good thing we were almost ready anyway and getting this show on the road was fine by me! After we got to the courthouse, we were led into the judge’s office. Everyone in the office was coming in to talk to and admire Kariana while we waited for the judge.

The whole “ceremony” was very nice. The judge obviously believed in making the day important. We have heard stories where in other courts, the parents go and sign the papers standing at a counter and don’t even meet the judge. Talk about an anti-climatic moment that is one of the most important in that family’s life. The judge made a little speech about thanking us for adopting her and how today is the day she found her real mom and her real dad. He wrote Kerry and I a letter that is suppose to be from Kariana saying many of those same things. I had to sign his book and promise to send family pictures and updates. Then the whole office had cake and Coke with us and we took pictures. It was very special. Kariana was totally awesome. She slept in the car on the way there and was totally smiling and cooing at everyone in the office. She was really animated when the judge was telling us how lucky we all were. So now she is legally ours! Although I have considered her ours since we first saw her picture, now its legal!

From there, we went to the notary to get the new birth certificate. Usually you apply for the new certificate and pick it up the next day but we were able to get the new birth certificate immediately. Because it was only 12:30 when we were done, Martha decided we should go get the passport right away since they didn’t close until 2 pm. We went there, got her pictures taken, pushed to the front of the line because we had a baby, and had a passport 30 minutes later. Since we now had the passport, Martha went ahead and made the appointment for the U.S. doctor for 4 pm today. After grabbing a quick lunch and hitting the bank, we went to the doctor who said what we already know: she’s perfect! She gained 2 pounds since we got her and is a whopping 15 lbs now. She is a little on the small size, 25th percentile, but otherwise is very healthy. When the doctor was examine her, he stood her up and she somehow managed to both pee and spit up on him AT THE SAME TIME. We all kind of stood there in shock. It was so funny. She hadn’t spit up the entire day and chose that moment to do it.

The day ended up being long and busy but now everything is done except for applying and getting the visa. Unfortunately, you can’t apply for the visa on a Friday so that has to wait until Monday, pick it up on Tuesday, and home on Wednesday. So tomorrow we have off since we crammed everything in today. I’m glad everything is done and ready to go so I can change my flights. Let the countdown begin to the plane ride home!

Kariana was such a trooper all day. She only got a few naps that were about 20 minutes each but she was still happy and go-lucky the entire day. I can’t believe how good she was. She charms people wherever we go, even our drivers were totally taken with her.

Feeling great in Bogota,
Cresta

Pictures from the last few days

Grandpa and Kariana ready to go for a walk.



Enjoying the view in Guatavita.



Guatavita is such a pretty town!



Grandpa's girl!

Tues

We have had a couple of busy days since Dad arrived. Today we are just hanging around the hotel and relaxing.

Although I prayed hard for the call to come yesterday, the only news we got is that our papers were accepted by the court. Although this is good news and indicates that there is nothing wrong with our papers, it doesn’t really mean much. It was not the news I was hoping to hear. It appears that I won’t be going home in the very near future.

Joe and Leah and Cole leave first thing in the morning. They pick up Cole’s visa this afternoon and then they are out of here. I am so happy for them to be going home but it’s also really hard to watch knowing my timeline is still unknown. Going home is all I think about these days.

Took Dad to the markets on Sunday and stopped at Crapes and Waffles for lunch which is always delicious. Had to have ice cream for dessert of course. It was another nice day for the markets. It’s uncanny how the weather is almost always warm and sunny on market day. Dad found an amber rock complete with enclosed bugs and everything that he couldn’t resist but after being there for 5 weeks in a row, I finally think I have everything I need as I came home empty handed.

Yesterday I called for a driver and Dad, Kariana and I got out of Bogota for the day. First we went to the Salt Cathedral which is located about 45 minutes outside of Bogota. It was very interesting. It’s a cathedral that was built into a salt mine. The salt mine is still an active mine but is also an active tourist site that claims to be the most visited site in Colombia. It was a guided tour but Dad and I got MP3 players that explained everything in English. It was really interesting. There are so many nooks and crannies that they even created spots for the 14 stations of Christ plus a number of other important spots relating to the church like a choir chamber. It even had a 50 foot cross cut into the rock salt with cool lighting and 50 ft tall by 25 ft across columns holding everything up. It’s a true working church with mass every hour on Sunday. (FYI for the Catholics out there, Colombia is a HUGE Catholic country. In fact, I have never seen any other religion even mentioned here. Mass is only 45 minutes.)

After the Salt Cathedral, we drove another hour or so to Guatavita which is a small but beautiful town along a large river. The old town was flooded in 1964 when the river was dammed to create water and power for Bogota. We saw some of the pictures of the town underwater. The town moved up the hill at that point and it’s a rule that all the houses have to be white with clay tile roofs. This makes the town beautiful to look at. Our driver said it was the only town in Colombia like that. We drove down by the lake which was spectacular surrounded by mountains. It was a quant little town. On the way back to Bogota, Dad got to see lots of Colombian countryside. The country continues to amaze me. On one hand, Bogota is a modern, slick city and on the other hand, the countryside looks like something out of National Geographic with cows staked out in the ditches for the grass there.

That is about it for now. We continue to wait for the much anticipated call.

Cresta

Final post from Carrie

Well, I have been home a week now since leaving Bogota. I sure do miss the Bogota weather!! I had a great time visiting Cresta and meeting my niece! It was one of the best experiences I have had so far. I had my doubts in going to a foreign country and such but I figured this would be the only time I would ever be in South America and what better time to go with Cresta already there!? It gave Cresta and I some time for just us for a change! It was nice.
I think what Cresta, Kerry and the boys are doing is absolutely wonderful and I even can’t wait for everyone to meet Kariana! She is just the sweetest baby.
Can’t wait to see you back in the states! Have fun with Dad while he is there, it won’t be long now! Love you and miss you!
Back in the Arkansas…….Carrie

Kariana and Grandpa video

Saturday

Dad arrived safe and sound on Thursday night with no problems. His flight actually came in 30 minutes early so I had to quick call the driver to come early but I ended up waiting for Dad for well over an hour at the airport as Dad said they had to sit for quite awhile on the tarmac because another plane was in their way since they were so early! He seems to be enjoying Bogota and is loving his new granddaughter. At first Kariana did a lot of staring at him but I think she was fascinated with his facial hair. Now she is full of smiles like her usual self. She already has grandpa wrapped around her little finger, smiling and laughing at him. The three of us Skyped with the boys last night and Kaleb and Cohen was astounded that Papa was with mom! How did he get there?? It was really funny to watch their reactions on the screen.

Yesterday I took Dad to Exito Country (similar to a Super Target) since I needed diapers, wipes, and formula. We spent some time looking around the store, checking out all the fruit neither of us have ever heard of, buying some Colombian wine, and comparing prices of things. Dad couldn’t believe that a pineapple is only $.50 here. In the afternoon, we walked to the bank and to Maku so he could check things out. Dad is not impressed with the smog here. The sad thing is that I don’t even notice it any more. He is impressed with the diversity of the people who live here. He is quite shocked that so few look Hispanic. I had to tell him that a couple of people commented on how much Carrie looked Colombian with her tan skin and dark hair.

Today we took a taxi and were going to go to the Military Museum. Unfortunately, we got there only to discover that we had to have our passports. Because of my limited Spanish, the question we don’t know is if they would have let us in on U.S. passports. There were military guards posted around the museum and at the ticket desk so we aren’t sure if they would have let us in. In any regards, neither of us had our passports (not something we usually walk around with here) so we couldn’t get in. Luckily, we had brought a tourist map with us and walked down a couple of blocks to the house of Simon Bolvar’s mistress that now houses textiles and clothing from the past and from all over Colombia. It was fairly interesting although Dad spent a lot more time looking at the house construction than looking at the clothes. We believe the house was probably built in the 1810’s and some of it had original beams and everything. Dad was in heaven. After that we walked around old Bogota, saw the government square (there was a concert being set up though so we couldn’t go into it), and eventually walked down to the Gold Museum. It was the second time I had been there but I got to read a lot more since the boys weren’t there hurrying us along this time. After that, we grabbed a late lunch at a bread store and headed back. Kariana was a trooper the whole day. Now it is Dad’s turn to experience everyone looking at and talking to Kariana.

Tomorrow is Sunday so we will go to the markets of course. I’m hoping for good weather since Dad will only be here this one Sunday since he leaves next Sunday early. We were hoping for the phone call for Sentencia on Friday but it didn’t come. I am praying hard it comes on Monday because if it does, Kariana and I could go home with Dad next weekend. If the call comes after Monday, then I won’t be able to leave until the following week. Tomorrow marks 6 weeks that I have been here, 3 weeks with the guys and 3 weeks without. Although I love Bogota, I really would love to see Minnesota again!

Cresta

A Posting From MN

Hello to all from the Melcher Boys in MN.
I have had a some reoccuring questions from people I have seen around and I figured some of you following the posting may be interested as well.

First off is the blankie situation, iIt ended up not being too big of a deal that we left them down there. Kaleb was getting old enough that he would sometimes sleep without it occasionally plus he had a second favorite one at home that he uses so it didn't really phase him. Cohen really could have used his on the flight home. He was pretty cranky on the beginning of the first flight and he really needed to take a nap. He did eventually fall asleep but it took alot longer than it would have if he had his blankie. After that both boys were really good travelers the rest of the day. After we got home I grabbed two fleece blankets and told Cohen we didn't have "his" blankie but he could pick which one he wanted until Mom got home and he hasn't asked for his other one since. I think it made a big difference since he got to decide.

We are all missing Cresta and Kariana very much but I think Kaleb is the one taking it the hardest. The first week and half was a pretty rough time around here for him. Every little thing would set him off and he would instantly get mad and start yelling and crying. At the peak he did this for about 1/2 hr one night and then I sent him to bed. He continued on for another 20 min. until he called me in and asked me to cuddle with him. Earlier I was the worst dad in the world and he hated me and before he fell asleep he told me he loved me three different times. I think he just didn't know how to deal with his feelings. He has calmed down alot in the last week and we are getting pretty close to being back to a pre-Bogota attitude.

Cohen is taking it all in stride. He is still pretty much happy-go-lucky. We have a few fits now and then but I believe most of that he is picking up from watching his brother. Now that Kaleb has calmed down, Cohen's fits are a little less frequent as well.

I have been able to keep up with most of the house work and stuff around here. Mowing the yard typically takes me two nights because I have to break it up into smaller time slots but still goes pretty well. I have even been able to do some of the other yard and garden work as time allows. I really impressed one of the ladies at church the other day. They called asking for Cresta to bake a cake for a funeral and I agreed we could do it. They didn't realize at the time she was in Columbia but have found out since then and couldn't believe I agreed to do it.

I have had an overwelling response of people offering help in any way they can. We really appricate all the support. Our friends Ann and Elisabeth even stocked our fridge the day I came back. So I didn't have to worry about running out to buy grociries for a couple of days. Thank you girls, that was a huge relief for me.

We are coping without Mom but only out of necessity. We sure wish she was home. We talk to her and Kariana most nights with the webcam but it isn't the same. Here's hoping court #1 is the answer to all our prayers and our girls get home safe and sound very soon.

Kerry, Kaleb and Cohen

Wednesday

It was a good day for the American’s here today. Joe and Leah and Cole had Sentencia today! Yeah!! That means that Cole is legally theirs and the adoption is finalized. They were in Court #1 and the judge was awesome. That court is known to be fast and the judge is very pro adoption. Joe and Leah said he was really great and the ceremony was very nice. They were told to bring a cake, Coke, and some glasses and the whole office helped them celebrate. Once the signing was complete, they applied for Cole’s new birth certificate which can be picked up tomorrow. After that, there are a number of things they have to do so Cole can leave the country like get a passport, a visa, and a U.S. medical exam. I am so happy for them to be on the home stretch. At least one of us is! Looks like they will get to leave next Wednesday which would put them here for 4.5 weeks. That is super fast for being in Bogota.

Now for my good news. We found out today that our new court is also Court #1. Yeah! We believe that is really good news. Now we just hope that the judge hears our case and approves it even faster than he normally does because of our situation. We are saying our prayers and keeping our fingers crossed.

Dad arrives in Bogota tomorrow night around 9 pm. That means that he will likely be here for our Sentencia. I had to call him quick tonight and tell him to pack a nice outfit for the occasion as it’s sort of a dress up affair. That will be really cool if it happens while he is here since it’s such an important day.

There is a new American family from Michigan here that has a 4 yr old they adopted as a baby and are here to get a 5 month old baby girl. Their presentation is tomorrow at Los Pisingos. That means that Kariana and their baby were there at the same time. It’s kind of cool to think they might have ‘known’ each other. Presentation days are so much fun for everyone at the hotel as it reminds you of the day not-so-long-ago when you brought your little one back. Since we all know there are no friends or relatives to show off your new family addition to and won’t be for while, showing them off to the rest of the hotel residents is the second best option. Everyone oohhs and aahhs over the cute new child and generally tries to make up for the fact that there are no other family around.

Cresta

Monday

Carrue and I got customized Colombian soccer jerserys for all 5 kids.





Kariana is still a really good sleeper. 3 naps a day plus sleeps through the night.


Carrie and Kariana enjoying the view of Bogota from Mosserate.

Carrie's last night in Bogota.

Playing around in Mom's bed.

The last few days have been a lot better. I finally came to terms with the fact that I will be here a few more weeks. I think it just hit me hard because I was expecting the call for Sentencia and the countdown to go home instead of the call saying we were starting over. I am missing my boys something fierce although my wonderful husband is handling everything at home more than skillfully. He is so awesome. I am reminded everyday of why I married him. I know this is a short term set back and our family will be back together soon. We Skype almost everyday which helps a lot. There is something about blowing my guys a good night kiss and telling them good night and I love you that makes it seem like I am still participating in their everyday lives in a tiny way. Plus its so cute how they talk to Kariana on the screen.

It was so great to have Carrie here last week. It sure went a lot better and faster with her here. Although we didn’t do a lot of site seeing, she got to know my section of Bogota and she got to spend a ton of time with Kariana. Plus, my parents have taken pity on me and my extended stay and booked a ticket for my dad to come on Thursday. I can’t wait for him to come, only 3 more days! He is staying for 10 days so I get to show him around Bogota next. At least it will give me something to do while we wait some more although I hope he doesn’t get to bored. My mom is super jealous that both Carrie and my dad will get to see and hold Kariana before she will.

Kariana, as usual, is adorable. She has discovered her feet so she likes to kick them and try to put them in her mouth whenever she can. She has really taken to flirting with everyone who smiles at her. She gets all excited and starts moving around and smiling back. Carrie got to experience all the people stopping to admire and talk to her in public while she was here so it’s not just me imaging it. She really is a beautiful, beautiful baby. The hotel staff all adore her. They are constantly talking to her, trying to get her to smile or just plain taking her from me and toting her around. The owner of the hotel seems especially enamored with her. Katya is very sympathetic to my court situation since virtually all of her clients are adopting families or families coming back to Colombia after previously adopting so she is very familiar with the process. She agrees that the best course of action was to pull out of our old court and start again.

Kariana’s acid reflex seems to be under control. Although we have some spit up, it’s really not that bad. Some days are better than others and some days we have no spit up at all but then the next day she will spit up a number of times. I continue to give her the medicine and will do so until we get back to the states and talk to a doctor there to figure out a course of action.

Now that Carrie is gone, I have been watching more TV again. The hotel has cable so we have over 60 stations but on the weekends, usually 10 of those channels are showing soccer so that cuts down your choices. I’m not kidding! They even show indoor soccer that is played on what appears to be an area that is similar to arena football at home. They call it mini soccer. Most of the channels are in Spanish so I usually flip through them rather quickly until I see subtitles at the bottom. That means it’s in English. Yeah! The worst is when you see a movie that you wouldn’t mind seeing again only to discover that they have dubbed the voices over in Spanish. Let me tell you, Dirty Dancing and the Fast and the Furious are not the same when the words are in Spanish. It’s actually quite annoying to watch! It’s nice when you find a movie with the subtitles instead and the original words still spoken in English. I watched Miss Congeniality today. And they really like shows like NCIS and CSI here. Luckily most of those are still in English with added subtitles.

That’s about it for now.
More later,
Cresta

Kariana video!

More video!

Carrie's visit so far

Carrie's luggage threw up toys for the orphanage!



Not to many smiles for us right after we got Kariana's ears pierced.



Aunt Carrie and Kariana enjoying the local mall.


"Look! I found my feet!"

Aunt Carrie and Kariana in a taxi. Look mom! No car seats!

I'm so pretty!

The play yard at the Los Pisingos orphanage.

The older kids' playroom at the orphanage.

All the babies.

Where the older kids sleep.

The staff at Los Pisingos going through all the goodies that Carrie brought for them.

The sign going into the orphanage. Slow, children at play!

Check out my new earings! Aren't I cute??

Look at the new shirt my Aunt Carrie brought for me!

Hello to all! I have seen several things around the city since I have been here for the last few days! There is lots to do here it seems. We talk lots of walks, Kariana likes riding in the carrier a lot. “Kariana Enchilada” is AWESOME! She is such a happy baby! She smiles and giggles a lot, I’m pretty sure she is happy I’m here as well as Cresta! Pictures do not do Kariana justice, that is for sure. She is just precious. Its really fun to see her brothers on Skype talk to her on the webcam as well as daddy. It has been a great experience so far and I’m really glad I decided to come after all!

Leah (one of the other mother’s from MN adopting), Cresta and I were able to go to the orphanage yesterday and present all the donations. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to give the toys to the children because they were worried about a ‘fight’ breaking out of who gets to play with what first! We did, however, get to see the staff go through some of the items and that was pretty fun to watch, since they were very excited as well! We took a tour which was an experience since I have never been to an orphanage before. Your heart just goes out to all the kids there! The staff was very nice and explained the different rooms as we walked through. There are children of all ages running around. They seemed happy and well cared for though. It was sad and happy feelings all at the same time. It felt really good to help these children out and we all needed a boost of happiness considering the news we received Wednesday about the court proceedings.

I was very glad to have been here when Cresta got the news. There were lots of tears and hugs but we’ll get through this and her and Kariana will be home before she knows it! I have been emphasizing that a few more weeks is nothing compared the LIFETIME she will have with her daughter once back in the United States. I can’t imagine how hard it is but again, really glad I decided to come when I did!

Unfortunately, I have had the experience of attitude sickness since being here. NOT FUN! Severe headaches (but thankfully not continuous) and some nausea that comes and goes. Last night was the worse, actually got sick from the nausea. Blah! Cresta said none of the other families have gotten sick that were here from MN. She looked it up online and discovered that MN is about 1500 feet above sea level and AR is only like 200 feet above sea level. With Bogota being 8000 feet above sea level we are guessing its just the 1300 feet difference maybe. Knock on wood not too bad today so far! Keep your fingers crossed.

Having fun in Bogota,
Carrie

Bad news from Bogota

So, the bad news. Today was not a good day for the adoption process. In fact, we got probably the worst news that we could have. Today we found out that our case will be pulled out of our current court and then resubmitted to the courts to start the process over.

This afternoon I had a meeting with our lawyer and Cecilia who explained to me that the judge in our court (court 14) had denied our case twice. She is asking for a document that doesn’t exist and is not needed unless the biological mother had a handicap. Since Kariana’s mother did not have a handicap, this certain document wasn’t produced when she gave the baby up. No judge has asked for this document before but this judge is brand new and asking for different things. After our case was denied the first time, our lawyer presented that this document wasn’t needed. The judge responded that she could interpret the law the way she wanted and she interpreted it that she needed the document. After our lawyer presented our case that we didn’t need the document, the judge denied our case for the second time which was yesterday. Because it has been denied twice, our lawyer suggested that the best course of action is to pull our case from court 14. The judge has the option of taking much longer to deny it a third time and our case could go on and on and on. She also runs the risk of arguing with the judge about her ruling and angering her causing more delays. So I gave my permission for our lawyer to submit the document to pull our case from the courts tomorrow. She will resubmit it immediately and it is possible we will know our new court tomorrow yet. If she pulls it and submits it right away, it is not possible for us to get court 14 again. So once again, I am praying with all my might that we get a fast court.

Our lawyer is very sympathetic to our situation and has already vowed to do everything she can to get us through quickly. She is going to present our situation to the new judge and explain that this is our second court, that we got a late defender of the minor meeting, etc. and try to get it hurried along. She seemed very confident that the process would be done in two weeks even if that meant she had to go to that judge’s court everyday and sit there until they grew tired of her. What I don’t know is if there is a possibility that it could be done in less time than two weeks. She never mentioned that as an option, she only talked about being done in 2 weeks. The problem is that even after the court process is done, there is another week of things after that like getting a new birth certificate, a passport, a visa, etc. So that means that instead of hoping to go home in the next week, I will be staying another 3 weeks. Since my boys have been home almost 2 weeks already, that means I will likely be away from them for 5 weeks. That is the part that is killing me right now and causing most of my tears.

As of right now, it looks like I will be coming home around Sept. 3. That means that I will miss the rest of the summer with my boys, Kerry will have to do all the school shopping, and Kariana and I won’t be able to participate in the Priebe Labor Day festivities in Kansas that are one of the things I look forward to every year. As it turns out, I will be lucky to be home for the first day of school on Sept. 7. Don’t get me wrong, I love this bonding time with my new daughter but I and the rest of the family could be bonding with her at home just as well as this hotel room.

So today was basically about feeling sorry for myself and still trying to show Carrie a good time in Bogota. I actually got the call last night that our case was starting over but didn’t know the details until this afternoon when the lawyer came so I have been in a funk for the past 24 hours already. It also doesn’t help that Monday is another holiday here so no court stuff happening that day and Cecilia leaves on a two week vacation on Sunday. Tomorrow we get introduced to the person that will help us while she is gone but it won’t be the same. As it turns out, it looks like I will still be here when she gets back anyway. I'm trying to stay positive but right now that is very difficult.

Starting over in Bogota,
Cresta

Carrie!

Carrie is here, Carrie is here. Its so great to have some adult company again. Joe and Leah agreed to watch Kariana while I went to the airport on Tuesday night to pick up Carrie. Her flight was 30 minutes delayed so the driver and I got there around 9:45 pm (she landed at 9:25). In the Bogota airport, you can’t go into the airport at all to wait for someone so all these people have to wait outside of some barriers for their friends and family to come out of the airport doors. When we got there, the barriers had people 10 deep the whole way around it. I knew this might happen so I made a big sign with Carrie’s name on it to hold over the crowd just in case. So then we waited for her to come out. And we waited. Tons of people came and went but no Carrie. The people around the barriers thinned to only 1 or 2 deep. I was really starting to get worried because not many people were coming out of the airport any more when through the windows I FINALLY saw her go through the last security check point. By then it was 10:45 so no wonder I was worried. Anyway, we finally got back to the hotel and she was looking at Kariana sleeping in her bed when she woke up so Carrie got to hold her and play with her yet that night.

Kariana is liking her aunt Carrie and always has lots of smiles for her. Except when we got her ears pierced…. Then not so many smiles…… In Colombia, it is a tradition to pierce baby girl’s ears very soon after birth but since Kariana went straight to the orphanage, it was never done. I think this is the reason that I get asked if she is a boy or girl so often. Even though I think she has a very girl face, I have gotten asked her sex probably half a dozen times. I decided to stay with tradition and get it done while we were here. I got Kerry’s permission (I think he was really glad not to be around when we did it) and found a place in the nearest mall that did it. $13 and just a few cries later, we have the most adorable little girl with brand new pink and gold earnings. She let us have a few good cries but we brought the last of her bottle with us and stuck that in right away and she was better. When the bottle was done, she kind of stuck out her big bottom lip at us for awhile but no more crying! She looks so darn cute! I bet I don’t get any more questions about a boy or a girl either.

We spent some time going through all the stuff Carrie brought with her for the orphanage. She put up a bulletin at work saying I was adopting and she was coming to visit and would bring any donated toys or clothes to the orphanage while she is here. Her response was overwhelming! She brought 2 huge suitcases that weighed 45 and 46 lbs each filled with stuff. She got all her own clothes and stuff on her carry on so everything in the suitcases is for the orphanage. We can’t wait to bring it to them. We spent some time sorting out clothing sizes and things like that. I also took her to Maku’s to scope out the souvenir and gifts for home options and went to the bank. We got Kariana’s ears pierced at the mall so she has already been around our little area quite a bit.

More later,
Cresta




Finally, I made it!! No problems with either of the flights except the 30 minute delay. Going through security and customs wasn’t really any big deal except the line went on for MILES! I had some help from “Henry” and his daughter who sat next to me on the plane. He showed me the ropes, so to speak, when we got off the plane. He was originally born in Colombia but became a US citizen many years ago, he was coming for a visit. I was very excited to see Cresta jumping up and down when I came to the exit doors at the airport!

Everyone so far has been extremely nice and very welcoming. The hotel staff are WONDERFUL. There are SO many languages being spoken all around with all the different families from different countries adopting!

Hopefully, we can find out today if WE get to present the children at the orphanage with all the donations. We both would love to see all their little faces but not sure if it will be allowed. At least I will be able to take a tour if nothing else.

We are getting ready to venture out for some shopping and sight seeing. We had planned on going to the mountains today but its pretty overcast so we’ll have to wait and see!

Carrie

Another nice Sunday in Bogota

The handcrafted box I got for Kariana to keep.

My beautiful girl!

One of the many Colombian flags being flown yesterday. This one is on the apartment building right beside the hotel.

Mommy and Kariana enjoying the Juan Valdez Cafe.

My first dress with tights and everything!

Yesterday seemed to be one of the longest day around here so far. We learned that the inauguration for the new Colombian president was taking place that day here in Bogota so we decided to play it safe and stick around the hotel since the last time there was a new president inaugurated, there was some political unrest and we didn’t want to take any chances. We decided to take a walk and get some coffee at a Juan Valdez Café that was close to the hotel. I had the best cold coffee drink I have ever had. It was so good! As we were walking to the café, you couldn’t help but notice the many Colombian flags being flown from houses and businesses. If you think about it, being here in Bogota during the inauguration would be like being in Washington, D.C. when President Obama was inaugurated. It was a pretty cool feeling knowing we were here during this historic time for the country. After our drinks at the café, we walked back to the hotel and basically just stayed inside the rest of the day. Kariana took 4 shorter naps throughout the day so it seemed like whenever we were going to go for a walk, she was sleeping. It made the day just seem really long when you don’t get out of the hotel much.

A family from Paris arrived yesterday to adopt their second child so that makes 3 French families that are here now. One short-stay American family went home yesterday but another one arrived tonight so the hotel is kind of hopping right now with 4 American families (2 of which leave on Wednesday or Thursday and the other two are me/Kariana and Joe/Leah/Cole), 3 French families, and 1 Italian family. At least the comings and going make the days go by faster. We are taking the new family to the grocery store tomorrow. Exciting!

Today was Sunday so of course, we went to the markets! The weather was beautiful, warm, and sunny. So sunny in fact that the back of my neck got a little red. I should have known better. We are so high in the mountains that you need to be careful but its easy to forget the sunscreen here because the clouds are so often around most or all of the day. The clouds just roll in over the mountain tops which make predicting the weather here very difficult. For the past few days we were sure it was going to rain due to how the clouds looked but it never did. It’s funny because each of the American families that adopted outside of Bogota that come here ask “Is it always this cold here?” Most of the rest of the country not in the mountains is very warm and tropical so they are used to that weather and then they get here so it’s kind of a shock even though it seems nice to us.

At the markets I finally got a keepsake box for Kariana. Kerry and I determined that one of the things we wanted to go home with was some sort of box from Colombia for her to keep always. We looked while he was here but decided that I should keep looking after he left so for the past 2 Sundays, I have been scooping out boxes everywhere we went. I even made Leah help me and giver her opinion. I finally narrowed it down to 2 and both were the same price but I liked the slightly larger one better with the removable tray. Hopefully she will keep it as a jewelry box and will always have something from her birth country that she can use everyday if she wants. I’m really happy with it and hope she likes it. I also got her a couple of bracelets and the boys each one as well along with another black and silver necklace for me.

My sister comes in 2 days!!!!!!! I can hardly wait. I think I will make her blog while she is here so we can record her thoughts of Bogota as well. I haven’t told her that yet…….. Carrie gets here about 9 pm Tuesday night and stays until Sunday. I’m so excited!

Cresta

Saturday

Once again, not much going on these days. I tried to take Joe and Leah to the Botanical Gardens on Thursday but after the taxi dropped us off there, we discovered they were closed for the rest of the day due to an event that was happening there so our outing was kind of a bust. Oh well, we will try again soon. Friday was Joe’s birthday so we told the hotel we wouldn’t be there for supper and went to a restaurant close to the hotel instead called Archie’s for pizza and beer instead. It was yummy!

Since Wednesday we have been helping a couple of new U.S. families get oriented to the hotel and to Bogota. They are both at the end of their adoption process as they adopted outside of Bogota but have to come here for the last few steps like the medical exam at the U.S. Embassy here in Bogota and the visa to get into the U.S. for the baby. One family is from Tennessee and the other is from Texas so there are lots of southern accents around right now. Since they only have a couple of steps to go by the time they got here, they are only staying for a few days but its fun to have other American families here, even if its for a little while. Even though we have only been here for a few weeks, its amazing how much you have to tell new people! It makes me feel like I got living in Bogota down pat. Who would have thought that I would feel so comfortable living in a foreign country that doesn’t even speak English? Of course, I don’t take that to seriously because I know I am only comfortable in this tiny section of this huge city although I know I can get myself back to this tiny section from anywhere in the city which is important too. Kerry and I agree that this is a trip for the record books and we will always look back at our time in Colombia fondly. Even if our time here was horrible, it would still be hard to think poorly of a country that produced our beautiful, beautiful daughter too. Colombia will have a special place in our hearts for the rest of our lives and I have a feeling that I will be paying a lot more attention when Colombia is mentioned in the news or I see a headline about Colombia.

Bogota people are generally friendly and want to help but finding someone who speaks English is hit or miss. Usually between our limited Spanish and their limited English, we get the message across. The younger people tend to speak some English and I suspect they took some English in school. In the grocery store the yesterday, a teenage boy that was bagging the groceries was practicing his English on us. It was really cute because he was fairly embarrassed about it but you could tell he really wanted to speak it with us.

We are careful in the taxis as you don’t want to get lost in this huge city so when we have the hotel call a taxi for us, we will either write the address down or have the hotel staff member tell the driver where we want to go. We always carry hotel business cards with us so when we are ready to go home, we hail a taxi and just give them the card. That way we ensure there is no message lost in translation. Taxis are cheap here and a 15 minute ride somewhere costs about $5. Almost everywhere we have gone has cost less than $7 to get there. The big difference about riding in taxis or cars here is seatbelts and car seats for the kids. Seatbelts are only required for those in the front seats and you are lucky to even have seatbelts in the back seats. Kids cannot ride in the front seats like at home although I can hold the baby and sit in the front. Although we heard there was a car seat law approved recently, there is no evidence of it. I haven’t seen a car seat since I got here. The boys sat in the back either in our laps or in between us and one of us just held the baby. It was strange and felt very unsafe when compared to our standards but riding in taxis would be very difficult if there was a car seat rule (i.e. we would have to bring car seats with us to the tourist destinations so we could use them on the way back. How would that work???)

Kerry was also interested in motorcycles here. In Bogota, it is very advantageous to have a motorcycle because the car traffic here is bad like in any big city but here, motorcycles are able to weave in and out of the traffic and basically can make their own lane. For example, if there are 2 lanes in the road, a motorcycle can go between them, around the outside lane or around the inside lane. It is not uncommon at a stop light to see a motorcycle sitting between 2 cars on a 2 lane road plus another one on the far inside or far outside. It is also not uncommon to see the motorcycles continue up the ‘middle’ lane far up into traffic after all the cars have stopped. They do have to wear a helmet and if they are working for a company, they have to wear jackets with a registration number on it. Motorcycles are used a lot here. You see a lot of pizza delivery and other delivery boxes attached to the back of a motorcycle which makes a lot of sense because they can get through traffic so much quicker than a car.

More later,
Cresta

Wednesday

Right after bath. Check out these eye lashes!


Kariana enjoying the quilt that Great Grandma Priebe whipped up before we left the states.


We are practising sitting up but there is some laying down on the job.


Cole and his chicas on Gabby's last night in Colombia.

Check out my grown up girl wearing her first pair of jeans!

Not much going on the last few days. The Kopka’s left this morning and the hotel has been pretty quiet ever since. I am so excited for them to be able to go home and sad for those of us left behind at the same time. All we can do now is wait and hope for a fast approval process. The more prayers the better so please join in!

Joe, Leah, I, and the kids took a long walk this morning. We hit the bank and mainly just walked around. ATM’s are everywhere here and our bank cards seem to work in any of the banks but only the Citibank ATM’s let Kerry and I take out our daily limit. ATM’s also tend to give you the best exchange rate. Seeing our balance in pesos still cracks me up though. Seriously, we are peso millionaires!

I think Kariana may be coming down with something. She had much more spit up today than normal and tonight she was pretty clingy and fell asleep on my shoulder without a bottle which is unusual for her. During our walk she fell asleep in the baby bjorn while she faced out which she has never done before either. She may be cutting some teeth though. She has drooled a lot since the day we got her but I think she is going for some sort of drool record lately. Plus, whenever she grabs my finger, she wants to put it in her mouth now. She hadn’t shown any real interest in putting stuff in her mouth until the last few days so maybe I’ll see a little tooth soon.

I have Skyped with Kerry and the boys the last couple of days and I feel loads better. I love technology!! It was so great just to see them doing fine and all settled in at home. They talk to Kariana on the camera and she is just fascinated with seeing the images on the screen most of the time.

Since my days don’t consist of a lot of news worthy events any more, I thought I would share some more about Bogota. Some of these are things I have been asked and some are just things I have observed.

Clothing styles: for the most part, people of Bogota dress very similar to those in the U.S. However, they do tend to dress up a little more than we do most of the time. I see t-shirts on some people but most of the time its polos or sweaters for men and blouses for the women. One fashion trend that is very popular here is skinny jeans. For those of you who don’t know what those are, they are SUPER tight jeans worn by women that usually have some sort of spandex in them. The first time we were walking around, Kerry said “How do those women get into those pants??” with this look of awe on his face. They also tend to dress very warmly. The temps are 50’s in the morning and get up to the 70’s in the afternoon but the people dress like its winter. I am not kidding, I have seen women wearing puffy winter coats with the fur around the hood and the hood pulled up around their face. You see a lot of scarves both as accessories and for warmth. The people here tend to be thin (although I have seen some bellies on some of the men but no really big people) and a few inches shorter than Americans. (I really shouldn’t call U.S. people Americans because Colombian’s are also Americans, just South Americans but you know what I mean). However, the women were these high heels that make my feet hurt just looking at them. I can’t believe how high some of these shoes are. Keep in mind that we are in a really big city so I can’t say that everywhere in Colombia is like this but this is what we see here. The funny thing is that the women where these huge high heels and usually I am still taller than them in my tennis shoes. We know that Kariana’s mom was 5 foot 1 inch which is probably an inch or 2 short of the average woman height here. Her dad was 5 foot 10 which is probably about average for men height.

Clothing and toys are expensive here. Some of that is due to the exchange rate. I am told from some of the families that have been here to adopt a couple of times that the exchange rate use to be a lot better than it is now which makes things more expensive from our perspective. Toys and baby gear (like a walker or stroller) especially are high priced. From what we could see, they were almost double what you would pay at home. Food seems to be about the same, maybe just a little higher but we don’t have to buy a lot of that since our meals are prepared for us. Just like at home, you can find cheap and expensive restaurants. They have excellent pineapple here and other fresh fruits. In fact, they have fruits here that I didn’t even know existed and I’m not sure what their called either. Fruit is very popular and many of the street vendors sell either whole fruit or individual servings of cut up fruit for a snack or lunch.

That’s it for today. Talk to you soon,
Cresta