Back to Town

Today we woke up to rain at the LLanogrande Country Club. It rained all morning. Mondays and Tuesdays are clean up days there, so we had to place pretty much to ourselves. It felt as if we had our own kitchen and cleaning staff. Very nice. Today we were hoping the girls would get one more chance to use the pool, but no such luck. We called our guide to pick us up early. She came around noon. We had planned to stay there until 1 pm. Riding her car is always difficult. It is very small, about the size of a Corolla, and we have to fit 5 people in the back. The girls usually get cranky and on each others nerves because they are always complaining about how much space someone is taking or who gets to sit next to the window. Lucky for us we won't have that problem with the van back at home.
LLanogrande was great, part of it because we needed a break but also in part because it was a different environment than being at home in the apartment. We had hoped to finally get our clothes cleaned and dried, but then we found out how expensive it was. Everything there was extremely cheap except for that. So we decided to bring all our dirty clothes home and since we got here our washer has been working non-stop. I (Mercedes) went to the grocery store to what will probably be our last big trip. I felt a little sad about not going back to that store. Everyone has been so nice, and I so love they bring the groceries to our house. I gave the delivery guy a big tip (20,000 pesos=10 dollars) since he had to make two trips in his small car. He had also helped me pack everything at the store. While I was at the store Alex took the girls to the pool. Both Mirellen and Yesica have improved their swimming independence. They will still need instruction when we get back home, but are more confident in their abilities.
It was the first time I had not taken any of the girls to the grocery store. I was able to go through my list without forgetting anything. One of the things that is different about shopping is Medellin is the concept of 'cuotas'. The first time I purchased something I had to ask.. basically when you buy something you can divide the payments into several small payments. At the grocery store they finally explained to me that I had to say 'una cuota' if I wanted to pay it all that day. I suppose in a poor country when you have to eat, you can pay what you get from the store slowly. An older lady in front of me today had divided her payment into 32 cuotas. I felt sad and guilty that I could have the means to pay for all that I did, since there were several bags of groceries. Also, when you purchase something here, you must show your cedula or National Id. We show our passport. Our travel notes told us we did not need an original and could use a copy, but it seems that they want an original. Another example of how our travel notes are out of date, was the clothing suggestions we were given. The travel notes indicated that things were a bit more formal than they have been. I would call Medellin fashion 'sporty', not much different than Madison, where people walk around with nice jeans and shirts. The only difference is that things are 'tighter fitting'. I (Mercedes) feel totally dumpy here. Both have lost a lot of weight so our clothes are loose and out of fashion. My hair has taken a life of its own here, especially since my blow dryer broke on the way here and I can't seem to find a product to control my frizz,and most women have naturally straight hair here.
Our oldest is becoming more of a teenager and spent most of the day sleeping and was a bit cranky. This is one of the first signs of her allowing herself to be herself instead of trying to be a mom. She has been giggling and laughing at silly things. Although this means more work for us,we are glad to see she is making these strides.
Tomorrow the girls will be getting Chicken Pox shots and will get their passport pictures. Next week we have been told will be busy. We have been told that it is likely that our 'sentencia' or adoption decree will occur by the end of next week.
If that happens, we might go back to Llanogrande Country Club, for that weekend before going to Bogota. It seems our plan of being here for 5 weeks was the right thing to do. Monday the 17th is a national holiday, so our time in Bogota will only be for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We have been told that should be plenty of time with the U.S. embassy, especially since the girls will have their passport pictures and their shots or vaccinations. Sorry we did not take any pictures today.