Today was the beginning of the last part of our stay in Colombia. We got the girls' Colombian passports (they will get US passports when we get home). The girls were excited to get them, because they have seen us use ours all the time. I like that they have a passport because it's an official document to prove age, identity, etc. Until a kid gets their driver's license, they don't have an official ID. We also acquired some pictures of their hometown. I'd like to show or describe some of them but our computer if having problems again, and won't let us download the pictures from the CD we received.
Mercedes is right when she says that the process has gone much smoother and efficiently in Colombia than while we were in the process in Wisconsin. To give the US officials some lee-way there was a new law that came into effect that added steps to the process that were very different than before. On the other hand the people here are frustrated with the US system. Scandinavian countries takes about 6 months, and once the dossier is finished the couple travels in 7 days. Our dossier process took about the same amount of time but the post dossier time was over two months. Our contacts here are not happy with our agency, but mostly it's the slow processing of couples by US officials.
Next we went to a travel agent to book plane tickets from Medellin to Bogota. Intra-Colombian flights are relatively inexpensive ($125/person and that is because we booked them late and the better priced seats of $75/person were gone) but they have a 20 kg limit per person on luggage (not per bag as in the US, it's per person). We may have to pay extra at the gate when we check in.
Next we took pictures for the girls' US visas. They had to wear black shirts, have their hair tied back, remove all jewelry and no smiling. My only guess is that this very basic picture allows for computer programs that predict changes in appearance for age, hair color and other things. The Colombian passports had none of these restrictions.
After that we came home we wanted to go swimming again but a thunderstorm rolled in so we waited a couple of hours. While I was with the girls at the pool, Mercedes started packing some of the things we won't be using for the rest of our time here like gifts, fancy clothes for our day at court, some books, etc.
Sucena was so tired from swimming that she fell asleep before dinner. She has been a bit grouchy the past few days because she hasn't slept enough and refuses to take a nap (doesn't want to miss anything). I'm glad she will get a good night's sleep. At least she hasn't been fighting sleep so much that she falls asleep while riding a bike.
Everyone has told us that the girls look so happy, and comfortable with us. That it is unusual to have adopted kids bond so well and quickly. I know I had something to do with that, but Mercedes has done the majority of the ground work, and we also have 4 wonderful girls. We also don't want to forget many of our supporting cast of La Casita (especially the director Dona Claudia and the psychologist Maria Adelaida, who happens to be a kid from La Casita herself) and our wonderful guide, Vicky, as well as Maria Jose and Edwin, our legal team.
Tomorrow we get our copies of the legal paperwork, and I take the girls to entertain them while Mercedes does much of the packing. I hope I can solve whatever crisis(?) that comes up.
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