We took the girls to a local medical center to get updated on vaccinations as well as get any shots that are needed in the US that are not required here. Milena needed an extra shot than the other girls because she did not get that one when she was younger. We need to make sure that immunizations are updated in order to get their visas and passports. The girls will get their Colombian passports here, and their US passports in Bogota at the US Embassy. It is requirement that Colombian Adoptees have dual citizenship. Just like the US passport, the Colombian passport is good for 10 years.
So the passport pictures that we took today will not reflect what they will look like in 10 years. They will be able to update their Colombian passports at the Colombian consulate in Chicago or whichever is nearest to where they would be living at the time.
Our guide updated us on our legal process. First, the judge has admitted the case. This means that the documents are in proper form and there is nothing wrong with any of them. We are happy about this, because this means our lawyer did a good job. We are waiting for a family defender to sign the documents as well as for a paralegal to travel to a small town where the girls were born to make the formal changes to the birth certificates. They will have the record of the kids name at birth, but they will also have another document that shows what their name are now. It sounds like we will have the 'sentencia' or adoption decree next week. We will also travel to La Casita for the final goodbyes. This will be a hard day, we think for some more than others.
We have been to several nice restaurants including a pasta restaurant today. We are amazed at how cheap these places are. We are torn between wanting to go to restaurants of local foods that the girls like and we would like to have while we are here, and trying to expose the girls to the kinds of food they will be getting in the US. Many times the girls will say they don't like some foods that are new to them. When they try it, more often than not they find they like it. Today we found out they like cheesecake. None of them ordered it, because it looked strange to them. But when they tried it they all liked it. We too have gotten better at helping them order. This was difficult at the beginning since there are so many decisions to make at a restaurant. For the most part, the girls are well behaved at restaurants. Since we had a big meal, we had Salpicon for dinner. Salpicon here is another word for fruit salad.
The weather has been wet and stormy here. Still warm, but very wet. We have caught up on our laundry in terms of washing, but drying is another story. Tomorrow we will be home and I will begin to take pictures of the big event across the street from us, the opening of a huge new mall. The mall will open Saturday morning just in time for Mother's Day. The street is full of trucks delivering goods. It sounds like it will be quite a place. The best part about the malls here is that they also provide entertainment for the entire family besides shopping with amusement park, children friendly areas as well as movie theaters. It is interesting that so many malls are opening here, as well as other major construction around town. When in the United States, stores and malls are having a hard time staying open. It seems that most of the business investment is coming from Europe and other Latin American countries. Carrefour is a new supermarket opening across the street that is a French franchise. We have told the prices are quite reasonable. The major department store at the mall will be from Chile. It seems the shopping at the malls is more adult oriented rather than teenage or kid oriented. Saturday will be interesting because of the mall opening. We are not sure if we will be able to walk out on the street. We have been told the festivities will go well into the evening.
If we had the money we would consider buying property here and renting it to adopting families. With the idea that we could use it for our own visits.
Family growing pains are still happening, but not as dramatic as they were before. Tonight the girls video taped themselves doing silly skits and songs. We plan to keep these videos for future 'embarrassment'. We are still surprised at how relaxed and open the girls are with us in three weeks. We have also been working on downloading music for them. We are getting more familiar with the music they like.
Tomorrow will be a routine day, back to some homework routine. We will try to take more pictures. Sorry the last two days we have not taken any.
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