Family of 5: Uncle Gerry to the Rescue!

Today is a Colombian holiday - Independence of Cartagena, one of Colombia’s 18 holidays (12 of which are Catholic holidays and 6 are civic). Enough of the Colombian trivia (for now at least). Much like Sunday (yesterday) there is not much happening on Holidays. The streets which are typically crowded with people, vendors, motorcycles, bicycles and taxis are relatively bare. Stores and restaurants are generally closed.

After getting Samuel to bed around 11:30 PM last night we all got up and about by roughly 8:00 AM this morning. Due to the holiday there is no food service at Hotel Sinu today so we piecemealed a breakfast together with some cereal we had in the room, milk, cup and spoons. It wasn’t the best breakfast ever, but it hit the spot. After breakfast we decided to take Samuel for a walk to the town center (or at least that’s what I call it – pictures are below). It was nice to walk around the city and not have to worry (as much) about getting run over. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by Olympica, a tiny grocery store, and picked up some of the essentials – some soft foods for Samuel, milk, water and of course an enormous portion of junk food.

When we got back to the hotel I focused on my work while Mary Ann and Samuel spent some quality mother-son time together. Every now and then while I was working I would hear a “war cry” from across the room and Samuel would “bull rush” me – wide smile on his face, arms extended and flailing. He would “attack” the keyboard of my laptop. It was slightly annoying, but mostly cute. I now have a newfound appreciation for the “undo” button in Microsoft Word.

At about 6:30 PM I wrapped up work for the day and Mary Ann had pretty much done everything you can possibly do to entertain a 2 year old in a hotel room for an entire day. We were both very excited because Mary Ann’s brother, Gerry, was in route to our hotel. Gerry had just finished his trip to an orphanage in Caracas, Venezuela, and flew out of his way to spend time with us and his new nephew in Monteria for the week. I don’t want to sound too melodramatic, but Gerry truly saved the day. Up to this point we had been eating stale sandwiches and junk food for two-plus days straight (due to hardly any restaurants being open and our inability to communicate with the locals and find a decent place to eat). We rushed down to the lobby and met Gerry. It was so nice to see Gerry and catch up on all of the exciting things that have happened in each of our lives since we parted ways in the Miami airport a week ago.

After trading a few stories we told Gerry that we were desperate for a “real” meal. He talked to the hotel staff and found a nice restaurant to eat at called Brasa Caribe. After making sure the restaurant served real beef (use your imagination), we hailed a taxi and we were off. Just like before the taxi ride took its toll on Samuel and he was out before we arrived at the restaurant. Fortunately our waiter had a solution for us (see below). After stuffing ourselves (me in particular) we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel to relax for a bit. Gerry came up to our room and helped translate the book put together by Samuel’s foster mother (and someone at ICBF). We also watched the Chiefs game (which they lost in overtime) and Skyped with Penny (Gerry's lovely wife) and Mary Ann's father, Jerry.

Time to go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for us as it is the next big milestone in our adoption journey - the “Integracion” meeting. We will be one step closer to coming home and another giant step to “officially” becoming Samuel’s parents! We want to thank everyone for their prayers. We can honestly say they are being answered. We ask that you continue to pray as our journey continues.

Love,

Jeff and Mary Ann