Halloween

 

 

The kids have been excited about Halloween ever since our first Skype session. Here they are getting ready.

 

 

We walked to the mall across the street.

Teen siblings holding hands.

Mucho Mouse.

Smurfs, Rocio's favorite characters

Our girls are NOT shy!

The crowd at the mall. Some impressive costumes, lots of people, but not that many stores gave away candy. The kids were resourceful and made a couple rounds, 128 pieces each. It was raining outside, and the glass roof areas of the mall leak like crazy - it was raining inside too.

 

 

Ice cream from "Crepes and Waffles"

 

 



 

 

In the middle of all this we bought the girls some clothes. They arrived with very little of the basics. Marcia Abel said that we would be "spending money like a drunken sailor" down here, and we are - but not too bad.

 

Finally the kids were tired and wanted to go home, in a downpour. We were all pretty soaked, but happy.

Laundry Time

Not the most exciting day, but it had to be done. We walked about a mile carrying the laundry in bags to the "Lava Sport" Laundromat. With some help from an attendant, we got the wash started.

Then waited in the small lounge area upstairs.

The girls watched Disney cartoons while waiting, in Spanish of course.

 

We started walking back to the apartment, and it started sprinkling, then raining hard. We ducked under an restaurant overhang for awhile, but the rain refused to stop. So we went into the restaurant to eat, a Buffalo Wild Wings type place. The waitress was all dressed up for Halloween.

The girls played Tic-Tac-Toe while waiting for our check.

After eating (French fries remain their favorite) the rain stopped and we walked home in the mist. Mayra got splashed by a passing car, not too bad but they laughed and laughed!

Last night we talked about their names. Mayra wants to be Alejandra Mayra MacDonald, which is just switching her first and middle names. Rocio wants to be Rocio MacDonald, and is still thinking about a middle name.

The girls are very protective of their new parents. They make sure we don't get run over by a bus (which oddly seems like a potential problem here!) and help us with Spanish conversations at the stores, Laundromat, and restaurant.

Tonight is Halloween, so they will soon become Minnie and Minnie Mouse. We will trick-or-treat at the mall nearby and purchase some clothes for them too. More photos to come...

Friday

No photos today, sorry.

We went food shopping - I need to get used to feeding four people again! Fortunately there are two food stores very close to our apartment. The package sizes here are much smaller than we are used to in the USA so we need to buy more!

Annette stopped by and loaned us some kitchen items from her own home! She also showed me where the Laundromat is, about a mile away. We will wash clothes tomorrow - not exciting, but always a challenge in a foreign country. We need to buy the kids more clothes since they do not have much, but not all expensive brand name stuff!

Communications is a challenge, although Google Translate is a help we also have to understand better where the girls are coming from. For example they are transitioning from an institution to a family, getting to know new people, saying goodbye to others, new experiences, new language to learn, and so much more. They even need to learn about money because they have never had any, at all. So not just pesos or even pennies/quarters/dollars - but also to understand expensive/inexpensive, needs/wants, etc.

The kids need constant reassurance that we love them, and we will never leave them - both in words and hugs and kisses. We are working to help them to continue to open up with us about feelings, fears, needs, wants, etc. Paola from FANA stopped by for a couple hours tonight. She helped with the communications - both as language translator and psychologist - talking with the kids, then with us, and then all. We must not take things at face value, as there are many dynamics here. Paola is a very kind young woman and was very helpful!

This is certainly the most important adventure of our lives - and for the girls.

A note from the girls...

Hola como estan

mi nombre es rocio tengo 14 anos  lo que hice en la semana con mis padres fue Como unas vueltas sobre la adopcion, fuimos de compras.

fuimos a un parquet de diversiones,  nos hemos divertido mucho estoy muy contenta con ellos  nunca pense que nos  fueramos a divertir  tanto  me gustaria conocerlos bueno, ojala sea muy pronto chao

att: rocio


hola  como estan  espero que  bien 
mi  nombre   es  Mayra  tengo 14  lo  q  hicimos  en  la  semana jugar  mucho  en  la  tablet  escuchar  musica  estamos  mufelices  de  comparti  con  ellos ; fuimos  de  compras luego   fuimos  a  un  parquet   de  diverciones  que  se  llama  mundo  Aventura   pues  no  pensamos  q  nos  ivamos a  divertir tanto  con  ellos    nos  gustaria  conoserlos ; ojala sea  muy  pronto mil  y  mil  gracias.
 att:mayra 

Amusement Park Day

This morning the kids slept in, then we made pancakes for breakfast.

 

After yesterday's paperwork, we decided to have fun today at an amusement park. We whirled and twirled the afternoon away.

 

Yes, the kids convinced Dad to take a spin.

Or two...

Mama went for a little boat ride...

Happy kids, and Mom too!

The girls are twins, and best friends

After going through a spin-dry cycle, Dad is having a bad hair day:

Ice cream, and a Halloween monster.

Old fashioned bumper cars. Rocio is in the blue car, Mayra in the purple one (their favorite colors). I have not seen bumper cars in the USA for decades, I'll guess that lawyers were involved?

Rocio slept on the way home after a big day.

iPads brought them back to life.

Then we had dinner at the hotel in our complex, not realizing it is a fancy restaurant. I don't think the girls have ever been in such a place, and all they wanted was french fries and rice. The staff was amazing and delivered the goods immediately!

Tomorrow we have more paperwork, and Paola from FANA will visit in the afternoon to make sure everyone is okay.

From our perspective - we are delighted!

Long Day

Today we spent far too much time getting our visa arrival documents completed. Annette drove us to the immigration office, where we waited about 1/2 hour in line to check-in, followed by 3+ hours waiting for a clerk to enter our papers into a computer, scan our documents, take our fingerprints (again), and take our photo (again). The girls were very patient, assisted by some iPad games, It was a long day for everyone. We missed lunch, so went out for late afternoon pizza near our apartment instead.

 

In Colombia it appears that the rich are very rich, and most others not so much. Among the traffic jams we saw a street sweeper (with a broom). Annette said they are paid minimum wage of about $250 per month. Similar for other unskilled labor.

 

Crime must be high here as many buildings have bars on the windows and guards at every storefront. We have not seen any problems yet.

 

A heating and air conditioning business would go broke here because none of the buildings have either. Every day is ~65 degrees and every night is ~45 degrees. The weather forecast always shows rain, but it seems to be just showers or none at all. Beautiful!

 

The traffic is suicidal. They dart in and out, drive on the wrong side of the street, honk horns constantly, don't let others in, and go nowhere slowly because the roads are jammed. Glad we have people taking us places!

 

It's all part of the adventure! :)

 

Here the girls are wearing their matching sweatshirts and hats at the pizza place:

 

They made a custom blend of Sprite and orange pop:

and modeled in front of our apartment development:

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They are already very comfortable being with us - silly, talkative, polite, and always affectionate

Tomorrow we take a break from paperwork and visit an amusement park.

Costumes

From our first Skype session the kids have been excited about Halloween, and wanting to be Minnie Mouse. Only a couple days away... looking good!

 

It seems that Papito and Mamma have also sprouted ears.

This morning at O'Dark Thirty we had a couple munchkins crawl into bed to sleep with us for awhile. They woke up early, and once they were up there was no more sleeping for us!

Google Translate does not work so well when trying to talk while laughing. Wake up Google, make a teen version!

Today we have some paperwork to do. Annette will drive us and guide us. We are very thankful for FANA and its helpers, and of course Friends of FANA MN (Marcia and Patti), for guiding us through all this.

A relaxed afternoon

Shopping for shoes. They both chose the exact same kind (Mayra left, Rocio right).

 

 

And socks (Mayra)... such a beautiful smile!

And food for the apartment... the grocery store has a machine that they put a bunch of oranges in the top and fresh orange juice comes out a tap at the bottom to fill a container. It is so good!

Nutella is good straight from the jar (Rocio)...

or on your nose (Rocio)...

especially on your nose (Mayra)...

Followed by Duolingo on the iPads to learn some English.

They seem to get along so well that I decided to ask them if they ever argue or fight. Answer: No.

The twins are delightful bundles of energy that will either keep us young or wear us out!

So much fun!

Making jewelry last night

 

Peanut butter sandwich as a late evening snack for Mayra

And a really small bannana

iPad with Google Translate

We woke up this morning with two pretty girls in our bed, followed by a mild pillow fight.
Rocio with Mayra's bear this morning

Rocio posing for the camera today

Today we will work on English, have lunch, go shopping... the girls need comfortable shoes

First day with the girls... wonderful!

Kim and I arrived at FANA at about noon

 

 

 

Waiting in the "green room" for the girls, who were running a little late while getting their hair done

The girls are walking down the hall to meet us, with FANA staff

They enter the green room

...and join our family!

Rocio, Dan, Kim, Mayra, and her bear

Rocio and Mama

They quickly decide that Mama needs her hair braided

Driving from FANA to our apartment. Can you tell that we have happy girls?

We took them out to dinner, then they wanted to sing along with YouTube videos...

 

 

They are sweethearts, what more can I say?