La Mesa

Yesterday we drove to the small town of La Mesa. Although the distance is not far, we travelled through a desert, over forested mountains, and down into the tropics with palm trees.  The girls slept along the way.

Mountain forests in the clouds

 

We met with the judge, which was just casual conversation with us and the girls. Signed some papers - I have no idea what they were since everything is in Spanish! The judge will review a stack of documents over the next few days, and we expect to have the sentencia signed on Thusday. Then the twins will legally be our children.

 

Next stop, the hotel. It is a small place with only 10 rooms, located far down a small dirt road. The girls immediately jumped in the pool.

This is the dining area

Mountains in the distance

 

Kids by the pool

Our room

The view out our window

 

Mayra's Bear is taking a break

 

The girls made new friends! The only other people staying at the hotel are a couple from Sardinia, Italy. They are adopting 3 adorable little girls from Colombia - ages 2, 7 and 11. Our kids are having great fun with them! A mix of Spanish, Italian, and English is being spoken around here.

My observations from yesterday are the geography of the country is spectacular. It was difficult to capture from a moving car, but the range of biomes is amazing. Especially driving down the mountain towards La Mesa.

However, the poverty is horrendous. So many people are living in substandard housing. Lot's of graffiti, and trash everywhere. It feels like Colombia has one foot in the first world, but the other in the third. We have noticed that children are always dressed nicely, especially in their beautiful school uniforms - clean and pressed. There is an emphasis on personal appearance, no matter how poor they are. I suspect there is also an emphasis on family, despite the number of orphans.

I don't expect much action over the next couple days - just relaxing by (or in) the pool, and the girls playing with their new friends.