Today we got a new driver. His name is Sammy, and he actually does a lot of driving for the groups in Korah. He is just picking us up and dropping us off at the orphanage right now, but we are very grateful for this service none-the-less. To be honest, another thing that added to my crappy feelings yesterday was our previous driver. He was so good to us. He spoke English very well, and took us to lots of great places. After our first week, we hired him privately (we had originally hired him through our agency). We told him that all we wanted to do was hire him to pick us up and drop us off at the orphanage. He knew this quite well. But yesterday he asked for his money, and ended up charging us for a full day’s service for the last four days. I told him this was way too much because we only used him for about 20 minutes each day (he didn’t stay while we were at the orphanage). But he tried to make us feel guilty because his car broke down last week, and he had to use all his money he made that week on his car. And then he said he charged us a full day’s work because he didn’t take any other customers during the day after he dropped us off. Argh. I was so angry. He was like a friend to us during our first week or so here. And then he took advantage of us. I know it may not sound like a big deal, but it was. It felt crappy. It sucks to be taken advantage of by someone you trust. Needless to say we will not be hiring him anymore. The same thing happened to us when we left our first guesthouse. The manager was really upset and told us they were struggling financially (they live VERY affluently). Guilt trip again. Ugh. It doesn’t feel so good when those are the closest relationships you have in a foreign land during your first week there.
Well, things are looking brighter. We are feeling much more settled, and this new place is so nice. We are at Weygoss Guest House and it is fantastic. The electric works great. We have awesome water pressure, and the water is always nice and hot. The wireless works pretty consistently and we even have cable tv. Of course, it’s mostly old movies, but who cares. I don’t mind watching Murder at 1600, Minority Report, Enemy of the State, Kindergarten Cop, and You, Me & Dupree….oh, and Arabs’ Got Talent isn’t too bad either. Yeah, that’s right. Arabs’ Got Talent. It’s all Arabic television stations at this guest house.
Today we had a really good time with the babies. We put both Alex & Eliana on the floor and they were having races to the toy on the floor. We put Alex on one end and Eliana on the other, and a toy in the middle. Alex is WAY faster than Eliana, but Eliana’s got spunk and while Alex would get distracted by other things going on around him, she kept her eye on the prize. She’s quite the scrappy little girl (Friends reference for all my Friends fans buddies!). As Wes says, Alex is the hare and Eliana is the tortoise, and slow and steady wins the race.
As usual, Alex fought sleep the entire time, until the last half hour we were there. In the What to Expect in the First Year (thank you again, Angela, for that book!), it says that babies that fight sleep are usually very bright, because they are taking in so much and trying to observe everything around them. Well, he must be a genius. ;)
We have taken a ridiculous amount of pictures and video of them. We look at them all the time. We are already those annoying parents that adore every minute of footage of their little ones. Hopefully we won’t try to make everyone else watch the videos all the time….well not unless they want to.
Okay, time to sign off. Leaving you with a few shots of our rooms at our new guesthouse. ‘Til next time!
p.s. Our agency told us today that it may take 8-10 weeks AFTER our second court hearing (as long as we pass on Feb. 7) to get an embassy date. Well, I'm going to go for a miracle instead, and hopefully it will just take 3-4 weeks. Sound good? I think so. Will you pray for that miracle with us?
Ugh. You hate experiences like being taken advantage of. Thankfully (after you get over feeling yukky) you can learn from experiences like that and be armed for the future (and pass along valuable advice to those who come behind you)!
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the photos of your guesthouse! It helps me envision what it's like for you! Jealous if the wireless internet in your room and constant hot water!
i love, love following your story. we are headed to addis march 7 for our first court date on the the 14 th!!! my prayer is that you will be gone :) anyway, we haven't figured out where to stay and if you wouldn't mind telling us where you stayed first we could avoid that option. if you would rather email it, i'm at jilldupras@yahoo.com. i can't wait to see pictures of your little beauties.
ReplyDeleteI check your blog everyday. I love to read about your experiences and thoughts. I definitely believe in miracles and you guys are in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteHi! I adopted two boys from Guatemala. Just an idea, could you go to the USE and talk to them once you pass court? At least then they know you are in the country and that you can be available ANY day for an appointment. Just a thought...Savor every minute you are there. The bonding that occurs without our "normal' world is invaluable / wonderful / special...Miracles happen,
ReplyDeleteStephanie in NC
Mother to 2 Guatemalan Princes
I can't wait to see endless hours of video and pictures. But most I can't wait to see the babies in real life. 9 days and we will be there
ReplyDeletePraying with you for that 3-4 week timeframe and for that MOWA letter ASAP! Treasure this time of taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of that country (and even the negative experiences)... you are truly experiencing the birthplace of your children in a powerful way! Praying for God to hold you up even though you can't see the end of this.
ReplyDeleteIt will get better. We had a problem with our driver also. He told the agency staff that we made him try all of our food before eating it because we wanted to make sure it wasn't poisonous. We actually offered him food everyday as we felt it wasn't nice to eat around him. Then he also said we tried to stiff him a full days fare on Saturday when we left. He said we only wanted to pay a half day fair. However what actually happened was on Friday at the end of the day, he asked if we just wanted the hotel to bring us to the airport as that was the only trip for the day. We told him he had been a good driver for the week and we would be happy to pay him for the last day. Anyhow we were trying to do something good and it back fired :(.
ReplyDeleteThe next court date will come quick :). We had court on the December 10th and court didn't like one of our stamps and rejected us on the first date. So we had to wait till the 20th for a final confirmation. Then sadly we were expecting a January 31st Embassy and then were told it would be on February 14th because of the court delay. Then as you know we were told last Friday that the dates are no more. I have found that many people speak with the Embassy once they have court papers and some do have luck. Keep up the faith I saw one family who stayed from court on and was home in 3 weeks! So it is possible to be home soon.
ReplyDeletePraying for that miracle and commiserating over too many guilt trips to count that kept me down for too many days. Yep, it pretty much sucks! And you've been through it before and it's still one of the worst feelings in the world. And somehow, God is LORD over even that situation! Amazing God and amazing grace.
ReplyDeleteTotally digging your pink bathroom!! It's the same color I painted your living room! Amazing!
ReplyDeleteThat book is the best!! I tossed all the others and just stuck with that one.
Love ya!
Angela
Wow, I can comment today. I wanted to comment on the day you were having a bad day but for some reason my PC wouldn't let me. I am sorry I didn't get to encourage you but I am so thankful everyone else did and God lifted you up.
ReplyDeleteWe started our adoption process Jan 1 2010. Everything was done, homestudy, dossier, everything by March 2010. But we could not pay the HS fee completely until October 2010. Now it is almost Feb 2011 and we are in the process of re-doing our entire dossier since everything expires within 6 months.It has been really hard, as you and everyone on here knows. I have wanted to quit so many times. I would not have ever really quit but just really frustrated.I found your youtube videos the day you got your referral. I sobbed like a baby. It is so beautiful. I have been following your videos and blog ever since and it has been so encouraging to me to keep going because there is an end in sight and some day our babies will be here.
I completely understand your frustration. It would be so hard for me also to be able to see my babies for 3 hours a day and then hand them back over. I think I would be fighting against asking the nannies what they planned for my children that afternoon and then giving them instructions. Don't worry, I wouldn't actually do that, I would just want to. I understand the dates problem. We have 4 children at home and what a huge problem that would cause for us if we ad o wait longer than planned.And finally the guilt/manipulation problem. Oh man, I would so give in to guilt and then feel really bad about it forever.
But think of it this way. For me, your experience has been really good to know.Now I can prepare for my family knowing things don't always go smoothly. And I can prepare myself for the guilt/manipulation thing and pray about strength and kindness through it all. Your story there is amazing and in blog land is equally amazing. God is using your family to help us through what is to come. God is good ALL the time. even when we can't see why.My pastor was encouraging us the other day and he said that the perfect scenario for a miracle is impossibility. So we are in the perfect position. AND SO AR YOU! praying for you all and can't wait to see what our great God does next.
http://imadopted.wordpress.com/about/
Girl. You are the best. Love this post and your heart. Thanks for being honest and for taking the time to both educate us and inspire us. xoxo.
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