Week 5

5^th Week-

Day 29 – Thursday, May 10^th- Home Sweet Home, well, Efrain’s home sweet home.  My mom had plans to go play cards at her cousin’s house. I spent most of the day at home, reading through our adoption paperwork, reading my Nicholas Sparks book, watching “Hitch” in Spanish, and just hanging out. We hired a maid for the day so I chose to stay at the hose until the maid was done cleaning.  (How much do you think it costs to hire a maid for 8 hours of work for one day? Apparently, the going rate for a maid is 32,000 pesos or approximately  $16 for the day. If it was like that in the states, I’d have a maid at my house everyday!) After the house smelled clean and the maid left for the day, I took Miss Sofia with me across the street to get my nails done. (7,000 pesos – about $3.50 for a manicure. Unbelievable!)

Day 30 – Friday, May 11^th – Onces – Friday we had plans to go over to my mom’s cousin’s apartment. Maria Lenor lives on the 24^th floor in a big building on the mountain. What an incredible view!  Onces (kind of like the English Tea Time but with hot chocolate and a ton of other Colombian treats) was not until 3:30, so in the morning my mom watched Sofia while I went across the street to the same Peluqeria (beauty shop) to get my hair done. I had my hair straightened for only 10,000 pesos or about $5 for a hairstyle. (So THINGS here are very expensive, but Services are not! If you’re in Colombia for an adoption, treat yourself! J ) Maria Lenor had Onces in honor of Sofia and I. It was great to spend time with mom, her sisters and her cousins. As always, Sofia was all smiles. She slept during our meal and woke just before we were getting ready to leave.  She is truly my precious angel. As my mom says… “The angel that’s the most angelic angel of all angels.”

Day 31 – Saturday, May 12^th – Tia Elvira and Tio Fernando invited me, Sofia, my mom, and Efrain for a delicious spaghetti lunch. (One of my favorites).  Also in my honor, we had little empanadas as a starter. One of my missions was to find the best empanadas in Colombia. Those served at Tia Elvira’s house might just be in the lead at this point. …and the search continues.

By the way, I was reading back in my blog and it sounds like we are eating a ton! I write about my lunches at my relatives’ houses or going out for lunch… but in reality, it’s different than in the states. Here they have a very healthy breakfast with coffee and fruit, then a big lunch, and a miniscule dinner. It seems to work well since I have dropped a few pounds since I’ve been here. J

Day 32 – Sunday, May 13^th – Dia de la Madre – Tio Peretz and Tia Rachel picked us up at 9am to head out to their finca in Sobachoque (not sure of the spelling, and ditto goes for every other Spanish word in this blog.) We got there at 10:30. Peretz drove into town to pick up the maid, but unfortunately, she cancelled since it was mother’s day. Fortunately, Peretz found someone that was willing to come later in the day to clean up after the meal. So the Super-Mom’s took over to handle the cooking.  Mom and Tia Rachel made the appetizers and the potatoes, while my cousin Freddy manned the BBQ. We had a fabulous time and looked through 100’s of old photographs. It was a blast! Once everything was cleaned up, we were ready to head back to Bogota.

Once we got to Bogota, I turned on my Skype and was able to connect with Evan and Perry. Although I wasn’t able to spend the day with my entire family, at least I was able to communicate through Skype. It was definitely a Mother’s Day that I will never forget. My first Mother’s Day with my little boy and my beautiful baby girl!

Day 33 – Monday, May 14^th – Dia Tranquila – Today we had a very relaxing day. Sofia slept past her usual 6am feeding and slept until 8am. (How did I get so lucky???)  Once she woke up, she was fed and had a nice bath with lukewarm water (the water in the bathroom comes out somewhat cold so I fill a tub with water from the kitchen sink – which is at least a little warmer – and bath her in the tub.) That is one of the things that I am looking forward to in the near future… a SUPER HOT STEAMY SHOWER. Taking somewhat cold showers over the last month is getting old.

Around lunch time, my mom, Sofia and I headed out to take a long walk down 140 to pick up a few things and stop for lunch. We returned back to the house at 3:30, just in time for Sofia’s nap. She is so easy-going and is easy to go anywhere with her. As all my relatives say “She’s an angel!”

At 6:30pm Sofia started getting a little fussy. I gave her a bottle and she was out. Usually she doesn’t go to bed until 8pm, but tonight… it was lights out at 6:45pm.