Settling In

We have spent today getting settled at our hotel in Medellin.  Our assistant/translator, Margarita, met us after breakfast to take us to the bank and the grocery store.  She said that she prefers to drive us to places like this, but we can take a taxi instead if she isn't available to go with us.  We are still trying to get a sense for safety issues in and around Medellin.  For example, when Margarita came to pick us up at the airport last night, she brought her gardener along with her so that she wouldn't have to drive alone at night.  When we see a "local" person concerned about safety, it definitely makes us think twice about how we should be careful and cautious here.  As much as we try to be inconspicuous, we definitely stick out as foreigners, and don't want to attract any extra attention or trouble.  The hotel is great and we are definitely safe and secure here and anywhere we go with Margarita, but we don't know that we will be going venturing off very much, or even at all while we are in Medellin.

View from our hotel room








View of Medellin from the shopping center


The driving here can be very confusing...lots of curvy roads that connect with lots of other curvy roads.  We have absolutely no sense of direction yet.  The neighborhood that our hotel is in doesn't really seem good for walking around, so again, we may have to rely more on Margarita, or get brave and take a taxi ourselves. 

There are 4 other adoptive families at our hotel, 3 German families and one Swedish family.  We met all of the German families today, but it can be difficult because their English is only fair, and we know no German.  Each family has adopted one child, and the kids are adorable, but you can see that each family has their own struggles in adjusting to the big changes.

The grocery store was fun.  We got a few things to keep in the room...juice and yogurt and crackers for the kids.  We are going to be situated in 2 adjoining rooms.  Right now we are in one of the rooms, and on Thursday, once we have the boys, they will open up the adjoining room for us.  We aren't sure about the set-up for a couple of reasons.  First of all, we may prefer to have the boys all sleep closer to us and not in a separate room, we will have to see.  And second, this means that we actually get charged for 2 rooms instead of one.  So take the price quote that you get for lodging at the beginning of an adoption, and double it.  YIKES!  On the other hand, we have heard from other families that keeping 3 newly adopted kids in one small room for 3+ weeks can be very challenging, especially if the weather is rainy.  We are going to talk to Margarita about what our other options may be, and see what's available.

Tomorrow morning we have a meeting with our lawyer, and we also found out that presentation will be at 11:00 on Thursday.  We don't have anything else planned for today, probably just going to take it easy and get rested up!