Our trip began with a slight snag...we missed our flight on the morning of the 25th. We managed to get a flight out that afternoon, though, so it all worked out in the end.
Once we made it to Guatemala, we met our driver at the airport and headed to Antigua for the night. I cannot say enough good things about our hotel in Antigua, Posada Del Angel (photo above...click on any of the photos to see the entire set from our trip). It's the most beautiful hotel you've ever seen with the friendliest staff you've ever met. We will definitely be staying there again in the near future. While we were there, some friends arranged a very nice surprise for us and my husband gave me a beautiful pair of earrings as an early anniversary gift. It was a really great way to start off our trip!
The next day, we went back to Guatemala City to meet our precious children. There was a miscommunication with the agency...we were waiting for them at 1:00 p.m., but they didn't arrive until 3:00 p.m. Those were two of the most anxiety-ridden hours we have ever experienced. But, we forgot about all of that when we saw Catalina and Gus! There are no words to describe how we felt at that moment.
We weren't sure what to expect from Catalina. We thought she might be apprehensive of us. Thankfully, things went very well. She and I hit it off immediately, but she was sort of hot and cold with Louie at first...she loved playing with him and he made her laugh, but she wasn't completely sure about him. By the last day, though, she was very comfortable with him and was sad to be saying good-bye.
Louie and I are still amazed by how smart and funny and sweet and affectionate Catalina is. Since we were in the hotel the whole time, we really just played games and read books and visited the hotel's play room a lot. Oh, and we watched a lot of cartoons. She loves Mickey and Clifford and Dora. As for communicating with her (and everyone else in Guatemala), Louie did an amazing job. I've been frantically trying to learn Spanish over the past couple of months, but I'm nowhere near conversational yet. Louie helped me learn her phrases quickly and translated for me when I just couldn't figure things out on my own.
Gus is a beautiful and sweet baby! He had his days and nights mixed up. Even when we (mostly Louie) were walking the floors with him at night, we cherished every minute with him. We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet him at such a young age (he'll be seven weeks old tomorrow!). Guatemala is different from other countries in that after receiving your adoption referral, you can visit your child/children anytime you want. I'm going back with my mom next month and I am anxious to see how he has grown and changed since our last visit.
All in all, I'd say that things with the kids went even better than we anticipated. It was an incredible experience, getting to know them on this trip. It was very difficult to say good-bye and we miss them already. We're literally counting down the days until we can see them again.
While in Guatemala we met our adoption facilitator. He gave us some good information about our case. He is currently working to get the DNA collection approved and to get our case entered into family court (these are two unrelated steps in the Guatemalan adoption process). Because the birth mother lives approximately six hours from the city, they are trying to plan things so that both steps - the DNA collection and the family court birth mother interview - happen on the same day. We are anxiously awaiting news that these have been scheduled so that our case can move forward and we can get these two beautiful children home!
Thanks again for your interest. We are constantly amazed and overwhelmed by the kindness and support of our friends and families. We can never thank you enough.
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