If anything, this post proves that prayer is fruitful. I feel like the past two years contained a lot of "hurry up and wait" over and over, but all of a sudden I am sitting in a living room in Medellin with the windows open enjoying a gorgeous view. Additionally, in precisely 24 hours we will have a son in our family.
About three weeks ago, we were having our final travel call. In a whirlwind, we got our Visas and other final paperwork knocked out, but needed one last bit of paperwork from ICBF in Colombia to submit to the US Embassy. At the end of one week, we were told that paperwork was nearly impossible to locate as the ICBF was in the process of changing offices. We were crushed because we thought that meant another delay. However, the following week proved otherwise as things happened at record breaking pace. Monday we received that last bit of paperwork. By Wednesday it was translated. Wednesday night it was submitted to the US Embassy, we were granted an en cuentro date (meeting), and told to book flights.
We got up at 3:45 yesterday morning, got ready, and embarked on our journey. My mother got up super early and drove us to the Montgomery Airport. We flew from Montgomery, to Dallas, to Miami, to Medellin. It was an incredibly long day, but everything went fantastically. The girls traveled well, although Alex struggles to sit for more than 2 or 3 minutes at a time.
Once we arrived in Medellin, a precious gal named Cristina and a taxi driver named Reuben met us at the airport and drove us to our apartment. We quickly learned very few people speak any English at all here, but they are both bilingual and helped us out a ton. The drive from the airport to the city is lovely, but incredible curvy. I'll spare details, but I had an embarrassing bout of motion sickness.
Finally we found the apartment, and were told by the landlord the jacuzzi flooded causing part of the ceiling to bust through. Honestly, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. We adults were exhausted, and the kids were even more so! Fortunately, the landlord had already arranged for another apartment just down the street. It was fantastic! More space, seems more kid-friendly, and has gorgeous views. It ended up working perfectly! We got settled in quickly and hopped in bed.
Today was our first full day in Medellin. We unpacked and had to deal with some issues with the apartment. It is all being taken care of, thankfully. Cristina took us to the grocery store, and surprisingly it was laid out almost identically to most grocery stores in the states. The biggest difference was that it was sooo expensive. A small jar of peanut butter was $8! Brent and Cristina then went to exchange some money and get Brent a Colombian phone number.
This city is fantastic! The people are so nice, the weather is ideal, and the views are marvelous! Pray for us as we gain a new family member is 24 hours. I will also try to be better about posting photos, but won't be able to have Samuel's face in many until we are back in the states.
Adios!
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