Risley Ranch

And hello Bogota

We arrived in Bogota on Wednesday, July 8th.  It was raining hard during our cab ride to our hotel/hostel.  During that 30 minutes, I noticed three distinct differences between Bogota and Cali:  1) the climate -- Bogota's elevation is 8,600 feet (3,000 feet higher than Denver!), so it's much, much cooler; 2) the air -- I didn't notice as much smog or pollution; 3) the traffic -- although the drivers are still crazy here, there weren't as many motorcycles as Cali.  And one other thing...Bogota is HUGE, both in terms of population (about 9 million) and size (75 miles wide).

We're staying in a very nice place. It's called the "Hotel Paris," and it's owner, Katya Paris, is a great gal who has been hosting families in her hotel for years now.  It's a bit bigger than Rayna's place in Cali.  It's got probably 10 rooms, a living area, dining area and a back yard with playroom.  It's in a very nice part of Bogota.

A couple of hours after we arrived on Wednesday, we had our doctor's appointment for the kids.  There's nothing wrong with them -- it's just a step the US requires before they allow the kids into the country. 

On Thursday, we got up early to go to the US Embassy and file for the kids' visas.  It was a very cool feeling to see that huge US flag flying in US airspace on US soil.  We arrived around 10 a.m. and didn't get the final OK until 1 p.m.  It should be a 5 minute process.  Our paperwork was all prepared beforehand.  We submitted it, paid our $800, then waited for someone to look it over.  That's about it.

Then Friday, I went back to the embassy to pick up the kids' passports with their completed visas, as well as a super-secret envelope for each that can't be opened until we reach customs in Houston.  We lose those envelopes and we don't get back into the good-'ol USA!

We took one excursion yesterday, to the mountain of Monserrate, and the Cerro de Monserrate.  Monserrate is a mountain that looms over Bogota.  On the very top of it is a Church -- Cerro de Monserrate.  According to the website, "Monserrate is the main symbol of Colombia's main city, not as an ecological icon but it's religious nature, whose Sanctuary was visited by thousands of people and pilgrims, since 1640 when it was founded."

It was breathtaking.  To get to the top, you take a cable car.  Once there, you follow a beautiful brick-path that curves back and forth.  Along the path are the Stations of the Cross in beautiful sculpture.  Also along the path are amazing views of the surrounding mountains, colorful flowers and trees, trees, trees.

 

Then at the end of the path, you see the Church.

 

These pictures don't do it justice because it was cloudy, and of course, I forgot the camera, so I had to use the iPhone.  It's not a huge church, but it's really beautiful. 

As we made our way up the path and into the church, it was clear that Mari knew who Jesus is and that we were in a holy place.  It's clear either her birth-mother or her foster mother had taken her to church.  When we got inside, we walked up to the front, and the Priest was just finishing up a short blessing for a crowd there.  Mari sat down in a pew, very saintly-like, and just looked and listened.

After the Priest was done, we took the kids up to him, and introduced ourselves and told him we had adopted Mari and Alex.  And we asked him to bless the kids, which he did.

Now those of you who know me probably just fell out of your chairs reading those last two sentences.  I'm not a "believer" anymore, but being on that mountain, in that church, watching Mari react to it all, really shook me.  I've always believed in a higher power of some kind, just not a biblical God.  Amy does believe in God and goes to church with Joe every week.  So at that moment, it felt exactly like the right thing to do.  And I admit it felt good.

We then had lunch at one of the two restaurants there.  It was a very nice, white-table-cloth place that overlooked Bogota (like the picture at the top of this post).

Goodbye Cali

So a lot has happened since I last posted:

Everyone is sick (colds).  We all went to the Doctor last Thursday, got medicine, and are slowly mending.

On Friday, we took a drive into the country -- specifically to Dapa, a little village in the mountains north of Cali.  There's a restaurant up there that's very popular.  The drive wasn't very pleasant with three kids in a small car on very bad, curvy, mountain roads, but it was worth it.  The air up there is cool and clean -- two things it's not in Cali.  And the view is really beautiful.  Ten years ago, those mountains were too dangerous to be in.  Today, many wealthy people own "country homes" there.

 

Saturday morning, we received great news.  Our legal process had progressed much more quickly than our attorney had anticipated.  In fact, Steps two and three happened on the same day, Friday.  That meant on Monday, we were able to go to court and sign the official Colombian adoption papers for the kids.  So what sometimes can take 5 weeks took 3 for us.  It was just what we needed.  So Monday, July 6, Mari and Alex officially became ours.

On Sunday, we drove to Tulua, a city north of Cali about 2 hours, to meet our new Au Pair, Maria, and her family.  That's Maria on the far right:

 

They are a kind, friendly family, and we're so glad we got to meet them before Maria joins us in the US later this month.  It was great Karma that allowed us to meet them -- we had specifically wanted an Au Pair from Colombia and were lucky enough to find Maria.  And it just so happens she was finishing up her semester from a University in Bogota and going to her home, Pereira, last week.  Pereira is North of Cali about 4 hours, so we met in the middle.  We had a nice lunch, and in the short two hours we had, I think we made her Dad feel comfortable the Risley's were ok.  :-)

Yesterday (Tuesday), our attorney went to Palmira to get the kids' new birth certificates with Risley as their last name.  This morning, we got their Colombian passports, then rushed to the airport to make a 10:30 a.m. flight to Bogota.  We're now at our hotel/B&B in Bogota as I write this.  So best case scenario, if we can get the US passports and visas done by Friday, we can fly back home on Saturday, July 11!

It was quite an experience in Cali.  We met wonderful people -- the Cardona and Perez families are just amazing.  We couldn't have done it without their support.  We'll miss Cali, but we're so happy to have made new friends here.

Now I understand...

When I was a kid, my family took a vacation with another family from Dighton.  But this wasn't a resort vacation.  No, this was two families -- four parents and six kids -- in one camper, traveling from Kansas to Arkansas to spend a few days in an even smaller vehicle -- a houseboat -- on Greers Ferry Lake.

It was one of the worst ideas my parents ever had.  It was too many people in too small of spaces over too much time.  I remember on many occasions when one of the parents "lost it."  I think they took turns. 

Well now I know how they felt.

The farmer in the dell

When I was about 11 or 12, I think, Dad went through what we called an "Old McDonald" phase.  Not content with just our cattle, a horse, pigs, milk cow, cats and a dog, Dad added sheep, ducks and geese to the mix.  It was definitely an interesting time on the farm.

Well today in Cali, Colombia, of all places, I went back to the farm. Turns out there's what I'll call a very large petting zoo here call Yaku.  It was very, very fun.  The kids had a ball, and I got to show off my cow-milking abilities.

 

For a pretty fair price, three adults and three children spent three hours feeding cows, horses, sheep, goats and pigs.  The kids also got to hold rabbits, see all kinds of fowl from all over the world (aside: chickens are just ugly, no matter where they come from).

 

 

 

At the end, we topped it off with a "pony" ride for the kids (technically, they were burros).

 

 

 

We had to cut the event a bit short so we could make a doctor's appointment.  Amy, Mari and Alex are all sick with nasty colds/coughs.  Joe is covered in mosquito bites.  I'm doing better, getting over my cold.  Everyone is all drugged-up now, so hopefully they'll begin feeling better tomorrow.

Update: Adoption legal process

The good news this week is that phase 1 of 3 of the legal process for our adoption is complete.  We met with our attorney, Elena, Monday night, and she let us know the court has signed the first document we need.  I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but from what she said, one week is super fast.  This is generally the longest part of the process because their statutes don't stipulate a time in which the court must act on these documents.

Phase two will be complete no later than tomorrow (again, someone else has to sign something).  Then, the final step is for the judge to sign the final adoption decree, which must be done within 10 days of tomorrow.  Elena said she's never seen it take 10 days -- usually 5.  That means we could have the legal process complete by July 10.

After that, we must get new birth certificates for Mari and Alex that show "Risley" as their last name.  We have to get those from Palmira, where they were born, which is about 20 miles from Cali.  So that will probably take a day or two.  At the same time, we'll need to get Colombian passports for each of them, again, with Risley as their last name.  Once we have those, we're ready to leave Cali for Bogota.

In Bogota, we'll go to the US Embassy to get their US passports and visas.  We go in one day to fill out the application, then come back the next to get the documents.  However, it could take longer than two days depending on what day of the week we go in.  The US embassy is closed on Fridays, which is bullshit by the way.  I'm an American citizen trying to get service from my government in a foreign country, and "we're closed."  Since when is America ever "closed."

So you can probably tell from this post we're a bit anxious.  Being away from home is always hard, but being away in a foreign country for a month, with three kids (two of them we've just met!), in a small house, is starting to get to us.  Our hosts here have been amazing helping us keep active, and we thank them so much for that.  But today, we're ready to go home.