Passport and Pediatrician

So we were up bright and early this morning, and ready to be picked up by 8:00. We drove to the passport place, and when we walked up we saw a verrrrryyyyy loooooonnnnnggg line. But No! We went right past it into the building and into a small area where they take passport photos. The small room consisted of a small counter and a big photo booth - kind of like the ones you see in malls and amusement parks but much much bigger. After a few minute wait we were next and our orphanage contact took the baby into the booth (we had to make sure he was awake because they won't take the picture if the baby is sleeping).We heard them trying to get him to smile, but no luck. For some reason this kid has an aversion to electronic devices. We were asked to choose among the 3 digital photos taken (all cute of course) and within in a few minutes we had his photos. We then went into a larger room that kind of looked like the DMV. Alot of chairs for waiting and many clerks behind numbered stations. When our number was called we handed the clerk the necessary paperwork (sentencia, birth certificate & photos) and she filled out the passport application. Then we were told to sit and wait. After about 10 minutes a man came out of a doorway with a big stack of new passports and started calling out names. Finally the boy's name was called! We were very excited but the boy...not so much...he was sound asleep. We had to go up with the baby to get it...they want to make sure they match the photo to the person. We were free to go, and came back to the hotel to kill time before the pediatrician appointment.

Jim and I were literally walking in circles at the hotel. We are so close to coming home and we are so excited we don't know what to do with ourselves. I ask him what time it is every 5 mintues. We watched some bad tv and even kicked a soccer ball around in the backyard. We are both convinced that since signing the sentencia time is actually going backwards.FINALLY, at 2:30 we were picked up to go to the pediatrician. We drove to a nice part of town that seemed to have many medical clinics all over the place. The doctor's office was nice, just like one you would see at home. After a few minutes of waiting we were called in to see the doctor. He was a very nice older man who spoke perfect english. The certificates on his wall indicated that he had spent alot of time in the states at various hospitals. We handed over the boy's brand spanking new passport and his photos and the doctor started filling out some paperwork. Then we put the boy on the examining table and undressed him for his physical. He checked his eyes, his ears, listened to his heart, and felt around a little. We put him on the scale and found out that he is now 13lbs 8oz, which is up from the 11lbs, 7oz when we first got him. He also grew an inch. The doctor finished up his paperwork, sealed it an an envelope for the embassy tomorrow and sent us on our way. We were home by 4:30.

Back at the hotel, more agonizing hanging around. The two french couples remaining here are leaving this week too, one tomorrow and one on Friday. We were very happy that everyone will be home in time for Christmas. One couple bought some more wine, Jim bought some fruit and cheese and we had a nice little toast to celebrate everyone's paperwork going through the process. BTW, quick funny story about one of the couples - they also went to Freddy the Emerald Pirate and they saw a ring they really liked. They thought the tag said 9.000.000, which they thought meant 9 million pesos, which would be about $4,000 US Dollars (there are about 2,254 colombian pesos to 1 dollar). They were ready to buy it (they clearly have money, they live in a very ritzy part of Paris) when Fast Freddy told them, no it's not pesos, its already in US Dollars....as in $9,000 US dollars! So needless to say, they left empty handed too.

At about 7:00 our friends E & A came to say goodbye. It was very sad to say goodbye, we had such an absolutely great time with them. They really went out of their way to make us feel welcome in Colombia. We told them they are now officially Tio and Tia (Uncle and Aunt) to the boy, and that we will be back in about 2 years or so and look forward to seeing them again. We exchanged addresses and hope to keep in touch with them.

So now, it's only NINE O'CLOCK. We are dying over here. We are so close we can smell the NY bagels and pizza from here. Tomorrow we go to the embassy to apply for the visa. I am going to try my best to negotiate getting our paperwork in first thing and see if we can't somehow get the visa issued by the afternoon. It would be SO SWEET to be on that plane tomorrow night!!