We have arrived safely in Pereira, the city where our children are. We have our meeting with ICBF tomorrow at 11:00 AM (Colombian time) and then we will finally meet the boys. I wish I could put into words how we both are feeling, but there is simply no way to describe what is going through our heads. This has been many years in the making for us. We have longed for, sought after, and chased down parenthood only to have it be just beyond our reach. Tomorrow that will no longer be the case.
I want to say thank you once again to everyone who has supported us financially, spiritually and emotionally throughout this process. There were days when we did not think this would become reality, but you all did and you reminded us of that on more than one occasion. I feel unbelievably blessed to be becoming a family in such a way. It is simply amazing. The next time I post we will be a family of five!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Monday, July 07, 2008
Monserrate y Bogota
Today we went to the top of Monserrate where you can see just how vast and far reaching Bogota really is. Then we went down into the oldest part of the city where the government buildings and museums are. The Fernando Botero (a modern Colombian painter and sculptor) museum is amazing. Here are some pictures from our day.
The view of Southern Bogota and beyond from Monserrate.
This house was once located in a different part of the city, but was taken apart piece by piece and moved to the top of the mountain where it is now a restaurant.
The market at the top of the mountain.
And the cathedral.
The garden at the bottom of the mountain. It was a sea of hydrangeas. Beautiful!
Downtown
More of downtown. The building on the right is the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Center. He is a Colombian author who wrote many novels including Love In The Time of Cholera and 1000 Years of Solitude.
Plaza de Bolivar
Us at the Plaza de Bolivar
The oldest cathedral in Bogota.
A brick drain - Troy's co-workers can truly appreciate this one.
The view of Southern Bogota and beyond from Monserrate.
This house was once located in a different part of the city, but was taken apart piece by piece and moved to the top of the mountain where it is now a restaurant.
The market at the top of the mountain.
And the cathedral.
The garden at the bottom of the mountain. It was a sea of hydrangeas. Beautiful!
Downtown
More of downtown. The building on the right is the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Center. He is a Colombian author who wrote many novels including Love In The Time of Cholera and 1000 Years of Solitude.
Plaza de Bolivar
Us at the Plaza de Bolivar
The oldest cathedral in Bogota.
A brick drain - Troy's co-workers can truly appreciate this one.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Day #1
There is no possible way to describe what is going through my head right now. First of all, I am in culture shock. I am in a country where I don't speak the language, but my husband does (Troy is speaking brilliantly - he will tell you he is not, but even our driver/interpreters/tour guides have repeatedly complimented him on how well he speaks). Second, we are meeting our sons in three days and that is just nuts. Third, I have been sleep deprived for weeks now (though I did get to sleep in for the first time today). Needless to say, I feel like I could burst into tears from excitement, exhaustion, fear and any other number of emotions at any moment.
Bogata is absolutely amazing. It is a huge city with a population of 8 million people, and it is packed with buildings and cars. There is so much that is familiar - American brands like Chrysler and Exxon, but it is so much more colorful. The signs and buildings are painted more vibrantly, and there are people out and about everywhere you look. I don't think I realized how much we as Americans stay indoors (in our cars, in our stores, in our offices and houses). I know today is Sunday and that may have a lot to do with it, but there were people outside every where we went and they were talking to each other and kids were playing together and it was fascinating to me.
Today we went to Zipaquira to the Catedral de Sal which is simply amazing. It is a cathedral carved 180 meters into the earth through a working salt mine. As you make your way to the cathedral itself, you go through the stations of the cross and a couple of chapels. It is more simple than some of the other cathedrals we have visited, and that was what was so stunning. The simplicity and the salt (yes, actual salt that you could taste) on that walls just gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "salt of the earth" for me. It is very much a tourist attraction, and we are not Catholic, but I can't help but be moved by such tributes to God. It was beautiful.
Tonight we are just taking it easy and trying to rest. Tomorrow we are going to see the sights around Bogata. Enjoy some pictures of our trip so far!
Bogata bound!
In the Salt Cathedral, 180m underground.
The nativity sculpture in the Salt Cathedral.
A monument to miners who lost their lives while working on the Cathedral and Stations of the Cross (or at least that was what I understood from our tour guide - I will let you know if that is incorrect). A side note about our tour guide, Juan Phillipe. He is 15 years old and on summer break. He attends the French school here in Bogata. He speaks Spanish, French and English, and he volunteers at the mine as a guide every day. He was a lot of fun and very enthusiastic!
Me and our driver Jaime. He and his wife Silvia have been our hosts while in Bogata and they are incredible.
A bird's eye view of PART of Bogata. It stretches as far as the eye can see.
Bogata is absolutely amazing. It is a huge city with a population of 8 million people, and it is packed with buildings and cars. There is so much that is familiar - American brands like Chrysler and Exxon, but it is so much more colorful. The signs and buildings are painted more vibrantly, and there are people out and about everywhere you look. I don't think I realized how much we as Americans stay indoors (in our cars, in our stores, in our offices and houses). I know today is Sunday and that may have a lot to do with it, but there were people outside every where we went and they were talking to each other and kids were playing together and it was fascinating to me.
Today we went to Zipaquira to the Catedral de Sal which is simply amazing. It is a cathedral carved 180 meters into the earth through a working salt mine. As you make your way to the cathedral itself, you go through the stations of the cross and a couple of chapels. It is more simple than some of the other cathedrals we have visited, and that was what was so stunning. The simplicity and the salt (yes, actual salt that you could taste) on that walls just gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "salt of the earth" for me. It is very much a tourist attraction, and we are not Catholic, but I can't help but be moved by such tributes to God. It was beautiful.
Tonight we are just taking it easy and trying to rest. Tomorrow we are going to see the sights around Bogata. Enjoy some pictures of our trip so far!
Bogata bound!
In the Salt Cathedral, 180m underground.
The nativity sculpture in the Salt Cathedral.
A monument to miners who lost their lives while working on the Cathedral and Stations of the Cross (or at least that was what I understood from our tour guide - I will let you know if that is incorrect). A side note about our tour guide, Juan Phillipe. He is 15 years old and on summer break. He attends the French school here in Bogata. He speaks Spanish, French and English, and he volunteers at the mine as a guide every day. He was a lot of fun and very enthusiastic!
Me and our driver Jaime. He and his wife Silvia have been our hosts while in Bogata and they are incredible.
A bird's eye view of PART of Bogata. It stretches as far as the eye can see.
Home Improvements
Ok, I am going to do this in two sections since I have some catching up to do. As all of you know, either from experience or because you saw/heard how exhausted we were, casa de Eisenberger underwent some major transformations in the two weeks leading up to our trip. We cannot take all of the credit. We would like to give a HUGE shout out to Dave and Wendy Chinn (who drove down from Blacksburg, VA), Kirk Hassenfritz and Steve and Maria Frey. These five individuals worked super hard last Sunday to help complete some of the outstanding projects that Troy and I needed to get done. Not surprisingly, several of those projects involved fixing things that the dogs had destroyed. But enough about that, here is the fruit of our labor:
The boys will share a room. This is Carlos' bed.
Luis and Daniel will get the bunk beds. We don't know who will sleep where just yet. Sylvia has already claimed the bottom bunk though, and Baxter has discovered that he fits nicely underneath.
We made the bathroom more kid friendly. The elephants will move downstairs to our bathroom.
And no more "Room of Doom." We now have a real, bonafide guest room.
My friends Pam Howard and Jenny Schmidt put together a shower for me on July 2. Not exactly a home improvement, but it definitely helped provide many of the necessities to help us put the house together and be ready to travel. It was so much fun and many of my good friends were there to help me celebrate what is possibly the biggest milestone of my life.
Our new minivan (well new to us). Now all we need are our soccer players! Not being stereotypical, the boys really do like futbol!
The boys will share a room. This is Carlos' bed.
Luis and Daniel will get the bunk beds. We don't know who will sleep where just yet. Sylvia has already claimed the bottom bunk though, and Baxter has discovered that he fits nicely underneath.
We made the bathroom more kid friendly. The elephants will move downstairs to our bathroom.
And no more "Room of Doom." We now have a real, bonafide guest room.
My friends Pam Howard and Jenny Schmidt put together a shower for me on July 2. Not exactly a home improvement, but it definitely helped provide many of the necessities to help us put the house together and be ready to travel. It was so much fun and many of my good friends were there to help me celebrate what is possibly the biggest milestone of my life.
Our new minivan (well new to us). Now all we need are our soccer players! Not being stereotypical, the boys really do like futbol!
Yeah....We're in Colombia....
We have arrived! Safely! Oh so wicked tired!
We got to the airport safely this morning. Much thanks to Steve and Maria Frey for taking us to the airport this morning. Andrea and I sat down to our last Carolina meal for awhile (BBQ...yum). She said "I really like the fries"...I was like "Yeah, me too...they are delicious". She then replied..."No Steve and Maria."
The rest of the day was filled with delays (sat for 1.5 hours on the runway in Charlotte), but we finally arrived in Bogota about 2.5 hours later than expected.
All of our contacts were waiting for us, and we were overjoyed to see the "EISENBERGER" sign.
We are on a general computer here...but hope to get wireless in Pereira, and post photos as quickly as we can. I wore a special shirt today as a shout out to the Derrs.
We are hoping to site see a bit tomorrow, and just enjoy our mini-vacation. We fly out on Tuesday, and will meet our boys on Wednesday.
Thanks to everyone who has a played a part in this, and for those who are reading and following along. It means SO MUCH that you are sharing in this journey with us.
Much love,
Troy and Andrea
We got to the airport safely this morning. Much thanks to Steve and Maria Frey for taking us to the airport this morning. Andrea and I sat down to our last Carolina meal for awhile (BBQ...yum). She said "I really like the fries"...I was like "Yeah, me too...they are delicious". She then replied..."No Steve and Maria."
The rest of the day was filled with delays (sat for 1.5 hours on the runway in Charlotte), but we finally arrived in Bogota about 2.5 hours later than expected.
All of our contacts were waiting for us, and we were overjoyed to see the "EISENBERGER" sign.
We are on a general computer here...but hope to get wireless in Pereira, and post photos as quickly as we can. I wore a special shirt today as a shout out to the Derrs.
We are hoping to site see a bit tomorrow, and just enjoy our mini-vacation. We fly out on Tuesday, and will meet our boys on Wednesday.
Thanks to everyone who has a played a part in this, and for those who are reading and following along. It means SO MUCH that you are sharing in this journey with us.
Much love,
Troy and Andrea
Friday, July 04, 2008
Last Post From Charlotte
Well, it is almost 1:00 AM...so much for getting to bed early...and Troy and I are about to break open a bottle of wine that we have been saving for just this occasion. We are packed! The house is as clean as it is going to get! The boys' room is ready to go! The dogs are at their respective sitters (to whom we are eternally grateful)! Now all we have to do is get on the plane. If we have forgotten anything, then we hope we can purchase it in Colombia.
That being said. We are very excited and a mix of a million other emotions. Please pray for safe travel, good sleep, and food that I can eat (I am a super picky eater). Please pray against illness. Especially pray for the boys and their hearts. This will be a huge transition for them to say the least. We are hoping it will be smooth.
We will have our laptop and will blog often. Also, feel free to leave comments, and we will be checking our email so we can stay in touch with everyone back home. Oh, and how can I forget my facebook addiction...hopefully, I will get some time on there too!
Next time you hear from us, we will be on a different continent! How crazy is that?!
That being said. We are very excited and a mix of a million other emotions. Please pray for safe travel, good sleep, and food that I can eat (I am a super picky eater). Please pray against illness. Especially pray for the boys and their hearts. This will be a huge transition for them to say the least. We are hoping it will be smooth.
We will have our laptop and will blog often. Also, feel free to leave comments, and we will be checking our email so we can stay in touch with everyone back home. Oh, and how can I forget my facebook addiction...hopefully, I will get some time on there too!
Next time you hear from us, we will be on a different continent! How crazy is that?!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Visapalooza Recap....
Spoiler Alert:
We have Visas.
After 15 hours of driving in the last two days...we have the coolest looking passport stamp thing I've ever seen. Seriously....for those who have got the Visa stamp, doesn't it just look cool?
Our visa task was kicked off when we got our plane tickets, shortly after we overnighted a key letter to Raleigh to have it apostilled.
While this has been typically a very quick process, there was a delay, and on Monday of this week Andi called the state to ask the question first postulated by Marvin Gaye, "Hey, what's going on?" They said they didn't have the documents at all, and even though it was signed for, they didn't have any record of our request. We got 2 new copies of the letter on Monday night, notarized, then I was off to Raleigh on Tuesday. Upon arriving in Raleigh (without expanding too much), I was told again that they had no record of our documents, and that the letters I brought wouldn't work. Andrea explained this to the consulate, who said we'd be fine with just a notarized copy when applying in person. Live and learn we thought...I drove home....went to work....to come home to find....the copies of the letters sent back, fully completed, by the state. Wow. I do have some perspective a day later, but if I would written about this yesterday, this would read more like an episode of HBO's Deadwood.
The drive to Hotlanta today was a joy. A chance to test drive our van, see how far you can really drive once the LCD screen reads '0 miles to empty', and just a chance for us to dialogue about our thoughts, hopes, and fears with all that is going on.
The employees at the consulate couldn't be nicer. They asked to see pics of our boys, the paperwork was in perfect order....Andrea has been the organizational queen (did you really think I would play a part in that...)...and we hit the road, visas in hand, and got her home for her work & friends shower tonight.
2 more days to go...we HOPE we have solutions for both dogs....lots of loose ends to tie down.....sigh!
Well folks....I think these guys said it best...
We're leaving together
but still it's farewell....
.......will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown.
We have Visas.
After 15 hours of driving in the last two days...we have the coolest looking passport stamp thing I've ever seen. Seriously....for those who have got the Visa stamp, doesn't it just look cool?
Our visa task was kicked off when we got our plane tickets, shortly after we overnighted a key letter to Raleigh to have it apostilled.
While this has been typically a very quick process, there was a delay, and on Monday of this week Andi called the state to ask the question first postulated by Marvin Gaye, "Hey, what's going on?" They said they didn't have the documents at all, and even though it was signed for, they didn't have any record of our request. We got 2 new copies of the letter on Monday night, notarized, then I was off to Raleigh on Tuesday. Upon arriving in Raleigh (without expanding too much), I was told again that they had no record of our documents, and that the letters I brought wouldn't work. Andrea explained this to the consulate, who said we'd be fine with just a notarized copy when applying in person. Live and learn we thought...I drove home....went to work....to come home to find....the copies of the letters sent back, fully completed, by the state. Wow. I do have some perspective a day later, but if I would written about this yesterday, this would read more like an episode of HBO's Deadwood.
The drive to Hotlanta today was a joy. A chance to test drive our van, see how far you can really drive once the LCD screen reads '0 miles to empty', and just a chance for us to dialogue about our thoughts, hopes, and fears with all that is going on.
The employees at the consulate couldn't be nicer. They asked to see pics of our boys, the paperwork was in perfect order....Andrea has been the organizational queen (did you really think I would play a part in that...)...and we hit the road, visas in hand, and got her home for her work & friends shower tonight.
2 more days to go...we HOPE we have solutions for both dogs....lots of loose ends to tie down.....sigh!
Well folks....I think these guys said it best...
We're leaving together
but still it's farewell....
.......will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
