Integración Meeting Yesterday

Sorry for the late posting on this - our Internet has been out since early yesterday evening. The TV was out for a while today too. No TV and no Internet in a hotel in Colombia is a recipe for super boredom. Trust me.

We had our Integración last night with the representative from the ICBF (social services). We've jokingly referred to this meeting as the "sure you want to keep him?" meeting! Really it's just to make sure Elkin is adjusting to us well and that we're adjusting to him well. We passed with flying colors, of course :)

Just like every other official meeting, it didn't get around to starting for about an hour and a half or more from when it was supposed to. If you missed our previous post about some of the things we like and dislike about Colombia, a big one is that no one is in any hurry at all. Being late is apparently perfectly acceptable in any situation. I know some people in the States that would love that :)

Our interpreter was there too and she and the ICBF rep asked if we would be interested in taking a day trip to the Caribbean coast. Uhh... yea! So we're doing that on Sunday. Our interpreter will go with us and we'll eat lunch (where exactly we don't know) and do all that beach stuff. Full day adventure it sounded like.

Tomorrow, if things go as planned, we'll be heading to a photo place to get Elkin's passport photos taken. We'll need those when we head to the town he was born in (hopefully early next week) to get his Colombian passport made.

The ICBF also reassured us that as far as she can see, the judicial strike shouldn't affect us at all and that we should be on our way to Bogotá soon. We may actually be able to leave as we planned - earlier if things go very well.

Before we came to Colombia, we decided "for sure" that we'd hop a plane to Cartagena (touristy coastal town) to eat up some of this wait time but we've decided not to because we've been told twice now that our process should move along very quickly.

We'll see.

Elkin has been going to sleep and waking up so much better than when we first got him. The only time he's getting upset anymore is when we tell him no. I say that's better than when he wakes up or goes to sleep.

Hope to catch you all up again soon... we'll see how the Internet cooperates.