Day 10

It was a sleep-in day today as everyone was tired from the journey yesterday.  By the time we had breakfast and headed to the beach it was close to 10:00. 

The beach.  I have been looking forward to the beach but what a dissappointment.  Its covered in garbage.  I don't know why I would be surprised since there is garbage everywhere in this country and every small creek and river is loaded with garbage.  I mean the sand is nice and fine, the water is warm and shallow so the kids can swim.  But you have to walk past the garbage to get to the water.  The kids didn't seem to mind and they actually were using old bottles to transport water to build sand castles.  I guess I had heard that there were beautiful beaches in this country well they sure aren't in Tela. 

One good thing about being here is that I met the other Canadian family that is here doing an adoption.  They are from Quebec and are adopting three children between the ages of 4 and 7.  Amazing!  We spent a long time on the beach talking and discussing the ongoing delays with getting the signatures to complete our adoptions.  They are in the room next door and I look forward to having them as neighbours. 

In the afternoon we decided to head to the town again to walk around and see the place.  It looked interesting from the cab but on foot, not so much.  There really is nothing but small, dark stores selling cheap junk really.  There is a nice little square where we sat and had a snack.  And the beach in the town is much cleaner than were we are.  But I won't need to spend any more time walking around this town. 

The afternoon was spent in the pool.  Its small but Ali still likes it and it is great for just cooling off.  Ricardo came in only for a short time as he was more interested in playing in a little pile of sand with his cars.  He loved the sand at the beach this morning and he asked to go back again. 

This evening we had a huge down pour and thunder storm.  There have been thunder storms almost every night but only one other time did it actually rain.  Tonight it just poured.  It was nice to sit on the balcony and just listen. 

Tomorrow, we might walk up to the beach at the fancy expensive hotel.  The other family told me that the beach is nice there.  No garbage.  We will see.

Day 9

Ali on the bus

We were up, had breakfast and were checked out of the room by 8:00.  The bus didn't leave until 10:35 but we couldn't buy tickets in advance so we decided to get there early.  And the hotel bus only leaves at set times so we had to go even earlier.  It only took the bus 20 minutes to get to the bus terminal so we were there well in advance.  It was like a tiny airport and you had to go through security and then sit in the holding area.  When they announced that they were boarding, you had to line up in the correct row according to your seat number.  As we boarded the bus were were given a drink and a bag of chip each.  Once we were all on the bus I looked around and counted 10 people.  Ten people on this huge bus.  I knew we had to stop somewhere so I thought more people would get on.  We did stop, at the airport, and everyone got off.  It was only us four on this huge bus all the way to Tela!!  And we were worried that we wouldn't get seats!

A River near SPS

I liked the journey on the bus as I got to see more of the country.  We passed small towns and plantations, banana and some sort of palm trees. I think they grow a fruit on the palms but I am not sure what. We also saw lots of little farms. The kids liked the bus because there was a movie.  It took us about 2 hours to get to Tela and a 10 minute taxi ride to the hotel. 

 

The countryside

A small town

We are staying in a small hotel called Grissy's.  The rooms are huge and ours has a small kitchen.  The bath is also very big which is a welcome change from the small one at the last hotel.  The pool is small but we are steps away from the beach.

We had lunch and headed to town for grocery shopping.  Another welcome change is a taxi driver who speaks English.  No more struggling with broken Spanish to explain where we need to go.

The shopping store was another experience.  It was small, crowded and dark.  There were grocery carts full of products to be loaded on shelves blocking the aisles and no carts for customers.  There were huge lines at the tills and blaring rock music.  You could hardly hear each other because of the music.  We were only there 30 minutes and that was enough.

Next was the pool.  It is very small and Ricardo can only use a tiny piece because most of it is too deep.  He has to spend most of the time on the stairs.  He did put his whole face in the water today which was a big step.

I am looking forward to spending some time on the beach tomorrow.   

Day 8

We started the day discussing what to do next.  Should we stay one more day to see if we get a signing date or should we just pack up and head to the beach?  We decided that we would spend one more day in SPS.  I just didn't feel like packing up and rushing to get a bus.  In fact I hadn't even figured out which buses go to Tela and when they leave.  I had expected to be heading to Tela from Tegu not from SPS.  So I did some checking and found out which bus company to use and the time to depart and we decided to go the next morning.  Then we also decided that we would head to a new mall that we passed yesterday in the taxi.  Since there is nothing else to do here my Dad thought going to a new mall would be a good idea.

We arrived at the Multi Plex Mall around 11:00 and while the layout of the mall was different all the stores where the same as the other mall.  However, my Dad took the opportunity to shop for some clothes for himself before we headed for lunch.  This mall had one bonus over the other, a play area.  Ali loved it, Ricardo not so much.  I don't think he has been on large pieces of playground equipment before and he spent the whole time sitting in the tube slide.  I have also noticed that he is very shy of other children and won't play with them.  I am not sure if this is because he is feeling insecure at the moment or if he is just naturally shy. 

The afternoon was spent in the pool.  We have really enjoyed the pool at this hotel and Ricardo is getting more confident in the water.  We have been floating him around the pool while he kicks and moves his arms.  He loves it and he using the word "Swimming"  all the time now. 

I am looking forward to a change from San Pedro.  I am looking forward to having a beach to visit. 

The only pictures I have of SPS were taken from the taxi since it isn't safe to walk anywhere.  Here are a few shots. 

Multi Plex Mall 

A little Church

Selling Vegetables

Day 7

We had to be at IHNFA at 10:00 so I called the taxi driver, Tito, at 8:00 to let him know that he needed to pick us up at 9:30.  He arrived early at 9:10 at we arrived at IHNFA at 9:30.  He is usually late but he must have thought that we need to be at IHNFA by 9:30.  We waited about 45 minutes while they did up the paperwork.  We were then taken into a big empty room where there was a table set up.  There was the social worker, another women, who was the lead social worker and a man.  The man was an interpreter and he translated a little speech that the women gave basicly outlining how happy they were that I was adopting this child and giving him a better life.  We then signed three copies of the one page document that gave me temporary custody.  I kept one copy and they kept the other two.  I have to send a scan of this document to my lawyer for translation to use in the package for immigration.  I felt a little freedom after that was done.  I felt one step closer to completing the process.  Also, now that the temporary custody has been granted, we are free to leave San Pedro Sula (SPS). 

We then headed to the City Mall for the third time.  We bought a few more things, had lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours in the pool.  

There is not much to do here in SPS.  The hotel is nice and the kids love the pool but it gets a bit boring just hanging around the hotel.  You can't go for a walk and the only thing there is to do is to visit a mall.  It seems wierd to come to Honduras and hang out in a mall but it gets us out and the mall is air conditioned so there is a break from the heat.   My Dad and I both enjoy the journey in the taxi as there is so much to look at on the streets.  I will be happy to leave SPS to see something else, hopefully not just another mall.  Plus, leaving SPS will mark the end of stage one, getting temporary custody. 

There is no word yet on when I will sign the final papers.  I am hoping we will hear in the next few days.  I will be very happy once that step is completed.  I was expecting to leave SPS once the temporary custody papers were signed and head to Tegu.  However, if we don't have a date to sign the court papers in the next few day, then we will probably head to Tela to stay at the beach until we receive word that everything is ready in Tegu.

The internet has been very unstable the last few days and yesterday I couldn't even get email during the evening.  I am not even going to try and load up pictures with this post.  I will be luck if I can get this posted.  I will add the pictures at a later date. 

Day 6

Today was the visit by the IHNFA social workers to assess how my son was doing.  We were told by my agency that the social workers would arrive between 1:00 and 5:00.  We spent the morning swimming and then came back in for lunch and waited for the arrival of the social workers.  We watched tv and they arrived at 2:00.  They were here two hours.  Most of the time was spent discussing my son's progress and how we were all working as a family.  All the questions were in Spanish and I did by best to communicate with the little bit of spanish that I have.  They sometimes had to ask the questions several times in different versions until I understood.  In the end I think they got all the information they needed.  Tomorrow we sign the papers for temporary custody at 10:00.  One more step in the right direction! 

Day 5

Today was a lazy day in the sun.  We hung out, played, went swimming and watched a movie.  Ricardo said his first English word today on his own, bubbles, in the middle of a spanish sentance.  He also understands the sentance "What is her/his name?" when I point at Ali or my Dad.  He is also taking big steps in the water.  He now put his face in the water and will do a back float or front swim when we hold him.  He loves the pool and said that he wants to stay in it all day. 

Tomorrow we are supposed to receive a visit from the social worker from IHNFA.  Then, hopefully, we can sign the custody papers on Tuesday.

Making a casa for his cars

Playing with planes in the pool

Ali practices underwater handstands

A much needed rest

Ali translating words into spanish on the computer

Day 3 and 4

We now have my son full time!  I recieved an email Friday morning saying to be at the IHNFA office at 10:00.  We had already arranged for the taxi to pick up my son and the foster mother at 9:00 so we arrived at IHNFA in good time.  I was taken into a room with two social workers and they talked to my son, the foster mother and then to me.  They told me that I could have Ricardo after another hour with the foster mother.  Then she would leave and he would stay with us from here on in.  The social workers are going to check in on Monday and then we will sign the papers for temporary custody on Tuesday. 

The foster mother didn't bring any of the clothes I had brought for my son on the first trip.  I think she wanted to keep them, so we had to go to the mall to get some clothes.  The clothes shopping took us hours.  The foster mother only wanted us to buy cheap clothes and every store we went in the clothes were too expensive.  We ended up driving through town and shopping in the downtown core before we found prices that she was happy with.  It was too hard to try and reason with her in Spanish so we just followed along.  We got to see lots and she took us to a stall with Honduran crafts as well.  I think she also wanted to spend more time with Ricardo.  We finally got to the hotel around 3:30 and she stayed another hour before leaving.  It was very sad as she has cared for him for so long. 

My son was happy at first.  The foster mother had told him for months that a new family would come and buy him lots of things.  He was very happy during the shopping.  After the foster mother left, we headed to the pool.  He had never been in a pool before and had no sense of how to be safe.  It took a fall off the stairs in the bigger kids pool in which his head went under water for him to realize that it could be dangerous.  He also did colouring and playing paper airplanes with Ali.  He ate a good dinner, watched some tv and then bed.  It was bed time when he realized that he wasn't going back home and the crying started but only for about 15 minutes.  I laid on the bed with him and he fell asleep. 

Saturday he woke up happy and we again headed to the mall as we were missing a few things like pajamas.  We bought more things for him, some colouring books and small toys and had lunch before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon in the pool.  He seemed happy most of the day but a little sad around dinner.  He perked up when we put the tv on and his favourite movie was on, Wall-E.  Before bed he showed me all the different kinds of dinosaurs in his colouring book and then I laid with him as he quietly went to sleep. 

I am very happy with the way things have gone the last two days.  Both kids are adjusting well.  Ali has had a few issues but has been very helpful.  Everything is going smoothly and I hope things will continue.  We have started working on English with my son and Ali keeps sitting him down and going over words in her notebook. 

Tomorrow we will hang around the hotel after two days of shopping. 

Day 2

So, not much change on the adoption front today.  Except that, thanks to the Yahoo Group, I now know what's going on (of which my agency asked me not to post about).  Lets just say that it is frustrating and I have no idea how long I will now be here.  Maybe it will resolve tomorrow, maybe not. 

We started out the day by calling the foster mother to see if she had heard from IHNFA and she hadn't so I let her know that we would be at her house at 1:00 pm.  Then we headed to the airport to get my Dad.  He had a red-eye flight so after some tea he headed to bed and Ali and I got the taxi.  The foster mother and my son came back to the hotel and we ate lunch and then just hung around. 

I have to say that hanging around with my son and the foster mother is getting a tad tiring.  Sure my son gets to spend some time with us but the foster mother is always right there or at least close by.  He really isn't learning to be just with us.  The foster mother is fine, its just an awkward situation. 

Tomorrow we are heading to the foster mother's house at nine.  I will ask her to call IHNFA to see if she can get a hold of anyone.  Then we will head to the mall and then back to the hotel.  If there is no change in the situation here and I am not able to take my son on his own, then we will have to figure out what to do next.  Things are moving forward for the other Canadian family that is here so that is good news.  I can only just sit here at the moment and wait to see what tomorrow brings. 

In the meantime, Ali is still enjoying the pool at every opportunity.  We were just outside sitting around the pool and watching lightening in the distance.  It is HOT, HOT, HOT here. 

Day One!

Last night my agency confirmed that I was to go to the foster mother's house by 9:00 to see my son.  Emi told me that if things went well my son would spend the night.  IHNFA was going to call in the afternoon to see how things were going. 

Ali and I were both up early due to the bright sun and birds.  So we enjoyed our breakfast and then waited for our taxi.  I am using the same taxi driver we used last time because he is trustworthy and he knows where the foster mother's house is.  I don't even have an address so I was glad that the taxi driver remembered. 

Once we arrived at the foster mother's I knew something wasn't right because she was confused and kept saying that she had to call IHNFA.  I told the taxi to come back in one hour and Ali and I went inside.  It was several minutes before my son came out.  I could tell that he was feeling shy and nervous.  Ali was also feeling nervous and was acting out a bit and complaining that she wanted to leave.  We waited while the foster mother called IHNFA but she could not get a hold of the case worker so I gave her the phone number of the lawyer in Tegu.  The lawyer told the foster mother that we should go to the mall.  I didn't want to go to the mall and suggested that we go back to the hotel where we could have lunch and play in the playground or pool.  So we went with my son and the foster mother. 

The difficult part is that all this conversation was taking place in Spanish and while I have been studying the language, I just don't know enough to have complicated conversations about lawyers and IHNFA.  I am good with " I like apples" and " I want to go to the store"  but after that forget it.  So once we were back at the hotel, I called Emi in Quebec to find out what was happening.  Why was the foster mother with us and when was I going to have my son to myself for a few hours?  Emi, with my adoption agency, speaks English, Spanish and French so I knew she could talk to the foster mother to figure this out.  So after a 20 minute conversation ($$$$$$$$) Emi told me that IHNFA had not called the foster mother to give her instructions and the foster mother could not leave the child until this is done.  Seems that no one could get hold of the case worker so I could not have my son at the hotel without the foster mother.  The lawyer was going to get hold of IHNFA to see if I could have my son tomorrow and then have him stay overnight.  We are now waiting until tomorrow to see where things are at.  
The only thing I know is that my Dad is arriving at 11:00 and I promised I would be at the airport to meet him.  So it will just be Ali and myself going and we will go back to the foster mother's house in the afternoon. 

The time we did spend with my son was great.  We went to a grocery store so I could pick some things up and I bought a ball.  He loved the ball and played for a long time with Ali.  We also played with some cars I brought with me and he did some colouring. 
The foster mother and my son left at three and Ali and I headed to the pool.  It was extremely hot today and the pool brought some welcome relief.  Ali spent about 5 hours in the pool with her new friend that she met yesterday. 

Enjoy photos from today.  Note: I won't post photos of my son until the adoption papers are signed.  This is based on other people's experiences with adoptions from other countries.  I just don't want to push my luck.

The playground iguana

Collecting garbage

I asked for a room close to the pool and I got it.  I took this picture from the door to our room. 

We have Arrived.

Ali on the final flight into San Pedro Sula

After four different flights, a five hour sleep in Toronto and a four hour layover in Miami, we arrived in San Pedro Sula at 4:30.  We were through customs quickly and waited about ten minutes for the hotel bus.  We arrived at the hotel around 5:15, had dinner and then had an evening swim.  Ali couldn't wait any longer to get into the pool.  And is it so hot here that it was a wonderful way to cool down. 

Ali was good all the way especially considering the short sleep in Toronto.  We had to get up at 6:15 Toronto time which was 3:15 for us.  She only had one crying spell the whole day.  She has just gone to sleep and I am going to soon follow. 

Tomorrow is the big day.  We have to be at IHNFA at nine and he will spend the day with us.  I hope all goes well. 

3 Hours to go!!!

The bags are packed, the house cleaned, the fish tank cleaned, plants watered, banking done, gifts bought.  Everything is ready.  Just a few errands in town and we will be on our way.  We are coming my boy!!!!!!!



I come from a family of light packers, the smaller and fewer the bags the better.  We only have hand luggage.  When I told my father what luggage I was bringing he said "Why do you need so much luggage!?" 

We will see you soon my son!  Ali is looking forward to meeting you.

All Most Here!

Finally, just one more day until we leave.  I have waited for this moment for so long.  Its hard to believe that I am on my way to bringing him home. 

The last few weeks have been totally exhausting.  I have been so busy finishing up at work and trying to get ready to leave.  I just don't know where the last couple of weeks went.  Most of my energy went into wrapping up work.   I dreamt about work all night.  Good thing I don't have to go back for 9 months!!!  I am looking forward to the break from work.  I will have 9 months just to focus on kids and helping my son make his adjustment to life here in Canada. 

Tomorrow I will finish packing and getting things ready and then spend the evening with Ali before we head off on Monday.  I am nervous and excited at the same time.  I know I am in for a long haul in Honduras.  There are still hoops to jump through and lots of opportunity for delays.  I am just going focus on enjoying the time as a family and not worry about paperwork.

Lemonade anyone?

Ali had her friend stay over this past weekend and they decided, since the weather was so nice, that they should set up a lemonade stand.  And not only sell lemonade but blackberries also.  So they went berry picking and made up some lemonade and out they went.  Two dollars for a lemonade and five dollars for a small bag of blackberries.  I thought that maybe their pricing was a bit high but what do I know.  They sold one glass ---- for five dollars!!!! And sold a bag of blackberries.  Total sales - 10 dollars!  Sure they only had two sales but that was all they needed.  They each took home five bucks.  And I was left wondering if I should set up my own stand to help fund the flights for this adoption!

They also had a much anticipated trip to the local mini golf and bumper cars.  My Dad came along and the girls had a great time. 



Back to School

Wow, what a fast summer.  The nine week summer school break zoomed by and now Ali is heading back to scholl into grade 3.  She is excited to see her friends but not excited about having to do school work again.  And she is nervous about moving into a new class.  She will spend the first two days in her old class and will find out who her new teacher is on Thursday.

She had a great summer though and ended up spending half of it at her grandparents.  She went to swimming and gymnastic camps which she loved.  She also dressed up for the Duncan Summer festival and went in the children's parade. 

GOING BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yipeeeee!

On Monday, I recieved word that the report from IHNFA had been submitted to the Judge and it would take about two weeks and then I would go to Honduras a week after that.  Well, since I have to train the person who is filling in for me at work, I need at least two weeks before I can get on a plane.  So I asked if I could get my flights booked for the week of September 21 and the agency said Yes!  So this started several days of preparation. First, I had to arrange to get my replacement at work to start work next week.  Then I started dealing with the flights. 

Thank goodness for blogs.  I was working with my travel agent on what flights would work.  I needed flexible flights that I could change on the way home in case things are delayed and I couldn't fly through the US because my son would be traveling on a Honduran passport with a visa to Canada.  So Mexico looked good and we were at the final stages when I read a blog of a Canadian couple who adopted last fall.  They arrived in Mexico in the evening and were going to fly out the next morning.  However, when they arrived at the airport they could not leave because their child needed a visa.  One parent stayed behind immigration with the child and the other parent went out to claim the luggage.  I asked my agency about this and they said that I would have to sleep on the chairs in the airport and hopefully my luggage would be sent on sometime later.  The only flights through Mexico involve staying overnight.

There has to be a better way I thought.  So back to the drawing board we went.  It seems that Hondurans can go to Costa Rica without a visa.  So my agent spent hours trying to sort this one out.  The only problem with the new route was that it was way more expensive.  So I spent a day trying to decide what to do.  I will be travelling on my own with my daughter of seven and my son who is six.  I would be up around 8 in the morning (because my son gets up early) do the airport and flying portion, sit up all night as there is no way I would sleep in an airport on hard chairs, continue travelling the next day, then go through hours of immigration in Vancouver, fly to Nanaimo and then get home close to eight at night.  No sleep, on my own with two sleep deprived children.  NO WAY.  The more I thought about it the more I just couldn't face doing this.  If I had someone else with me who could have gone to the hotel and slept and could spell me off during the day, then I could have done this.  Not on my own.  So, I decided to pay the money to make it easy.  I have to overnight in Toronto which will be fine.  At least it will be in a bed! 

Then I had to figure out what my Dad was doing.  He was going to come for two weeks.  Problem is that he is going to Nepal on October 18 and we won't be back in time from Honduras.  So after debating on whether he should change his Nepal holiday, he decided to come for the first two weeks.  This will be great as I am sure the first few days will be difficult with the transition of my son.  And for my daughter as well. 

So after, two hours in the travel agent's office on Saturday morning, I am booked to go on September 21.  And now that the flights are booked, I can start start to get ready to go.

I can't believe I am almost there!!!!!!