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Four Months of Families Receive Approval for Assignments! Families are currently in Colombia to adopt:
Assignments & Traveling Soon:
We now have nine families with dossiers in regional offices, awaiting assignment! In addition, we have another 13 families with dossiers being reviewed in Colombia that have asked for older children, sibling groups, or who were born in Colombia that should be sent out soon to regional offices. Our families whose dossiers were approved in July 2005 for infants have either been assigned or are waiting in a Regional Office for assignment. Since those families were approved to the very end of July, we will now be waiting for news on our August 2005 families. It is so wonderful to see the baby list moving and be able to share information about their assignments. Families have been approved in 8/05, 9/05, 10/05, 11/05 ? every month! Congratulations to all the families! Currently Traveling...
It is hard to believe that we have been in Colombia for just 9 days! We feel as though we have been here all our lives. Folks here in Periera, Colombia have been so welcoming and supportive in this part of our adoption journey. In the past week, not only have we had the privilege of meeting and finally getting to know our son, Jonatan Andres, but also have been blessed in getting acquainted with the place and people he has called home and family for the first 19 months of his life...and what a rich culture and ethnic history he comes from! There are so many details that we would love to share regarding Jonatan, but will, in brief, say that we couldn't imagine being matched with anyone different! He has such a sweet, gentle, and fun-loving spirit...and, what an amazing sense of adventure and imagination he has! One brief Jonatan story...we were all reading together "Me Gusta Cuando.." (I like it when) the other night, and had gotten to one part in the book where we read "Me gusta cuando bailas conmigo!" (I like it when you dance with me!)...well, sure enough, Jonatan stood up, put his little fists in the air, and began to move his wrists to the beat of Spanish worship music we had on. His little head then began to nod back and forth to the rhythm...ok, need I mention he had a bottle in his mouth while he was doing this...way adorable! We pray that he never loses his love for life; it's so contagious! And this is just the beginning of so many more memories and discoveries that we could share! On one of our first days together, we all went to the Parque National del Café in Armenia, Colombia just an hour drive from Periera! It is actually a park very similar to Hershey Park (for all you PA folks, or those familiar with PA). The park was created as a national attraction, but also as a tribute to the history and culture surrounding coffee farming and production. One of the first things that we attended was a show that told the story of how coffee came to be cropped and one of the leading exports of Colombia...the unique thing about this 'show' was that it was all dance...there were five different and very distinct forms of music used as part of the show. The dancers were pretty awesome...they were dressed in ornate costumes...I wish that we were allowed to take photos during the show...they would be wonderful to post here! All I can say is that if you ever find yourself in this part of Colombia, you have to see this! We hope you enjoy some of the photos of our day together! We also wanted to share a thought with those waiting to travel for the Colombia program. It has to do with language and communication. We have found ourselves wondering how difficult it really would be if neither of us had any Spanish experience. There are many moments throughout our day that require a longer explanation than a two or three word statement in order for Jonatan to understand what is going. The thought occurred to us to share how important it really is to learn as much Spanish as one can before traveling to Colombia. Not only do the majority of persons here speak only Spanish, but your child(ren) will most likely only have heard Spanish. Knowing Spanish has also enabled us to connect with Jonatan in a way that we believe we would be able to if we did not. It has also reduced the amount of frustration and confusion for Jonatan in this transition.
When you finally do travel, plan to
immerse yourself in the culture! In the event that this is the first
time you are traveling abroad and to a different culture than your
own, resist the all too common tendency to isolate yourself from the
people around you. Not only is this a wonderful opportunity to get
to know the place and people your child(ren) are coming from, but it
is an opportunity for you to grow yourself. You will undoubtedly
return forever changed! Many blessings in the journey! (visit Sheila on her blog and give her encouragement by posting a comment!)
If you would like to share your
thoughts, experiences or stories about your adoption,
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