The Dog and Pony Show

Wow what a day. I am falling asleep at my keyboard as I type this. And no, it’s not the glass of excellent cabernet that I got from the hotel wine bar. Today we left NYC behind and flew to Medellin. We woke up at 2:45 AM to be ready for a 3:30 AM car service. Mia was a dream child almost all the way through. She was a sweetheart in Newark, a trooper in Miami and a doll in Medellin. We walked out of the airport, a bit disheveled but excited to get back to our hotel and set ourselves up for our new baby, when….there was no driver there to greet us. I had to borrow a cell phone to call the orphanage director. (Strangely, my iphone did not work in Colombia which is so odd because my iphone is so cool and I am so cool for having it so why should there be a problem?) Within minutes our driver, Juan Pablo, arrived with our chariot….um, no wait, it’s a really small car….like REALLY small. Like REALLY, REALLY small. And here we are, Josh, Mia and I along with Fanny, our Colombian friend and babysitter, all our gear for three weeks in Colombia plus the baby’s stroller and car seat and Mia’s booster car seat….and a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY small car.

Let’s just say that the old “clowns in a car” image does not even begin to describe it. We were literally shoved into this car on top of each other like sardines, each of us hosting a suitcase or two on our laps and Mia sprawled across the whole mess fast asleep. We sped up, down and around narrow mountain roads speckled with roadside stands and thick, jungle-like foliage. At times we were literally driving through tunnels of branches and thick, green vines. Our driver kept slipping into the left lane to pass cars, but he seemed to only do it when he was approaching a blind spot or a big curve so that we literally had no idea if we were about to crash head on into oncoming traffic. Despite the fear factor, it had been a very long day, I was exhausted and the motion of the car was knocking me out. I tried my best not to fall asleep (unlike my legs) so that I could get a good look at my son’s homeland. I was most struck by how many dogs I saw. As most people know, Josh and I were avid dog rescuers before having Mia, and the sight of five to ten dogs running down the road every mile was hard to accept.

I had just about had enough of this dog and pony show when finally we saw the city of Medellin through the trees at the base of the mountain we were spiraling. We spun our way down to the bottom and rested at the Hotel Intercontinental. Ah, civilization!

The hotel is beautiful and our rooms are great. The only issue we have had is that there are only showers, no bathtubs. For the baby they gave us a plastic tub but we were left with one fussy and overtired five year old who is deathly afraid of showers. I had to go down to the front desk and beg housekeeping to let us into an empty room to use the tub. Not only were they nice enough to let Mia “bathe for free”, they lined the rim of the tub with rose petals and called her a princess! Mia was barely awake enough to mutter a quiet “Muchas Gracias”.

Tomorrow morning we will go to the court for our first appointment and then the moment of truth….we will finally meet our baby boy and I will get to hold my Mason in my arms. It was so surreal packing up the diaper bag tonight. I haven’t packed a Ziploc full of diapers and wipes for over three years. I wonder if I will do it better this time. I’m certainly less prepared! But maybe that is a good thing.