"Sentencia"

OMG! What a trip to the jungle of Putumayo. The flight took off late and this is where the crazy day starts.

Let me set the scene: Trees. Lots of them. Trees. More of them. Trees. Add some more. Weather. Humidity at 87% with the temperature at 91 degrees. Airport. About the size of a minimart.

I got off the flight and found my Putumayo lawyer waiting for me. We had about an hour to sign and get back for my return flight, as it wasn't recommended that I stay in Puerto Asis for an extended amount of time. So we went straight to the office to sign sentencia and the judge was "A Bitch". She was horrible to me. I felt like a criminal for wanting to adopt Andrés. She asked all kinds of personal questions, uncomfortable questions, questions that were already answered in my paperwork! Then she asked how come this process happened so fast, how come it took less than a year for me when other families from Europe have wait years to adopt a child? How the hell do I know??? She asked me at least 5 times how I came to know Andrés. Finally, I said to her "Look, my lawyer in Bogota explained to me that I am here to look over some papers, check spellings, dates, passport and case numbers and to make sure you put the correct stamp on my documents." The American government has done a very deep background check on me. I took the classes FANA and the Buffalo agency required me to take. My doctor has included the health information you are asking. I'm not here to play games with you and I hope you are not here to play games with me." She left. Mr. Putumayo lawyer told me to "relax". She came back and said she wasn't going to sign sentenia for 2 days! I was so mad I wanted to punch her in the face. My lawyer said stuff...then she said she would sign at 4:00pm that day! I told her that "Wasn't fair, I'm going to miss my flight and the person who gets hurt the most is Andrés. I don't want to do that to him. He's going to think I left him for good if I don't come back tonight." So, then she changed it to 2:00pm that day!

My Putumayo lawyer told me she was new and young. Younger than me...she had new power and wanted to show it. OMG...I was steaming in more than one sense of the word.

So... while waiting for 2pm to come we went back to the airport to get my boarding pass. There I was told my flight was leaving at 12:30pm not 2:30pm! Also, the last flight back to Bogota was at 1pm on a different airline. I had a meltdown. I'm talking all out crying in front of my lawyer. I asked him what am I going to do, how can I stay here, this isn't safe for me, etc. He was really nice to me. A true gentleman. We found a hotel in the town. There was only 1 room left with 3 beds! No choice, I took it and he stayed there with me to make sure no one would bother me. Now, who else from Baker Victory can say they slept with their lawyer? (LOL) We were in seclusion until we both decided hunger beats security. Off we went to a local restaurant across the street. After lunch we went back to sign a paper then settled in watching "Animal Planet" until he had to leave to get the paperwork. Later that evening he had to go back 3 times to the judge's office because they were taking over 3 hours to make 7 copies of my sentencia! I swear that judge did it on purpose.

So anyway.... my lawyer is now on his way to La Hormiga to get Andres' birth certificate changed and to send it to Bogota, I hope by Tuesday.

I have to say, it was kinda cool to see how life is in these small towns. When I say small towns think of the size of an average Buffalo neighborhood. Put in one or two paved streets and everything else is dirt road. Totally different from major Colombian cities! The houses had tin roofs and the rain water is collected and used. It was not directed into a sewer system. Motorcycles are the vehicle of choice as most people can't afford cars nor are they really appropriate either. Helmets are never worn. Holding an infant on the back of a motorcycle one is 100% normal. Side note, Andrés is always laughing at me because I "follow the rules", after seeing how life is down there I understand why now. There are no rules. Well, don't be stupid and you'll be fine. Be stupid and you'll get hurt. End of story!

Next step in Colombia is to wait for the new birth cert, wait for an appointment with the embassy, get passport pics, get an appointment with the Doctor, and then we can peace out of Colombia. I'm thinking another 10 -12 days.

As always, thank you for reading! :-)