February 5 Update – An Epic Adoption Story
Here’s another update! Our trip to get medical testing at the International Office of Migration (IOM) was anything, but efficient. We arrived at the police check-in at 9:05 am, and ran a little late because our driver wasn’t sure of his destination and the Malaria meds along with the multiple U-turns and pot holes got the best of Tim. We were instructed that we should wait in an outdoor shelter for our names to be called. After sitting for an hour we asked a couple more people about where we should be and both told us we were in the right place. After three hours I finally went hunting for a Doctor or nurse. I arrived and explained who I was and where we had been and they apologized for the confusion. It turns out we could have come straight to medical. So, we only got the children weighed, made payment, and then the very painful TB test. Lucas went first. He was brave, but the pain was too much as he burst into tears. It took a while for Daddy to console him. Kamri is a lot like Shelbi Lynn. When she gets hurt she gets angry. She shed a few tears when she got the TB test done, but was just angry for a while afterward. Shelbi gets mad when she gets hurt too, but at least Shelbi will talk to you. Kamri says nothing. Lilli went last, and began to cry as soon as she realized it was her turn. It was hard to explain why this had to happen, and we felt like we were betraying them in some way. We go back Monday to get the TB tests read and to complete the physicals at 2:00 pm.
All was forgiven by lunch time. We went to Garden City. This is an area of Kampala frequented by foreigners. We went into the Oasis mall that had a Ugandan version of a Super Wal-Mart, an escalator, and a restaurant known for its hamburgers, “The Pizza Connection.” Of course they had pizza, and it looked pretty good, but good hamburgers are hard to find and these were good. The kids had “chicken and chips,” otherwise known as friend chicken breast fillets and French fries. The escalator, as with any kid, was like an amusement ride. As the ladies shopped we had to ride again.
Our last stop of the day was the Friday Market. Along the train tracks vendors set up tarps and lay out their merchandise to sell. The vendors we lay on the ground and try to sleep. They would wake up as soon as you passed by and ask you to shop. One lady stood in a drainage hole peddling her paper beaded jewelry. Items for sale included wood and soap stone carvings including masks, manger scenes, and animals; paper bead necklaces and bracelets; hand woven purses and handmade cards; African dress shirts and dresses; shoes; drums, and more. You ask for a price and then you try to barter. It’s easier to barter if you purchase more than one item. We may go back again in a week without kids. It’s a little rough and keeping an eye on them while trying to make deals was a little exhausting in the heat of the day, and maybe we can give a few hugs as well.
We ended the evening with a game of Uno with Lawrence and Junior. Lawrence predicted winning the whole evening, but, as usual, Kristi dominated winning five hands. Only two others won as many as two hands and I didn’t win a single hand. It is a part of Ugandan culture for the men to express confidence in just about anything.
February 4 Update “The Agenda” – An Epic Adoption Story
So, here is what has happened in an informal timeline. Just to give you an idea of what we were expecting the information we had prior to our trip was to expect a four to six week stay with a week to ten days in between court dates and another week between Embassy appointments. You won’t be able to appreciate just how “break neck” the speed is unless you’ve been here, but it may still seem like a whole lot has happened in a short amount of time. After all we haven’t even been here a week. In fact, at the time of writing we have only been on Ugandan soil for THREE days. So, buckle your seat belts:
January 27 Thursday
4:30 am We get “The Call!”
5:00 am Email travel agent, and a flight is booked over the phone through Delta in order to reserve the last two seats on a flight out of Lexington on Saturday. It’s actually less than expected.
6:00 am Purchase medical insurance and emergency travel insurance, call family, post it on Facebook, text messages sent to bosses.
6:30 am Wake up the girls and inform them, Baili has awoken with a cough and since Robert had the Flu the previous week a Dr. appointment needs to be scheduled
8:00 am Contact our bank and get money overnighted, $100 bills must be 2004 or later and have no defects in order to exchange we inform local bank of Friday need, and Dr. appointment is scheduled for 9:15 am
9:00 am Contact Travel agent and Delta in order to get the best deal and go with travel agent.
9:15 am Dr., etc.
9:30 am Robert arrives at work
11:00 am Packing begins with some helpers
2:00 pm Meeting with Jill Baker, our adoption agent, to go over everything
3:00 pm Packing continues
7:00 pm Robert home from work and Grandpa Glenn arrives for instructions.
9:00 pm Mallori tucked into bed.
9:30 pm Packing continues and Grandpa Glenn goes home
10:00 pm Everyone is ready to go to bed and Shelbi dislocates kneecap while dancing in her bedroom. A trip to the Emergency Room and Grandpa Glenn returns so Baili can go to bed and Mallori can remain in bed.
11:30 pm Return home from ER with crutches and a brace.
12:00 am Bedtime
January 28 Friday
5:00 am Can’t sleep even though we’re worn out. By chance, or by God, we find the Thompson’s on Skype and get to talk with them and Lucas and Prossy as they are in Busia. Other emails and tracking an important package are on the agenda too.
8:00 am Robert at work
9:00 am A friend volunteers to stay until check arrives so Kristi can go to Bible study
10:30 am Bible Study
4:00 pm Robert has been having some back pain and goes to previously scheduled massage
6:00 pm Dinner with family
8:00 pm Finalize packing by distributing weight in bags to be less than 50 lbs.
9:30 pm Family game
11:00 pm Bedtime
January 29 Saturday
8:00 am Breakfast and prayer
9:00 am Begin saying goodbyes
9:25 am Leave for airport
10:00 am Arrive at airport
10:30 am Kristi is screened and wanded at security…it happens every time. Robert’s Tens unit is an issue in the carry on, but no worries…flight is delayed until 12:45 pm
12:30 pm We are on the plane and arrive an hour before catching flight from Detroit
2:30 pm On plane in Detroit
January 30 Sunday
6:00 am Arrive in Amsterdam
10:00 am On plane to Entebbe, Uganda. Robert develops a slight case of TMJ and takes some medicine and begins to pray that it goes away. By Monday it is gone.
8:00 pm Arrive in Entebbe, Uganda
8:15 pm Visa done look for luggage
8:45 pm Realize luggage is missing
9:15 pm Register luggage and exit airport
9:20 pm Meet Lucas, Prossy, and the kids.
10:00 pm Arrive at Entebbe Flight Motel and get acquainted with children who sleep with us.
11:00 pm Bedtime
January 31 Monday
6:15 am Wake up and get everyone ready, Robert bought wrong adapter and almost burns down hotel as Kristi’s straightener overheats.
7:30 am Breakfast in hotel
8:30 am Leave for appointment with lawyer
9:30 am Arrive for appointment with lawyer
10:30 am Various errands run around Kampala including phone SIM package, a power strip for charging computer, cameras, and phone, wireless internet, & lunch (fried chicken and French fries)
1:30 pm Check out hotel for families of children and purchase rooms
2:00 pm Arrive at our Kampala destination. Tim and Heather Thompson great us with hugs and it’s nice to be finally be with them
3:00 pm Robert leaves to retrieves luggage that was taken by mistake.
4:30 pm Robert arrives to get luggage and has to leave passport in order to get a visitors pass at Aviation Security office.
5:30 pm Robert retrieves luggage and is on his way back to Kampala, but doesn’t realize he FORGOT his passport!
7:30 pm Robert arrives home, traffic was a mess, and eats dinner then realizes passport was left.
8:30 pm Children are bathed
9:30 pm We experience the “second wind” as bedtime becomes time to entertain and realize that the internet stick was not set up properly. Lawrence is a huge help getting that straight.
10:30 pm Children asleep
11:30 pm Parents asleep
February 1 Tuesday
6:30 am Rise and Shine
8:30 am Leave for court and pick up family on the way
9:35 am Arrive at lawyers office with family
9:45 am Leave for court, which is in a different destination than previously anticipated.
10:00 am Arrive at Court of Commerce
10:15 am Called into judges chambers one family at a time for adoption proceedings.
12:00 pm Second case is finished and judge agrees to have ruling done by Monday, February 7th. Our lawyer said it was the fastest ruling he has ever had. We know prayer has been the cause.
12:10 pm Pictures taken with families in court room, and we catch a ride back to our Inn.
1:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm We Skype the kids for the first time as internet is fixed. Thanks Lawrence!
2:30 pm We, along with the Thompsons, leave for Entebbe Airport so Robert can get his passport, and so he doesn’t feel like a loser, we go to the Entebbe Zoo. We’ll do as much together from this point forward as possible.
6:30 pm We arrive home from the zoo where the Ostrich made the biggest impact. Ostrich came running right up to the fence and the kids thought he was coming to get us. Hillarious moment!
7:00 pm Dinner in the dark. Power went out for a couple of hours and when the lights came on we had a mess to clean up.
9:00 pm Sponge baths and bed.
February 2 Wednesday
6:15 am Rise and Shine
8:00 am Leave to retrieve documents from lawyer so that we can get investigation started at US Embassy
10:00 am Arrive at lawyers because traffic jam is horrible
10:20 am Documents in hand and we have 40 minutes to make it to the Embassy. Needless to say we prepare for the worst.
10:50 am Arrive at US Embassy and get appointment, and God proves once again He is in control.
12:00 pm Appointment completed and check list in hand. We meet another agency doing their first adoption coming into the Embassy who have lots of questions. We are now the experts. J
12:30 pm Lunch and appointment scheduled for Friday at 9:00 am for medical testing.
1:30 pm Afternoon free and so we get caught up on blogs, expenses, Skyping with friends and family, and the kids can do something other than ride in a taxi for hours. Tomorrow will be our first day free of appointments.
SHEW! Thursday We actually have time to reflect…
February 3 Update – An Epic Adoption Story
Where in the world do we begin? We haven’t had time to really reflect. We have rushed from one appointment to another ignoring the jetlag except for the occasional nap in the taxi (Robert is guilty). As you might recall we didn’t find out we had to be in Uganda by Monday (January 31) until Thursday (January 27). So, we arrive in Uganda. We’re completely unprepared and forget to pack some bug spray in a carry on. The whole time we wonder if we might get bitten, and because of the short notice we hadn’t begun our Malaria meds on schedule. Ooops! We had to wait in the long Visa line since we were unable to get it prior to departure. When we travel as a team we always get visas ahead of time. The next event is reason why.
We go to get our luggage and we begin the process of identifying four suitcases. The first suitcase I grab, isn’t ours. It has a pink ribbon on the handle and is black in color, but Kristi notices that it is Jeep luggage, not American Tourister. So, I place it back on the conveyor and proceed to retrieve the other pieces. After watching the conveyor for 20 minutes it becomes increasingly likely that we are missing a piece of luggage. It just so happens that it is the luggage with all of Kristi’s clothing. The twists and turns continue. Is it another roadblock, or another opportunity for growth? It turns out the luggage was taken by accident and returned to the airport the following day.
We register the lost luggage with the airport and they ask for contact information. We don’t have it. In our rush in America I failed to get phone numbers for Lucas and Prossy, and they had not arrived to pick us up. So, I was given a phone number by the luggage folks to call the following day to check on the status of the luggage.
The long wait was actually a good thing as it gave Lucas and Prossy time to arrive. Almost as soon as we exit the airport doors Lucas and Prossy and our three precious children walk toward us. The kids were shy and timid and told us that they loved us, but it was a muted response – once again nothing like we had envisioned. Kristi was emotional, but I was once again stuck in some kind of funk as the stress of the lost luggage had somehow robbed us of the joy of the union. It was still good, but not the overwhelming emotional experience we had anticipated.
The one we will call Lucas was Daddy’s boy from the beginning. He wants to hold Daddy’s hand when we walk, and ride in the same seat when we take a taxi. He has a tender heart, and is very respectful and minds us without hesitation. The one we will call Lilli was a little afraid of Daddy at first, but it only took a day for that fear to be transformed. She had no issues with Mommy. Lilli is a monkey and loves to climb just about anything. She seems to get her second wind the moment it is time to go to bed. We have to be insistent with her and firm in our commands in order to coax obedience from her, and the obedience is at times only for a moment. As soon as she thinks we have forgotten what we told her she tries to do it again. The one we will call Kamri was a little distant and continues to be the most shy, which is different than we had expected based on others’ experiences, but she is warming up to us. She will often instigate Lilli’s bedtime energy.
While we had decided to call them by their current names it is difficult to communicate when two of them are named Fiona. So, we soon adapted their names calling them Lilli Fiona and Kamri Fiona. Not wanting Alex to feel left out we called him Lucas Alex. Now we are beginning to drop the middle name as they are responding better to their new names. I’m sure there will be a little confusion when we are able to return to Busia and the kids are able to see their friends once more, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.