Reflections on Guatemala

This could end up being a long post, but I wanted to put some thoughts down before I forget them. As this blog is named "Guatemala Adoption 2006," it is only fitting that its existence will end with the end of 2006, so I better get started.

Sunday, December 3

On this day we left the cold Twin Cities and flew south. The thought that stays with me on this day is that, on the countless flights I have taken in my life, I usually follow a set routine: Bring stacks and stacks of periodicals on the flight and, if there is a layover, find some chinese food to eat. On this day, as I was digesting my sesame chicken and cracking open a Sports Illustrated in Houston, waiting for my connecting flight into GC, it occurred to me that hey, this is it. This is the last time I can follow my plane "routine" for a very long while. From now on, beginning on the flight home, I'm not living for just myself anymore. I will have to subordinate my needs and wants to someone else's, who is much more vulnerable than me. The thought was pretty compelling to me, at least it was before I read an interesting article about predicitions for the upcoming college basketball season.

We arrived at GC at 10pm or so and had to wait over 30 minutes for our luggage, as ours were the last suitcases placed on the line, which was a little nervewracking. Now we were at a nervous point in the trip: we had read on other websites that leaving the GC airport would be a challenge, as there would be masses of people converging in on you, wanting to help you with your suitcases, or call a taxi, all for a couple of bucks in return. There was also the great potential for mischief. We weren't sure if our hotel shuttle would be waiting for us as we manuvered through the airport's construction. Sure enough, the shuttle driver was there, as well as a few kids who pried our suitcases out of our hands. We gave them a few dollars and moved on. That wasn't too hard.

We then arrived at our hotel, what with its waterfalls and plush grounds looked more like a resort in the darkness. We nervously watched Spanish ESPN and eventually fell asleep, looking forward to the next day's events.

Monday, December 4

We had never heard from our agency when we were to meet Henry on Monday. We both figured it would be around noon time or so, and we nervously got ready for that moment (sleep had been okay the night before probably because we were so exhausted). Noon came and went. I finally broke down and called Ivanna, the attorney who was working on our case down there. Her office said that Henry would be brought over around 4pm. Given some time, we decided to take a taxi to do some shopping. It was a short drive to a shopping complex that looked a little bit like Southdale, or the Galleria in Edina! There was a Wal-Mart type grocery store where we got some snacks and bottled water, then an American-style mall where we picked up some knick-knacks and a book. What a weird experience to shop in that environment just a few hours before we were to meet our son! This is a picture of Andy waiting outside the "Wal-Mart" for our taxi driver to bring us back to the hotel.

We got back and wasted some more time waiting for Henry. Then, at 4:00, Ivanna called our room and said that Henry would be coming around 6pm! Two more nervous hours to withstand! As I remember, we watched a really stupid MTV dating show, and Jeopardy. 6pm finally rolled around and we decided to wait for Henry in the hotel lobby. Seems that there was a large dinner party entering the hotel, as well as a bus tour of some sort, so there were many people mingling about. We took a seat and tried to stare past all of these people but we just couldn't see anything! It was really crazy. FINALLY, at 6:30, a nice car pulled up, and we just had a feeling it was him. Once we saw a middle-aged woman get up with a bundle in a blanket, we knew it was time.

We didn't actually get a good luck at Henry until we got back to the hotel room. Words cannot really express what we felt and what we saw, you've seen the pictures. It was interesting because his foster mom continued to hold him, so we felt a little like outsiders, even though Henry was officially our son. We began to chat about the process over the next few days and what Henry was like. The foster mother didn't speak any English, so Ivanna translated. A short time into the conversation the foster mother began to cry, and we all did. It was very evident that she loved Henry very much. At one point she said that she never considered herself to be a foster mother, but instead a real mother. It was probably the most emotional moment we'll ever have in our lives.

When the time came to go we gave the foster mother a final moment alone with Henry. We have promised to send pictures and information on our little guy so she can keep up with him. I walked the foster mother and Ivanna to the lobby while Erin had her first time alone with our son, I think he was on the verge of sleep. I sprinted back to the room, closed the door, and we looked at each other as new parents. Finally. Kind of a freak-out happy moment, tempered by the foster mother's sadness.

The rest of the night was actually pretty quiet. If you can believe it, we ordered in Domino's Pizza, since we were tired and didn't know what else to eat. The hotel staff brought the pizza box in on a very nice tablecloth with silverware folded nicely in heavy white napkins, which I thought was kind of funny. Henry slept in the crib for most of the night and then we eventually moved him to our king-sized bed. The foster mother thought he would be sort of out of it because he had received an immunization earlier that day. All in all, a wild day.

Congratulations if you have read this far! I'll post more about the wild week later.