Kim was so sweet to invite us to at playdate at a pizza place with an indoor play area. The playdate started at 10:30, so I planned to stop by the post office first to pick up a couple more Adoption Certificates and then head to the playdate. With our late start, the morning was slipping by. We were finally ready at 10:00, but Quincy couldn't pick us up until closer to 11:00. So instead, Aria and I took a taxi from the hotel to Mario's Pizza to meet Kim.
When we arrived, I was throughly confused. The pizza place had a "closed" sign up. It did seem odd we'd be playing at a pizza joint at 10:30 in the morning. I tried the door and it opened so I walked in looking lost and the lady working asked if I was "looking for a white girl". I laughed as we do indeed look out of place in Guyana. She directed me upstairs to a large indoor play area where Kim and her friends were playing with their kids.
It was nice to get out and chat with some grown ups, but Aria isn't at a level of interacting with other kids, so I held her while we watched the other kids play. One of the moms was from Minnesota and grew up in Edina. Such a small world to meet her in Georgetown, Guyana of all places!
Quincy picked me up at 11:30 and off we went to the "post office". The post office is really a huge government building that also takes care of mail. Kim said when any packages arrive from out of the country, you are required to open the package at the post office so they can estimate the value of the item and then you must pay taxes and import fees on the item before they will give you your package.
Quincy dropped me off at the front door. I was aimlessly walking around as I had no clue where to go for an Adoption Certificate when Quincy appeared. Thank goodness because I was completely lost. He found someone to ask for directions. Turns out we needed to use the entrance on the other side of the building. He led me around the building lined by poor homeless people and into the other door. He had to ask a few more people for directions until we found the right spot. We eventually ended up on the 3rd floor of the post office at the General Registrar's Office.
In Guyana, important documents like birth certificates and adoption certificates are all hand written on a standardized form. I was told to speak with the "woman in the green shirt" to get another certificate issued. The woman seemed completely perturbed that she'd need to write up an additional Adoption Certificate for me. But after putting up with the attitude, I ended up walking out of the office with two Original Adoption Certificates. We should hopefully be all set now (as long as I get my other original court documents back from the Embassy.)
After a quick pit stop at the grocery store with Quincy helping me gather items throughout the store, he brought us back to the Marriott. We had had enough excitement for one day and Aria was ready for a nap.
Quincy was a huge life saver today! Picking me up at the pizza place, accompanying me on the wild goose chase to figure out where to get the Adoption Certificate, and being my personal shopping assistant at the grocery store. I couldn't have done it without him. After all that time he spent helping me, he only charged me $2,000 Guyanese Dollars (that's only $10 USD!) He of course got a hefty tip for all his much appreciated assistance.
Back in Minnesota, Shane was working on a long list of paperwork I had sent him to sign. He shipped it off to Georgetown via Fedex this afternoon. They said it'll be delivered by Wednesday night but I'm praying we get it Tuesday afternoon. Aria's Guyanese passport will be ready to pick up Tuesday morning but we can't move forward with the remaining steps without Shane's signed I-600 documents. I will be stalking our tracking number and fingers crossed, we will be able to move forward come Tuesday.
For now, Aria and I will get as much cuddle time as possible. The days of just myself and my littlest princess alone in Guyana are numbered. Her world is about to become much more loud and chaotic when we head home soon and she meets her 4 older siblings.
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