Today was an exciting day! The grownups were up at 4:00 am for a long day ahead. After getting the 5 kiddos dressed and fed, we packed up the remainder of the house. We were ready and waiting for our driver at 7:45 am sharp.
Our driver picked us up shortly after 7:45 am and after loading the large van, we headed to court in La Mesa. We pulled up to the familiar building and our driver and I left the rest of our crew in the van while we headed inside. The building is not accessible so I was thankful we didn't have to attempt to haul all the kids in and up the stairs. We stopped at a small store first. I think it was to pay in advance for copies but I'm not certain. Our driver only speaks Spanish. It had me a bit worried that something may get miscommunicated. In the past, our English speaking representative and lawyer always came with us to La Mesa. But now I was navigating this very important step without a translator.
Our next stop was a floor up at the same place that we signed Rose's and Kate's sentencia. The driver spoke to what appeared to be the receptionist and then we stood waiting for 15 minutes. Again, not exactly sure what was happening. But soon the woman said that the Judge wanted to see Sam. So we ventured down the steps and across the street to fetch him from the van, then back across the street and up the stairs. After seeing him, the woman gave him a big smile and had me sign the adoption decree. We never did meet the judge, but maybe she was peaking out from one of the back offices. Regardless, it was OFFICIAL!! Samuel was now a Slominski!
Afterwards, our driver brought Sam and I back to the van while he went to wait for the official copies of our adoption decree to be printed. He came back with our very important papers, and we were finally on our way to Bogota! We drove directly to the passport office. I had looked online to see how long it would take to arrive, and Google mentioned that the passport office closes at 12:00 pm. Oh boy! It was going to be a close call. We arrived at 11:15am, but we had to wait for William, another driver, to arrive with Sam's new birth certificate. We waited for an hour and finally he arrived.
I was worried about the office closing, but thankfully Google was sorely mistaken. We rounded the corner and saw a very long line of people waiting. There was probably 100 people there! But in Colombia, children and the elderly go right to the front of the line. So we only had to wait for a handful of other people before it was our turn. We applied for the passport and Sam had his photo taken which is always an interesting feat for a non-mobile child.
Soon we were off once again. The older kids had spent too much time waiting in the van. They were tired, hungry and ready to get to our apartment. We unloaded all our belongings from the van and transported them into the lobby of our new pad. We had a few minutes until our apartment would be ready so hung out for a bit. We hadn't even gotten our luggage to the room when I got a message. I had 1-hour to help get the kids settled in and fed before leaving for another appoint. Our Article 23 was READY!!! This is a document needed from ICBF before we can apply for Sam's Visa. I hurried up and ordered pizza delivery from Rappi, fed Aria, and was once again on the road, this time bound for ICBF.
We arrived to the once again familiar building, made our way through security, down the hall, up the stairs to the same seats I've sat in before. William got the Article 23. I signed and dated it. He got the copies we needed and back to the apartment we went. Luckily it was a fairly quick trip.
I had had some issues with Rappi and didn't think the pizza order was going to make it, but it did! The kids were thankfully all fed and doing well upon my return. It was getting a bit late and we needed groceries so Rose, Aria and I ventured out on a 15 minute walk to Carulla Express to load up on the essentials. We had Aria's stroller jam packed full of groceries and thankfully made it back without damaging any of the more delicate items.
Tomorrow I am going to pickup Sam's passport and get a required document signed by the pediatrician. Then all we have left is to apply for Sam's US Visa! We are getting close now!
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