Back in Guatemala

We're back! Finally, after the long wait, we are back in Guatemala. I cannot even begin to tell you how anxious we have been about getting back down here. The good news is that this time Holly will not be leaving without a baby! We got in to Guatemala City at about 9pm and were at the hotel by 10pm and this despite a bit of a delay in getting out of Miami. We arrived a bit hungry, so at 10pm we got in a cab and went down to the mall and shared some great memories and quesadillas from Taco Inn. Yes, we again found ourselves as the only white people there eating at Taco Inn while the Guatemalan people ate at McDonalds. Oh the irony.

We woke up this morning and went down stairs after our 10 am phone call from the agency. We met our foster mother and received Isabella for the last time! It was definitely a bitter sweet moment. We love our foster mother and have come to highly respect her. It was hard to take our baby away from her, but alas, the feelings of completion as we held our daughter were too overwhelming. Our foster mother brought her daughter with her. It was great to meet more of her family. One thing that our foster mom did that was so awesome was take pictures. We left a few disposable cameras with her and she took pictures of Isa in her home with the rest of her family. One of the greatest things that she did was take pictures of Isa's baby dedication at her church here in Guatemala City. We cannot wait to get these pictures developed and see what our baby's life has been like for the past several weeks. (I realize that this may be weird for some parents to hear. It is weird for me to write. There is something unsettling about being away from your daughter and not knowing what she is doing day to day.)

I (Chris) just got back in the room from making a pharmacy run. The pharmacies in Guatemala City are not like the one's in the US. The stores have very little in the store. It looks more like a newsstand crammed inside a 10 by 10 room. We hear that there is a rather large grocery store and pharmacy that we will have an opportunity to go to on our way to Antigua. We'll get more stuff then. I will be going back out again in the morning to locate a cell phone for Holly to have while she is in Antigua.

It always amazes when I step off the plane (actually on the plane in Miami) and hear nothing but Spanish. Hearing the Spanish kind of makes the whole trip "real." What is equally amazing is how you get used to hearing Spanish while down here and then have to readjust to all those people speaking English back in the US. The good news is that I have several days before I have to adjust to all you English speakers back home!

Shalom,
Chris