Homeward Bound

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John  14:3

Reunion
David flew down to join Krista and the kids on August 18th, not really knowing when we'd all be able to come home. Scott Bailes picked him up, and went straight to the orphanage to pick up the kids, who'd been there to get their passport photos made. Then we were all reunited with Krista!

We had several days of family time (we went to the zoo and children's museum), with David and Krista getting into parenting sync, until Wednesday the 23rd, when we brought the children to see a doctor. What was odd was the (repeated) emphasis that we would not be allowed to go up with the children to the doctor's office, because he didn't have time to answer any of our "inevitable" questions about their backgrounds. Felix and Carmen both had stuffy coughs, but apparently that was OK. This visit was obviously a mere formality.

After the doctor appointment, we met with Christina (in charge of the orphanage) and our friend Crystal. Crystal is adopting three children as well. Her oldest, Jose, is Antonio's best friend. This was great that we were all going through this at the same time, to support each other, and the kids could be with their friends.

Christina went with us through all our paperwork, verifying information, and wrapping up the few loose ends. We were ready for the trip to the embassy the next day.

We decided that we'd make this the last night at the Bailes' and stay closer to the airport for the early Friday morning flight. We stayed up late packing.

The Embassy
Thursday was the ultimate high-stress day. Traffic made us a little late at the embassy, but we were still in good time. Lots and lots of Guatemalans were queued up for visas, but we got to go right in as Americans. Guess you have to got to a foreign country to be appreciated!

The fun started when Crystal, who'd gotten there a little earlier, found out we needed a couple things different that we'd expected. One particular form needed to be filled out three times instead of once, and the $325 fee was for each child! She had more forms, but not money! Christina was coming, and could get money, but we didn't know when. Several others adopting pitched it to get her the money she needed! We got extra forms from the window, but David had to go out and find a copy place to copy supporting documents. Some guy in the embassy overheard us talking, and helped him find a place that could make copies. After he gets back, we hear an announcement that they're processing the visa applications, and we needed to listen for our names. But we hadn't given them our applications yet! We did, and with a little grumbling they took our cases.

Christina showed up, and was aghast that we'd met a surprise. She provided money for Crystal, and stayed with us until we were done. We did finish, and we all our documentation was taken just fine. We didn't get the visa yet - those would be picked up later.

We all left with a great sense of relief. Krista, Crystal, and all the children went to La Esperanza to say good-bye to all the workers and children. David picked up the visas, and got plane tickets for the next day. Or tried to anyway. First, the phones wouldn't dial out. Then he got through, but there were no seats available for another week! He went with being on the waiting list, and was told to check back later in the day at the ticket office. He waited, and prayed, and tried not to worry. The trip to the ticket office (a couple blocks away) yielded confirmed tickets for David and the kids, but still a waiting list for Krista. This was because David and the kids were on Delta's special adoption fare, and Krista was on a "regular" fare.

Flying
God answered prayer, and Krista was confirmed when we checked in the next morning. The hotel staff graciously shuttle-bussed us all over to the airport, even though we left over an hour before the bus usually ran.

We all got on the plane, homeward bound at last. The kids enjoyed the flight, and cooperated fairly well. One unexpected new thing for them was escalators! We were in Atlanta, heading for customs, and moving quickly to make our connection. Carmen had fallen behind a bit, and balked at the escalators, though the rest of us were on our way down! Krista tried to run back up to get her, and fell and hurt her knee, at which Carmen then decided to come.

We got through customs, and had to go to another office to exchange the visas for a stamp in the kids' passports that was a "green card" of sorts. We have five years to make them citizens. Even at INS' glacial pace that should be enough time!

Crystal's connecting flight was even tighter than ours, and she had a rude customs agent, so was really stressed-out. Unfortunately, we had to leave her and her kids to catch our flight, so we made a hasty good-bye and moved on. She did end up getting on a different flight and getting home that day, though.

We arrived home, and took a cab to David's office (right by the airport), where we all piled into our van and headed home.

August 2000

Considered at Home >