Ecuador Day 9

Today Zac got up early to work and Adriana and I slept till 7:45 again...I'm going to have to start setting my alarm clock a week before we go home so I don't have a hard time when Addie is getting up at 6.  Mom and dad....if you could get her to start sleeping till 7:45 that would be fantastic! Guessing that's not gonna happen, but hey, wishful thinking!

We were planning on having a day at the apartment, but we really needed to do some laundry.  Here at the apartment place, they charge $.50 PER ITEM! On their website it is $.40 per item...but they told us since we had bigger items (in other words, we're bigger than they are) that it was going to be $.50 per item instead of $.40.  We were telling our translator, Carmen, and her friend John about this and John insisted we do laundry at his place from now on.  At first we were hesitant as we don't want to be free loaders...but we knew we couldn't afford to continue doing laundry.  When I packed, I thought laundry was $.04 per item...yeah. Oh well..so off we went to John's today to do laundry.  We were there most of the morning.  Very nice place in a nice part of Cuenca.  Zac was able to get online and work and Adriana and I enjoyed John's two balcony's.  Adriana also was very curious about the washer and dryer and kept wanting to go back to the laundry room to put her hands on the warm dryer or watch the water enter the washing machine...I forget how everything is so new to her. And such a blessing to be able to experience it all with her!

John said he had to go up into the country to pay a man for a job.  John had recently purchased some land and was building a house.  Land is cheap here as well as building homes...crazy thing is, everything is done by hand.  We knew it was a chance that we probably wouldn't get again, so we agreed. (If you can't tell, John has been an absolute God send to us)  After last nights yuck of feeling homesick, it was nice to see some great stuff of Ecuador.  We first took John to lunch for letting us use his laundry...A very nice place just down the street from his building.  It is one of the more expensive places in Cuenca..$2.75 per person.  It was obviously Adriana's first time at a restaurant, so she just sat on my lap and shared my lunch.  First they serve a fresh pureed juice(with lots of sugar added), then a soup, and then rice, a meat, and a small salad.  Desert was one slice of a peach. It was very good...Adriana ended up eating most of my lunch...have I mentioned how much this girl can eat?!  Luckily I had brought a cliff bar...

We drove through the Andes mountains..Adriana took a nice nap most of the way there...about 45 minutes...when we got there it was absolutely gorgeous...most of the way there was highways, but as we got closer to John's land it was a one way dirt road...even scarier when we would meet a bus!   We paid the man that is working for John.  He had three boys...I was taking pictures and the boys were so interested in my camera...I took a picture of them and they were so excited to see themselves on the camera.  I am hoping I can get the photo printed off and give to John to take back to them.  The man that he hired, had his three boys..his wife, a sister, and his mother...and they were all working...by hand.  The land was obviously on a slant as it was on the mountain..they were digging it out and level...with a little hand tool...they would move the wheelbarrow to move the earth with the two boys pulling with a string on the front of it and the mom pushing the wheelbarrow...it was so incredible to watch..but also made me so thankful for so much.  John pointed out a house...well, not really a house, more of a run down hut...tin roof, no windows or doors...you could see what looked liked a bed inside....he said that is most likely what the type of house that family lived in together.  Wow.  How ungrateful I have been for what my family has been blessed with.  

After we left where John's land was we drove into the town..Paute I believe it was called...John introduced us to these corn like pancake things that the street vendors cook and sell...We bought 4 for each of us...Adriana loved hers! I was planning on sharing with her in the back seat...but she wouldn't share! LOL  It was a good snack...not something I would need to have again..but good.  It was starting to rain pretty good, John was bummed as there were some small markets he wanted to take us to....we did stop at one of the markets that was selling some fresh fruit...we bought 2 large papayas and a large bunch of banana's (I'm talking like 20 in this one bunch) for $1.00.  Crazy!  So inexpensive for fresh, organic, locally grown food.

When we got back into Cuenca our lawyer Priscilla and her husband were at our apartment to get get copies of our passports for court.  Her husband helped to translate as he spoke a little bit of English. (And I must say, am shocked at how well Zac and I are doing with our Spanish...I've even found myself talking to Zac in Spanish! LOL)  Priscilla explained that Laura from the orphanage got the report done Monday and passed it onto Carmita at INFA on today!  (they had originally told us they might not have the report done till Wednesday) Priscilla and her husband explained that the judge would be coming to our apartment on Thursday at 1:00 for the signature verification. What?! Are you kidding me? The judge is coming to us?! Wow.  That is awesome!  They went on to explain that there is a chance....a small chance...that the judge may tell us to come to court on Friday...Wait, excuse me, what did you just say?! Friday?  Like this Friday.  Viernes..you sure we're talking the same day?! Priscilla said, that yes, there is a chance it could happen this friday, but if not friday, then probably Monday or Tuesday. I don't care if it's Friday, Monday, or Tuesday..any of those days would be an absolute miracle from God!  (When we met with INFA just a week ago they were telling us that more than likely Zac would need to change his plane ticket to January as they were fairly confident we would not get court in December) Zac and I were absolutely elated! We were hugging Priscilla and thanking her for all of her work for us.  Obviously, we know that things fall through, appointments scheduled sometime's don't happen, etc, etc...so we are trying not to get our hopes up...but obviously it's in someones else's Hands than ours. =) How amazing is this God we serve?! I mean, really!  We are going to continue to pray that the judge does actually come here Thursday and that court does happen either Friday, Monday or Tuesday.  What an incredible Christmas it will be! 

Priscilla and her husband invited us to their house for dinner and explained that Priscilla's brother was coming from Canada and spoke English fluently, so we shouldn't be worried about that.  We thanked them for their offer, but let them know we hoped to be able to go to Quito to spend Christmas with the three other families that are there right now adopting as well...but it would all depend on when our court date was, etc. Zac also has to go to Quito to the US Embassy to get an emergency passport since the officials here gave him such a hard time since his passport had gotten wet...good times! So time will tell what the next 10 days hold for us!  I am confident today that whatever it is, God is going to carry us through us....and what He has waiting on the other side of all of this is so much better and bigger than we can even imagine!  

We all needed to shower and since Adriana wants to shower every single time she goes to the bathroom....we started up to the shower only to realize the apartment complex was out of water...good times.  The manager said it happens every 6 months or so and that it would be better by morning...so we all went to bed stinky....they change the linens every Wednesday anyway...so I guess we'll be ok. =)

I am obviously trying to get as much detail as I can about our trip...but realizing I'm leaving out a lot about how well Adriana is doing.  She is amazing.  She has started to really get comfortable with us and started talking more.  She'll repeat almost anything we ask her to...it may not be understandable, but she's trying.  She loves to take a shower...she loves to watch Dora....loves anything with Santa and will try to say HO HO HO....she loves that she has clothes in a drawer all her own...today I put on her underwear this morning and turned around to realize she was taking them off and picking out a different pair and putting them on. =) The kid has an opinion! She likes to try and put on Zac and I's clothes....she likes playdough and coloring.  She loves to eat.  She loves chips and requests them often...first thing in the morning, she'll point to the chips.  Um., no baby girl, you maybe cute, but this momma does have some rules. No chips until atleast 9:00am LOL....I can't remember which night it was, but I was laying in bed with her and we've been telling her often...I love you....and after I said I love you she rolled over on her side and wrapped her arms around my neck and said....in her unique way....I love you...my heart melted!  This morning she did the same thing to Zac! 

At every meal, if we don't pray before we eat, she will oh so gently remind us by tapping me on the arm and putting her hands together....and then we pray. =) (they prayed with her in the orphanage at each meal)....she loves animals....birds, dogs, any animal she sees, she makes sure Zac and I see it by tapping us on the shoulder or arm and pointing at it...

The bonding with Zac continues to be a work in progress....she is just not used to male caretakers...so we try to have Zac help her more with meals...and just encourage the two of them to hang out together as much as possible.  She typically will only lounge with him if he has the computer or the portable DVD player...so we're working on it...we know it will take time...when we are out and about if Zac needs to carry her she has been acting up a bit and reaching out for me....so we will just have to keep praying for and working on that bonding process.  The internet connection has been absolutely miserable today (Wednesday) so Zac hasn't been able to work as much so he is getting to nap with her now.

When we go out to the market or a store she doesn't last long..an hour at most...before she starts getting a little ornery and a bit overstimulated...it's all new....and it's a lot for a 4 year old little mind to take in.