Beauracracy in Bogota

Monday, 
Sept 19


We left Anapoima (yay!) in a super cool “willy.” 

Seatbelts?  Nope! 

Window glass?  Nope! 

Tailgate?  Yes, but it doesn’t latch.

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Best ride in Colombia so far.

Tuesday, Sept 20

•      Officially adopted James.  Four weeks to the day from when we got custody, it was a bit anti-climactic, but a relief all the same. 
• ·     Walked three blocks and got him a new birth certificate. He has gone from being Breyner Rafael Molinares de la Cruz to James Breyner Rafael Kozaczuk.

Adoption Day with the Judge in the back

Father and Son Asleep 
on the Way to Bogota


• ·    Raced up to Bogota (3 hours) and ordered a Colombian passport for James.
• ·     Overnighted Adoption Decree to Barranquilla official for signatures.

These two pictures show the patio and yard
outside our apartment hotel

Wednesday, Sept 21

• ·    Carina spent one hour in non-moving traffic to pick up a passport that was not yet ready.  First time in the history of Colombian passport making, the printing company lost all the files….
• ·     TB test at US embassy approved clinic.

Thursday, Sept 21

Sam Sam’s 10^th Birthday!  To celebrate, we spent the morning at a place called Divercity (Fun-city) which is sort of amazing. There are over 100 tiny businesses as well as a supermarket, police station, hospital, fire station, etc.  

Kids go into business in groups of up to eight, put on uniforms and are led in a make-believe experience for about ten to 25 minutes.  

They might be the cashier while their friends shop at the supermarket, or they might be riding on a tiny firetruck to put out a fire with real water. 

Sam Sam, Lidia, and James helped remove a tumor from a lung, put out a fire, kicked goals, built walls, and made sure a construction site was safe.

Sam Sam celebrated with his siblings and two other siblings heading France on Tuesday.

• Back to passport office.  Wait 45 minutes for passports to arrive on armored vehicle.  Picked up passport.
• Embassy doctor visit. Wait 1 hour to see doctor. James is healthy!  Just needs chicken pox and flu vaccines.
• ICBF Office (Colombian Family Welfare) in hopes of getting the signed off adoption decree.  Waited there for over an hour.  (See below for hairy details.)

Friday, Sept 22

·       

Victor returns to ICBF office in hopes of obtaining illusive adoption decree (again, hairy details below)

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Back to clinic for immunizations.  Only 30 minute wait.  Done with clinic.

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Obtaining the final adoption decree, without which we could not get a visa for James, was epic, involving two separate officials in two separate cities being completely unavailable to do their job, which apparently they and only they could do.

The all-important document had to return to Barranquilla, be signed by Barranquilla ICBF Official, and then returned to Bogota and signed by the Colombian National Director of Adoptions. 

Well…..Barranquilla ICBF Official had left her post as of Sept 5, and no one had replaced her as of yet.  The document threatened to sit in some inbox indefinitely whilst our family hung in limbo.  

Fortunately our fighter lawyer took care of that.  She paraded our entire family through the Bogota ICBF office to gain sympathy for our cause.  We met the very women who accepted our dossier and eventually assigned James to our family.  The parade seemed successful. We met the big cheeses of the agency, all who were teary eyed at meeting us, and all of them promised to help us get our needed document.

Waiting at the ICBF office

Finally, Bogota Super-Big-Cheese called Barranquilla lesser-big-cheese, and got him/her to agree to sign the document.  We left happy, knowing it would all get done, and we would receive our document the following day. 

Thursday the illusive document was still not back from Barranquilla. 

Friday, Victor was taken by our lawyer’s assistant, Fernando, back to that same office to pick up the document and sign it.  But it was not ready.  Yes, it had been received back from Barranquilla, but the Bogota-based Colombian-National-Director-of-Adoptions was out sick and had not approved it with his signature.

Inside ICBF Office

Colombia's National Director of Adoptions
 lives in this complex.

Fernando was determined to get this document. Not taking no for an answer, he drove Victor to the Colombian-National-Director-of-Adoptions’ house (fifty minutes away) and handed the document to the housekeeper, waited twenty minutes, and got the paperwork back with the needed signature.  

Praise the Lord for the fighters who are on our side.

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This weekend will be Bogota site-seeing, and Monday is the US embassy visa appointment.

Best news? We purchased our flights home.  A big shout-out to Mary Mele and Kristie Hutchins for providing frequent flyer miles.  

We arrive to Seattle on Thursday at 10am!!