Anapoima "Vacation Home"

Colombia, Day 26

We were told that the wait for court in nearby La Mesa would be quick…perhaps 5 days, perhaps a week.  We are starting our second week here in Anapoima, and we’ve just learned that adoption court will happen next Monday -- which will make our stay a full two weeks. 

Anapoima is at least two hours from Bogota. Right now they are repairing various sections of the road making the hilly, winding trip closer to four hours.  That’s long enough not to return to Bogota for a day trip.  It’s long enough not to go back and get the contact lenses, and the reading and schoolbooks you would have brought with you had you known you’d be staying as long. But, warm weather and too much free time make complaining so easy to do….

We return to Bogota on Monday the 19^th, and we will spend our final week there in pursuit of a Colombian passport with an US adoption visa stamped inside of it.  Then, homeward bound!!

Anapoima has the required statue of some guy, a Catholic church on its corresponding plaza, surrounded by a general store and a few restaurants and banks.

There are nice wide, unobstructed sidewalks (much appreciated by us stroller pushers) used by restaurants for outdoor dining with folks seated at the tables watching the restaurant TV…. Passing by, we’ve gathered that afternoon TV is usually Spanish soap operas, followed by news and then the sports shows start in the evenings. Earlier in the month the sport was soccer. Later everyone watched Colombian's star cyclist, Nairo Quintana, win a huge race in Spain.

Avocados!

Ain’t much to do here.  Fortunately, school has begun (The Kozyshack Academy), so we are able to distract ourselves by looking up causes of the Civil War (Eli Whitney and the cotton gin!), conjugating Spanish verbs (nosotros nadamos), doing art projects (Matisse and colored paper cut-out collages) and solving math problems (subtracting mixed fractions). Even James is learning to write his numbers.

Another big “fortunately” for us is the home we are staying in. After over a week crammed into single hotel rooms, we are now in a full-fledge house, and at significantly less cost. Praise our good God!  

front porch and front door

looking through the front
door to the back patio

Some gecko friends
who live here too.

Yes!  A washing machine!!!!

We spent almost two days looking for a reasonably priced hotel that wasn’t too scary looking (steep stairs, air conditioning, room size…) before we found this place.  Carina noticed a sign at a realtor’s office advertising vacation rentals (rich Bogota families like to vacation in warm Anapoima).  We will spend ten days at this 6 bedroom/7 bath (not kidding) home with a caretaker family who lives on the premises as well.  

The little house behind the pool
is for the caretakers.

All of the upper windows are bedrooms.
Lower left is kitchen and dining room.
Lower right is Living Room.
The hallway connecting rooms is open air.

Lidia observes her kingdom from on high.

It’s cheaper than the only hotel in town that has an elevator for James! The home is three blocks from “Main Street” making walking to the grocery store super easy.  It does not have A/C, but fans are abundant, and there is the pool…

 Living with two young boys is like living with a working ranch dog, -- without plenty of exercise the furniture starts getting torn up…. That’s why a pool is so important.

A fun benefit of our rental house is that the caregivers have an eight-year-old daughter who plays a lot with Lidia, Sam Sam and James.  We love hearing the four of them playing Hide-and-seek, Go Fish, or Old Maid, all in Spanish.  Sam and Lidia are using their Spanish all the time, and learning more and more each day. … Who knew that Old Maid could be such a suspenseful, uproarious game?

James is fitting in so well.  There are certainly some of the expected challenges that come along with trying to add someone new into your family, but overall, he is doing fantastic.  He has begun to use just a few English words. Yesterday we heard him repeat, “Jump in” to Sam Sam at the pool.  Today he asked us what the color green was in English, and later what the English word for “cookie” is.  

We are still amazed at how physically strong this little boy is.  He can’t walk on his thin little legs, but he can do incredible hand stands, and he can hold his own in a race even though he is hand-walking, dragging his legs behind him.  He sometimes chooses to use his legs and his hands to move about.  When he does this, his legs remain unbent, his bottom is in the air, and he supports his weight on his palms and on the calloused-sides of his twisted feet.  At home, we have a wheelchair ready for him, and we can already picture him zooming around the house.

Home….sigh….two weeks to go….

Victor’s best memory from the past week is of our first afternoon in this house. James had slept badly the night before because he’d had frightening nightmares. Tired, that afternoon he had put himself to bed for the first nap he’d taken while living with us. A half hour later we heard him coming down the stairs crying. He’d had another nightmare. Victor picked him up, carried him to the couch and let James curl up in his lap. James slept in Victor’s lap for 30 minutes. That was some good bonding time.  And no recurrences of nightmares either. 

James is getting sweeter daily. Initially, his default response was to be somewhat contrary. Maybe he was mad, more likely he was afraid. He still considers his responses, but they are increasingly ones that are agreeable and trusting. We are daily feeling more and more as an integral family. It is a good feeling.