We ventured out today

Hi All,

Before I begin with our adventure today, I just want to clear something up. When I mentioned that someone would have to go to Putumayo to get Windy's birth certificate, I did not mean one of us. I'm sorry for unnecessarily alarming some of you; I should of mentioned it would NOT be us... sorry about that.

Gloria was still sick today and it was cloudy, cool, with off and on rain. I really just wanted to get out, so I went to Jenny and asked if we could hire a driver. She lined us up with one, but then he called and was not able to make it. We asked the hotel for someone else and the bell captain, that has been a huge help to us, hooked us up. The guy drove a taxi (which made me nervous because we've been told over and over not to take a taxi), but come to find out in order for a taxi to clear through the hotel's gate, they have to be on their "approved list" and have had security checks performed. The driver was really nice and asked us what kind of bookstore it was that we wanted to go to. We told him it was a Christian bookstore and then he told us that he was a Christian and his wife is from Canada. When we got in close proximity of the store (which wasn't in the greatest neighborhood), the driver realized he went past it and started driving backwards in heavy traffic!! Then another driver really got mad with him (something having to do with a parking space), parked his car, got out and came over to us. They proceeded to yell at each other; our driver later told us that he was telling this other guy to show some respect, he had people (meaning us) from out of the country with him... if he wanted to fight, he'd fight him later. NYC taxis are a delight compared to today's ride. When we finally found the store, it was closed (they closed because of the rain... how crazy is that??). The driver took us to a mall that he said would have a Christian bookstore in it. The mall was huge, but not nearly as nice as the other one we had visited. It was so packed with people and was filled with horribly, loud live music and emcees... I just wanted to leave. The girls and I needed to use the bathroom and, silly me, why would I expect to find toilet seats on the toilets and toilet paper in the stalls??? Shouldn't I have known that the toilet paper was in the hallway leading to the bathroom?!?!?! I was so irritated by this point, but the driver was really nice to us and was trying to help us find the Christian bookstore in the mall... I just kept a smile on my face. Long story short, finally we found out that the store had gone out of business, but a church operated out of the fourth floor and had a very, very small selection of items to purchase. We were able to find something for the housekeeper and bought a couple of items for Windy. By this time, Bethany was getting a headache from the loud music and I told Jim that we needed to go back to the hotel. Get this, the driver was throwing a birthday party for his wife tonight. He invited us over, he calls his wife from his cell, then he hands me the phone (in the mall with all the loud music) and tells me to chat with her... I'm sorry, but it was a very strange day today. Jim and I both agreed that it was not wise to go to a stranger's house for a party. I was so glad to make it back to the hotel safe and sound. I left out a lot of details; it would take way too long to type out everything, but believe me when I say, we are never doing that again.

We are going to stay at the hotel tomorrow. We're going to hang out with the couple from NYC tomorrow night in their suite. We're going to order in Chinese... that way the children can play and we won't upset any servers at a restaurant. It will be much safer and more relaxed.

Chao,
Kathy