Last full day in Medellin

Hola,

Believe it or not, this has been a bitter-sweet day. Yes, we are excited to begin our journey home, but this city and country is so fabulous, the people are wonderful, and the other adopting families are so interesting that we are sad about leaving. Yesterday as we were in the taxi going to the mall, I was explaining to Belicia that she will be Colombian American. She said no... she wanted to be only an American and did not want to be a Colombian. Yes, I realize that she truly doesn't understand what she is saying, but it made me a little sad to hear that. I kept telling her how wonderful it is to be Colombian... it's a great country. I understand that her association to her nationality is connected to her past in Mocoa. As she gets older, she'll realize what a blessing it is to have a dual citizenship.

Gloria is going to pick Jim and Belicia up at 7:00 a.m. to go to the passport office. We're hoping to be able to catch the 11:45 a.m. flight to Bogota, but if not, the next flight is at 1:00 p.m. Laura, unfortunately we will not be staying at the Embassy Suites. The other hotels we looked at wanted $300-$400 per night and did not offer an adoption rate. Embassy Suites did offer a special rate, but had no openings. We found out through Colombian Chat about a home called "Betty's Place". I found nothing but positive comments on-line. Actually the night I called to speak with Betty, an American, that had been there for three weeks, answered the phone. She said that they have been extremely happy with staying there, so we ended up booking a room. It's a huge house and we'll have a large bedroom with a fireplace and our own private bathroom. They prepare our breakfast and dinner; I've heard the food is excellent. Betty treats everyone as if she's known them for years. She's an American that married a Colombian 30 years ago and has run this home for adopting families for 15 years now.

Dad, before I forget... my email came back, so here is our flight information:
Friday, November 9th, JFK
Avianca Flight #20
Arriving 5:00 a.m. from Bogota
Avianca's phone #800-284-2622

For anyone needing to reach us by cell phone, Jim's cell phone has died. I took it out of the safe this evening and it's not powering up. He even tried to put my battery in it and it did not work. If you need us, call my cell; it will work once we land Friday morning.

This morning we had a great time at the pool with all of the other adopting families. Unfortunately, Belicia ended up with another horrible nose bleed. Her hand was cupped and full of blood. Fortunately, the doctor couple from Germany was right there and the wife took care of Belicia immediately. She got it stopped and we came back up to the room.... it began to bleed again. She was on the bed with fresh white sheets and as it was bleeding, for some reason, she decided to blow out very hard. Well, you guessed correctly... no more fresh white sheets. Jim and I felt bad about having to call housekeeping back; they change the sheets every day and she had just left our room. If this continues, we will definitely have to see a doctor about it when we get home. Later tonight Eduardo picked the whole group of us up again. I wanted to go Panamericana; it's a lot like a Barnes & Noble and it just opened last week. It was very nice, but I do like Barnes & Noble better; they have a warmer, cozier feel.

That's it for tonight; hopefully I'll be able to blog tomorrow night from chilly Bogota. Belicia was by the pool this morning... about 77 degrees, under a thick towel, and saying, "Muy frio" (very cold). Muy frio at 77 degrees??? Boy is she in trouble!!!

Buenas noches,
Kathy