Encuentro Day!!!

August 20th will be a day we will never forget. This day will hold a special place in our hearts. It is the wonderful day that our son was placed in our arms.  We love you Daniel!
The day started out early . We were being picked up by Jaime and Silvia to head 3 hrs by car to Girardot. However we first picked up Graciella, our attorney. She is a very sweet woman. We drove through Bogota to the Girardot which is still in the same state/department of Cundinamarca. The drive through Bogota was full of people and cars/buses/motorcycles. After we passed the southern part of Bogota the ride was full of windy roads through the countryside. Several cows , horses and goats near the street grazing. What I noticed the most was the climate getting warmer, warmer and then HOT!  Here are some pics of the scenery

We arrived to Girardot . We are staying at the Hotel Tocarema. Girardot seems like a smaller city that is very busy and HOT. Gary lovingly refers to Girardot as HOTardot.  Several nice hotels with beautiful flowers were along the way.  We were checked into our new home away from home. It is a hotel that has a huge gate around the perimeters with security. Inside is like paradise. Beautiful birds of paradise flowers and open area with the pool as the center .

The Gringos aka The Americans. This was on our room key. Too Funny!

We were now off to Bienstar to get Daniel. We arrived slightly early and so we stopped next door for some fresh orange juice and empanadas. I had the orange juice which was very sweet and refreshing. Gary loved his empanada. I was to excited to eat. We entered the ICBF building where we had the pleasure to meet several nice and professional women. You can tell that they care for the children that they protect under ICBF. The social worker was going to leave to go get Daniel..only a 10 minute drive. Then the discussion turned to preparing for the presentation. Silvia went with the ladies to get balloons, cake and soda. Gary and I stayed behind with our attorney and our little Elmo doll  for Daniel. We conducted some formal processes with passports,interviews and then all of the sudden Daniel arrived. He is a beautiful little boy. He looks like Gary with his buzz cut hair . We were given information about his daily routine. Daniel's foster mother also sent a photo album with several baby pictures plus a beautiful letter which Jaime translated for us. We also found out the Daniel is sick with a virus/"gripe". He went to the hospital yesterday and was almost admitted. They sent him home on some medications . They reviewed the medications with us .  He was burning with a fever during the presentation.(note those eyes). The doctor also recommended no Air Conditioner or fans. This will be interesting considering it is HOT HOT HOT! However we will do anything to see Daniel feel better.

Well here are the pictures sometimes they speak louder than words. Some during the presentation, settling in the room, going to eat dinner and sleepytime. I better run and get some rest! I will post tomorrow night after the little one gets to sleep.