Travel Date!

Woohoo!  There is an actual plan in place for us to go get Luisa!!!  We are leaving on a jet plane (pause to let the verse play out in your head... "don't know when I'll be back again," which is actually somewhat true).

We've actually booked our tickets.  We're leaving on Wednesday, September 5th.  Two weeks away! Fourteen days!  Aaaaggghhhh!

We anticipate being in Colombia for four to five weeks.  Yes, that's a long in-country stay.  Yes, Caroline is going with us.  Yes, we'll all be there the whole time.

Every country is so different in their adoption process.  Some require two trips.  Some just one trip of varied lengths.  Even the cities in Colombia have different expected in-country times.  This is mainly due to the speed of the court systems in different cities.  Cali (Luisa's city) is actually on the quick side for Colombia.  Adoptions in Bogota often take 8-9 weeks.  :)

Here's a basic (much simplified) overview of our trip:

We'll leave on Wednesday (9/5), meet with the orphanage staff on Thursday, meet Luisa on Friday (Hallelujah!), and she is with us from that time forward.  We spend a week in out apartment in Cali being low-key and bonding.  Then there is a "bonding" meeting with Colombian officials, after which (if everything is going well) our adoption application is sent to court to be signed.

We wait a couple of weeks for the judge to sign the Sentencia (adoption decree).  During this time, we are taking in all the sights Cali has to offer (fruit market, zoo, water park, sugar cane plantations).  When we get the Sentencia,  Luisa will be officially a Ryle kid.  We get a new birth certificate and passport and head to Bogota.

We'll be in Bogota about a week.  We meet with the embassy doctor, wait for the TB test results, get her visa, and head home.

I know the in-country time will be hard.  I know we'll get homesick.  But I am also looking forward to experiencing our daughter's birth culture.  In addition, I realize what a blessing this built-in, intensive bonding time is. (We won't have to explain/defend adoptive cocooning to everyone for those first few weeks, at least.)  It'll be just the four of us, learning how to be a family.