The last several days have been a whirlwind! It is so nice to be back in San Pedro Sula with our family...the children were so happy to see us again and today we leave for 3 days at the beach. I want to thank everyone for your prayers while we traveled to and from Tegucigalpa and during our meetings with IHNFA and the court.
A little recap from the last several days:
In preparation for our meetings at IHNFA, to say that I was nervous would be an understatement. It has taken so long to get to this point, so for 3.5 years, I had dreamed of this exact moment in time. But, I never imagined how kind and compassionate everyone would be. My husband decided to hire a translator for me and he convinced me that it would insure that I was able to understand every question and answer with complete clarity. My translator's name was Liz Navas and she was wonderful. A 28 year old, mother of two young daughters, she was born and educated in California and now teaches 4th grade in a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa and translates for adoptive parents from the U.S. I felt like we were long lost friends. I was completely comfortable with her and I explained that I had never used a translator, but was so happy to have her there with me.
In the first meeting with Frances, the social worker, I understood and answered in Spanish with minor assistance from Liz. Frances was AMAZING! She held my hand when I answered questions about my infertility and hysterectomy. She offered me tissues when I cried explaining that we bought our 4 bedroom house 10 years ago to fill with children and the bedrooms have just sat empty. She was an angel! The questions were no more difficult than during our home study in the U.S and we laughed a lot, which made me very comfortable. I was completely MYSELF!!!
Next, we met with ELVIS...the psychologist. He was a very nice man and I chose to use Liz in a different way with him. The questions asked were completely open ended...Tell me about your childhood, adolescence, marriage, etc. I had Liz recap certain parts from the social work interview (to give my mind a rest). Overall, the interviews took about 3 hours...1.5 hours with the social worker and the psychologist.
Where I really needed Liz was after the interviews. We sat in the waiting room at IHNFA and spoke with our attorney, Marta Montoya. This was my first time to meet Marta in person and she was lovely! Thank you, Lord, for putting this woman in our lives. Marta explained the process that we will experience from this point. I asked Liz to take notes for me in English. What a HUGE help!!!
So, yesterday...we went back to IHNFA and took the original 1967 version of the MMPI. It was VERY different from the MMPI 2 which we took in the U.S. as part of our original psychological evalutation. But it still had the 566 questions...UGH! Then, I was asked to draw pictures of two people, a woman and a man, and answer questions about the woman...NOT FUN!!! Finally, I had to write a biography about my life...also, somewhat trying. I was done in 1.5 hours, but my poor husband took 3 hours to complete the exams. Pobrecito...I think those 37 year old eyes may need glasses! I am making an appointment when we get home.
Presenting our papers to the courts took 15 minutes and basically, we signed papers, gave Marta our passports and she took everything in to give to the clerk. After that, we headed for our bus and our 4 hour trip down the mountain. Very enjoyable and uneventful this time (going up the mountain our bus broke down and we spent 2 hours on the side of the road).
Getting ready, now, to go rent our BIG van and head to the beach! We are going to have a blast and Cristofer is already awake and playing on the IPAD with Papi! Just so happy!!!
