Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Travels Part 2 - Gotcha Day






Then came the first day that we met N.  As expected both JB and I were full of emotions.

It started pouring rain just before we were to walk over to the orphanage so Ailaine offered to pick us up in one of their vans.  Ailaine is the social worker that works at the orphanage.  She has been there the whole time N has been their and through our Skype sessions we have found that they have a wonderful relationship.





The orphanage was set up for our visit.


To JB's right is Ailaine (social worker), and one of the sisters. To my left is Sister Myra.
We began with paperwork to make everything official.  Just talking to these ladies and signing the forms I was tearing up.

We were given a tour of the orphanage.  It was so clean and the central area with playground looked like a great place to play.








However I was surprised that I didn't cry when N walked into the room.  I think I was mostly in awe.

I love the expression on the boys faces.  They are both so excited.

More than the cleanliness of the orphanage I could feel the love.  We got to meet all of the teachers and nuns who have taken care of N over the years.  They all loved N so well.  This was such a blessing to know.  I teared up most when I met each one of the caregivers knowing that they were saying goodbye to one of their children.
We spent Sunday morning at mass with the orphanage.  Afterwards they did an entrustment ceremony where multiple people were given the chance to share.  All of the staff shared wonderful memories and when it came time for JB and I to talk I think there was more crying than actual words.  We both were completely overwhelmed.
They threw a party as a send off for N.  She was able to play with all of her friends for one last time and say goodbye.

(That's Jack wearing one of my shirts.  We didn't think to buy him a nicer shirt for church because we thought we would have our bag back... oh well.  We got the bag back late on Sunday thanks to JB taking a taxi to and from the airport).
N was quiet the first few days but we could see a little bit of her personality come out as she began to play with the boys.

Later on Sunday after the entrustment we had the opportunity to go to a butterfly santuary while still in the city.  This was something that we thought all of the kids would enjoy and give us a chance to build some memories.
N was very brave and wanted to hold the caterpillar and butterflies just like her big brothers.


Monday, September 5, 2016

Travels Part 1 - Philippine beauty


Our adventure began about 2 weeks ago as we headed off to the Philippines.  A friend, Anthony, met us at the airport and helped get us oriented to the country.  He was so helpful with many details about what phone we should use while in country as well as safe areas to travel and safe transportation. What a relief to have that help as we began our journey.

One bump at the beginning of our trip was that one of our bags did not make it from the first flight (13 hours) onto our second flight (9 hours).  At first we were assured that it 'might' be on the next flight in the following morning.  However, after many calls by JB we did not get the bag until the 28th, 6 days later.  Thankfully G was able to share clothes with J and we just made due with less.

After our long flights into Manila and a night in a local hotel, we took at quick 1 1/2 hour flight down to Tagbilaran on the island of Bohol.


We wanted to begin with a few days of travel to explore the country and learn the culture.  Some may wonder why we didn't do this after we picked up N.  The truth is adoption is complicated.  We didn't know if N was going to be comfortable leaving the hotel room much less tour around to new cities and explore different areas.  Our hope was to use this time to better acclimate ourselves to a brief view of what makes the Philippines unique.


 

We started by exploring Alona Beach where we enjoyed the views.  It was great getting to sit on the beach for some of our meals.  Above is a coffee with milk (in a multi-purpose glass).

There was so much to see on the island of Bohol.

The Chocolate Hills.  "There are at least 1,260 hills but there may be as many as 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres (20 sq mi)." - Wikipedia

We tried out zip lining.  It was so much fun.  We sailed
over the river pictured above.  It was absolutely breath-
taking.  I was surprised that none of us was scared
before or during the ride.
Our view from lunch. We all enjoyed
wonderful meals everywhere we went.
 

Tarsier




We wandered through the tarsier sanctuary.  They are cute, small and have large eyes.  It makes me think of beanie boos.  (For those of you with kids you will know what I am talking about.)
Baclayon Church
Many of the churches on Bohol were damaged in the 2013 earthquake.  The country is working to restore the churches because of their historical and cultural significance.  This church is the oldest Christian settlement
on Bohol. (founded in 1596)

We also took some time to relax.  We each got a massage.  The boys were definitely fans.  This is J giving JB a massage with some coral.












We rented snorkels and surveyed the ocean floor.  JB went the furthest out and saw several sea creatures, including an eel, sea stars, sea urchin and a variety of fish.  One evening we even were a bit daring and ate some sea urchin.  (If you were wondering, NO we did not try balot.  I will leave that for someone a bit more daring.)
Our hotel had a pool so of course the boys wanted to be there as often as possible.

There was so much to see.  We know that we will want to go back again some day so that we can explore the snorkeling and scuba diving more.


This was phase one of our trip.  Our next post is what we were waiting for, the meeting of N.  We wanted to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have been walking this path with us.