Hola Colombia!

We departed Ft. Lauderdale airport on Monday 6/9/2008. We got through security checks with no problems and no long lines. When we arrived at gate H4 the Avianca crew had not arrived yet. We boarded the plane at 5:50PM (about 15 minutes late). We were in the back of the plane but, had no problems finding places to put our carryons. Across the isle there was a mother (Luce) and 2 daughters (4 & 7 - the same ages as Juan & Maria!). There seats were not together but, close by. One of her daughters was seated next to us and I told her we would help her if she needed it. At one point in the flight her 2 children would sit together and she would sit next to us. We told her the purpose of her travel and she lit up like a shining star. She is originally from Bogata but, is now residing in Florida. We shared with her our adoption process to this point and how everything is being orchestrated by God. She was pleased to hear how he was working in the adoption and said she would continue to pray for us and our family. After arriving at the airport she helped us find our way to the baggage claim area, collect our luggage, get through immigration, find our friends from our adoption agency and delivered us safely to them. Thanks Luce for shinning! (Newsboys: Shine) Your guidence and assistance was greatly appreciated and I hope your vacation "back home" is a pleasent one.

After clearing immigration it's really cool! There is a small area on the other side of the "clearance machines" which has a large glass window wall. On the other side are hundreds of people/family members and friends waiting for loved ones to arrive with signs, flags & banners. It was pretty amazing to see. Apparently it is customary for many to "show up" to pick up loved ones from the airport. We had about a 20 minute ride to our hotel in which Nora - our adoption agency's representative/attorney in Colombia spoke with us some about what to expect over the next couple of days. When we arrived Silvia and her husband Jamier (sorry if I mis-spelled that) assisted us into the hotel, the Zentana. The Zentana is a quaint little place sort of like a bed and breakfast. It is very chilly here to us, in the 60s. Later this afternoon Silvia and Jamier will pick us back up and take us to the airport. We will stop by a store to try to pick up cord/charger so we can use our camera! Yes, we forgot the charger....we were going to bring the video camera but, could not get it to hold a charge. Knowing the charger and the video camera shared the same charger I didn't bother packing a seperate one for the camera. Then later when the camera didn't work forgot to put the charger in the suitcase. So, not sure if we will be able to post any pictures. We will try. After arriving in Valledupar this evening we will get to the hotel (Vajamar) and settle in, rest up because tommorrow is "GOTTCHA DAY"!