One week in Lima

Upon arrival to Lima, Joel had to return home, but the children and I had one more week of paperwork (which seemed like nothing after 6 months of waiting.) We had to get our kids Peruvian passports, a series of vaccinations and the final visit to the U.S. Embassy to obtain the children's visas. Most of our days started at 8 or 9am and were spent waiting in lines and a variety of offices. Every piece of paper had to be translated and every translation needed a million copies. The kids were troopers as we hauled them around from place to place. We did get a few fun things in like a trip to El Parque de Leyendas - or, as we call it, the zoo. It was the first time for the kids to see these kind of animals live and I was asked several times if certain animals really existed - like lions, tigers and bears. I guess the animals didn't seem to lively - except the one who tried to eat Yen's cotton candy.

Our lawyer, Maria Elena, and her husband, Raul, were wonderful hosts, giving the kids and myself a ton of encouragement and tips about adoption. When the last step was completed - having the visas in hand - we took a picture across the street from the Embassy and booked our tickets home!

Our final night in Peru, we ate traditional dishes - sudado de pescado, pescado frito, ceviche, milanesa de pollo and pollo frito. Then we went to a live presentation of the characters from the popular TV series 'Al Fondo Hay Sitio.' This is a typical 'South American' life, so they say. The title comes from the guys on the micros (public buses) that yell for the passengers to move to the back because there is more room - even though there might not be. It was a great way to say good-bye to Peru.... at least for now.