Guatemala is directly south of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and borders Mexico, Belize,
Honduras and El Salvador. The capital city is Guatemala City, situated about 50 miles
north of the Pacific ocean on a 4000 ft. high basin surounded by volcanoes, some of which
are still quite active.
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Here's a look at the Presidential Palace in
"Zona Uno", or Zone 1, the center of Guatemala City. There's a large public
square to the left and on the right is the main church. |
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I don't know the name of this church, but it is about 500
years old and sits diagonally from the Palace. |
While not terribly ornate, one has to
appreciate that this was built in a very remote part of the world with primitive tools. |
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The light above the altar was really pretty. |
Back out on the square, we
headed over to the Palace. |
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Even though the Palace was officially closed, Henry got us
inside. This courtyard is where the treaty was signed ending the lengthy Guatemalan civil
war in the 1990's. This statue gets a new white rose every day. The ceremony is performed
by a different person each day of the year. |
Get to the good part!
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So, here he is!
We met the attorney in her car outside the hotel late in the day and
there was the foster mom with Paul! We drove around the block and dropped off the FM, then
the attorney brought us back to the hotel. These pictures were taken within a couple of
minutes of bringing him into the hotel room. |
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He was very happy, as were we. The next 10 hours would see
some real digestive disturbances, due to the change in formula. There was a mixup on which
kind to bring and we had already given him several bottles of Isomil before he started
getting upset. |
As you can see, he is a beautiful kid. I am
sure some of you are already tired of hearing this from me, but it doesn't change the
facts,
so let a father bask for a bit. |
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Maria and I were just unable to
take our eyes off him. |
Even with some potential delays, once
we had him we knew it would be OK. |
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We brought along four different bottles and about eight
different nipples. He really would only take his original bottle that the FM gave us
(pictured here). |
As Andy Hillaker says, "feed 'em,
change 'em: that's about it at this stage".
He forgot about the "love them to pieces" part. ;-) |
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First trip in his "Snugli". He loved this thing.
It's almost already too small for him, but it was great for the trip to the US embassy for
his immigrant visa and for the trip home. |
I finally figured out that he would sleep
in this chair with a pillow propping him
up at about thirty degrees. |
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It also allowed for holding his head in place. He absolutely
couldn't stand the portable crib that the hotel provided for us. No idea why. |
This place across the street had a
nice mall inside where
we got a locksmith to open the suitcase
to which I had forgotten the key :-(
Even though we don't really speak Spanish, most people were very
accommodating and friendly. |
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"like a baby" |
He would not abide anything over his hands
and feet. He still doesn't like blankets. |
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After the hotel staff got us some simethicone, his gut
settled down and he was fine from then on. He still needed to get changed and fed every
few hours during the night, but we didn't mind that at all. We have the rest of our lives
to sleep, right? |
His hands are the softest things I've ever
felt. |
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This isn't a great shot of his toes, but it's all I got while
down there. |
OK, so finally through all the security and
checkins at the airport and just enough time for a little snack before boarding. |
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OK, that was good. How about a little shut-eye? |
| He was great on both legs of the return flight.
We ran out of formula and had to water down what we had left, but he only fussed at the
very end. This is a good sign I think. In any case, we made it back.
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This page last modified 11/22/02 |
