Halloween, Pisingos, birthdays, coffee

Wednesday, it rained most of the day so we didn't actually leave the premises. There was a Halloween party at 4:00 at the other Zuetana but Murphy was sleeping and we weren't waking her up and it was raining so we decided not to walk down there.

Thursday, November 1 Cecelia came to get us around 9:30 and we went to Pisingos. She gave us a short tour of the orphanage. There were 16 babies in the baby room plus about 10 or so toddlers. We didn't see many older kids, though. She told us that Pisingos was trying to keep many of the babies with foster mothers to help with the bonding process. When we got up to the baby room, the nurses recognized Murphy right away. It felt so good to know the attention she received while in their care.

After we finished the tour, we went into the director's office and met a women named Beatrice (Beatriz?). She told us how Murphy came to the orphanage and about her birth parents and gave us a letter that her birth mother wrote to her. Rob and I both cried as she read it. She loved Murphy (and still does I'm sure) so much. You could hear it in the letter. There is a map in the office and we were to place a pin near or on our city. We were the first pin in South Dakota. We came back to the room and Rob and Murphy took a nap while I translated the letter. I didn't get all of it but every time I looked at either Murphy or the letter I started bawling. I have so much compassion for her. We are bonded for life but will probably never meet. I hope she somehow can know how much Murphy will be loved by everyone around her.



At 4:00 we had a birthday party for a little boy who was adopted by a family from Kansas so we had cake and soda. Then at 5:00 we had ANOTHER party to welcome a little boy adopted by a couple from Spain. Then at 6:00 we went with all the Americans to Archie's restuarant for pizza. Murphy got a little antsy when we sat down and she had a wet diaper. So I layed her down in the corner of the outdoor patio and changed her diaper. Then she got REALLY antsy and wouldn't calm down. She had been pretty gassy so I thought I better check it again. When my finger hit something squishy, I knew it was a bad sign. Good thing Rob hadn't checked it because he would have thrown up. So I took her to the bathroom and changed her again and she screamed bloody murder the whole time. The food was really good and we all had a really good time. By the time we got home Murphy was really tired and it was much later than she had been staying up. She went to sleep easily but then woke up at 1:30 and again at 4:30. At the 4:30 one, she decided to stay awake for an hour and half. Rob said "her eyes are wide open and she's smiling at me". It was a long night for him. I slept. I have a cold now and nights aren't very fun. This is about the fourth day or so, so hopefully I'm on the downhill slide.



This morning we got up fairly early because we were going to see a coffee plantation today with Carmen, the party planner, and some other people from the motel. She slept late because she'd been awake in the night. So her whole day was off. It took us two hours to get to the plantation (an hour to get out of Bogota) and we got there around 11:15 or so. We weren't as high up so it was more humid there. It rained lightly in the midddle of the tour and by the time we were done it was pouring. It was really interesting. We tasted the coffee beans right off the tree (we only at the skin), they had a dryer that looked like the dryers we use for distillers, got to taste coffee and coffee flavored liquor at the end, and then bought some coffee. Murphy did really well through the whole tour. She got hungry right towards the end. We tried out a stroller for the first time today. She didn't seem to have a problem with it (as long as we were moving). After we left the plantation (which was a private one behind gates) we went to an outdoor Colombian restuarant. Rob had chicken and mushrooms and a beer and I had yuca (sort of like a potato) and a salad. And soup. It was good. I also had two lemonades and about ten minutes into the two hour car ride home, I realized I had to pee. I seriously thought I might wet my pants. But the ride home seemed to go faster than the ride out there. We saw a very pregnant prostitute walking down the road. Many dogs running around. And dead animals hanging at the market everywhere we looked. We didn't get back here until about 5:00 and knew Murphy was behind on her sleep and bottles. We've figured out that when it's a combination of both, she screams to beat the band. So she finally fell asleep about 6:45 and we're pretty sure it's for the night. She'll wake up a couple of times but neither of us wants to be the one to wake her.





Tomorrow we are going to a lake created by a crater that has something to do with El Dorado.

To our friends in Highmore, we are so sorry about Pam. She truly was a good woman and we will pray for her family and her friends.

Denita, I saw that Aaron's mom died. You will all be in our thoughts as well.

I won't post until late tomorrow night or on Sunday. The trip is planned from 10-5 tomorrow so it will be a long day.

I'll post pictures for today's post later. So you'll have to check back on this post to see. I forgot to say that it was pretty sunny at the plantation so I was going to put sunscreen on Murhpy. I had never opened the bottle before so I had to pull the little tab off. I couldn't rip it off with my fingers so I tried with my teeth. Unfortunately for me when the tab came off there was a pop and sunscreen came out as well. In my mouth. It was so disgusting. Rob even had to take a picture. He thought it was pretty funny. It would have been funnier if it had happened to him instead of me! :)