more late night thoughts

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry there are no more pictures but the family I borrowed the usb cable from has gone home. I will be home soon and will post pictures then.
In the front parlor of the Hotel Paris there is a big stack of photo albums with letters and pictures written to Katya from families who have spent a stretch of their adoption journeys here. Adoptions start long before you travel to recieve your child and they continue for the rest of your life. The albums go back at least 15 years as far as I can tell there may be older entries in one I didn't open. They contain thank you letters from new parents as well as updates from families who adopted years before. Looking at them led me to remember all the families that have passed through Hotel Paris in the almost five weeks I have been living here. There have been 7 families from the US, from Florida, Tennisse, Arizona, and Michigan. Four families each from Finnland and France, two from Italy, one from Puerto Rico one from Denmark and one from the Netherlands. Somehow using a little Spanish and English and whatever other languages we had in common plus gestures we have been able to communicate with each other. Debrah another mom here said that two years ago when she adopted her first child the hotel was full of infants, but this time it has been populated mostly by families adopting older children and sibling groups. Because of this you hear lots of cries of Mama or Poppi around the place. One of those voices, invariably the loudest belongs to my own new son, Jon Felipe. Usually he is just checking to make sure I'm still here, close, where he can find me. He doesn't ever stray too far away, and the day I had to leave him here at the residencia, while I went to the court and other official offices he was worried and sat by the front door waiting for me to return.
All these children, hundreds of them recorded in Katya's albums, with brand new parents. People who often don't even speak their language. You should hear Jon and I when he is trying to get some point across to me and I just can't understand him, it's like a "who's on first" routine. He thinks if he just says it loud enough and long enough I will understand. How do we all manage to become family. Why are these children, many who have experienced much pain in their lives already, willing to entrust thier lives, their futures, their hearts to a stranger like me. To stay by my side and listen to me stumble through a story book in my bad spanish. To not run and hide when discipline is enforced but instead to give a hug and say te cearre, I love you. I promised in family court that I would support and care for this child to the best of my ability, but why should he take me at my word.
A few days ago Kathy and I were IMing about Christmas presents. Getting ready for the holidays is a little more difficult when one of you is on a different continent, but we were trying to coordinate our efforts. We were making a gift shopping list and I jokingly said we'll just give Jon Felipe an new family for Christmas. We really couldn't top that with anything from Toys R Us anyway. But in Bethlehem, two thoudand and seven years ago, a new family was the first gift given on Christmas. God's adoption journey begins of course at the Fall when instead of abandoning His Creation he fashioned a salvaton plan and by becoming human that first Christmas He was able to give up everthing for us and by doing so opened the door for us to become His children forever. All we have to do is put our complete trust and faith in Him. Just like the kids here at Hotel Paris are doing with thier new families.
Love from Bogota, but coming home soon, Dwight and the boys.