The Countdown...

Our countdown to home has officially began! We are all so ready to go home. Today, we met with a woman on the Board of Directors at the orphanage and her father for a tour of the Intramuros, the walled city. We had a nice time seeing the old Catholic churches and toured a museum. We even were able to get a glimpse at a Filipino wedding. The men in the wedding were all wearing their barongs. We had planned on going to the Manila Yacht Club for lunch and were looking forward to eating lunch by the bay. However, the traffic in Manila changed our plans. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour because the city decided to close a major road, the road in front of our hotel. Our guides had a 2:30 meeting so we did not have time to eat. They had to drop us off at the corner near the hotel and we walked back to the hotel among all the people. It's some sort of anti-drug festival. I have attached some pictures-I honestly have never in my life seen so many people in one location! The festivities are (they are still going on right now) occuring in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

We decided to eat lunch at the restaurant at the hotel. It was a very good international buffet-cost us $60 US dollars to eat there!!! Good food, though. That's the problem, we can't process in our minds how much we spend until after fact, but there was no way we were venturing into that crowd to find lunch!

At the swimming pool, we had a slight issue. Mr. Jay-R decided to spit water at another little girl in the pool. He did not like it when Mommy took him out of the pool. He had a "time-in" for a punishment. Mommy held him on the chair. He was not happy. I got the "time-in" idea from another adoptive parent's blog. Children in orphanages are self soothers and time-outs alone don't work for them-they are good at soothing themselves. So, instead, we are making him stay close to us for the duration of the punishment time. Afterwards, he swam just fine and we had a nice time despite the breeze. Helicopters kept flying above and one even ejected confetti which just amazed Jay-R.

Our lives are forever changed by this trip in so many ways. We have met so many amazing people. The hospitality of the Filipino people is so warm and friendly. We have seen the vast differences that exist from poverty firsthand at those who reside in shacks to the large westernized malls with Gap and other stores. We have seen young children in tattered clothing begging on the streets, the vendors weaving in and out of traffic with their goods to sell. The traffic-it takes an hour to get a few miles! People-people are everywhere! We have eaten delicious Filipino food. And thank goodness, no one has gotten sick. We did not experience the usual constipation of adopted children-our fruit boy is very regular! And most of all, we are experiencing the unconditional love that comes from opening one's heart to adoption. We know we will experience challenges once we return home as we all adjust to being a family of four but we all love this little boy. Just a few minutes ago, he said, "Love you Mommy!" My heart swelled with love.

The next time I blog, I will be in the homeland of USA! And I will post pictures from our trip of Jay-R. As we adjust some, we look forward to seeing all of you soon! And Philippines, we hope to return here in 10 years for a homeland visit for Jay-R. Thank you all for your continued prayers, support, and love.