Day 5-Homesickness is setting in...

Hello! It's 6:30 Friday morning. I am finding this the easiest time to blog b/c Jay-R is still sleeping! When he is awake, it is hard to do anything...he is so busy! Yesterday, we had our meeting at ICAB-the Intercountry Adoption Board. They are responsible for matching children to potential families. We met the social worker who helped match us to Jay-R. Jay-R was Mr. Shy and buried his face in his hat. After ICAB, our social worker from Parenting Foundation took us to an authentic Filipino store to buy some gifts. We received 60% off all non-sale items b/c Parenting Foundation families receive discounts. Okay, I have two children who love to shop. Ashleigh kept finding all sorts of things and Jay-R put item after item in the basket. We are not used to Filipino hospitality. The stores clerks were helping us find things, telling us about everything...we found it a bit overwhelming. And then we were ready to check out and pay, the total was over 7,000 pesos. My mind does not convert into dollars that quickly and I am thinking-"Oh my goodness, how much did we just spend?" We had been adding item after item-I tried to find things so each birthday, we can give Jay-R one item from his homeland. We did not have enough pesos so I had to use my Mastercard. It wouldn't go through. They had to call the bank and then I had to speak to the credit card representative. I had called before we left the US. Apparently, there was a hold or something placed on my card, the number was potentially compromised-I am getting so frustrated with this! Finally, the card went through and we were on our way 20 minutes later. Oh, by the way, we figured we spent approximately $150 US dollars.

After arriving back to our hotel and bidding our social worker farewell and thank you, we faced another dilemma, what to eat. Nothing is really within walking distance, we didn't want room service, and we were hungry. So, we tried Pizza Hut delivery. We received a large 1/2 Meat lovers, 1/2 Veggies Lover (with pineapple), 4 pieces of garlic bread, and 2 large bottles of pop for only $14 US dollars. The pizza was awesome and helped ease our homesickness some. As for Jay-R, he does not like pizza and ate a mango and Nutri Grain bar for lunch. He turns his nose up at food he doesn't like and makes the funniest face. After lunch, we swam for 2 hours. It was so warm outside, a little breezy, but oh, so warm. Jay-R is a fish like the rest of us but sticks mainly to the kiddie pool. He did venture to the adult pool a little bit.

Last night, I wanted out of the room. I am feeling cooped up with four of us in this tiny room. Across from our hotel is Star City, a mini amusement park. At night, the ferris wheel is lit up and both the kids wanted to go. I convinced Kory to venture out so we got ready, exchanged some more money, and grabbed a taxi and went. It cost us 1200 peso for all we could ride, around $20 US dollars (that's for all 4 of us together). Jay-R's eyes just lit up-he was so excited! We rode a variety of rides-bumper cars, carosuel horses, ferris wheel, and other rides. The kids had hotdogs, Pringles, and bottled water for $4! The prices amaze me here! When Jay-R told us he was tired (he placed two hands under his chin to indicate he was tired), we decided to walk back to the hotel. It wasn't far and we followed what looked like a bunch of Navy men. Shortly after (well, we had to wait for a new comforter to be brought because Jay-R spilled water all over ours!), we went to bed.

Another day planned. We are meeting our Children of Promise sponsored child today. Our time is dwidling. I will try to post some pictures and as soon as we are back in the states, I will post the pictures you are all waiting for!