We're Home!

Hi everyone - just a quick note to say we are happy to be home!

We'll post more photos up soon, but just one for now.

More later.

Love,

Amy, Keith, Maggie and JM

Korea, part 2

We're back at the Seoul airport, waiting to board our flight to Los Angeles. JM did well on the 4 hour flight from Manila to Seoul; we'll see how the 11-12 hour flight to LAX goes - fingers crossed!

We'll try to post from LA.

Manila - official paperwork and some fun

Yesterday we went to ICAB, the Inter-Country Adoption Board, to get JM's passport, visa and other official documents. ICAB is also the group that approves a child's match with a family. Our assigned social worker from ICAB, Cathy, also presented James with a Philippines Flag, a special book about the country, and a toy jeepney. It was a nice moment.

Next we stopped at Pearl S Buck Philippines, to meet the rest of the staff and Rosalyn Reyes, the executive director, and to see their new offices. At PSBP, JM received a great tshirt and a book about the various child care agencies in PI. We are pretty sure he is pictured as an infant in the Rainbow Village page.

In the afternoon we had some fun at the Manila Ocean Park aquarium. It's a new facility near center city, the US embassy, etc on Manila Bay. It reminded us a lot of the New Jersey Aquarium, but just a bit smaller. In the evenings they have a light/fountain show and there are several restaurants and shops on site.

Manila Ocean Park did have one feature that the NJ Aquarium does not - the fish spa! If you ever get the chance, you have to try this.

For the first 5 minutes we laughed so hard we couldn't breath. But, we both agreed that the fish did a good job; they buffed and shined our feet just as well as a pedicure and much more efficiently.

We hit a lot of traffic on the way back to the hotel. JM feel asleep in the van, but then (of course) woke up at the hotel. We hit the mall last night for some fish and rice, a bit of shopping and just walking around.

Today we leave to start our journey home. First stop - Seoul. Then Los Angeles. We have a long layover there before a red eye to Philly. Our plan is to make the best of that layover: try to walk around, get some sunlight and begin to adjust to the new time. That's the best case scenario at least :)

We've had a great trip here in PI and plan to visit again with JM and Maggie. But we're ready to come home, see Maggie (miss you!) and Lucy, sleep in our own beds, and start JM getting acclimated to Pennsylvania, his (our) new life and family.

Thanks to everyone for your support. If we can we'll post updates from the airports. If not, we'll try to get something up Sunday or Monday.

Love,
Keith, Amy & JM (and soon Maggie!)

Hanging out in Dumaguete City with JM

Yesterday we spent the day exploring more of Dumaguete and the surrounding area.  The three of us headed out to a nearby swim park and enjoyed a quiet, if a bit rainy, morning together. Though JM does not seem to like the rain much, he did like dipping his feet in the water and watching the tropical birds at the park.

Afterwards we took a stroll down the bayside walkway and watched the fishermen come in for the day. Our guide, Rolly, then picked  us up and took us downtown to shop.  Here we took our first "trike" ride, much to Amy's dismay. Trikes - motorcycles fitted with a large framed sidecar, dominate Dumaguete's streets.  We were, however, notably safer than the many families that travel by motorcycle sans sidecar. We actually saw one family of five on one motorcycle today - the Dumaguete version of the SUV.

James Matthew is really adjusting to us well.  Though quiet, words are trickling out a bit at a time. Today he said both da-da and na-nay (mommy) while looking at our pictures - a nice moment.  We are looking forward to coming home and thank you for your supportive posts and emails!

JM Day 2 and touring Dumaguete

Dumaguete Belfry - This was used as a pirate warning signal

JM at Rainbow. He and his buddies would have made good pirates.

After an extremely sleepless night without JM, we anxiously arrived at Rainbow Village to reacquaint each other, meet James' caregivers ("Ya-yas"), and make things official before taking JM back with us.  Clearly JM and his buddies have been in the best of care.  Mike and Sheryl, the program directors and missionaries from California, have carved a tiny oasis for these children that makes the best of their situation.  We could not have asked for better people to have cared for JM!

Afterwards, we headed to the center of Dumaguete City to explore. Dumaguete City is now a thriving university town with a bustling marketplace.  We were happy to have Sheryl drive us around as there seems to be no driving rules in Dumaguete: no signs, lights, turn signals, etc. Just a constant stream of motorcycles with passenger sidecars navigating out of sheer instinct and pluck. We walked through the marketplace and checked out the local churches, one dating back to the original Spanish mission church that was originally built in the late 1700s. We found it somewhat interesting that the name "Dumaguete" derives from the local word for kidnapping, as the pirates off the coast would maraud the city and snatch people up.

We brought JM back (without having to resort to marauding) to the hotel and he is adjusting VERY well to his new parents. His caregivers were very clear that JM is one of the most easy-going kids they have had and he has definitely lived up to his reputation.  Though quiet and shy, he will explode into smiles when playing ball or with his new truck. Playing with a ball is his favorite activity and we were surprised by his ability to throw and kick the ball.

A good night

We're happy to report everyone slept well last night. It's around 6 am and we're just hanging out and slowly starting the day. We're also trying to see who draws the short straw on the dirty diaper.

Right now JM is lounging in bed, playing with his car, ball and stuffed panda bear. He is a true boy - seems to enjoy making ramps for the car with the back of a wooden puzzle, stacking and balancing things and kicking the ball (he's quite good, I must say).

Today we're headed a water park of sorts to play and have lunch. Then back to the hotel for naps (yeah!).

JM!

 

Today we met James Matthew - or JM as he is called by some of his caregivers. They tell us he is all boy and very sweet. JM loved the small orange truck we brought for him and Amy's iphone too. He ate an entire piece of chocolate cake while sitting on our laps, so his reputation as a good eater is holding up so far.

We visited with JM today and then had dinner with some of the staff in town. Tomorrow we'll return and then bring him to the hotel with us overnight. Before we leave on Thursday, we'll have a good bye party at the orphanage.

We are exhausted, so we'll keep this short for now. It was a great, great day.

~Keith and Amy