So here are some shots of the market at ChiChicastenango. It’s about the biggest market around for handicrafts. As you can see, it’s pretty crowded and active. Lots of pressure to buy and lots of bargaining. I was able to get some neat toys ‘n’ things for Mateo that we can put away and give him as he grows. Stuff for the house, gifts. But mostly the scene itself is the attraction. There's an even bigger market in a nearby town called San Francisco. But that’s more for locals, with booths and blankets spread with daily necessities, fields of pigs, goats and cows, strolling salespeople carrying and shouting out the price of everything from sticks of gum to home satellite systems.

As you can see from the bundles the Mayan women are carrying around, textiles like the one I bought in an earlier entry come in an amazing rainbow of colors, and are used to make just about any product the gringos might want ( evidenced by the picture frames you may have seen in our house).
The scraggly guy with the backpack makes my thoughts wander back to my rambling days……….. no, actually, I didn’t look that neat.

-Matt

One Step Closer

So, I'm logging onto my e-mail after my morning classes at the spanish school and I see an e-mail from "DONOTREPLY, Guatenotices" with the subject: "Pre-Approval Notice, Petitioner: MILLER Case #17756" And it starts off:

"Name of child / Nombre del menor: William Aquino Castro. A pre-approval was issued for the above-listed adoption case. You may pick
up this pre-approval at Window #8 at your earliest convenience. You must bring a
copy of this notification. Reminder: Adopting parents should not travel to Guatemala prior to issuance of the pink slip by the Consular Section, in order to..." I freak. "What? Approval? finished? pink slip ....Pink Slip!"

The pink slip is part of the vocabulary of Guatadoption. It's the notice that the US consulate in Guatemala City issues when everything is wrapped up. It gives the date for your visa appoinment, the last thing you do before getting on the plane with your child.

"Okay Matt, calm down. The things that still need to be done can not possibly have happened yet - and they´re only talking about the pink slip, not giving it."

Nope, but it does mean we're one step closer, and it was a step we thought could have held us up a while. The notice was meant mostly for our adoption agency and our lawyer down here in Guatemala, who will be the one to go to "window #8". It means that the embassy has finished processing our specific application for Mateo along with the evidence of the positive DNA test.

The lawyer here can now submit it to the Guatemalan government along with our translated dossier and the Guatemalan social worker's report. Once they finish with it, the lawyer will procure a Guatemalan passport for him, and a new birth certificate with our names on it. Then it goes to the embassy here, and when they're ready, they give us our "pink slip" which means we scramble for plane tickets to get to the appointment for us and Mateo 7 to 10 days later to get a visa on his passport and head on home.

From now to the pink slip is, if everything goes about as fast as it can, 6 weeks, though the average is longer, and it could of course take much longer. The big uncertainty is how long the Guatemalan govt. takes. They could conceivably ask for more, or revised, paperwork - or the paperwork gets "lost" and we have to provide replacements (contingeny copies are already waiting in our files!)

Once we know that the PGN (the Guatemalan Govt. agency that deals with adoptions, among other things) is finished with it, then we can be more confident that 2 – 3 weeks later the US embassy will issue our pink slip for an appointment 7 – 10 days later. I´m still guessing Mateo will first smell the air of Oregon sometime in July.

Of course, we weren't anywhere near as hopeful about this step, which explains my leaving a dent in the ceiling of the school's internet room. The consulate had been taking quite a bit longer lately to process things once there is a positive DNA test. We were told 2-3 weeks is remarkable, but once it goes to the consulate, it enters a black hole which will not respond to inquiries before 6 - 8 weeks if the approval has not yet emerged.

We got the DNA confirmation just before we left for Guatemala, and our adoption case worker was about to FedEx it through the various certifications on it´s way to the consulate. It was there 2 weeks, max. Wow!! Needless to say, I crossed my name off the afternoon trip to a mayan village in order to run to the internet cafe to phone the agency, phone Sarah, e-mail my Mom, and of course publish this entry.

The picture above is of me trying out a "manta para los bebe's" that I was in the process of buying at a market. It's a woven cloth used by the maya for a bunch of purposes, but in this case as a baby sling. I'm already an expert. We can't wait until we're using it in Silverton.

-Matt

Picture of the day #5

Again with a sideways picture, but if you can see, he is so much more active. He used his hands to grab things...and they tell me he must be preparing to start teething because everything went in his mouth (except the tons of drool that came out of his mouth).

He is resting in the stroller we bought for the foster mom...not in the Baby Book of Safety, but solid enough that he should be safe while with her. And I must admit not blaming her for wanting a stroller...as you can tell by the other pictures, he weighs more than most sacks of potatos!

Talked with Matt on Monday...he's having a blast and learning a ton.

Hope all is well for you, Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Picture of the day, # 4

I´m sitting at an internet cafe in Quezaltenengo (Xela, for short..it´s mayan name) and there´s a thunderstorm raging outside. Xela is 8000 feet up a mountain and while this is the first reeal rain we´ve had, it´s a doozie. So I have no idea if the power´s going to last long enough to get this posted, or if I´ll successfully be able to find the picture upload tabs on the web page which this computer has translated into spanish....my first test.

Having a great time here and learning a lot about the language, culture and people of this country that will now be a part of our lives, our family. we study one on one for 5 hours every day, and have optional trips, films and conferences on history, culture, and social issues in guatemala. I asked my teacher for this week to teach me a couple of Guatemalan songs for little kids, and also got a kid´s prayer (of the ´now i lay me down to sleep´ variety). I´m living with a guatemalan family and getting some good recipes for them. I´ll be cooking them my mom´s stuffed mushrtooms this week, and will try and find everything I need to make her red sauce and lasagne. I like cutural exchange that you can eat.
The picture is of various members of my homestay family, in their house.
Better try to post this before s power surge blasts it into free electrons....

Matt

Picture of the Day #3

Ok, so I haven't yet figured out how to change the orientation of pictures on the blog...but I am running out the door to go to work and I wanted to get one posted.

This trip, we had so much fun leaning Mateo against a stack of pillows where we could then play with him, or sing to him, or read him books. He loves being nestled in to the pillows, and we love being both able to gaze at him.

For those of you who have been wondering, Matt is doing well. I spoke with him last night and they are going to a regional market this weekend where they sell everything from crafts to food to cows and pigs. Guess it gives new meaning to "farmer's market".

Thanks to everyone who has been sending me notes to let me know you are thinking of us.

I very much feel loved.

Love from Oregon, Sarah (Love from Guatemala, Matt & Mateo)