e-mail
For Earlier Posts See Below
Have you ever had those dreams where the whole intent of the dream is to accomplish something, arrive at someplace, or reach a point and you never do? No we won’t digress into dream meanings but March certainly seemed to feel like one of those dreams. Each day we would hear “Maybe tomorrow.” We were very unaccustomed to this way of thinking and began to get very discouraged.
Then Kristina decided to visit Mia. They were having such an awesome time when one of the workers came up and tried to tell her something. Fortunately there was a volunteer visiting from the US who translated. She told Kristina that the director had decided to limit Kristina’s visits to just 1/2 hour. So now the one thing that held Kristina close to Mia was not taken away but virtually removed. Kristina wept on the phone with me as she told me what happened.
Over the next week, Kristina worked with a medical team that went into the jungle and to remote villages to offer free clinics to the locals. Kristina served as a pharmacist for the team. Her nursing background came in handy for once! Though she loved the opportunity to work with these people, her heart was only in one place the entire time. It was in a little crib in Antigua.
The next time Kristina visited, Mia was sick and would not play. She snuggled with Kristina and then lay on the play floor of the orphanage so Kristina could get a picture to email me (see above.) As the nurse came to tell Kristina the time was up, Mia cried softly for Kristina as she left. This was getting more difficult by the day.
By now it was March 26th. It was over a month since Kristina and I had said our goodbyes at the airport in Guatemala City and we still had no word about our test results or the judges decision. However, 4pm on the 26th, Kristina received word that all was excellent with our tests and the judge had accepted them. However instead of granting custody to us, she wanted to meet with us again. This time in June. After some wrangling with the officials, we had the date moved to May but both of our spirits were crushed. Almost a year after beginning the process and it felt as if we were no closer (though looking back we know how far we were.)
April 1st, I flew Kristina home in tears of sadness…a fact so ironic that it was lost on me until I wrote this post. Why? Those of you who followed this adventure closely would know. Those who did not…stay tuned.
Below
The order for Mia’s 2nd physical exam did not come the next day or even the day after that. In fact it was almost a week in arriving. Nothing feels more hollow and empty than waiting and doing nothing. When it finally did arrive, the order from the judge was for Mia to appear at a forensics clinic in Guatemala City. This was definitely a relief as the 4 hours to Quetzaltenango and 4 hours back was getting old.
Our friend Marcelo went with Kristina to the clinic to interpret for her. When they arrived, they were told to wait, which they did for quite a while. When they were finally called, the nurse told them that only one could go back with Mia. Though Marcelo explained that Kristina was the mother and he was there to interpret, it made no difference. Marcelo went back with Mia. Kristina was left to sit alone in the waiting room and wait.
Shortly after they left, Marcelo returned with a storm brewing on his face that indicated something was very wrong. Apparently the doctor was annoyed that the judge had sent them to his clinic. He refused to perform the test saying it should have been done in Quetzaltenango. Though Marcelo explained the faulty examination in Quetzaltenango it made no difference. The doctor was still refusing to do anything. The officials from the court told Marcelo to ask if it could be done at a private clinic. When he did, the doctor erupted in a tirade, as this apparently is an illegal practice. The nurse said the only option was for her to write an order for the test to be done at the National Hospital right there in Guatemala City. She wrote the order and sent them on their way.
Oh it goes further…
Upon arriving at the National Hospital in Guatemala City, Marcelo and Kristina had to wait quite a while before they were seen. When they were called, the physician looked at the order that was written and refused to do the test. When asked why, he said that he would need an order directly from the judge requiring the x-rays to be done at the National Hospital. Marcelo and Kristina left the hospital with Mia. They were frustrated and angry at the lack of cooperation on the part of anyone they had met today. They returned to the forensics clinic and explained that they were refused at the hospital. Literally, the doctor told them “tough luck.”
Think it ends there???
So we contact our lawyer after hearing nothing from the judge’s office. He decided to travel out to the court in Quetzaltenango to see what was happening. He called us later that day. The frustration in his voice couldn’t prepare us for the news that he was going to give. He said that the judge did not believe that the forensics clinic refused them and that the National Hospital wouldn’t see them either. Instead of calling to find out, she said that the only way she would proceed is with a notarized statement from the clinic and the hospital saying they refused to perform the test.
So here we were, I had left Guatemala on May 20th and it was now July 6th. To say Kristina was homesick was somewhat of an understatement. Would she be home any time soon? We were seriously beginning to doubt it.
The Mummau Series
1. Choosing To Adopt
2. Why International? Why Guatemala?
3. The Call From Guatemala
4. The Process Begins
5. A Prelude To Mia
6. How Can You “Choose” A Child – Leaving Others Behind?
7. Peer Into The Heart – Journal Entries
8. Meeting Maria – Finding Mia
9. Leaving Our Daughter…is that…no way!
10. Rivers of Waiting
11. Mistakes, Intentions, and Naivety – How Hope Began To Die
12. Alone in Guatemala and Waiting
13. Time Marches On – Goodbye Mia for Now
14. Joyful Gringos in Quetzaltenango
15. Mia Mia
16. Abuela Comes To The Rescue
17. Doctors, Couriers, and Delays
18. Even So, You Won’t Believe This
19. The Summer of Frustration Ends
20. Fall Approaches with Broken Hearts…Teeth
21. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.1)
22. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.2)
23. Kristina Comes Home
24. Mia’s First Steps
25. December’s Momentum
26. An Angel In The Embassy? I
27. An Angel in the Embassy? II
28. A Christmas to Remember…and Forget
29. Daddy’s 2nd Visit
30. Clash at The Embassy
31. We’re In The PGN! OK Let Us Out!
32. Accomodations
33. The Pencil – Never Give Up
34. Exiting the PGN…sort of
35. Exiting the PGN…yet again
36. Daddy Has Enough
37. The Countdown Begins
38. Easter Brings Hope
39. Sit With Me in San Cristobal
40. T-Minus a few things and counting
41. My New Favorite Color
42. Hope Becomes Reality-The Embassy Interview
43. Mia Mummau Goes Home
More blogs about Guatemala Adoption.
