A Day of Introductions

Today was a long day.  It began shortly after 4 in the morning when Ernie Knechel picked us up and drove us to the airport.  Our flight left Philadelphia on time and the flight to Miami was without incident.  After a delay on the tarmac waiting for our gate to open, we made our connecting flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Alicia did well on the flights, usually she gets airsick and was concerned.  We landed on time, but had to wait in a long line for immigration.  Our Honduran lawyers were very concerned for us by the time we finally met them in the airport almost an hour and a half after landing.  After a meal at the mall food court (we got Honduran food and our lawyers got hamburgers at Wendy's), we went to DINAF and met our children.  Our daughter, Sinia was clearly nervous and scared.  She wouldn't respond to us...her big brother, Brayan was in the bathroom.  When Brayan came into the room he smiled and immediately came to me and put his arm around me.  I did not expect that response.  He is a protector and leader for his sister.  After some time at DINAF, we signed papers to have custody of the children for the week.  We left DINAF and went to the mall to get some water, juice and a sweater for each of the children.  They were so excited with all that they saw.  You would have thought they went to Disney World.  They both took our hands and smiles were plastered across their faces.

We returned to the hotel and spent some time with friends that came to the hotel.  Followed by dinner and then trying to get the kids to bed.  We have done OK, but the language barrier does make it a bit difficult.  I am struggling through with my bit of Spanish, and Brayan has been very patient and helpful with his sister.  Tomorrow morning, we go to DINAF for the entire morning for our interview and psychological evaluation.  We are so in love with two cuties already, but we can already tell that Sinia has a lot of energy and a strong will.