[ggman]

going with Lilly?

Is the "new-mom" thing frazzling you yet? I hope not too much!

Would love to see some more pix!

Gwenn

[monami7]

Things are good. We have had a lot of company. Lilly seems to be handleing it well. She has a sinis infection and is starting to feel better now. She has slept through the night for 3 nights now. THAT IS WHAT HAS MADE ME HAPPY! If you PM me your email I can send you some pics we took today.

[3Vegetarians]

Hi Heidi,
I'm new to this discussion forum, actually new to discussion forums in general. We have a 3 1/2 y/o AA little boy who was adopted domestically. Our dossier was sent to Haiti Feb. 9th, so we are waiting for our referral. Our agency and the orphanage state we will need to travel only 3-5 days when we are able to meet our child and bring him (or him and her, possibly siblings) home. I saw from your last posting that you were there for 4 weeks. Was there a problem or was that planned? I'm wondering because I can't imagine leaving my 3 year old for that long and everyone has told us to definitely not take him with us when we go to Haiti. Also, I'm curious to know which orphanage Lilly was living at? Also, what does PM mean?
thanks,
Kathy

[monami7]

PM means private message.
Lilly is from Haiti.
I just put new pics on the website too.
We were in Haiti for several reasons.
We had planned on going for 2 weeks or so though.
First Lilly was sick and they were to be expediting her case, However the 2nd legal gut in MOI I think forgot how to sign his name. We had been out of IBESR for over 2 months and We were told that if we went down there and stayed 2 weeks we should be able to come home with her. Well we got down there and this man would simply not help us at all. It took 2 and a half weeks longer to get him to sign the paper! Then the passport office took a few days, that is another story! and the US offices are not exactly competent in Haiti. I will say the VISA officer was wonderful though. The USCIS lost papers and would tell us that the paper would be ready and then not send it to the VISA office. It really was a nightmare.
However, Most people wait until they have everything complete as in VISA in hand before travel. This does take a little longer but you can travel and pick up and return the same day if you want. Personally I think the month I was in Haiti though stressful and a bit too long, was an invaluble time to see our daughters country. We got to know the people we were staying with. Wall's international guest house. And we got to feel the culture. I would definitly recomend visiting for a week to see what Haiti is all about. If you are careful and stay somewhere safe you will be fine. No, I probably wouldn't take a 3 year old, but I actually may someday. Looking back I wouldn't trade it.
Heidi

[3Vegetarians]

Thanks! I was just worried we would get there when the time comes and then have to stay alot longer without being prepared for it. I know that may end up happening anyway, but I didn't know if it was a planned thing for you to stay so long.
Since you brought up the safety issue, did you mainly have to stay in the area of Lilly's orphanage, or were you able to get out at all? We would love to be able to bring back some things from Haiti to have in our house, were you able to buy any mementos while you were there?
thanks,
Kathy

[ggman]

I just want to chime in. I know that everyone has a differnt comfort level, but I am comfortable bringing a child with us. (We also have a 3 yo daughter.) (Our orphanage won't let us, and we've been fighting tooth and nail to bring her-- we think it will helpw ith the adjustment of our son to have another child there, PLUS I just want her to see Haiti. It's beautiful and we've read so much about it and talked about it. My husnband and I have been there, but she never has.

Yes, there are parts of Haiti that are dangerous, however, I think if you are wise and travel with someone who is knowledgeable about where you should go (and not go) then you will be fine.

Also, I think you will have lots of opportunities to buy Haitian souvieners. Many guest houses sell them in their lobby, and if not, there are usually street vendors all around wanting desperately to sell you something. Also, much of what you can get at an open market you can also get upstairs at the airport. It's a little pricier, but much of the same stuff. I would DEFINITELY reccommend the Baptist Mission. That's an actual store inside of a building. Prices are set and so there is no haggleing, but they have some really, really nice stuff. Also, right across the street from the Baptist Mission there are tons of street vendors who will come up to you as you are entering/leaving the mission to try to sell you something. Be sure to travel with a lot of small bills (1'2, 5's, + 10's) as most of the street vendors can't make change. (The Baptist Mission and the Airport take credit cards-- but be sure to tell your company that you are traveling ahead of time so that they don't put a hold on your account when they see foreign charges... this happened to us.

Finally, my last suggestion. When you are working with the street vendors and ask them "How much?" for something. They will usually start at a VERY high price. It was suggested to me that you offer around 1/4th of that. They will usually try to haggle you up from there, but many times you can settle on 1/3-1/2 of what they ask. In the beginning I kind of felt bad about doing that because I knew these people were very poor, but our friend Danny (who lives in Haiti) reminded me that they are never going to take less than what they paid for something-- they know how much they need to make and won't settle for less. (Also, don't be afraid to walk away if you think a price is too high-- they will come after you if they can offer you lower than their "final" price they quoted a minute earlier.)

Okay, I just thought of ONE more thing-- try to get to a grocery store while you are there to buy vanilla and coffee... Haiti has great vanilla and coffee and it's VERY cheap. We bring a whole case of vanilla back with us on trips home from Haiti. It only costs about $28 US for about 30 bottles of it and it makes great little gifts. The coffee is usually around $3/lb but it is REALLY good if you like coffee. I buy a ton of it for my sister who is a coffee fiend.

Okay, that's my very long butt in to your conversation! Good luck and let us know when you get your referral!

[monami7]

My post was edited so it is kind of funny sounding now. I did not know that you could not say names orphanages I thought that you could just not say agency names. It is wierd because telling about orphanages has help 4 kids that I know find homes Oh well. If you want you can PM me for the info.
Heidi