The US Embassy and Lumpini Park

Today was another long day. We went to the US Embassy to apply for Eli's visa. We waited for 2 hours for our "interview". We were sworn into oath and then asked a couple questions like: is everything still accurate from our home study and do you promise to complete his vaccinations when we return to the states. The interview took 5 minutes tops. Then it was back to the hotel to eat some lunch. Later in the day we walked to Lumpini Park in Bangkok. While we were there a message in Thai started coming from a loud speaker. Eli was shocked. He couldn't get over how that voice was coming out of that pole. He kept pointing at it and doing his surprise face. He kept babbling, as if asking "what the heck is that!?" At one point some music started coming from it and everyone is the entire park stood still. It must have been a national anthem? We stood still too, just to be on the safe side. There are lots of security and uniformed people around, especially in the park. 

When we were walking we came across a road where lots of people were jogging. Eli saw this and got very excited. He started running along with them. I think he thought he had lots of people playing chase with him. He kept looking back at them, like "are you going to tickle me?"

We saw 2 different kinds of lizards in the park, it was pretty interesting.

This was a sculpture in the park, I thought was very nice. It reminded me of sculpture i had photographed in Chicago.

This is the view from our hotel balcony tonight. The sky is clear and the weather is perfect. Jon thinks it is too hot and just asked me to turn the AC up...

Laundry in the Bathtub

Well we have just about run out of clean clothes, and we were misinformed about the cost of having the hotel do our laundry. We had been told that it was cheaper to pack light and have the hotel wash our clothes than to pack for the whole trip. This may be true at some other hotel, but not here. It would almost be cheaper to buy new clothes than to have the hotel wash them, so we are attempting laundry in the bathtub!

Popsicles and Monsoons

A monsoon blew through Bangkok yesterday, we were fortunately already back at our hotel and got to watch the rain from the balcony. It was pretty amazing. We learned that Eli had definitely eaten Popsicles before. We also learned that kids should eat Popsicles outside.

We Passed the Board!

Today was a very important and long day. We were picked up at the hotel along with the other 3 families and taken to our Thai Board hearing at 8:15. This is one of the final steps before we can take Eli home. Eli was kind of a grump in the morning, then he fell asleep on Jon in the van. We arrived at the government building, there were children being adopted to families from many different countries. We were 3rd in line in our group. After waiting about an hour we sat in front of a panel of 6 or 7 Thai judges. They asked us questions about our jobs, and who would be taking care of Nattawat when he returned with us. When they called Jon "Mr. William" we corrected them and said "Dr not Mr". They were much more impressed after that and seemed to dismiss our young age. During the meeting Eli perked up and was perfect! He is usually very shy around any one new, but during the meeting he sat and smiled at the judges and played quietly with a toy. The judges said he was a very handsome boy, and that he looked like us... They also said "don't feed him too much".  After the meeting we waited for our paperwork, and then it was time to go to the hospital for a checkup. That part was not fun for anyone. The hospital in Bangkok puts our facilities to shame. It was beautiful! And the nurses clothes were amazing. They wore tailored suits with pencil skirts. They even wore nurses hats. There was water available for free in sealed plastic cups, and we even got a ticket for a free piece of cake and a milk box for Eli since he was being seen there. We were on the 4th floor and there was an outside courtyard the boys played in while we waited. It was a very long wait. BTW in case anyone wants to know Eli is 29lbs, he was weighed today. By 4 pm we were back at the hotel, the boys (Jon and Eli) ate lunch and are now napping.  

Eli is still getting used to his mom, he wouldn't let me stand next to him for the picture, but he was all smiles after I moved to the other side.

Best Buds

I don't think anyone should be allowed to wake up and look this cute.

Surprise Face

When Eli encounters something unexpected, he makes this really goofy face and looks to us. We burst out laughing. I am pretty sure it is the best surprise face ever.

Why Does the Farang cross the road? To get to the Twin Lotus yo!

(Claire writing) On our first full day with Eli we took him shopping! Across the street from our hotel was the Thai equivalent to Walmart, the Twin Lotus. To get there you basically had to play "Forgger" with your life. You have to cross a busy street with no cross walk. The main traffic goes in the opposite direction than what we are used to, and a few motorcycles drive in the direction of traffic that we are used to. If you ever find yourself needing to go to the Twin Lotus, it is best to follow a Thai person across the street. Btw a faragn is a derogatory word for foreigner or tourist.

At first Eli was not too sure about sitting in the shopping cart. He looked scared and confused. We are not sure if he had ever been in one before. He held onto the bar very tightly. I told Jon no crazy cart driving! But as soon as Eli got more comfortable all Eli wanted was crazy cart driving... He would wiggle his body to indicate he wanted Jon to swerve the cart.

Eli picked out some cookies and held on to them tight!

 This was our first real bedtime routine. Before this we had put him down for naps on the half days we had him. He was a bit sad, he may have thought he was going to go home again like he did on the other days.

 This was the view from our hotel window the following morning. Get ready to travel to Bangkok!

In His Element

With the pace that everything has been happening, it is hard to keep an up-to-day account. We are now back in Bangkok, which is the last and longest part of the trip. In Bangkok, we need to get Eli a passport, finalize the adoption with the Thai government, and get medical clearances to travel internationally. 

I (Claire) am taking over for this post. Jon is stuck under a napping baby... During one of our final days in Nakon, we met Eli's foster parents. They live on the outskirts of the city. Eli's first foster mom lived across the street so we got to meet both of his mom's together.

They were very sweet, and they love him very much. Eli is especially close with his foster dad. Every morning they get up at 5 am and watch the news together.

Then go out and do the gardening. They had rubber trees, banana trees, eggplant, mangosteen, and many other tropical foods. They live a farming self-sufficient lifestyle. They use well water to drink from, and rain water for washing. All of the doors on the home were wide open. Eli (Ang-Pao) shooed chickens out of the house while we were there. It was pretty cute. He also picked us cucumbers!



This is a cut open mangosteen fruit. Before this trip I had only had mangosteen candy. Fresh mangosteen is sour, I really liked it.



They told us Eli (Ang-Pao) is very generous and always shares. He regularly shares his food with the family cat. After gardening he goes to pray with his foster dad and then takes a nap.

Buddhism is the dominant religion and there are shrines at many homes and on many streets. This is a shrine in Bangkok. The ones in homes were much smaller. Eli and his foster dad prayed beside pillows.

 His foster mom showed us how they bathe him. It was more like a shower, scooping water with a bucket. (No wonder he cried when we tried to give him a bath in a tub full of water the day before.) She then held him on one knee upside down to wash his hair. He stayed very still and was very cooperative. He helped with dressing and his foster dad brushed his hair. He was more vocal in his own environment. We dont know if he was babbling or speaking Thai. He appears to understand much more than he can express. He had very few toys, but he knows how to play with a ball.

It was nice to see what his real personality was like, when he was comfortable and in his home. This was little Eli's last night with his foster family. The following day he was brought to us by the social workers at the hotel.