Marvelous Massage

Good Evening,

I just returned from an hour massage that was wonderful. Twenty-six hour flights have a tendency to cause muscles to hurt that you didn't know you had. An hour massage is only $38 so I couldn't resist and indulged in the treat!

After touring today, we went down to the pool. It is surrounded by lush vegetation, relaxing chairs, and nice comfy towels. The only problem was the water was very cold and the wind could almost blow you over. Of course this was not a problem for me because everyone knows I did not get in the pool. However, my wonderful husband did swim with Ricky, after much coaxing. Luckily, the swim was short-lived as both were cold.

The meeting at ICAB went very well. They had a sign hanging that welcomed us each, by name. Everyone was very friendly as we sat around and visited. I was waiting to be called back for questioning, but instead they hugged us each and wished us well, thanking us for parenting Ricky. It truly was just a formality and now all of Ricky's paperwork is in our possession! We were also given his chest x-rays and shown the spots on his lungs. We will definitely check him out thoroughly when we get home. We were even told that we may be stopped by the USA, taken to a private room and made to swear that we will have a doctor check Ricky out. I am very glad that we were given the heads-up so that there weren't any unwanted surprises. I thank God for Ricky and the many who helped us get him and I am relieved that the process here is complete.

One of the things I noticed while here is that the odors are very different. I am sure that part of it is due the pollution but even the newspaper has a distinct smell. Every restaurant has unusual smells (dried fish with the heads still on) and even the soap and lotions smell different. I feel like I am pregnant again because my sense of smell is working overtime. I had to fight off nausea more than once.

Speaking of nausea, the stop and go of the car didn't help as I closed my eyes each time we nearly hit someone. Che shared that her brother was recently given a ticket because his car horn was too loud. If you don't have a working horn you can receive a ticket as well. I don't think I would ever drive if I lived here. Our driver, Jarrell, was very safe and pleasant to be with each day and was well worth the cost.

The poverty seemed to be more evident today. So many children running through the streets alone and Che shared that many are hit by cars. I saw one mother picking fleas from her daughter's hair and my heart continued to break. I again thanked God that Ricky was one of the lucky ones who was taken to an orphanage. There were many lean-to shelters (cardboard, tin, scraps of wood), some even made in the middle of the road. More surprising was that these lean-to shelters were more than one story high. Little to no running water or electricity was seen and most cooked on a small pit outside their home. We have yet to see homes of the upper class but there were some high rise town homes and condos. I thought it was interesting that Che mentioned that she would not go into one particular mall because it was built too quickly and she didn't trust the construction. Tanner asked if this was generally a problem and she replied that it was. I feel certain that many of the lean-to homes would crumble with the slightest of wind. There has been much learned by this experience and I know we will be different people because of it.

Well it is time to sign off as Ricky just climbed into my lap for a hug. We are hungry!


Missing everyone,
Steph