Today we completed our first required 12 hours of adoption classes in Denver. We drove down on Friday after Jay got off from work. I (Chandra) decided to just take Friday off. Friday night our classes lasted from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. with an hour and 15 minute dinner (supper for you Midwesterners) break. This morning we travelled to the Immigration and Naturalization Services office in Denver to get fingerprinted. It was so strange how the government disguises it. It was hidden away in this strip mall behind a bar with reflective windows so you can't look in. There's no sign indicating that it has anything to do with the federal government. It just said something like "application service center" on the door. And when you opened the door it was like you're opening up a window to the world with people of every ethnic background sitting around filling out paperwork. We arrived right at 8 a.m. when they open and already we saw a mass of human beings waiting. We thought, "Oh great! How will we ever make it in time to go to our adoption classes starting up at 9 a.m.?" But, since we had already filled out our paperwork and mailed it in we got whisked right past all of the waiting people. The fingerprinting, itself, probably only took about 5 minutes. I bet we were in there only a total of 10-15 minutes max. It was kind of interesting how they had to scrape a couple of our dry fingers to make the ridges stand out more. The guy fingerprinting me used the lid of a pen. Jay's gal used an old credit card. They didn't mess our fingers up with ink. Instead, they'd wipe your fingers with a wet rag, spray water on the plate and use this electronic biometric fingerprint scanner. It was neat how you instantly see your own fingerprint magically appear enlarged on the computer screen in front of you. Since we went through so fast we had time to stop at Starbucks to use up some of Jay's gift cards he had received at Christmas time from his students. I had a green tea frappacino and Jay's was a strawberry frappachino. Next we were off to more classes, which were supposed to last until 5 p.m. However, our teacher seemed to think that we had adequately learned all we were supposed to have learned by about 3:30 p.m. So, we had a little extra time to return to our hotel and "veg" (which means to just relax for those of you for whom English is not your first language).
Jay started catching a cold today while mine is getting better. But, we're enjoying our free upgrade at our hotel. We're staying at the Wingate Inn in Greenwood Village (a suburb of Denver). We highly recommed it as a very nice place to stay on the weekend if you're visiting Denver. That's because it's a business class hotel which is normally MUCH more expensive on the weekdays. But, on the weekend you get all of the amenities, including this free ethernet connection, a full breakfast, huge beautiful rooms, pool and whirlpool, etc. for the price you'd pay at a Super 8.
Tonight we met Jay's best man from our wedding, Nathan. We're praying for him about a potential life change which may be in the very near future. We enjoyed eating out with him at a Thai restaurant. Our beautiful young Thai waitress worked so hard all by herself, serving everyone in the entire restaurant and always with a smile on her face. I learned the word for delicious which sounded something like "alloi ma". When we told her we are planning to adopt a girl from Thailand she said, "Oh, you can adopt me." Later we talked about that perhaps she said this wishing she didn't have to work so hard in the family restaurant. These kids do work so hard and it just impresses me at what they all have to sacrifice to make it in this country. I cannot imagine going to a foreign country, starting out from scratch, not knowing the language and going on to be able to own and operate your own successful business. But, it must be hard for the kids who are wishing they could have more freedom and be able to assimilate more into the American lifestyle.
Well, we learned all kinds of things in our classes about things like bonding and attachment issues that the adopted kids will have to work through. Also, how the racial difference will affect the family and other physical and emotional effects there can be due to things like abuse and neglect. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming. But, it's still a wonderful choice that we know we want to make to provide a loving family to a child who needs one. Right now we hope that child is Penny. God will continue to reveal His plan to us one step at a time.
Tomorrow we will report to you about our time with Eed and Jon Cefkin. We look forward to meeting this couple for lunch at their home. I hope that Eed can teach us much about the Thai community at least in Denver. And it will be fun to visit with her husband, Jon who remembers Jay's sister from the Rocky Mountain H.S. marching band in Fort Collins. What a small world!
No comments:
Post a Comment