As we arrived at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel, our mouths drop open in awe and wonder. We have never stayed in such a fancy hotel before. The Guatemala City Marriott was elegant and professional. But this was fancy. We're pretty down to earth folks. Here in America, we stay at the Quality Inn almost everywhere we go - you know, clean rooms with a good price. This was not the Quality Inn! I'm sure we looked like the Beverly Hillbillys as we walked into the 11-story lobby with 3 glass elevators, and a glass roof.
View looking up.
View from the top floor looking down.
The lobby.Well, we had a couple of hours to wait until our room was ready, and a couple of hours to wait until Cupcake was brought to us. So, we took turns exploring the place with the kids. There was an indoor pool and 3 hot tubs, a work-out room, and a roof that you can go out on to see the city. That took about 5 minutes. We twiddled our thumbs, and then we went exploring some more. Our room was ready after about 2 hours, so we unloaded our luggage and scrambled back downstairs to wait. Did I mention that time stood still while we were waiting for Cupcake. It's this time of breathless expectation. You can hear the "tick...tick...tick" of your watch. You watch people come in and out. You look in every car that drives through the drop-off zone. You check your watch. You walk outside to see if they are coming in. You sit back down. And so it goes.
Finally, I see R___, our facilitator. THEY'RE HERE! The moment we've been waiting for. Will she remember us? Will she cry? She did last time. They walk in the door. She looks so grown up. She looks worrried. She hugs R___'s leg. We talk about the case while she holds on to him. At one moment, she grabs her bag, puts it on her shoulder and with her head held high, walks for the door. You can just see her little mind thinking, "I am NOT doing this! I am so out of here!"
Finally, it's time for R___ to go. When the elevator door shuts, the screaming begins. LOUD, WAILING SCREAMS!!! This poor girl has been through so much change in her short life. She doesn't like being handed off from one person to another. She doesn't like not being told what is happening. All I can say is, "I'm sorry. Mama's here." All I want to do is protect my baby's heart. I want her to know that we will always, always love her, and once those papers are signed, we will NEVER, NEVER give her back.
After a time, she calms down and looks around. She meets her brothers and sister. She remembers TE. He met her more than a year ago. She recognizes Sunshine and Sugar from the pictures we sent. She remembers Grandma from our last visit. She takes to my brother easily. She's mad at Daddy...I don't know why.
Pretty soon, we're just enjoying family life together; interacting and getting to know each other. Just hanging out. Ahhh.
Blessings to you,
Mamita J
Finally, I see R___, our facilitator. THEY'RE HERE! The moment we've been waiting for. Will she remember us? Will she cry? She did last time. They walk in the door. She looks so grown up. She looks worrried. She hugs R___'s leg. We talk about the case while she holds on to him. At one moment, she grabs her bag, puts it on her shoulder and with her head held high, walks for the door. You can just see her little mind thinking, "I am NOT doing this! I am so out of here!"
Finally, it's time for R___ to go. When the elevator door shuts, the screaming begins. LOUD, WAILING SCREAMS!!! This poor girl has been through so much change in her short life. She doesn't like being handed off from one person to another. She doesn't like not being told what is happening. All I can say is, "I'm sorry. Mama's here." All I want to do is protect my baby's heart. I want her to know that we will always, always love her, and once those papers are signed, we will NEVER, NEVER give her back.
After a time, she calms down and looks around. She meets her brothers and sister. She remembers TE. He met her more than a year ago. She recognizes Sunshine and Sugar from the pictures we sent. She remembers Grandma from our last visit. She takes to my brother easily. She's mad at Daddy...I don't know why.
Pretty soon, we're just enjoying family life together; interacting and getting to know each other. Just hanging out. Ahhh.
Blessings to you,
Mamita J
2 comments:
She is so sweet. What a brave strong girl !!
She is so cute!!! Oh those memories come flooding back when you talk about the screaming and scared - being handed over, etc.. That was hard!!
Beautiful hotel!! Wow!!
Glad things are going better and you are able to start family life!!
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