Risley Ranch

And hello Bogota

Jeff Risley — 2009-07-11T09:20:42-05:00

We arrived in Bogota on Wednesday, July 8th. It was raining hard during our cab ride to our hotel/hostel. During that 30 minutes, I noticed three distinct differences between Bogota and Cali: 1) the climate -- Bogota's elevation is 8,600 feet (3,000 feet higher than Denver!), so it's much, much cooler; 2) the air -- I didn't notice as much smog or pollution; 3) the traffic -- although the drivers are still crazy here, there weren't as many motorcycles as Cali. And one other thing...Bogota is HUGE, both in terms of population (about 9 million) and size (75 miles wide).

We're staying in a very nice place. It's called the "Hotel Paris," and it's owner, Katya Paris, is a great gal who has been hosting families in her hotel for years now. It's a bit bigger than Rayna's place in Cali. It's got probably 10 rooms, a living area, dining area and a back yard with playroom. It's in a very nice part of Bogota.

A couple of hours after we arrived on Wednesday, we had our doctor's appointment for the kids. There's nothing wrong with them -- it's just a step the US requires before they allow the kids into the country.

On Thursday, we got up early to go to the US Embassy and file for the kids' visas. It was a very cool feeling to see that huge US flag flying in US airspace on US soil. We arrived around 10 a.m. and didn't get the final OK until 1 p.m. It should be a 5 minute process. Our paperwork was all prepared beforehand. We submitted it, paid our $800, then waited for someone to look it over. That's about it.

Then Friday, I went back to the embassy to pick up the kids' passports with their completed visas, as well as a super-secret envelope for each that can't be opened until we reach customs in Houston. We lose those envelopes and we don't get back into the good-'ol USA!

We took one excursion yesterday, to the mountain of Monserrate, and the Cerro de Monserrate. Monserrate is a mountain that looms over Bogota. On the very top of it is a Church -- Cerro de Monserrate. According to the website, "Monserrate is the main symbol of Colombia's main city, not as an ecological icon but it's religious nature, whose Sanctuary was visited by thousands of people and pilgrims, since 1640 when it was founded."

It was breathtaking. To get to the top, you take a cable car. Once there, you follow a beautiful brick-path that curves back and forth. Along the path are the Stations of the Cross in beautiful sculpture. Also along the path are amazing views of the surrounding mountains, colorful flowers and trees, trees, trees.

Then at the end of the path, you see the Church.

These pictures don't do it justice because it was cloudy, and of course, I forgot the camera, so I had to use the iPhone. It's not a huge church, but it's really beautiful.

As we made our way up the path and into the church, it was clear that Mari knew who Jesus is and that we were in a holy place. It's clear either her birth-mother or her foster mother had taken her to church. When we got inside, we walked up to the front, and the Priest was just finishing up a short blessing for a crowd there. Mari sat down in a pew, very saintly-like, and just looked and listened.

After the Priest was done, we took the kids up to him, and introduced ourselves and told him we had adopted Mari and Alex. And we asked him to bless the kids, which he did.

Now those of you who know me probably just fell out of your chairs reading those last two sentences. I'm not a "believer" anymore, but being on that mountain, in that church, watching Mari react to it all, really shook me. I've always believed in a higher power of some kind, just not a biblical God. Amy does believe in God and goes to church with Joe every week. So at that moment, it felt exactly like the right thing to do. And I admit it felt good.

We then had lunch at one of the two restaurants there. It was a very nice, white-table-cloth place that overlooked Bogota (like the picture at the top of this post).

Goodbye Cali

Jeff Risley — 2009-07-08T14:01:49-05:00

So a lot has happened since I last posted:

Everyone is sick (colds). We all went to the Doctor last Thursday, got medicine, and are slowly mending.

On Friday, we took a drive into the country -- specifically to Dapa, a little village in the mountains north of Cali. There's a restaurant up there that's very popular. The drive wasn't very pleasant with three kids in a small car on very bad, curvy, mountain roads, but it was worth it. The air up there is cool and clean -- two things it's not in Cali. And the view is really beautiful. Ten years ago, those mountains were too dangerous to be in. Today, many wealthy people own "country homes" there.

Saturday morning, we received great news. Our legal process had progressed much more quickly than our attorney had anticipated. In fact, Steps two and three happened on the same day, Friday. That meant on Monday, we were able to go to court and sign the official Colombian adoption papers for the kids. So what sometimes can take 5 weeks took 3 for us. It was just what we needed. So Monday, July 6, Mari and Alex officially became ours.

On Sunday, we drove to Tulua, a city north of Cali about 2 hours, to meet our new Au Pair, Maria, and her family. That's Maria on the far right:

They are a kind, friendly family, and we're so glad we got to meet them before Maria joins us in the US later this month. It was great Karma that allowed us to meet them -- we had specifically wanted an Au Pair from Colombia and were lucky enough to find Maria. And it just so happens she was finishing up her semester from a University in Bogota and going to her home, Pereira, last week. Pereira is North of Cali about 4 hours, so we met in the middle. We had a nice lunch, and in the short two hours we had, I think we made her Dad feel comfortable the Risley's were ok. :-)

Yesterday (Tuesday), our attorney went to Palmira to get the kids' new birth certificates with Risley as their last name. This morning, we got their Colombian passports, then rushed to the airport to make a 10:30 a.m. flight to Bogota. We're now at our hotel/B&B in Bogota as I write this. So best case scenario, if we can get the US passports and visas done by Friday, we can fly back home on Saturday, July 11!

It was quite an experience in Cali. We met wonderful people -- the Cardona and Perez families are just amazing. We couldn't have done it without their support. We'll miss Cali, but we're so happy to have made new friends here.

Now I understand...

Jeff Risley — 2009-07-03T09:34:59-05:00

When I was a kid, my family took a vacation with another family from Dighton. But this wasn't a resort vacation. No, this was two families -- four parents and six kids -- in one camper, traveling from Kansas to Arkansas to spend a few days in an even smaller vehicle -- a houseboat -- on Greers Ferry Lake.

It was one of the worst ideas my parents ever had. It was too many people in too small of spaces over too much time. I remember on many occasions when one of the parents "lost it." I think they took turns.

Well now I know how they felt.

The farmer in the dell

Jeff Risley — 2009-07-02T20:31:57-05:00

When I was about 11 or 12, I think, Dad went through what we called an "Old McDonald" phase. Not content with just our cattle, a horse, pigs, milk cow, cats and a dog, Dad added sheep, ducks and geese to the mix. It was definitely an interesting time on the farm.

Well today in Cali, Colombia, of all places, I went back to the farm. Turns out there's what I'll call a very large petting zoo here call Yaku. It was very, very fun. The kids had a ball, and I got to show off my cow-milking abilities.

For a pretty fair price, three adults and three children spent three hours feeding cows, horses, sheep, goats and pigs. The kids also got to hold rabbits, see all kinds of fowl from all over the world (aside: chickens are just ugly, no matter where they come from).

At the end, we topped it off with a "pony" ride for the kids (technically, they were burros).

We had to cut the event a bit short so we could make a doctor's appointment. Amy, Mari and Alex are all sick with nasty colds/coughs. Joe is covered in mosquito bites. I'm doing better, getting over my cold. Everyone is all drugged-up now, so hopefully they'll begin feeling better tomorrow.

Update: Adoption legal process

Jeff Risley — 2009-07-02T11:40:05-05:00

The good news this week is that phase 1 of 3 of the legal process for our adoption is complete. We met with our attorney, Elena, Monday night, and she let us know the court has signed the first document we need. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but from what she said, one week is super fast. This is generally the longest part of the process because their statutes don't stipulate a time in which the court must act on these documents.

Phase two will be complete no later than tomorrow (again, someone else has to sign something). Then, the final step is for the judge to sign the final adoption decree, which must be done within 10 days of tomorrow. Elena said she's never seen it take 10 days -- usually 5. That means we could have the legal process complete by July 10.

After that, we must get new birth certificates for Mari and Alex that show "Risley" as their last name. We have to get those from Palmira, where they were born, which is about 20 miles from Cali. So that will probably take a day or two. At the same time, we'll need to get Colombian passports for each of them, again, with Risley as their last name. Once we have those, we're ready to leave Cali for Bogota.

In Bogota, we'll go to the US Embassy to get their US passports and visas. We go in one day to fill out the application, then come back the next to get the documents. However, it could take longer than two days depending on what day of the week we go in. The US embassy is closed on Fridays, which is bullshit by the way. I'm an American citizen trying to get service from my government in a foreign country, and "we're closed." Since when is America ever "closed."

So you can probably tell from this post we're a bit anxious. Being away from home is always hard, but being away in a foreign country for a month, with three kids (two of them we've just met!), in a small house, is starting to get to us. Our hosts here have been amazing helping us keep active, and we thank them so much for that. But today, we're ready to go home.

It's 5:00 somewhere

Jeff Risley — 2009-06-29T17:03:44-05:00

I like alcohol. I don't love it. I don't have a problem, but I really like it. Anyone who knows me knows my drink of choice is Maker's Mark bourbon. I had my first glass of Maker's in 1999, and I've never looked back.

So when we got the word we'd be coming to Colombia, I thought, well, they probably have some sort of bourbon down there, but probably not Maker's. Well, I was right about no Maker's, but there's NO bourbon in this entire city that I can find (there's Jack Daniels, but that's as close as it comes). I'm a bit surprised by that. Bourbon is sweet, and based on the drinking and eating I've seen down here, Colombian's like sweet. (Note to my friends at Maker's: If you need help setting up distribution down here, let me know. I've made some good contacts, and I think this is a great market for expansion).

There is, however, a lot of Scotch, beer, wine and Aguardiente. At a local Wal-Mart-type store, I picked up a couple of bottles of Chilean wine and a bottle of Buchanna's scotch for my new friend, Eduardo. But I'm not a Scotch guy, so I've mostly been drinking beer down here.

There are two popular Colombian beers: Club Colombia and Poker. I've had both, and I'm not crazy about either one. Both are light lager styles, and they both taste like water (or Coors Light, if you want a comparison). According to folks I've talked to, there's only one "microbrew" in Colombia, and it's in Bogota. I did buy some Peroni, just to have something different (and I'm drinking one now).

But the main drink, at least young folks (I'm told), is Aguardiente. This is truly a Latino drink, and one could say even a Colombian drink. The word literally means "fire water." There are multiple varieties in Colombia, but the one most drunk around Cali is made from Sugar Cane. It's drunk in shots (at least by college kids), and it tastes like black liquorish (but not super strong). I'm not a black liquorish fan, so I couldn't even finish the shot I tried.

So I guess there's not much point to this post, I guess, other than to say, I didn't leave my love for alcohol in the States, and I'm trying to acclimate myself to the Colombian style of drinking. And until I do, I'll just have another beer.

Who knew a pizza place could be so much fun?

Jeff Risley — 2009-06-28T12:10:22-05:00

Yesterday was a blast. Definitely a "up" day. We had a calm morning, then at 1 p.m., Camila took us to Jardin Plaza, a beautiful, upscale mall in southern Cali. The mall has an outdoor fun center for kids, so I took Joe and Mari on rides while Amy, Camila and Alex did some shopping.

After Alex spilled a full bottle of red juice on my white shirt, I made a quick stop at Zara to buy a new one. Then he threw a screaming fit for about 5 minutes as we exited the mall. He's really into pushing his own stroller, and we didn't let him this time, so thus, the fit. People stare at us already, but man did they stare then.

After that, we went to a sporting goods store so Joe and I could buy jersey's of the two official Cali soccer teams: Deportivo Cali and America de Cali. I know, it's kind of funny that one of the teams is called "America." They're both good teams and have been in Cali for more than 100 years.

We ended the day at an amazing pizza place for kid's called Archies. It started in Bogota, then spread to Cali. It's the best kid's pizza place I've ever seen -- way better than Chuck-E-Cheese or its cousins. They allow kids to make their own pizza's, then eat them.

There's a very nice, clean, manageable play area where the kids can run around until the pizza's ready so the parents can have a drink (or 2 or 3, in our case).

It was the perfect place for our three hooligans. Everyone was wound-up like springs when we got home, which made bed-time rough, but it was worth it.

Remind me why we wanted three kids again?

Jeff Risley — 2009-06-27T09:25:12-05:00

The last two days have been a combination of highs and lows. On the high side, we have a lot of fun during the day. Thursday we went to Loma Cruces, a cute open-air market where Colombian artists sell all sorts of hand-made items.

This shop full of musical instruments was very cool. The kids had a ball beating on drums and making as much noise as possible.

Loma Cruces is in a quaint, part of Cali called San Antonio. The homes and shops are brightly painted and well maintained. The streets are narrow. It's a little story-book-like.

That afternoon, we had ice cream at this wonderful ice-cream shop. Can't remember the name of it, but it was decadent. We all had way more ice-cream than we needed, but the kids played it off in the fun-center they had.

But Thursday night...it was hell. It started with a Joe freak-out/meltdown/power play that ended with Amy and I taking every single toy, screen and other privileges away for the whole day Friday. Mari and Alex were equally challenging. Bed time is always hard. Both kids refused to go to sleep (we put them down about 7:30 p.m.). Mari finally played-out, but Alex didn't. He rolled around, talked and generally played until 10 p.m. (this is while all the lights were out in the room and everyone else was in bed, too). In addition to being 2, he's a bit hard-headed.

Mari isn't really stubborn -- she uses crying and pouting to manipulate, which I'm so much better at handling (the stubborn/screaming/yelling by Joe and/or Alex are better handled by Amy). Anyway, it was a bad night.

But Friday morning was amazing. There was no TV, videos or other "fun" toys we had bought them. Instead, all three of them played nicely with each other, quietly. It was an amazing two hours.

And Friday afternoon, we went to the Cali Zoo. Of course, we forgot or camera, so no great pictures, but it's a great, great Zoo. Very clean, family friendly and walkable. Cool animals as well. And the kids were generally very good.

And Friday night, the kids were all very tired, so going to bed was easy.

And now it's Saturday morning. Alex is extremely emotional. He either doesn't feel well or he's simply going through the normal adjustments. And, he's 2. Did I say he was 2? Whenever Alex is sad, Mari is sad. She's easier to cheer up -- some tickling usually helps.

We're going to a local library this morning, then to a mall this afternoon and pizza for dinner. Both will be full of fun and heart-arch. It's the current normal for us.

And just so no one thinks Amy and I are flawless parents, we've both gone through our own breakdowns. Usually it's over little things we miss from home or in reaction to something the kids have done. Parenting 3 is much more of a challenge than I thought it would be.

What a day

Jeff Risley — 2009-06-25T09:09:29-05:00

So now I can say I've played golf on two continents. Yesterday, our chaperone's (Camila) father, Eduardo, took me golfing at his country club, Farallones. Seeing the club from the golf perspective gave me a whole new appreciation for it.

Eduardo is on the club's Board of Directors, so he's very knowledgeable of the course, which helped my game. The other thing that helped me shoot one of my best scores was having a caddy. At Farallones, you walk (no golf carts), and you use a caddy. So for about $20, you get someone to carry your clubs, wash your ball, fix your divots, help you read greens and adjust your shot. My caddy, Diebes, was well worth the money.

The course is long and wide. There's actually a 700-yard par 6 on the course. I don't know who designed it, but whoever did took advantage of the beautiful trees native to southern Colombia and the amazing mountains (the Farallones) surrounding the club. On many of the holes on the back nine, you're hitting into a post-card-picture scene of mountains and palm trees.

We started early in the morning, so it wasn't too hot. The fairways were in great shape, but the greens had just been aerated, so they were a little rough. It was a average-difficulty course (I don't remember the slope), and the greens weren't too difficult.

I shot a 93 with borrowed golf shoes and Eduardo's old set of Taylor Made clubs (which were still in great shape), so I was pretty pleased with myself. And even better, after our game, we had lunch with the family, who came later in the morning to swim at the amazing kid's pool. Then Eduardo and I headed to the steam room and whirlpool, both of which are in a very nice men's locker room. (Side note: some teenage kids were in the whirlpool, too, and one asked where in the US I was from. I said, "Why do you think I'm from the US?" He said, "You're kinda white." Among all these beautiful, brown-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed Colombians, I stick out like a turd in a punch bowl.)

I was very impressed with the club's customer service. They really pay attention to details and work hard to make you feel good.

To say Eduardo and his family are kind is an understatement. We've so appreciate having our "extended family" here in Cali. Without them, we'd be lost in this busy city.

Cali: country club style

Jeff Risley — 2009-06-22T19:31:41-05:00

This afternoon our amiga, Camila, took us to her family's country club, which is called Farallones (named after the mountains that serve as the backdrop to the club). It's one of the most amazing clubs I've seen, and I've seen some beautiful ones.

It was more like a resort. Situated on the southern end of the city, it once was a true "country" club because it was not surrounded by Cali. Now, however, the city has grown up around it. It's exclusive. It has an amazing playground area for kids, plus two pools, five restaurants, tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course. Hopefully I'll get to play a round. Camila's father, a successful business man in Cali, who we met recently, offered to take me.

After playing with the kids, we sat and had a drink with Camila and her cousin. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. And the kids had a great time. We'll be going back to swim this week.

In other news, our appointment with ICBF is tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. For the last week, we've had "temporary" custody of Mari and Alex. Tomorrow's appointment is a final interview with us and kids, then our attorney can file the adoption paperwork with the local court. That starts the official adoption process, which, if we have a "fast" court, will take about two weeks.