Well, we made it! Our driver left Bogota at 4 a.m. to travel to La Palma and get Cristian's new birth certificate. He sweet talked and chocolated the clerks into printing out the new certificate right away and he sped back to Bogota. In the meantime, Annette, our immigration wizard, started us in the passport office, even though we didn't have the birth certificate yet. Her relation with the gatekeeper got us in line and ten minutes before they closed the doors, the birth certificate arrived. Still, there were 162 people in front of us, but only 90 minutes until our appointment with the Embassy doctor. Once again, we got moved to the head of the line, taken about 130 places ahead, and had the passport with an hour to spare.
Next it was on to the doctor, where Cristian was pronounced healthy. He is dead on average in height (which is tall for a Colombian) but about 25th percentile in weight. He is also starting to show off his English skills a bit. On the way to the doctor today, we passed the Bogota Beer Company, a brew pub here in Bogota. Cristian looked at the sign and announced "Cerveza" So it appears he knows the English word for beer. Probably a bad sign!
We got the medical certificate and I was able to book flights for Friday. Tomorrow we go to the Embassy for his entry visa, and then it is on to Atlanta to meet the family!
