By Tina Gallant
My husband and I had the privilege of being with our son in Guatemala the last 3 months of our adoption process. This, to us, was a very beneficial experience. Beside the fact that we wanted to be with our son as much as possible while we waited for the adoption process to complete, there were so many other things that were a benefit from our trip. Reading about a culture and experiencing it are two completely different things. I could not have imagined how wonderful Guatemala was even after all that I had read about it. Experiencing the sights and sounds and smells are incomparable to a book or Youtube video of someone else’s experience. My husband had the opportunity to take an amazing volcano hike. From our rooftop, we watched another volcano spew fire into the night sky. We had fun adventures making frequent trips to the market and our favorite fast food restaurant, Pollo Campero. We also had the “pleasure” of hearing fire crackers going off at early morning hours (every morning), fought the fear of being in a tuk-tuk flying over the cobblestone streets of Antigua, and who can forget the sounds and smells of the “chicken buses” driving through the town. All these things are affectionately forever ingrained in our minds. One of the things we did for our son while we were there was that we bought a bunch of things to bring back with us for the present, and the future. He has a stuffed animal made out of traditional Guatemalan material that he’s had since he was a baby. Even though we were there from April through July, we made a point to buy Christmas ornaments, decorations and a nativity set. We bought a drum for him made out of a coffee can and painted in the traditional Guatemalan colors and style. We gave that to him when he became a toddler. We have some photo albums, a notebook cover and a backpack all out of the traditional material that he will get when he’s older to use them in school. If you are planning on making a trip or two, you may want to use this time to find decorations, toys, or books that you may want to bring back with you to use as your child grows up in America. Just like we have Dr. Seuss here in the states, there may be some popular children’s book series in their birth country that you might want to consider making a part of your child’s library. Besides being able to experience the culture and bringing some of that culture back with you to the U.S., another benefit of traveling to the birth country is that it affords more alone time with your child/children. In their list of “Tips: When Baby Arrives,” www.a4everfamily.org says, “Stick close to home and avoid the revolving door of visitors until the baby has had time to adjust and learn who his parents are. Remember, you are strangers to this baby. When the time comes to introduce the baby to family and friends, it is best to limit holding to Mother and Father.” It is so hard when family just wants to smother them in love not realizing they need to attach to their new parents first. Being alone with our son in Guatemala gave us that time. A friend of mine, Michele, who adopted from Nicaragua, explained it like this, ”We thought that both [my husband and myself] being there was important for Jonathan and the bonding process. It was great that we got to be there because it allowed Jonathan to be with us as his new parents but still have the comfort of his normal surroundings. I really believe that's why our transition back to the US was so great for him because he was so comfortable and attached to us by the time we left Nicaragua.“ What a blessing it proved to be for the whole family. A lot of people experience difficulties traveling to a foreign country. My husband and I had no experience with the language and found it difficult to understand anyone. Taking public transportation with little or no language, we found ourselves in very awkward situations and places. The comfort level is more difficult for some than others, but no matter what difficulties we went through when asked if we would want to go back, without hesitation, our answer is, “yes.” I love that I can say to my son, “I loved living in Guatemala. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen.” I am so happy that I was able to experience the culture, the food, and some of the traditions while we were there. We have tons of pictures and we hope to take our son back there to experience it over and over again as much as possible. Guatemala is not such a foreign place to us anymore because of that trip. We want to make sure it’s not foreign to him either.