Day 19 - Sometimes no news is bad news

We are slow learners.

Jakob was very hungry this morning, and since he had had no fever last night (even though we had stopped giving him the paracetamol mixture) and seemed his normal self again when he woke up, we brought him to the restaurant for breakfast. He ate too much, too fast, and threw up in the restaurant again!

(According to the staff, it is the disgustingly sweet manjar blanco that makes him vomit, but we doubt it, as he has never retched any of that stuff.)

He played on the terrace with his friends Paola and Armando all morning, but at lunchtime he was feeling weak and fell asleep. He slept for two solid hours. The doctor came by to check on him, but he did not want to wake him. He said he'd come by again in the evening. (He didn't. He probably had more urgent illnesses to deal with elsewhere.) Two of the other kids in the hotel have also gotten sick, at least one of them has an ear infection like Jakob's.

When he woke up again, Jakob was feeling fine, but famished. After he had eaten, we went for a walk, but he insisted on being carried the whole time. So we know he is not well yet.

During our walk we stopped to take pictures of these strange, big fruits up in a tall tree. Suddenly a security guard came rushing at us, reprimanding us in Spanish. We hadn't noticed the security camera in the tree. Apparently it was strictly forbidden to take pictures there. We hurried away from the area before we got arrested (or shot — all security guards here carry guns)!

Except for Day 14, we have had sunny and warm weather every day in Cali. But this afternoon, just after we got back from our walk, and again this evening, we had thunderstorms. Jakob was playng on the porch with his new best friend, the 12-year old boy from Australia, when the thunder and lightning started. Jakob wanted to stay on the porch with mommy, watching the weather with great fascination, safely hidden under an umbrella, even though there is a roof over the porch. But he absolutely would not go inside, he wanted to watch the storm! When the thunder came, he would put mommy's hands over his ears. Then he felt safe.

Just before the first thunderstorm, we were exploring the hotel together with Jakob, and when we came to the window above the porch, we came to realize that the tall tree by the porch is actually a poinsettia (på norsk: julestjerne)!

At suppertime Jakob had a good appetite. So good, in fact, that daddy had to take away half of his fruit lest the poor kid would spew his food again. It went well — no scandal in the restaurant this evening!

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We were hoping to hear from our lawyer today that the ICBF had assigned a new attorney to our court, but we haven't heard anything. So it probably hasn't happened, and our hopes of going home next week are waning fast.

But two other families here, the Italian and the Dutch, received good news: They will be signing their sentencias tomorrow and leaving on Sunday. We will miss them. Especially the 5-year olds (Paola and Armando) who are going to Italy!