Paula Andréa is in Bogotá!
I was told today that the referral might not come until Monday for some reason, but this morning I received an email from a woman at the orphanage saying they had moved Paula Andréa from her foster home in Medellin to FANA, the orphanage in Bogotá where we will finally be reunited!! This is awesome for many reasons. They'd said before that they wouldn't move her there until I had been approved, so, for one, it reinforces that I have been approved!
Also, FANA will help prepare Paula for the adoption and for moving to the United States and she can begin to grieve her foster family as well. She has been with them for at least a year or two. They also said they'd help her get started with some English lessons. AND, the best part of all, we will be able to Skype every week until I travel!! I haven't seen her at all since November when she headed back to Colombia. I asked if we could Skype this coming Saturday morning, but I haven't heard back yet.
Oh! I also found out this week that I will be able to use Family Medical Leave to cover part of the time I'll be away from work for the adoption. That was kind of surprising because when I spoke with HR last year, they said there was nothing I could use besides PTO. (The woman who was telling me the details the other day works in payroll/accounting.)
So between FML and mind-bogglingly generous PTO donations from my coworkers (multiple people have donated in 40 hour chunks!), I will be covered at 100% salary the entire two months I plan to take off!! I had been budgeting all along for up to a month of unpaid leave. This is a HUGE boost! I think two months off at full pay actually makes the past incredibly stressful work year worth it.
Things are happening, people!
Also, FANA will help prepare Paula for the adoption and for moving to the United States and she can begin to grieve her foster family as well. She has been with them for at least a year or two. They also said they'd help her get started with some English lessons. AND, the best part of all, we will be able to Skype every week until I travel!! I haven't seen her at all since November when she headed back to Colombia. I asked if we could Skype this coming Saturday morning, but I haven't heard back yet.
Oh! I also found out this week that I will be able to use Family Medical Leave to cover part of the time I'll be away from work for the adoption. That was kind of surprising because when I spoke with HR last year, they said there was nothing I could use besides PTO. (The woman who was telling me the details the other day works in payroll/accounting.)
So between FML and mind-bogglingly generous PTO donations from my coworkers (multiple people have donated in 40 hour chunks!), I will be covered at 100% salary the entire two months I plan to take off!! I had been budgeting all along for up to a month of unpaid leave. This is a HUGE boost! I think two months off at full pay actually makes the past incredibly stressful work year worth it.
Things are happening, people!