Sept 4 – we’re done with court – what a relief !!

Sept 4 - 6:30 am – Hi everyone – here’s a recap of how yesterday went at court. We woke up very early, much more nervous than we expected. I think the magnitude of going to court had just sunk in, of course mixed with all the emotions, and the jetlag. We got picked up early by our driver Aziz, and met Anel, Bernard and Carole at the courthouse.

We got called in first, and went into a large office where the judge and 4 others were sitting. The others were her assistants/clerks, plus a woman from the ministry and a woman from Angelique’s babyhouse. The judge introduced everyone, and asked us all the expected questions (to which we’d prepared and memorized our responses). Paul was expected to do most of the talking, and he did wonderfully! Our translator Anel, who has only accompanied couples to court once before, was also nervous but did very well. The judge even made a bit of a joke about how much Angelique looks like us, which was great as it broke some of the tension we were feeling.
The whole thing took less than 15 minutes, and the judge congratulated us at the end, which started an overwhelming release of emotions! We still have to wait for her official decision which should come today (Thurs), but we feel optimistic and soooooo relieved!!! Court is one of the major milestones of this process, and we’re so happy to be able to check it off as ‘done’.

We went for a visit with Angelique right after court – she was sleepy and quiet when we first got there but perked up during the visit. She ate a banana this time – might be a new thing for her, and she seemed to like it a lot!

We had a quiet rest of the day – we talked with Anel in the evening who told us that unfortunately we cannot visit Angelique at all today (Thursday) – none of the families are allowed to go as there’s some kind of documentary being filmed. We’re disappointed and can’t wait to see her on Friday.

So today we’ll look around the neighbourhood, do a bit of shopping and finally get to the internet café to send these updates.

Hope all is well with everyone on the western hemisphere (how weird is that to say?), and we'll update again when we can. It probably won't be every day like we did last trip, but we'll aim for every couple of days.

take care
N&P