Johan's Arrival and First Few Days

Many people are curious to hear about our adventures with Johan, so I thought it might be best to start a Blog in order to share our experiences with all. For those first hearing about Johan he is a 10 year old boy from Colombia who is staying with us for the summer. We were united with Johan through an organization called KidSave (http://www.kidsave.org/) and we are working to find him a forever home. I won't go into the details of KidSave but encourage you to check out their website if you would like more information.

Johan arrived on June 30th with eight other children and a chaperone. They flew from Bogota to Atlanta then into Columbus. It was an exciting evening for all. I for one was nervous as could be. They arrived a few minutes early and greeted their summer families with weary smiles and a bit of hesitation. There was a translator for each family since most of us don't speak Spanish and the children don't speak English. Karina, a student at OSU, was our translator. She is originally from Colombia. The first few moments were a bit awkward but we broke the ice a bit talking about the things we would be doing this summer. Most of Johan's comments were 'bueno'. As we have come to learn over the last few days he is very open to doing anything new and extremely curious about everything!

We brought Johan a 'welcome backpack' that contained all types of goodies: toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, coloring book, crayons, ID tag, flashlight, hat, sunglasses, matchbox car, etc. It also had a small lego set from Tia Lee Anna (my cousin). After checking out the backpack and grabbing a snack we decided it was time to hit the road. It was getting late and we had little over an hour drive home. Johan was good to go, there was no hesitation on his part leaving with us. In the car on the way home he was intent on putting the lego set together. He was very focused and followed the directions exactly.

We were a bit nervous about Johan meeting the dogs. Dakota can be a bit grouchy at times and doesn't always take to new people. We got home about 11:00p.m. and released the hounds. They took to Johan immediately! After a bit Dakota even crawled in bed with him. Gracie was extremely happy to have new blood around and she now sleeps by his bed every night.

He was awaken Tuesday by a couple of hounds that were anxious for him to get out of bed. He came to ask me something and after a bit of sign language and my Spanglish I figured out he wanted to take a bath - with bubbles and all. I believe this was a first for him and he thoroughly enjoyed it!

Late morning I took Johan to Kohl's to pick up a few clothes. He came from Colombia with a small backpack containing an extra pair of pants and a few t-shirts. We knew he would need a few items - especially a swimming suit and sandals. We got him fixed up and he seemed pleased with his new items plus the things people have given us.

I really didn't see him the rest of the afternoon! He was so engrossed with his other Lego sets! He would surface every now and then to proudly show me his progress.

When Tom got home from work that afternoon we went to the school down the street to play some basketball and let the dogs run. He told us at the airport that his favorite sports were Futball (Soccer) and Basketball.

Tuesday night our friends across the street - the Watkins - brought him a welcome letter and a bicycle. Boy did his face light up at the bicycle! He jumped right on to show us how he could ride and leave skid marks on the sidewalk and driveway (much to Tom's dismay). :-)

Tuesday night we watched a movie - in Spanish with English subtitles - that was a new experience! You really had to pay attention to figure it out. But it was fun and Johan seemed to enjoy the movie.

On Wednesday - July 2nd - he popped out of bed again and headed straight for the bathtub for another soak. At that point we had not yet told him about the hot tub on the back patio. I told Tom that he was going to LOVE the hot tub once we got around to it.

I took him to our laundromat on Wednesday where he jumped right in to help me with the cleaning and money collection. He is very helpful. We then went to the grocery and last the library. He found a book in Spanish to check out - so we'll see if he dives into reading. Wednesday afternoon was spent riding the bike up and down the street with a big grin on his face!

Wednesday night we went back to Columbus for a pool party with the other KidSave families. Johan said he could swim - but we were told by KidSave that often the kids will say they can do something - when they really can't - and swimming is one of those things. More than once a summer miracle child has said they can swim - and jumped right in - with a host parent jumping in to save them right afterwards. But much to our joy Johan is a complete fish! He dove in the pool and didn't stop. He's a natural. Which is a good thing since we are taking him to Lake Norris with the family this weekend!

Tom introduced him to the hot tub when we got home from the pool party last night. As expected - he loves it!

So now you are up-to-date. Today is July 3rd. We're having a nice leisurely morning. The dogs got Johan up about 9:30. We had breakfast and Johan has been (guess where?) in the hot tub for the last hour and a half.

Johan is a great kid. He makes his bed, cleans his plate, puts his clothes away, washes his hands, etc. without being told. He likes doing things on his own - but jumps in and participates with others as well. (we taught him to play Uno the other night!). He's definitely not a picky eater - he eats anything we put in front of him.

The girls arrive this afternoon (for those who don't know - I'm referring to Tom's girls - Alex (16) and Taylor (13)). They will definitely add another element to the mix - but I think they are really going to have a lot of fun with Johan.

The language barrier is challenging at times - but we are managing. We have a few online translation programs that we use to get more in detail - otherwise I use a Spanish/English dictionary and we fumble through with sign language.

More later...
Carrie