http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/index.rss We’ve all seen them, whether at the park, school or playground: 826 foreign children were adopted in Catalunya in 2008, nearly a quarter of the overall Spanish total. Making the initial decision to adopt is difficult, but what comes next is a financial, emotional and bureaucratic minefield. As a foreign resident, the journey is doubly difficult, as linguistic and cultural skills are put to the test and an extra level of government (your own) is added to the procedure. But it is possible. In this special series, Meredith Gales, a Barcelona-based single woman who is in the process of adopting a child from West Africa, writes each Monday about the experience, where to go to get started, the difference between going through an agency and going it alone and the importance of being pesada. en-en 2012 Creative Media Group SL. All Rights Reserved. Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT Last year, Meredith Gales successfully adopted a girl from a West African country, a process that she wrote about for our website. Here she explains what life has been like for her new family.

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/a-question-of-family/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/a-question-of-family/index.html Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT Our adoption blogger takes a break while she waits on some papers

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/signing-out-for-the-moment/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/signing-out-for-the-moment/index.html Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:51:00 GMT Our adoption blogger comes across the almost inevitable practice of bribery

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/money-to-make-it-go-faster/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/money-to-make-it-go-faster/index.html Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:39:21 GMT Our adoption blogger talks about the difficulties and uncertainty of getting a visa for her daughter

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/the-long-and-winding-road/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/the-long-and-winding-road/index.html Tue, 25 May 2010 08:00:59 GMT The next step in Meredith Gales's journey to adopting her daughter is arranging with someone on the ground to get key paperwork sorted out

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/whats-next/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/whats-next/index.html Mon, 17 May 2010 08:45:00 GMT Important news from our blogger Meredith Gales about her process to adopt a girl from West Africa

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/im-a-mum/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/im-a-mum/index.html Mon, 10 May 2010 07:37:30 GMT Meredith Gales says that sometimes telling the truth is better than saying what they want to hear in her ongoing process of international adoption

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/foreign-affairs/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/foreign-affairs/index.html Tue, 04 May 2010 08:23:17 GMT Meredith Gales reports on moving along in her international adoption process, and believing a crucial milestone had been passed

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/the-end-of-the-line/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/the-end-of-the-line/index.html Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:14:20 GMT Meredith Gales returns to explain the difficulties of fitting in with some of the requirements involved in international adoption

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/not-ticking-the-boxes/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/not-ticking-the-boxes/index.html Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:55:29 GMT Our adoption blogger describes the experience of getting a home fit for two

]]> http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/studying-your-home/index.html http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/blogs/diary-of-an-adoption/studying-your-home/index.html Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:49:46 GMT