UPDATES
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9/27/2004 3:55 PM
The Story Of My Search:
For those of you who don't know,
I have been searching for my birth father for many years. At the
beginning of my search I had posted a message on some board on the
internet saying that I was looking for my birth father by the name of
Orlando Esquivel. I waited and waited and by the time I had forgotten
about the message, I received an email from a woman named Irene. She
said she saw my message and my web site and said she was my cousin. She
gave me the contact info for my father's oldest brother Alvaro who
lives in Sacramento, and she also gave me the number for my grandmother
in Costa Rica. I called my grandmother and tried to talk to her, but
she only spoke spanish, so she handed the phone to her daughter Lorena
who spoke a little bit of english. That 30 minute call cost me $113.00
and they still could not tell me how to find him. I called my Uncle
Alvaro, but because he is a Jehovah's Witness, he did not have contact
with my father either. I sorta stopped looking around since Alvaro kept
asking me why I was no longer a JW.
My trip to the American Idol
Auditions begins this weekend, and I decided that since they happen to
be in San Francisco (where my father lives) I would not waste any more
time, and try once again to arrange to meet him. I emailed my Uncle
Alvaro and explained to him my situation and how I'd like to contact
him before my trip. He gave me the number for my Uncle Marvin (the
youngest) who does have contact with my father. He called Orlando and
called me back to tell me I could call him. So, there you have
it... I finally found him, and I did speak to him on the phone
last night. He wants to meet with me when I get to SF, along with my
Uncle Marvin and Uncle Carlos. They are very welcoming and have helped
me with information. I told Marvin that I am an artist and he said so
is my father... now I know where I got it from.
Now I have a VERY huge family...
Uncle Alvaro
Aunt Mirian
Uncle Victor Julio
Aunt Maria (Irene's Mother)
Uncle Carlos (6/28/52) Cancer/Dragon
Uncle Jose
Uncle Rudy (10/26/56) Scorpio/Monkey
Father Orlando (9/18/57) Virgo/Rooster
Aunt Lorena
Uncle Marvin (3/3/62) Pisces/Tiger
plus Victor Jr. who was raised by their mother also.
It was so hard getting them to remember everyone that I didn't
even bother finding out about my other cousins... LOL
Some of them I may never actually meet unless I get a chance to go
to Costa Rica lol
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10/11/2004 11:55 PM
American Idol Info Here:
Well, my trip was great! I
arrived in San Francisco on Saturday, October 2nd at 4:15 PM and my
sister and her husband took me to dinner at a yummy Korean restauraunt.
On Sunday my sister dropped me off at Martha and Bros. coffee company
on 24th street. I waited there for a couple hours before my father and
uncle marvin showed up. I told my story to a couple different people
before they arrived, and the first woman paid for some of my coffee,
while the other lady bought a beaded daisy chain from me... she
said, now she'd have a story to go with it. When they arrived, my uncle
marvin looked straight at me and said, "this must be you." (none
of us had even seen pictures). Later that day, my sisters Jennie,
Lindsay, Sheah and I all went to lunch with my dad and Lindsay's
friend, at a Thai restaraunt on 29th street. Then Jennie dropped my dad
and I off at the home of the family that my father is staying with.
They all made me feel so very welcome there.
Monday morning at 6 AM Jennie
took me to the cow palace where we waited in line till 11:30. The
line was already at the very end of the parking lot. (the rules stated
that noone was allowed to line up earlier than that) BUT they
did... My father got there just before they let us into the
building and was able to get a ticket and a wristband. We stayed to
hear a short orientation and were told that we COULD stay overnight but
that if we didn't then we'd be standing in line to get back in the next
day. So, we left and came back at about 11:30 PM. I didn't really
get any sleep because the lights were on and people were ordering
pizza, but somehow my dad got some sleep till 5:30 AM when everyone was
supposed to go to their seats. The rules also stated that no outside
food would be allowed in the cow palace and that people could not sleep
in the seats... BUT they did...
At 5:30AM we all went to our seats and waited to go through all
the stupid stuff they tell you to do... (the wave, scream really
loud, sing the national anthem, etc...) Can you believe those
fakers pulled out sections of people to go outside so they could tape
what looked like the line to get in? It's all a hoax! By
the time we got through all the stupid stuff we had to wait another 6
or 7 hours before they got to our section. They had 11 booths
with 3 judges in each. I was told to go to booth one. Two men who
could have been zombies with NO facial expressions whatsoever were
seated on both sides of the most stuck up english woman I've ever seen.
Beside me were three other girls waiting for their few seconds. The
woman cut me off after a few seconds of my song (not even the first
verse) then the next girl sang a little, then the next girl just sang a
Chorus of a song and stopped before they told her to, so the woman told
her to think of something else and they would come back to her. After
the 4th girl finished the 3rd girl sang again, then the 2nd girl asked
if she could sing again, but the woman just laughed at her. The woman
stood up and said, "Thank you for your time." I told the woman exactly
this, "Someday I will be famous, I'm just sorry that you guys will have
nothing to do with it!" Then they cut off our wristbands and we
were told to exit the building. It was nothing but a Cattle Call at the
Cow Palace of all places... If I hadn't met my family and had such a
wonderful time with them it would have been a total waste of a
trip. I really enjoyed the rest of the trip... On wednesday
Jennie took me to the Zoo and then that evening I went to Karaoke with
my father and my cousin Victor and Rula and Carlos. It just so happens
that there was a contest going on that night and I won first
place! the prize: $50.00 !!! Everyone was
shocked that I didn't get on American Idol. I just told them that I
will do it my own way and that show won't benefit from it. I visited
with my sister and my father for the rest of the week and then I rode
home on the Greyhound Bus on Friday Morning... I didn't want to
go home. It's amazing though, how secure I feel now, since I have my
father in my life.