Ethiopia Day 2 - First Meeting

The big day arrived: we got to go to the orphanage and meet A.  We left the guest house in the morning and were taken with our social worker to visit the orphanage.

We arrived at the orphanage and didn't see him initially.  The social worker went inside the building and brought him out to the courtyard.  Several of the younger children recognized us from the day before and had already come to us so we could pick them up.  We brought a kickball and a soccer ball with us and were able to spend some time kicking the soccer ball with A and another child.  The kids were apparently feeling competitive and started to play a one-on-one soccer game with each other.   A had to kick to the uphill goal, so he played with a bit of a disadvantage.  After each goal he scored he come to us and tell us his score and give us five.

We spent about an hour playing with A and the other kids in the courtyard, then all the kids were brought inside for snack time.  Snacks today consisted of  bananas, of which we were invited to partake.  The nannies then decided to put in a movie for the kids to watch, which allowed us to sit inside with the kids for some quiet time.  Amy sat next to A and I sat next to her.  The toddlers were pretty attention-seeking and wanted to sit in our laps and were very interested in my watch.  A nudged closer to Amy as the movie went on, but it was still a bit awkward and hard for her to know how much contact to make.

Abel returned just as the movie was ending and we had to say our good-byes (actually our ciao-ciao's), and return to Bethany to pick up Mitchell and Teresa and head to lunch before their court appointment.  The restaurant chosen for lunch (Lucy) had a good variety of international dishes.  After asking the waiter for a recommendation, Amy settled on a soup and I ordered a steak, which was quite good.  

Lunch at Lucy restaurant

Didn't know the FBI had a church in Ethiopia.  I think the CIA has a secret church somewhere.

Mitchell and Teresa were taken to their court appointment and we were taken to visit Mount Entoto, which is roughly 10,000 feet elevation.  Abel had our driver drop the three of us at an overlook where we took a few photos of the city.  We were then approached by a few locals.  The first offered a baggie with some type of leaves in it, which we think was oregano.  I told Abel that if someone approaches you in the U.S. with a baggie of leaves, it is not oregano. ;)  Amy then bought a traditional hat from another lady and Abel led us up the hill to look at a stand of eucalyptus trees.  We walked back down to the road to find that our van had disappeared.  

On Entoto, overlooking Addis Ababa

Amy, modeling a traditional Ethiopian hat

The hike up Entoto

Abel said the driver had probably driven to the top of the mountain and that we should walk up to find him.  I was quickly reminded of our time in Kenya when I would walk up the hill from the hospital to the apartment and find myself short of breath by the time I got there.  The air here was even thinner than the air at Kijabe and the hike turned out to be the most exercise I got the whole week.  At the top, Abel gave us a tour of a museum that contained a variety of historical Ethiopian artifacts.  We then walked a bit further and got to see one of the former emperor's palaces.  It was at the palace that Abel explained to me that it is the year 2005 in Ethiopia.  I decided that I would adopt the Ethiopian calendar, so I am now 7 years younger!  Not a bad deal at all.

Abel explaining the Ethiopian calendar to me

Just a cool cat at the palace

Sights on the way down the mountain

These ladies would carry these huge bundles down the mountain to sell.  Hard to see them struggling under the burden.

From there, we met up with Mitchell and Teresa after their court appointment and returned to the guest house, where we had a nice farewell dinner with Mitchell and Teresa (and Brandi and the kids) before they had to head to the airport to return home.  The three couples returned from their journey to the south and introductions were made.  We enjoyed spending the rest of the evening getting to know the other couples and then retired for the night, looking forward to the next day.

Ethiopia Day 1: A False Start and a Preview

Note: This particular post was written on the day it occurred.  Most of my future posts about our Ethiopia trip will be written retrospectively.

We woke this morning about 7 a.m. so that we could be ready for breakfast at 8.  Three couples that arrived the same night as us had had to leave early that morning to head to the south to visit the orphanage that was caring for their kids.  For breakfast, we had delicious french toast, banaas, coffee, orange/banana juice, and tea prepared by the wonderfully gracious staff of the Morning Coffee Guest House.    Shortly after breakfast Abel arrived to take us to the orphanage where we were supposed to meet our son.  We arrived at the orphanage but soon discovered that there had been a miscommunication which resulted in A being sent to school for the day.  We were able to stay at the orphanage for a little while and play with the wonderful, smiling kids there.  Snack time arrived and we were allowed to go inside and help feed some of the little ones their snack before it was time to head out.

It was decided that we would leave the orphanage and return the next day, when they assured us that A would be there.  From there, we traveled with another adoptive mother to pick up her children from their orphanage.  We had the privilege of witnessing the reunion of the mother with her 2 adoptive kids as she was able to take custody.  It was like a little preview of what will be coming for us in the next few months when we return for A.  We returned the mother and her new children to the guest house and went to the agency office for orientation and then lunch with another couple (the great couple from North Carolina) who are adopting. 

Me, with that great couple from NC (Mitchell and Teresa)

 Lunch was at a nice restaurant with outdoor seating called Tivoli.  There was a good variety American and European dishes from which to choose.  After a filling lunch, we were given a tour of different areas of Addis and then visited Trinity Church.  Abel gave us a very informative tour of the church and instructed us to sit in the emperor's and empress's seats, for which we were scolded by a lady associated with the church.

Amy, quickly exiting the empress's seat upon being scolded

We then headed back to the guest house for a little down time and then out to dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant (Yod Abysinia).  We were able to sample a variety of Ethiopian dishes while we were entertained with traditional Ethiopian song and dance.  Abel was again tremendously gracious, fun, and informative.

Traditional Ethiopian food: wat on injera

It was a full and enjoyable first day here in Ethiopia.  We can't wait to meet our son tomorrow.

Ethiopia Court Trip - Part 1 from David

Well, the big day finally arrived and we headed to Atlanta to catch our flight to Addis Ababa via Frankfurt.  Because we like to keep our lives as exciting as possible, we left Athens about 3:45 so that we would need a perfectly eventless drive into Atlanta at rush hour in order to make the flight on time.  Thankfully, the sailing was smooth on I-20 and I-85.  We received a recommendation from my partner that Peachy Parking was a convenient and less expensive place to park for the new International Terminal at Hartsfield.  For anyone flying out of ATL, I would highly recommend them.  Pulling into Peachy Parking with less than 90 minutes until flight time, they had a shuttle waiting for us, grabbed our bags, and immediately took us to the terminal and dropped us off.  On return, you text them when you make it through Customs and they send the shuttle to come get you.  This was also flawless.

Anyway, we enter the terminal and headed to the Lufthansa desk and checked in.  Once we got through security we had about 30 minutes until time to board, so we grabbed a bite to eat.  We chose the Chinese restaurant and this was in my fortune cookie:

  

Now, I'm not superstitious (though, I am a little stitious), except that I never step on the foul line, and I always tap the plate before each pitch, and I dribble twice before shooting a free throw, but sports don't count, right?  Oh yeah, and I never talk about how easy a call night is until the call night is over.  I did think this was a fun little fortune to receive just as we were heading out to Ethiopia.  

We left Atlanta at about 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30 and arrived (after a short layover in Frankfurt) in Addis Ababa at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31.  I don't enjoy being cooped up on the airplane for so long, but the trip went fine.  We changed money at the AA airport (Rates weren't posted, so I took what they gave me.  How's that for good financial management?  I did calculate it a little later and they gave me a fair rate.) and headed to the back of the line to get our visas.  The time between the invitation for court and the travel date was so short that it was risky to send our passports away to get visas ahead of time, so we had to get them at the airport.  I couldn't help but think, what if they didn't give us a visa?

After getting the visas and collecting our bags, we were supposed to look for someone with a sign from our agency as we exited the baggage claim area (but still inside the airport).  We looked around at all the folks holding signs, but there was no one from our agency.  We patiently waited for about 30-45 minutes and still no one came.  We finally decided that we better call our contact at the agency and see what was up.  Problem was, we had to find a phone and figure out how to use it.  We were approached several times by people in the airport, which we weren't sure we could trust, but we finally agreed to let a woman (a taxi driver, I think) call the number for us on her cell phone and we were able to talk with one of the agency workers, who called the guy who was picking us up.  The woman did ask for a tip for the use of her cell phone, but we thought that was pretty fair.  Our agency contact appeared in the terminal about 2-3 minutes later with apologies.  The information he had received said we were arriving about 11 p.m.  He had actually already picked up two other couples who were on our flight (and made it through the visa line before us) and taken them to the guest house.

Abel, our fantastic agency worker, led us to the van and took us to the guest house, where we hurriedly unpacked and finally fell into bed, exhausted form the journey and ready to sleep.  We were looking forward to the charm and beauty that was yet to come, but the adventure had certainly already begun.

Processing the Court Trip

Overlooking Addis Ababa from beautiful Mount Entoto

Well it's been almost three weeks since we left for the Court Trip, almost two since we returned home. I thought I'd have written a post by now, more than one actually. I haven't. Thankfully, David has recorded many of the details. Since he'll cover some play-by-play, including pictures, I'm going with a summary of thoughts.

Addis Ababa, the capital, is located centrally.

Of course, A is the primary reason we went and I will share about him in a minute. Before you get to that part and see a sneak-peek picture which will cause your eyes to blur with wet stuff (so scroll slowly), I want to mention some other points. First off, we loved it. We loved the trip, we loved the city, we loved the people we met (American & Ethiopian), we loved the food. 

A's country has a fascinating history and there is much to be learned there. We were so grateful for our agency's hardworking in-country staff. In an area of the world where you can expect the unexpected, we did our best to take a back seat and go with the flow. I sure wish I could make myself do that stateside. It works so much better to trust God with the details (hello, understatement.) 

Yes, there are many hard things and yes, there is need; but, God is working and there is hope. I want to share soon with you the story of Nesibu and Birkutan, the amazing couple who own Morning Coffee Guesthouse, where we stayed. They humbled and blew us away, and we cannot wait to see them again.

Here's what I posted on facebook after meeting our little guy on Friday, November 2nd:
Had a good day. Loved meeting A though it is hard to explain the experience of meeting a child you know will be yours, but who doesn't have the same knowledge, etc.

There were other precious children there; we just can't show you them :)

I've mentioned before that our agency prefers kids under 10 not know about their adoptive parents during the Court Trip. During our visit, we played with all of the children at his orphanage and A seemed quite oblivious, happy to play with the soccer ball we brought. There was a keen observer though, a 10-year-old girl, who pegged us before we ever saw him. Apparently she let him know during the movie time inside, however he seemed to shrug it off, more intent on  the TV screen about to feature Homeward Bound (it's universal, isn't it ladies?)

I'm running out of steam, so here's what I'll end with: it wasn't as hard as you'd imagine when we were there, but it has been harder than I'd imagined since our plane left Africa.

The crazy thing is he's ours. If we were there, we could have custody of him; we just can't bring him here until the US Embassy reviews and clears the case. We're praying his birth certificate and passport (with our last name) will be ready soon so the agency can submit our case to Embassy. Hopefully, we'll be back on a plane Africa-bound in the next 4-6 weeks. We can't wait to see this smile again.