Day 1 in Ethiopia

We arrived at the guest house late on Satuday night 11pm Ethiopian Time (3pm MN). We met Kristie Wilkins and her daughter at the airport.

We did not get a lot of sleep that night. We were awoken by Muslim prayer call at 4 am (8pm MN time) . On the side of town we were on their is a large mosque. So over the loud speakers (think tornado siren like) you hear the muslim prayer call throughout this part of the city. Other parts of the city would have Christian prayer call from my understanding.

We stayed at a place called Ethiopian Guest Home (EGH). It was absolutely fantastic. We had a livingroom, kitchnette, a private bathroom, a nice size bedroom and 2 balconies. The staff was phenomenal. They were so genuine and helpful. The good there was great. We had freshly squeezed juice for breakfast every morning: mango, pineapple, orange. I will definitely be staying there again when I go to the embassy appt (as long as they have openings). There motto is more than a place to stay. An American couple owns the various properties. They decided to own guest homes after adopting their child from Ethiopia. They use some of the profits from the guest home to help orphans and other children in Ethiopia.

In the morning, we met the other guests staying with us. Lance, Malissa and Ivy were from Atlanta. Scott, Georgina and Joshua were from Germany. We are hopeful that we will maintain our friendship with them for a long time. It was so hopeful to be with other families who are going through the process. Lance and Malissa were there to pick up their daughter Ally. Scott and Georgina were there to attend court like us. It was very reassuring to be around a couple that had completed the process. When you are in the process, it seems like it takes forever. However, when you see other families go home with their children it inspires hope. We also had someone who was in the same boat as us "going to court", so that was helpful too.

One of the things I did not expect out of this trip, was for my faith to grow. Lance, Malissa, Scott and Georgina were all strong Christians. It was good to be around individuals passionate about their faith. The Ethiopian people are generally Christian or Muslim. We were around a lot of Christian Ethiopians. They are vocal about their faith and what God has done for them. It was nice to be away from the politically correct world of the US.

After breakfast, Steve, Dawit (our driver) and I went to Entoto Mountain. This is the highest point in Ethiopia. I wasn't able to get a picture of this (pics are below in the next post), but women carried batches of Eucalyptus all the way down the mountain for market. They also carried huge things of water up the mountain. Kids were running all around. We visited a palace, some churches and a museum. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures in the museum. They had the Emperor and Empresses' clothing, pictures, gifts from other countries, etc. It was very interesting.

After our day on the mountain, we went back to EGH and had lunch. Gail, from AAI, picked us up after lunch to meet Ella (Thanks Gail for picking us up on a Sunday). We then went to pick up Andrew and Estee at a different guest house. It was wonderful to finally meet Estee and Andrew. Estee has been a great support system (online) for me during this process.

Then we headed over to Layla House (the orphanage). Estee and Andrew met their son, Nolan Demeke, first. He is such a handsome little baby. Then we headed over to meet Ella. She was still sleeping. The nannies woke her up for us. Quite honestly, I don't think she was too happy to be woken up. She gave us this very serious look. We held her and snuggled with her and the whole time she was looking at us like "Who are you?". The nannies explained to her that we were Mommy and Daddy. As she started to wake up, she was a little more interactive but still checking us out. I think part of the hard part initially is all the other toddlers were swarming us wanting to be held. So not only was she with us, complete strangers, everyone was trying to get our attention. We decided to leave the toddler room and take her outside so it was calmer. We brought out the bubbles. She was happy with the bubbles, but didn't want anyone else to hold them but her.

So we went around and delivered the packages and letters we had to deliver from other parents. The kids loved getting letters and packages. We also met other AAI families as we were running around. It was nice to meet Danielle and her hubbie, Rebecca and Ben and Randi. Everyone had a different story to tell and a different perspective. It was good.

We spent four hours at Layla and then it was time for Ella to have dinner. Ella went back to her room and sat in her chair and ate like a good girl. We waved goodbye and back to EGH she went. It was good to be able to talk to everyone after we got back. We turned in early at 8 pm Ethiopian time.

As we went to bed, we were grateful for to meet Ella and all of our new friends. I couldn't wait to get back to Ella tomorrow.