Ok, I know I promised pictures with this, but I don't know when we are going to get to them. The best laid plans of mice and men... :) Here is my journal from Day 1!!So we have arrived after a VERY long flight!! We got delayed in Washington DC for 3 hours initially. Then they had us board the plane, we sat for an hour, and then were asked to deplane. We sat in the terminal for another two hours, and then we were off to Rome. We landed to refuel and then sat for 6 hours on the tarmac. We arrived in Addis Ababa at 8:30pm, after 22 hours on one plane and a full 12 hours later than planned! We were greeted with roses and a letter of apology from Ethiopian Air officials. We went through immigration and customs
We were a little nervous b/c we had no way to communicate with anyone since DC, so we were not sure who would be there to pick us up. After a bit of confusion Abebe, our lawyer, and Tsegay, a driver, met us. They got us out to the car and we were off to the guesthouse. It was hard to see much of the city because it was dark, but the roads were filled with people walking out and about, sometimes carrying candles. There was music playing and you could tell the city was vibrant.
We arrived at the guesthouse 36 hours after we had started our trip. The guesthouse itself is WONDERFUL. Almaz prepared cream of chicken soup and baked ziti for dinner. JF had his first St. George’s Ethiopian beer. We talked with Abebe, who is a very interesting character. (There are a few too many stories to go into, I will have to write them in a different chapter- he certainly deserves his own!!) We were shown our room and the bathroom, all of which are very clean and neat. Our room has a little crib for Jacob. After dinner, we went showered and got ready for bed. I was so sad that we had missed a day with our boy, but was very tired and so happy to get off that airplane, that it was probably for the best. In reality, we were able get a full night sleep, which was a big help.
We woke up around 7am. Then night had been a little loud with the sounds of dogs barking, but I had been forewarned and brought earplugs. I had been so tired I am not sure that they would have bothered me; I think I would have registered them as a little background noise. At 5am, we heard the Muslim call to prayer. It was beautiful! Again, something we heard but barely registered. I awoke with a joyful heart, because I was finally going to meet my son! We had a breakfast of fresh orange juice, coffee, eggs and toast. We were able to see the grounds, which are so beautiful! There are lush gardens and my favorite part- tortoises! BIG ONES!! They are using them to keep the grass short here!! There is another family here, whom we met at breakfast. They are lovely. After breakfast, we were told Wendi, our driver, was there and able to take up to Toukoul. I was so anxious; I hopped up and ran to the room to get our things. Jacob!!
The orphanage is about a ten-minute drive from the guesthouse. We got to see a bit of the city. I love it! It is such a vibrant city. There is undoubtedly poverty here, but there is no poverty of spirit. It is such a joyful feeling here. There are dirt roads, and corrugated tin houses everywhere, and somehow, it is beautiful. Randomly, you see goat-herders shepherding their flock of goats across roads and highways. There is music playing and men are arm in arm as they walk together. I will always tell Jacob how lucky he is to come from this nation! I can’t wait to come back when he is older so that he can see for himself.
When we got to Toukoul, there was a bit of confusion. Did we know Jacob’s orphanage number? (All of the babies are assigned numbers to identify them). I did not have it with me! But I did remember it, and JF had pictures, so after about 15 minutes of waiting, he was brought to us. My heart stopped! My gorgeous little boy (although, not that little- he is a tank) came out to us in the outfit we had sent to him. He is amazing. I got to smell him and hold him and squeeze him. My first words to him were Ewadhalo and Denana, which mean, I love you and how are you? He seems to be recovering from the chicken pox; the very end stages. He is very quiet, although he did smile the moment that he was put in my arms. He smiles a lot more for JF than me, but he seems to like my hair and holds it most of the time. He sucks his thumb!! He is a pretty congested, but I had know that before I got there. I do not think he has scabies, he seems to be quite healthy. Surprisingly, I did let JF hold him, and eventually he felt asleep in JF’s arms.
At Toukoul, there were 4 French families who met their children for the first time as well. We were all in one room, and it was pretty crowded. We walked out around the orphanage to get some air. There are so many children here. One boy in particular took my hand and came and sat on my lap. He called me Abat, which means “mother”. We took pictures of him, and there is one picture in particular that he liked- on of him with his arms around my neck. I would guess him to be 5 or 6, but he is about the size of Ethan, my 2 year old nephew. All of the kids want to you there toys and touch you. JF played a quick game of soccer with one little boy. Many of them wanted to touch my hair (Sadly, JF accidentally unpacked our shampoo in Boston, and my hair is GROSS. We are going to buy shampoo later today). We took turns snuggling with Jacob and interacted with the other children. At 12 noon, they took the children back to be fed and have a nap. We went back to the guesthouse for lunch and a little relaxation. In 5 minutes, we will go back to the orphanage to get Jacob and bring him here for a bit.
We came home with the kids. Jacob is very quiet and serious. He looks around constantly, just taking everything in. He laughed during diaper changes and really likes “tummy time”. The afternoon went very quickly, and it was soon time to bring him back to Toukoul. It was very hard to say goodbye to him, but it was decided the next day we would bring him back for the whole day.
On the way home from the orphanage, we stopped at the store. We bought formula and wine. The formula cost us 30 dollars for 2 small containers of formula. We paid ferenge prices! The wine cost us about 3 US dollars, so that was cheap:o) I got shampoo finally, which was also about 2 dollars.
That night, at dinner, we talked about our experiences and were very happy and excited. We were in love with our little boy.
There was one area of confusion. It was a Muslim holiday the next day, and so our court date would not be on the 8th, as planned. Tuesday was possibly a holiday too, but no one was really sure. This could mean that potentially, our embassy date was not until Wednesday. It takes two days to get the paperwork, so maybe we would have to change our flights?? I was a little confused why no one had mentioned that to us. Why were we told it was the 8th if nothing would be open? I still don’t know why we weren’t told that before hand, but Radu had cut and pasted the email from Abebe, so I know that Radu did not know. We would not know until Tuesday whether or not there was work on Tuesday, so we couldn’t do anything in the mean time. We put it out of our head for the time being.
That night, I was so keyed up I could barely sleep. It wasn’t that I wasn’t tired; I was exhausted. But I was in Ethiopia and I had met my baby! OMG! This was for real!!
