Ethiopia Part One

I have not blogged in quite a while, so I thought for the New Year my resolution would be to begin writing again.

First off, my send off to Ethiopia was quite non-dramatic compared to when we left for Zambia. When my oldest son, mother, and I left for Zambia, which also happened to be my first trip on a plane, let alone half way around the world, my husband and two youngest sons accompanied me all the way to DC and stood crying as we went through security.

When leaving for Ethiopia for the little little's court hearing, my friend that was going with me, picked me up at the house and after a few goodbye's and kisses we were on our way. Guess the family considers it old hat now when I fly around the world to another continent.

I was still feeling unsure that this adoption was even going to happen, after three failed attempts, so I was treating this trip like a week long girl's get away that just happened to be in AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We sang and danced and laughed during the four hour drive to Dulles. Ate dinner at the airport and met up with our traveling buddies, which were awesome I might add.

The flight was long and grueling, and I'm sure we all were malodorous upon descent. I have a habit of literally talking to anyone, anywhere and making friends wherever. So the plane ride was no different. I met an amazing older gentleman who spent nine month's every year in Ethiopia teaching at Addis Ababa University. His Amharic was flawless and he chatted easily with all the Ethiopians on the plane. He was married and left his wife every year for the past 17 years. I loved watching this Ferenge interact with the locals, so cool, I so wanted to be him.

As we landed in Addis, we could see fires burning throughout the country side. We didn't realize but Sunday was the eve of the Ethiopian Holiday called Meskel. Meskel is the holiday to celebrate the discovery of the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. Smoke was everywhere, and if someone on the plane hadn't told me about Meskel I would have sworn that the airport and half of the country had gone up in flames. The amount of smoke was enormous and it was difficult to breathe.

We decided to stay at the Panorama. A very nice little hotel that appeared to have dropped out of the sky and landed in surrounding slums. We checked in and found our rooms. Our room was about the size of my smallest bedroom, nah, probably smaller. The only good thing about it was the windoor or doordow as we nicknamed it. It was a window that acted like a door you could open step out on a small balcony. We spent a lot of time out there just watching the daily happenings in the city and staring at the beautiful mountains in the distance.

At 2am, we were starving and ordered room service. We had pasta with a mushroom sauce to die for. After finally falling asleep, we woke up early, showered, ate our complimentary breakfast and headed to the lobby. We assumed a driver would be there to pick us up to take us to meet our children. After numerous phone calls and hours of waiting we were finally on our way. The orphanage wasn't far at all and it was our first look at Addis in the daylight. The city was bustling and it was a beautiful sight. We turned down a dirt road at the Messy Caf'e, and there was the brown metal door. We entered, all a bit nervous and anxious. The children were all sleeping and the looks on the nannies faces when they saw all the Americans come in was priceless. Kind of like, really you had to come at nap time :)

I videotaped all the children in their cribs. I actually videotaped little little before I even realized it was her. I hunched over the crib just staring at such a perfect little brown faced girl. She finally opened her eyes and flashed the biggest smile I have ever seen. We spent two hours a day with the children every day while there. We would have stayed all day, but the nannies didn't want the routines completely awry.

OK, so this was day one, and my fingers are hurting. Boy, this is going to take longer than I thought. Part Two coming soon.