New house progress

To be honest,  there isn't a lot of progress. We have been driven almost insane by our contractor's promises and failure to keep those promises. You all remember in the beginning he said it would for sure be done by April, no problem. Then they pretty much weren't at the house at all in April. We told him we'd already sent out Vivi's birthday invitations since he said it would be done, so he said he'd have the bathroom done for sure by her party. Then he said he hadn't ordered the sink yet, but we would have drywall and tile and he'd put the utility tub in there so people could wash their hands. Well, he did get the toilet hooked up, which we appreciated, but the day before the party there was still no door on the bathroom, no tile, no sink, and no drywall. We used cardboard to patch up a couple of holes in the wall so nobody could see into the bathroom, and put a table next to the toilet with hand sanitizer and toilet paper on it. It was very classy ;)

He is still swearing it will be done by the middle of June, but so far, almost nothing is done. We have tile in the bathroom, and the tub is installed, but we still need the bathroom vanity with sinks and bathtub faucet, the toilet got moved back out so the tile could go in and it hasn't been replaced, and the rest of the house needs new drywall, windows, flooring, the kitchen cabinets and everything that goes into putting the kitchen together, and the back room, which was really damaged, has to be basically rebuilt inside and out. Not to mention the grading on the outside of the house, putting in the patio, and patching up the garage. Raise your hand if you think that will all be done in 2 weeks. Anyone? No? Neither do we. 

But here is our current pride and joy, the tile and tub in the bathroom. I put in a before picture to show the difference. 

Journey is coming home soon!

Phew! Now that I finally got the whole trip journal up, I can continue with our current life. I didn't want to interrupt it with other stuff.

On the 18th of this month, we learned that Journey's documents were submitted to the US embassy in Ethiopia. This morning, we learned that she was cleared! With the help of our agency, we submitted a couple of dates in June and they will try to fit us into their schedule. We should hear on Tuesday, and will most likely be sometime in June. Eric is going alone this time, and will spend 4-5 days away. He'll get Journey and have an interview at the embassy, then it will take a couple of days to get her visa, and then they can come home!

We'll keep you posted!

Day 7: Goodbye for now

To read about our adventure from the beginning, scroll down :)

I got all of the packing done the night before after getting back from visiting Little Boy so that we would have the whole day to spend with the kids. We woke up early to do some last minute packing, then got a ride to Journey’s orphanage. We spent some time playing with her, and were so sad to have to leave. It was a good thing our driver came to get us or we never would have left her! We all gave her lots of hugs and kisses and headed out.

We went back to the guest house for lunch, then walked to Little Boy’s orphanage. We wanted to stretch our legs since we knew we’d be on the plane for so long later, and it gave us a chance to get a few more pictures of the surrounding area. We stopped at a couple of shops along the way, a bakery, where we got a small loaf of bread for 1 birr (17 birr is $1 US), then we came to a tea processing and packaging factory. We had already bought a little bit of Addis tea because we liked it so much, but we bought a few more for gifts and souvenirs. We stepped into a store during a short downpour of rain and found some really cute spiral bracelets. I had seen women and girls wearing them. We haggled a little for a better price, and then went on our way. Little Boy ran right up to us again, and we took him outside to play. The big kids were in school and the other little ones stayed inside so Vivi and Brother had the yard to themselves. We got a lot of good pictures of them playing together. Brother even got Vivi to touch dirt, something she has been refusing to do! Little Boy was picking up little bits of dirt and bringing them to Eric, and Vivi sat and watched for a few minutes, I could tell she really wanted to do it too. Eventually she gave in and was all excited that she and brother were playing in the dirt together.

We went back inside to play and to see the other kids one more time. When it was almost time to go back to the guest house, I tried telling one of the nannies that we were going home, and asked her to explain to him that we would come back. She said something to him, and he looked at us and nodded. I hope he understood!

More hugs and kisses and we were on our way. We ate dinner at the guest house, rice with a tomato sauce with beans and a bit of meat in it. It had a real comfort food flavor to it. Then it was time to drag all of our luggage out to the gate. Abraham came to pick us up, loaded our stuff, and took us to the airport. 

During the drive, Abraham, who likes to talk and seems fascinated by American culture, told us about how he sees the differences between Ethiopians and Americans. He said that in America, everyone knows email and computers, even if you are a farmer. But in Ethiopia, he is a modern city man, but he doesn’t know email. It was really interesting to talk to him about the differences between our cultures. At the airport, Abraham hugged us and thanked us and wished us a safe trip. We took one last glance of Ethiopia, and then went into the airport. 

It was recommended that we arrive to the airport 3 hours early. We didn’t think we’d need that much time, but did it anyway, just in case. We were so glad we did! We stood in line after line, first to get our stuff scanned and walk through a scanner, you know the whole ‘take of your shoes’ things. Then to the airport packaging area, where we got our big basket wrapped for the plane, then in a looong line to check in. Luckily we got to leave our checked baggage there, and were able to talk to another adoptive family while we waited. We had to wait in 2 more lines to show our passports and tickets and customs to claim our stuff. Then we had to go up the stairs and stand in line to get checked in at the gate. We got all the way to the front of the line and the guy checked our tickets and told us we were at the wrong gate. Doh! We ran down to the correct gate and had to wait in line AGAIN! The family we had been talking to in line downstairs came and found us, and were holding Vivi’s ‘Little Tiana’ doll. Having so many other adoptive families in the country was such a blessing! At the gate, get this, we had to take off our shoes again, and go through another scanner! And we though American airports were tough! We had bought a piece of chocolate cake for Vivi while in line at the airport, which they served it on a glass plate with a metal fork (in an airport?!?) so when it was time to go in, we wrapped it in a napkin and returned the dishes. I was stopped and had to open the napkin and explain why I was carrying chocolate cake in my hand through the scanner. They were running everyone through so fast, and the guy who took our passports and tickets from Eric just tossed them on the conveyer belt along with his wallet, and it all went through ahead of him and there was a big crowd of people trying to get their shoes back on and collect their stuff, so he got a little bit stressed about that. And by the time we got through that, it was time to get in line to get on the plane! We were almost to the plane when Eric remembered that he had forgotten to grab a bag of extra souvenirs I had bought in the airport, and had to run back. They still had it, phew! It was such a relief to sit down on the plane!

The ride home was fairly easy. The plane took off at 10pm, and we were exhausted, so we all slept for a lot of the flight. Vivi got a little antsy toward the end, but we made it to Washington DC, then the little plane to Detroit, where my dad picked us up and brought us home sweet home!

Day 6: Shopping Day!

If you haven't read the first few days, scroll down! :)

Day 6, the day before our last day in the country, we got up early and wanted to get as much done as possible. Knowing that Eric would be back soon and could pick up any souvenirs we missed was a comfort so we didn't feel too rushed to get everything.

We hired a driver named Gimra to take us shopping on Churchill street in the morning. We expected that he would just wait in the car, but he came with us and helped tell us if the prices were too high. He also insisted on carrying our bags for us. Even though the street was crowded with people, we were the only white people, and when we got out of the car all the shop owners started calling to us to come to their shop. We started checking off our list of souvenirs we wanted to get for ourselves and for family and friends. After spending time with Little Boy, we realized that the size 4 traditional outfit we got him was too big, (he’s maybe an inch taller than Vivi and only a little wider), so we got a smaller one, a dress for me, a drum for Little Boy and rag dolls for Jenavieve and Journey, some really cool paintings on goat skins of biblical scenes, an Ethiopian style wooden cross, an Ethiopian flag (that a guy tried to charge us $20 for-we kept telling him no until he finally let us have it for $12, which we thought was fair enough), jewelry, scarves. I love that the people in the paintings look Ethiopian, which is more historically accurate than the blond haired, blue eyed art you can find in America. Gimra took us to a shop with just a walk up window that sold good berebere, Ethiopia’s famous spice mix. Then he took us to Tivoli, an American style restaurant. The food was very very good! Eric got a ridiculously spicy soup and a chicken burger with fries, and I got curry teriyaki chicken with rice. We also got some more of their thick, strong coffee, mmm!

We went back to the guest house for a little rest before calling for a ride to visit Journey. All of our usual guys were busy so we called another guy from the agency approved list, Ermias. While driving, he informed us that he is not just a driver, he is also a tour guide. He pointed out a lot of buildings and landmarks along the way. Another little thing about Addis is that you are not allowed to take pictures of any government building, including the presidential palace, court house, and police station. Ermias said it is for protection. The funny thing is though that everything has a big wall around it, so even if you did take a picture, you couldn’t see anything.

When we got to Journey’s orphanage, we were surrounded by the usual group of kids as we made our way up to the baby room. Journey was sitting in a crib with some other babies, and her face lit up when she saw us. I picked her up and she smiled at all 3 of us, which was so sweet! The nanny took her and changed her diaper and washed her face, then gave her back and we went outside to play. Sister Joan of Ark, the European nun who speaks English very well, saw us and came over to ask how court went. She was so happy that we passed. She told us that usually once a child passes court, they get moved to Layla house, our agency’s main orphanage, so that it’s easier to keep track of them and so that if they need to take them somewhere, they don’t have to drive the 20 minutes out. Journey is well known at the orphanage because she has been there for so long and is so sweet. Even the gate guards knew her name and she smiled really big at them. It must be bittersweet for them to see her go,

Sister Joan of Ark also shared her concerns with us about MOWA (ministry of women’s affairs) trying to slow down adoptions to prevent fraud. They cut down drastically the amount of cases they are processing each day-we just squeaked in before this happened-and the sister said that their goal is to stop international adoptions from Ethiopia. She said she doesn’t want to think about what would happen then, and she fears for the children because they need families, not an institutionalized life. We all hope it doesn’t come to that, that they can figure out a better way to prevent fraud.

Another family from our agency is waiting for a court date for 2 kids at this orphanage and asked us to check on them for us. I asked Sister Joan of Ark about them and she brought them out to play with us. We got a lot of pictures and spent enough time with them to know a little bit of their personalities. I’m so excited to be able to share that with their family while they wait.

After they went back to play with kids their own age, Vivi was hungry, so we sat down for a snack. I set Journey on the table, holding on to her because although she can sit, I still wasn’t sure how stable she was. She watched Vivi eating, then suddenly put her arms out on the table and started crawling! The table was small, so I took her over to the big porch and set her down in crawling position to see what she would do. Sure enough, she took off! It wasn’t in her paperwork that she could crawl, and the first day we just held and cuddled her, it never occurred to us that she might be a crawler. Another thing was that her paperwork said she has cerebral palsy, and another American who saw her said she didn’t know if that was true, but that her legs were pretty stiff. This could have been a true delay, or just a delay from being in an orphanage and not getting a lot of chance to use her legs. But watching her crawl, she didn’t seem to have any problems at all. We will see when she gets home.

Our visit with her went by so fast, and it was this day that we realized how hard it was going to be to leave her for an unknown amount of time. Having met the nannies at all 3 orphanages, they are all wonderful and we know she will be in good hands, but it will still be hard.

Ermias drove us by some more places he thought we should see, and made sure we were able to get pictures of the war memorial of those who died when the Italians invaded, and the big lion of Judah statue. He took us to a place with good whole bean coffee to buy, which pretty much finished our shopping list. We came back to the guest house, walked down to the shop to get a coke (which costs about 25 cents), and saw a herd of cows walking down the road. Vivi enjoyed mooing at them. Then it was time for dinner-spaghetti with boiled cabbage and bread.

After dinner, Abraham picked us up again to take us to see Little Boy. When we walked into the room, he ran up to Eric with a big grin and gave him a huge hug. He has definitely started forming a bond to him, but I think it will take him a little while to bond to me. Little Boy's 2 closest friends, Abebaw and Tariku, started posing for pictures right away. There are more boys than girls there, and all the little boys loved Eric. They even organized their own group shot on Eric’s lap, calling their friends into the picture, putting their arms around each other and saying cheese. One of the families I had emailed with before our trip came to see their little boy and we talked for awhile, which was nice. The nannies, despite carrying for kids all day every day, really enjoy playing with the kids and were going out of their way to play with Vivi so we could have some one on one time with Little Boy. They were hugging and kissing her, and they know she loves babies so they kept showing her the babies. She saw one nanny drinking tea and said “hot tea! Hot tea!” the nanny went out and got her her own cup of hot tea. The patience and love they have for kids is just remarkable. There are times when Vivi is especially whiny and clingy that I can’t wait for Eric to get home so I can get a break. These nannies are always holding someone, and seem happy to do it. They are such a blessing to these kids while they wait for families!

Day 5: A slow day

If you haven't read the first few days, scroll down!


Eric and I were both up all night with a stomach bug, so we took the morning off and just stayed around the guest house. We took a little walk and got some pictures of the flowers that grow here, then came back for a nap. I was so worried that we would be sick all day and not get to do anything, but luckily after the nap we both felt better. Vivi did develop a cough though. Little Boy and Journey both have coughs (along with most of the kids at the orphanages) so it didn’t surprise me. The siblings sharing their sicknesses starts now!

In the afternoon we called a driver to take us out to the Hilton to reconfirm our flight. Apparently if you don’t reconfirm, they might give away your seat. Luckily our seats were still there. The Hilton was in downtown Addis, it was so busy, even in the middle of the day. One thing that is so different here is the traffic. There are no street names, no speed limits, no traffic lights. You basically drive and honk if someone gets in your way. But a HUGE difference is that nobody gets mad about it. Road rage is not a thing here. If someone honks at you, you get out of the way. If there’s a traffic jam, you sit and wait. They have traffic circles with no yield signs, you just go, or if there’s a car going faster than you, you let them go first. There are no crosswalks, people cross the street wherever they are, even in the middle of a busy road. They just walk, and cars don’t slow down. They honk if a person isn’t getting out of the way fast enough, but the people seem pretty unfazed by the honking. Even the animals understand the traffic here. I saw a dog look both ways, wait for a couple of cars to pass, then trot across the road. People walk goats and donkeys down the sidewalk without any lead lines and they never stray. One of the other families had to move out of the way for a herd of cows just walking down the sidewalk. 

Anyway, we got back to the guest house and hung out for a little while until dinner was ready. Eleyhu’s wife (can’t remember her name, but she’s super sweet) made a yummy stew with beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions. It was so good to have a home cooked meal. We ate with another guest, a retired surgeon who was there doing surgeries on kids with cleft lips and palates. 

After dinner, one of the agency drivers picked us up to take us to see Little Boy. Again when we got there the big kids ran to the driver and asked who we were here for. He said “Little Boy family” and they started running around and cheering. A girl took my hand when we got out of the van and asked “Little Boy to America go?” I said yes but not today, and she looked very happy for him. She kissed Vivi’s hand, then started calling to the other kids, and I thought she was instructing them to kiss her hand too, until I realized that they were smelling her hand! I had put vanilla scented hand sanitizer on awhile before, and I guess her hands still smelled like it. The kids  He did a lot better this time, he was only shy for a couple of minutes before playing with us. A volunteer came in to meet us and ask whose family we were. When she learned we were Little Boy's family, she said “you must see him dance!” One of the nannies said something to Little Boy, and he went and turned on the tv to some kind of music channel. He and the other kids started dancing, and of course Vivi joined in too.

After leaving Little Boy, we had our driver, Abraham, take us to a grocery store to pick up some things. I got a couple big bags of shiro; when I asked our agency group what they bought, a lot of people said they wished they had gotten more shiro. With Eric going back at least one more time I can get him to pick up more if we really love shiro wat. We were also looking for shelf stable milk because Vivi went through it faster than we expected, but couldn’t find any. 


We went back to the guest house and looked through our souvenirs a little before heading to bed.

Day 4- Court

If you haven't read the first few days, scroll down!

We woke up early and got dressed and ready for court. We were picked up in a van with the other family that had court with us, as well as Eleni and a guy that I believe is the agency’s lawyer. We drove to a tall building and walked up like 6 flights of stairs (we were advised to dress nicely, so I wore a skirt and heels. I regretted the heels all day!) and into a crowded room. Eleni told us that everyone in the room was there for adoption. There were people speaking all different languages, it was pretty cool. We learned that knowing the right people makes a difference, because we were taken in after about only 5 minutes of waiting. The court hearing for our family and the other family happened at the same time. We were led into a room with a couple of women behind desks. The judge asked whose kids were whose and then asked about our other children, if we had met our new children, if we had become educated on Ethiopia, adoption, and possible identity issues that could come from adopting a child of another race and culture.

Then she said that Journey’s documentation was complete, and the other couple’s daughter’s was complete, but that Little Boy's was missing something and would have another hearing May 13th. Then she said “Elshaday (the other girl) and Selam have complete files. They are now yours.” she thanked us and that was it, we were on our way.

**To explain about not passing court for Little Boy, we don’t have to go back for the next court date because we appeared before the judge this time, and the agency's lawyer will act on our behalf.**

After court, we got back in the van, and went to Sabahar, which is a silk factory. And by factory, I mean rooms of people working spinning wheels and looms. We got to see silk worms and the butterflies they turn into, and the silk they spin. It was a really peaceful place, quiet, with lots of pretty flowers. We bought a pretty silk scarf that I think we are going to put in the girls’ room, and also some cotton washcloths.

We got back in the van and drove to a basket shop, which was a little hut on the side of a quiet road that was FULL of stuff. Baskets in all shapes and sizes, sculptures, wood and metal carved crosses, wood furniture-it was hard to move in there without touching something. We got a food serving basket with a lid, a big round basket with a lid that I LOVE even though it is huge and will be an adventure to get home, an open shallow basket, and a mancala set.

From there we stopped at a cd shop because another family with us has an Ethiopian daughter at home who wanted a cd from a specific artist. We got a kids dvd of Christian songs in Amharic. We were dropped back off at Layla and 2 of the families we had gotten close to went out to lunch, then back to Laya to talk to Gail about the embassy process and to sign some papers. This was when we finally saw a copy of Little Boy's birth certificate and learned his birthdate. It is approximate and probably not the day he was actually born but it is something, and he should be home to celebrate his 4th birthday with us. Gail also told us at this time that if we wanted to process their visas separately we could, so that Journey wouldn’t have to wait until Little Boy's documentation was just right. There were a lot of adoptive families at Layla that afternoon, and we had a good time talking to everyone and comparing stories. When adoptive families are the minority in play groups and the local community, it was really nice to have a community of all adoptive parents.

We finally got a ride home to change shoes and let Vivi have a nap (which she decided she didn’t need) and the wife of the guest house owner invited us to the traditional coffee ceremony. She had fresh grass and flowers on the floor with a little stool on top of it. On top of the stool was a tray with tiny tea cups and saucers. Next to that, she had a free standing little burner and she was stirring coffee beans with a stick on a round metal plate, roasting the beans. When she was done, she walked around the house and blew the fragrant smoke from the beans around. Then she took the plate outside and set it on the ground, where she continued stirring and took out beans that were bad. I didn’t notice a difference between the good and bad beans. Then she got out a big wooden mortar and what looked like a railroad tie, and the guard sat down and crushed the beans while the woman went inside to make popcorn. The beans smelled soo good as he was crushing them!

Once they were all crushed, he poured them into a cup and took them inside. She had water boiling and spooned the coffee grounds into the pot, swirling it around, and then put it back on the burner for a few minutes. She served the popcorn (popped in a pot with oil and then topped with sugar) in a big basket on the floor, which Vivi thought was pretty cool. Then she poured little cups of coffee for everyone in the guest house, and we sat and talked while we enjoyed the thick, strong coffee and the sweet, crunchy popcorn. It is such a peaceful, relaxing tradition!

We were supposed to meet everyone for dinner at a nice Ethiopian restaurant, but Vivi decided not to take a nap and was quite cranky so we decided to skip and instead had a relaxing evening at the guest house, and took a walk down to the grocery store to get some yummy snacks.

Day 3, part 2-One mishap after another

If you haven't read the first few days, scroll back to the beginning! 

We chose the guest house based on a file we read from our agency on different guest houses. It said it was about a 10 minute walk from our guest house to the orphanage. Eric thought the directions sounded really easy, so we started walking, and walking, and walking, and I didn’t recognize anything, but Eric thought we were still going the right way. When we came upon an ornate church, we knew we had never seen it before and must be going the wrong way. We turned back and tried a different way and soon realized that wasn’t the way either. It was starting to get dark and we didn’t have any way of calling anyone. I was nervous that people would notice that we were lost (we were the only white people on the street) and try to take advantage of that. We quickly made our way back to the orphanage and the guard, who didn’t understand our problem, led us into the orphanage. Vivi had fallen asleep on our long walk.

Apparently none of the English speaking nannies work at night. We ended up in the same room that Little Boy was in, and tried explaining the situation, but they didn’t understand us. Eventually we got across that we needed to borrow a phone. Eric called Zewdu to see if he could pick us up, but he was at the airport and couldn’t come for an hour. Being the only driver who knew how to get to our guest house, we didn’t have a choice but to wait. We communicated with the nannies that we would be there for 1 hour, and they got us chairs and invited us to sit and play. The room was all kids under 4, and they were all so sweet! Little Boy sat back and watched as other kids came up to us and started playing. Eric taught them a simple hand clapping sequence that they all wanted to do. Little Boy best friend is very outgoing, and as he and I played the hand clapping game, Little Boy slowly scooted closer to watch, and then went to Eric and put his hands out to play the game.

On a separate note, we met the family of Little Boy best friend through email, they live in Indiana. We are planning on getting together after both boys are home and settled in. They haven’t been assigned a court date yet but asked us to get some pictures of him and share any stories of our time with him.

I noticed that one of the other boys was holding the car we had given Little Boy, which we knew they would end up sharing, but when Little Boy noticed, he tapped Eric’s leg, showed him the car, and made a whimpering sound. We had brought 2 cars, so Eric pulled the other one out and gave it to him. He went over to the other little boy and traded for the first car, then brought it back to show Eric.

One of the older boys saw my camera, and came up to me. He tapped the camera, said “photo” then pointed at himself and said “me” and then stood there with a big grin. I took his picture and then let him look at it. He thought it was the coolest thing!

We were all having a good time when suddenly the light in the room slowly faded away, and suddenly it was completely dark. Some of the babies started crying, and we couldn’t see a thing, the power went out in the whole area. The nannies seemed unfazed, one went to the closet and got out a couple of wind up flash lights (and by wind up I mean that you had to keep winding it to get light; if you stopped, the light went out) and another nanny came back in with a lit candle. She poured some wax on the end of one of the cribs and stuck the candle into the wax. They handed a flashlight to Eric, and all the little boys wanted to try turning the handle. Little Boy sat back and watched as the other boys tried, and then when he decided he knew what to do, he asked for a turn, and did it exactly right. 

The nannies started putting pajamas on the kids and put the littler ones to bed. The bigger boys played with us for a few more minutes, then one by one decided to get into bed. We thanked the nannies and told them we would wait outside and they said no, stay inside and wait because it was cold outside. So we sat back down and hung out. Little Boy kept popping his head up to look at us and smile, and when Zewdu came to get us, he waved and said “ciao”. As we walked out to the car, Eric said “I’m so glad we got lost!”.