Day 3 in Ethiopia

Tuesday morning we woke up and got ready for court. We enjoyed the company of other families as we had our breakfast downstairs and met our new driver, Zuzu. (Yoftahe had another commitment for a couple of days). We were told that the courthouse was 3 minutes away, so after being in the car for about 15 minutes we thought maybe there was mix up. Turns out he was taking us to the care center for a visit. As much as we would have loved seeing Miles Amanuel again, we couldn't miss our court appointment! We headed to the Gladney office for a brief overview of what to expect and were off to court.

We walked up a few flights of stairs and into a big room full of chairs to wait. Most families that traveled this week had court that day so we were all together. We were called in by our child's name one family at a time. Each time a new family was called we wished them well and then celebrated when they exited the judge's room just a couple of minutes later.

It was finally our turn. We went and sat in front of the judge and she asked us a few general questions. Why Ethiopia? How will you carry on this child's culture? Are your families supportive of this adoption? We tried to answer briefly and succinctly. She smiled, closed his file, and said, "Well he is yours." Of course we thanked her, smiled, nodded politely, and stood to leave. We wanted to do cartwheels out of the office we were so excited. It was surreal to us both that we walked into the courthouse as a couple, and when we exited, we were a family of 3.

We headed back to the guesthouse to change clothes and then we were off to Kaldi to celebrate with macchiatos. We toured the National Museum and saw an assortment of Ethiopian artifacts. We saw and took pictures of many things from the region where our son was born. We had a wonderful tour guide who shared with us after our tour that he was adopted as well, and that God and the family that adopted him saved his life from an illness he had battled. He was a blessing to our day.

Our driver took us for some delicious and authentic Ethiopian cuisine for lunch and we loved it. We're lucky enough to have good Ethiopian food close to home, but we were thrilled to be enjoying the real deal.

I was wiped out and took a nap back at the guesthouse and Ross played tourist with Zuzu. He came back with some great things to bring home.

That evening we had a group dinner at Island Breeze where we were able to get to know more of the families traveling. I risked big here by eating fresh salsa and was not disappointed nor did I pay the price later. (Fresh, uncooked vegetables are usually to be avoided unless you enjoy spending a lot of time in the restroom).

We were anxious to go to sleep in hopes that morning would come quickly as it would bring visit # 2 with Miles Amanuel.

Day 2

Once we touched down in Addis Ababa we headed to get our visas. In line we met another Gladney family. It was nice to instantly be in the company of others anticipating the same things that we were. We claimed our luggage, exchanged a little money, and headed to find those meeting us at arrival. In country staff met us in the lobby and we met our drivers as well. Yoftahe made us feel welcome immediately and we headed to his car with our things. I remember commenting on how nice it felt outside. It just felt so unbelievably good to be walking around outside knowing that we had finally arrived in a place we'd hoped to be for so long. Yoftahe drove us to the Yebsabi, our guesthouse for the week. He and Ross were busy talking about what we were seeing as we drove along but I could hardly pay attention. I was just on sensory overload- taking it all in- new sights, sounds and smells. We arrived at Yebsabi and the power was out (pretty common in Ethiopia). The generator was on so there were a few lights. We were greeted and our bags were taken to our room. Our room- and this place- were wonderful! Everything was so clean, the guesthouse staff were so welcoming- we instantly felt at ease. We decided that night that we would be staying there for our second trip as well. We unpacked some things and tried to sleep. Our adrenaline kept us awake for a bit- knowing that tomorrow we would meet our boy.

We woke up excited, to say the least. We headed downstairs for breakfast and it was delicious. Fresh pineapple juice, bread, eggs, Ethiopian pancakes, and the best bananas ever, awaited us. Shortly after, Yoftahe picked us up and we were headed to the care center. We were able to see the city in the daylight- again, people everywhere. Walking, working, herding animals, etc. It was very sunny and dusty on the unpaved roads. We just took it all in. We arrived to the care centers and missed the introduction of what was about to happen but it didn't seem to matter. Our travel group had about 10 different families and everyone started dispersing to the homes that held their little one(s). (All of the homes are within walking distance.) We walked to # 2 and headed inside. We went upstairs with a few other couples but quickly realized Miles Amanuel's room was downstairs. Within moments we walked in and quickly spotted him. We could not believe that we were looking at him! Seeing him in pictures for months prior - and then there he was. Poor little guy was sick with a fever and very clingy to his caregivers. We did not was to freak him out- we told them it was fine- just to let us play with his roommates and let him warm up to us. Honestly, I would have sat there and just watched him all day long. I thought I'd have this overwhelming urge to rush to him pick him up and cover him with kisses, but he was sick and scared. We didn't want to add to that. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't wait to hold him, but I knew that would come. We passed out stickers and played with all of his friends. We offered him a sticker and he showed us what a good pouty face he can have when he wants to. After a few minutes another caregiver came in (I will refer to her as the baby whisperer!) She asked which child was ours and we told her. She went to him, picked him up, whispered something to him and put him in my arms. I'm so glad my wonderful husband happened to have the video camera rolling at that moment.

Our hour visit with him went by so quickly, yet I have so many memories burnt into my mind of our time together. We passed him back and forth many times, playing with him, taking turns taking pictures and video of our son with us. He got really sleepy (he had some medicine for the fever) while Ross was holding him, and Ross passed him back to me. He fell asleep in my arms that day. I just remember how right it felt. I'm glad Ross was filming, I don't remember crying but I am clearly wiping my eyes with a smile on my face.

We met up with the other families as we left the care center and Ross pointed out the collection of drool on my shoulder courtesy of our snoozing boy. We laughed and a new friend said "Don't wash it!" There was a lot of joy going around with all of us that had just met our children for the first time.

Once we met back up with our fabulous driver we headed to Kaldis (the original Starbucks- and the BEST COFFEE EVER). We enjoyed insanely good macchiatos and headed up to Entoto Mountain. We saw the city from above and enjoyed the fragrance of the eucalyptus growing around us. We toured the museum at the top of the mountain and headed down for some lunch. We ate at Makush, an italian restaurant/art gallery. We headed back to the guesthouse and relaxed together for the rest of the afternoon, replaying the morning back and forth to eachother.

A bit of my letter to Miles that I wrote while back at the guesthouse:

What an amazing day we had because of you! We were told only to spend an hour with you, but that hour changed our world! We love you so much already and we have so much to learn about you. So far we know that you have a great pouty face that makes us laugh! And now I know that your Dad lights up a room when holding you. I know that when you fell asleep on my shoulder that I knew that I was your mom. We can hardly wait to see again.

our first view of Ethiopia in the daylight, taken from our guestroom

heading into the care center

famous pout

our first family picture

YUM.

Entoto Mountain (the city is in the background)

Our trip to Ethiopia Day 1

In order to bring some life back to my poor neglected blog, and channel my nostalgia of everything that was happening at this time last year, I have decided to finally blog about our trip.

The night before our departure I attended the rehearsal dinner for two amazing friends who were tying the knot the next day. 4 days prior we passed the 1st phase of court in Ethiopia so it was official that I wouldn't be playing bridesmaid on Saturday. I was so glad to be with them Friday night and kept it together until it was time to wish them well and head home to try and sleep. The overwhelming emotions of happiness for them, the travels ahead, and the fact that we would be seeing our boy in a couple of days became too much in that moment. I don't remember sleeping much that night.

We headed to DC first on Saturday afternoon. Sweet friends and family saw us off and prayed for the days ahead. In DC we grabbed a meal near our next flight and it was wonderful seeing so many Ethiopian faces in the terminal. We spoke to the just married bride and groom as we enjoyed dinner and then headed to board the long flight. It was a treat meeting these blog real life friends and sharing in the excitement of what was to come.

I remember thinking that I would sleep a lot on the plane and that didn't happen. I just couldn't believe the time had finally come. After a brief landing in Rome to refuel/change flight staff/clean the plane we were headed to Addis Ababa. It was wild watching what we were flying over. Seeing the desert stretch out below us for hours, flying over the Nile...all of it just seemed surreal to us. As we began our descent the sun had set. Our first glimpse of this city were the beautiful lights below. I shed a few tears of joy and disbelief that we were in the same city as our son. We were closer than we had ever been...