Embassy date

Have you ever been at the DMV and felt so frustrated with the lifeless person behind the sterile, grey counter that you wanted to hurt someone?  That is how I have felt all week in dealing with the US department of Immigration.  We needed the age ranged ammended on our I600A form since Mekdes is younger than the ages originally recorded on all of our paperwork.  We had been given a tentative Ethiopian Embassy appointment of 11/15, so we knew we needed to get a rush on the approval of the change on the I600A.  I called everyday this week and every day I delt with a lifeless, useless "officer" at immigration who wasn't willing to find our file, look at our file, or approve our file.  By  Tuesday afternoon, I resorted to contacting our congressman to see if he would have any more pull with USCIS.  Bill Foster did try to intervene on our behalf, but he was unsuccessful in getting our file approved.  At this point, we had lost the flights I had on hold for our second trip.  We couldn't book the flights as we were still in limbo with Immigration and if we didn't get our file approved, our Embassy appointment would be cancelled.  Things were looking bleak, to say the least!  By Friday, I was frantic and thought if we didn't get this file approved, what was going to happen to Mekdes?  I had been praying for someone to answer the phone that would actually be able to assist me with our situation and Friday morning....it happened!  Officer McCall anwered my 900th call to Immmigration and was willing to get off of her chair, find our file, look over our file, and APPROVE our file!!!!  YAHOO!!!!!  So, we are back on track---rebooked our flights and are scheduled to travel for our second trip 11/11-11/18.  Ahhh, life is good!

Margo wanted to take a picture in her Halloween costume holding a picture of Mekdes--too cute!

Getting back into the routine...

Well, we are back stateside and I am finally sitting down to catch up.  My dear friend, Sarah, left a note  expressing her desire to have an update...so here it goes:
Our flight home was actually palatable as we had the first seats in the economy section.  That meant we didn't have anyone sitting in front of us which made the 20 some hours on the plane more manageable! The entire flight I just kept thinking of how Mekdes will do when we bring her home.  What activities would she enjoy, what would she eat, how would her ears do when the plane takes off?  My heart aches I miss her so much and I find myself getting a bit weepy at times just thinking of her and of our experience in Ethiopia.  There is so much that needs to be done in preparation for Mekes' arrival!  My head is spinning and I cannot seem to stay focused and on-task.  I believe we are going to take diapers on our second trip as that is what the orphanage director said they were in dire need of.  Coloring books, crayons, nail polish, stickers are also items that the children really enjoyed.  If anyone would like to contribute to this list, just drop it by the house.  Just a box of crayons is a gracious gift for these beautiful kids!  
We know the real journey is just about to begin, so we would truly appreciate your thoughts prayers as we transition to being a family of seven.  We know that there will certainly be tough days ahead as she grieves the loss of everything familiar.  There will possibly (if not probably) be times when she shuts down and rejects us, when she gets angry and frustrated, when she cries and we don’t know why or what to do.  There will be a language barrier for a while since she doesn’t speak English.  In many ways, the hard part is ahead of us as we learn to parent Mekdes well.

We’ll be “cocooning” for a month or so while she transitions to being a part of our family. Right now she thinks anyone could be Mom or Dad.  So cocooning is a process of teaching her who her Mom and Dad are and what family is.   We have been told to strictly limit visitors at first, and to be the only ones to provide her care, so she can start making a connection with us.  It is hard, as we are excited for you to meet your beautiful, new niece, cousin, friend, grandchild, playmate.  This is temporary, and we thank you for your understanding and patience while we try to form family attachments with our new daughter.   Again, thank you all so much. We are incredibly blessed to have the privilege of being her family, and we can’t wait to bring her home!

Margo in her traditional outfit.  

A BIG thanks to my folks who stayed with the girls while we were gone!  They didn't miss a beat!!!  I love you, guys!

slideshows

last day--argh!

Well, we are back in our room after saying good-bye to Mekes today.  I woke up crying, had my morning Ethiopian tea  crying, talked to the receptionist about a late check out crying,  I am crying right now,  but when it came time to tuck Mekdes in for her nap and say good-bye I was able to do it without breaking down.  I believe that is due to all the prayers and support that all of our family and friends have given us and there are no words to express how truly grateful we are to everyone!  Before her nap, we read Mekdes the photo book I had sent over a month or so ago.  Several of the girls gathered around for the “story”.  Every time we would get to a picture of Margo all the girls would shout out “Mar-goooo”.  It made us laugh and I think it was that God given moment that helped us get through the good-bye.  To think Margo has a fan club in Ethiopia is a real hoot!  We asked Wass to make sure he continues to explain to Mekdes that we will be coming back and that we are preparing our home in America for her.  He promised he would and this also helps set our hearts at ease.  There were several funny moments today that helped lighten our heavy hearts.  Several children were fascinated with the hair on Shawn’s arms and found it even more interesting when they would get his arm wet.  They would laugh and laugh over this strange white man and his hairy arms!  Mekdes was riding on my shoulders and kept trying to braid my hair in the traditional way of her culture.  She became very frustrated when my straight hair wouldn’t stay in the braid!  White people’s hair is so strange said one of  the care mothers—ha!  Another sweet girl would put on my sunglasses and pretend she was a rapper!  She had all the moves and rhythms down—it goes to show how small our planet has become! 

They are in dire need of diapers...maybe a diaper collection for trip two???

We fly out tonight and after about 20 some hours we should arrive in Chicago.  We cannot wait to see our girls and share with them all about their new sister and the wonderful country of Ethiopia that we have become so found of.  See you all soon!

wednesday

Mekdes' sweet face

Mekdes' face after seeing a picture of Ruby!

These little angels played with these bottles for an hour!

It was so wonderful seeing Mekdes and the children today!  We had run out of activities (play doh, crayons, balloons, etc) in our bag of tricks, so we brought empty water bottles from our hotel.  We were once again reminded of the simple pleasures that these children can find in what we would consider recyclable material!   One of the little boys would squeal with delight when he would knock down the bottles.  Other girls would carry around a bottle like it was their baby doll.  We have fallen in love with the Ethiopian people and their ability to find joy in the everyday.  Our schedule at the orphanage starts in the morning and we play outside, as they are outside most of the day.  At 11:30 am the children wash their hands and are served a traditional lunch.  After lunch it is nap time and that is when we leave for the day.  Today, Mekdes started crying when it was time to wash hands for lunch because she has figured out that the schedule dictates we will be leaving soon.  It just breaks our hearts!  The other children were so kind to her at lunch while she was crying.  They would rub her arm try to make her laugh.  After lunch we carried her up to the sleeping area and put her in bed.  We read her the photo book we had made of our home and family and she seemed to enjoy that.  I know I keep saying this, but I am dreading tomorrow!  Not as much for Shawn and me, but for Mekdes as she will have no understanding of why we are leaving or if we are coming back.  We have really gotten a chance to see her personality over the last week and that had been a treat!  Each day she opens up a little more.  She seems to be very head strong, independent, curious, has difficulty sharing (that ought to be interesting with Margo), and loves to be cuddled.  Some of these qualities are indicative of children in an orphanage, of course, but they also seem to be who she is.  And who she is is so WONDERFUL!  You will all love her!

photos

Shawn and I are the first white people the little boy in the front has ever seen!  

Some homes on the way to court this morning.

Soccer game being played across from our hotel.   They would play around the cattle! 

Shop in Addis

It's official!

Out to lunch with Wass.

shopping

 This morning we had to be up early for our court appointment, so we ask the front desk for a wake up call.  There was no wake up call--perhaps the concept was lost in translation--but it didn't cause a problem as we never slept anyhow.  For those of you who know me, my 8 hours of shut eye are crucial for my sanity.  This getting 2-3 hours a night is killing me!!!  Nonetheless, we were picked up by Wass and headed for court around 8:30am.  We had to wear our "Sunday clothes"  for our court appearance and fitting my swollen feet into my church shoes was rather unpleasant!  Both Shawn and I were feeling nervous as we had heard that you may not be approved by the court system on your first attempt.  The 20 minute car ride where we were bounced around and inhaling bad diesel fumes didn't help calm our nerves!  I won't bore you with any more details other than to say my salesman of a husband turned on the charm and the court approved our dossier.  They declared "Mekdes is yours" as we exited the court house!  As if Shawn and I didn't stick out enough as the only white people in the streets of Addis, the fact that we were smiling from ear to ear really made people stop and stare!   We celebrated by going out to lunch with Wass and then doing some shopping.  Wass was impressed with my ability to barter with the merchants.  I told him it runs in my family and I fine tune the skill at our flea markets.  He about fell over laughing over the thought of a flea market!  We didn't get to see Mekdes today and both Shawn and I feel  a sadness over missing her.  I cannot imagine how heavy our hearts will be when we have to leave her for the next couple of months.  We do find some comfort in knowing that Hannah's Hope is such a wonderful place full of such special care givers.

Croc delivery!

Here are some of the children wearing their new shoes.

Joy over new shoes!

They just found out they can pick out their own pair.

Woman carrying eucalyptus bundle down from Mr. Entoto

Today was another beautiful day!  We went to Hannah's Hope in the morning carrying 2 huge bags of Crocs that have been given by many families in the Wasco softball program.  Mekdes came running the moment we entered the compound and pounced on Shawn.  She immediately wants to put on his watch and touch his face.  Seeing them together has been such a joy for me!  Of course the children wondered what was in the huge black bags.  When we opened up the bags the kids  went crazy.  They actually got to go through the bags of Crocs and pick the pair they wanted!  Hugs and laughter filled the moment and I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.  Luckily, it wasn't a full on "ugly cry"  just tears of real happiness at seeing what a difference all of our friends had made in these kids lives!    We did some sight seeing with Wass in the afternoon.  Mt. Entoto and some brilliant old Orthodox churches.  We also went to Ethiopia University and went through the Haille Sallaissee museum.  It amazes me at how knowledgeable Ethiopians are about their history and culture.  Wass was able to take us through all of these "stops" and guide us with an amazing amount of information.  I know I wouldn't be nearly as knowledgeable if the rolls were reversed!  The poverty is everywhere.  A woman with no toes was sitting on the side of the road begging for money.  We gave a woman some money who was at one of the Orthodox churches to use the holy water found there as she thought it would cure her HIV.  She was so grateful, you would think we had just given her a million dollars.  Women were climbing the street leading up Mt. Entoto carrying huge bundles of eucalyptus leaves and branches.  They go up and down the mountain every day and sell these bundles for one dollar.  No matter how devastating their circumstances may seem, the smile on their faces remains.  It is a beautiful lesson, really!  

No sleep, but an adventurous day!

Well, I am running on about 3 hours of sleep today.  Between people banging on our door, loud cars outside, it being so hot, the religious chanting outside, the dogs/hyenas, someone smoking outside our window....I got very little sleep.  Shawn did well and I was jealous of his snoring all night long!  As it is 2:30am here now and we are both up, I think it will be another long night.  Once the sun came up, however, we began what ended up being a "one of a kind" day.  We got to Hannah's Hope around 10am and I remembered my activity bag.  When we pulled into the compound all the kids came running and trying to give us "knucks" as we had taught them that American ritual the day before.  Tearing through the crowd came our little Mekdes and she jumped up on Shawn and clung to him for dear life!  We spent the day playing with ballooons, bubbles, reading some books, painting nails and having another wonderful experience with these children.  Lunch was served for the children while we were there and they served injera and wat (traditional Ethiopian meal).  I video taped Mekdes eating and will try to post it.  You will notice, they eat with their right hands only.  Their left hand is seen as unclean and they are taught not to use it.  After lunch is when the children have their nap time.  I was able to take Mekdes over to the swing and swing her to sleep.  We carried her up to her bed and she began to cry and cling to us, not wanting us to leave.  Her caregiver explained we would be back tomorrow, but it was definately a foreshadowing what was going to happen on Thursday when we must depart.  Biting my cheeks may not be enough at that point!  Earlier that day we met a man named Solomon.  He was a taxi driver and we asked if he would meet us at the hotel that afternoon to take us in to the National Museum.  He agreed and indeed he showed up at the hotel as he promised to take us on our outing.  The museum was facinating as Ethiopia is thought to be the birthplace of mankind--really amazing exibits!  Everywhere we go we stick out like sore thumbs (surprise!) and riding through the city was no exception.  Children and old women would approach the car and say they were hungry.  It was heartbreaking!  We began riding in a rather impoverished area, sheet metal houses, sewage ditches, livestock everywhere when Solomon stopped the car and told us to get out.  Well, we were either going to be the "missing Americans" on CNN or we were in for a great adventure!!! Shawn and I grabbed eachother hands and got out of the car.    Children came running and I took their pictures so I could show them what they looked like on the camera--they loved it.  Solomon parked the car and told us he was taking us to his home as his wife was preparing the traditinal coffee ceremony for us.  A brief sigh of relief, but the potential of this going very wrong was still in the back of our minds.   We wound our way back through a narrow dirt path with shanty-like homes on either side.  When we got to his home we were met by his two sons and his wife.  They were so kind and welcoming that we were immediately but at ease!  Solomon kept telling us how blessed they were.  It was so beautiful, really, that people with what we would consider nothing, would open their homes and their hearts to us to share such a beautiful tradition!  We knew we were risking some serious G.I. issues in drinking this coffee as the water to prepare it came from the local well, but their kindness and gratitude were so inspiring--how could we refuse!  The preparation took at least 30 minutes.  I included a pic of his son smashing the coffee beans that his mother has just roasted over a fire.  It was the best cup of coffee I have ever had and the experience was worth any gastric discomfort I may be feeling.  To feel such praise for God, to feel they are so blessed in the midst of such intense poverty was a humbling lesson that will be with both Shawn and I for the rest of our lives!  I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings, but we clearly have fallen in love with this amazing country and its beautiful people!

SHE IS NO LONGER JUST A DREAM!!!!

We made it to Addis and here she is....she is wonderful!!!  We landed after 16 hours of flying and were met at the airport by Wass.  He is our driver and works with AGCI.  On our way to the hotel he handed us a revised itinerary of our trip and it showed that we were meeting Mekdes today!!!  We were so thrilled and anxious at the same time.  We were still unclear as to the status of what she had been told about us and how we were going to be introduced at our initial meeting.  Wass came to get us a couple of hours later and we left for Hannah's Hope.  I was so excited I completely forgot the activity bag I had packed full of the fun things we could do with Mekdes.  When we got there we were let in the gates and led right to a room where within 30 seconds (I hadn't even set my purse down and wasn't really prepared)  this beautiful little angel walks in the room and comes over to give me a hug and a kiss and proceeds to do the same for Shawn.  Tsige was the administrator guiding us at this point and she kept saying abat and enat to Mekdes, which I know mean father and mother.  When I asked her if Mekdes knew who we were, she  informed me that they had told her we were her parents because they felt the entire process would be too confusing for her if they did not.  I was overcome with emotion and started to cry, but I caught myself by biting my cheek.  The last thing this little one needed was a sobbing white woman standing in front of her.  This is the time when the activity bag would have come in quite handy, but since I left it at the hotel, we were forced to improvise.  I gave her my bracelet and Shawn gave her his watch to wear.  I dug through my purse and found a photo of Mekdes and gave that to her.  Tsige then proceeded to show us around Hannah's Hope.  We first went into the older children's sleeping area.  Mekdes was showing everyone her photograph.  A wonderul girl around 8 or 9 years old came over and gave Mekdes a hug and told her "congratulations".  When Tsige translated what was being said, I had to bite my cheek again to keep from crying.  We continued on our tour and saw all the babies, the kitchen, the school room...these women/caretakers do such an amazing job with these children.  What special people!  By this point I was holding a baby named Danny and Mekdes was pretty attached to Shawn.  She wanted Shawn to pick her up so of course he did and carried her all around the grounds.  Again, I had to control myself from completely losing it as I say the two of them together.  Shawn could make her laugh and smile which was so heart warming as most of the time she looked confused and tired.  For some reason they scheduled our meeting during her nap time, so she had gone without a nap--bless her heart.  It was a wonderful meeting that got more comfortable as the time passed.  We will look forward to spending time with her and the other children tomorrow.  I will try to remember the activity bag!!!!  We will deliver the Crocs to Hannah's Hope on Monday when the director, Almaz, will be in.    What an amazing journey thus far!

OHHHH MYYYY!!!!!

Well, here we are 48 hours from departure and things are a bit crazy!  My parents are coming in to stay with the girls while we are gone and the spread sheet I am leaving them is enough to send anyone running for the hills!  Honestly, I have done very little preparation for Shawn and I  as everything has been centered around making sure the girls' schedules are taken care of.  Thank goodness my folks are such good natured people because this journey will really test their patience!  We are  blessed to have such wonderful parents, family and friends around us all willing to help with whatever needs to be done!  On that note...THE CROC DRIVE WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!!  We have collected hundreds of shoes to take with us to Hannah's Hope.   We are so excited to deliver these to the orphanage and see all the beautiful children that will get to have a new pair of shoes!  My goal is to video tape the exchange so everyone back home can really see the fruits of their generosity.  Because the Croc drive was such a success, however, Shawn and I really have no room to pack anything for our trip.  It is comical, really!  Maybe we'll just wear the same outfit all week long...maybe we'll purchase some traditional Ethiopian garments and wear those...for those of you who know my husband, that is a real picture!  I got each of us a new carry on bag and we will put at least one outfit in that, so at the very least we will have two outfits for the week--ha!  I have also been filling my carry on with licorice, Clif Bars, gum, almonds.  I am looking forward to trying the Ethiopian food, but my husband is not so adventurous.  He is looking at this trip as being the start of his Clif Bar diet. We will try to communicate via emails while we are there, but the wi-fi connection may not be what we are used to here in the good ol' U S of A.  My emotions at this moment really boil down to this...the thought of getting to meet our daughter makes me cry... the thought of my husband in Ethiopia makes me smile...and the thought of all the prayers and well wishes from our family and friends fills me with a warmth and joy that will no doubt surround me through out this wondrous adventure!