June 1st

Here is the beginning of another never-ending day of travel.  Really not looking forward to the flights. At least we fly Lufthansa until Chicago. We got up at 0800 and slowly get ready. We call Yared to make sure he will be at the care center when we get there. He wants us to wait for another family who has supposedly arrived the day before. We wait around the hotel and eat breakfast. At 1000 we get ahold of Yared again and he tells us not to bother waiting so Benjamin comes to pick us up at 1030.  Benjamin and Karl have become good buddies. I think he might request to drive us :) We arrive at the care center and while we are waiting for the boys to get out of school we ask Yared and Abebe more questions. Yared says that the boys earrings were brought to them from their birth mother at her court date. Ajura's necklace is common amongst people from Gambella. The boys are both very quiet because they don't feel comfortable speaking Amharic or English. Ahmi is in school so early because he simply wanted to go. When the boys arrive they are both still wearing their T-shirts and necklaces. Ajura goes to get their photo books right away and then wants to play with the camera. He really has started to bond with Karl! They played basketball and with balloons and bubbles today. Ahmi bounces bak and forth between Karl and me. He is a busy boy today running and playing. He had his first tantrum with me when I gave him a "time in" because he was hitting another boy. He was NOT happy.  After letting him go he threw the bubbles I gave him on the floor and GLARED at me from across the room. Definitely feel like a mom now! He was over the meltdown in 5 minutes and was back in my lap. We were able to have much more 2 on 2 time today than the previous days. Rackaways little Lowta was in a great mood today so we snuggled with her a lot. When our 2 hours was up it was a bittersweet see-ya-later. Benjamin returns us to the guest house where I spend the rest of the afternoon packing and Skyping. Our flight leaves at 1055 and we need to be at the airport at 1930. A lot of waiting and travel today. Karl goes to see his friends before we leave and ends up being invited to someone's house for a coffee ceremony.  You'll have to check his journal for details. Benjamin drops us off at the airport. We will miss him. Get through security and customs at Bole without any problems. Try to sleep on the flight and maybe got a little rest. 1 hour technical stop in Khartoum again.