Meetcha Day!! May 28th

Alarm rings at 0700 and we get up and get ready and go to breakfast. It is Memorial Day here as well and Ajura's 7th birthday!! We meet the rackaways at breakfast as planned and wait for a phone call from yared. We were told if he doesn't call before 0900 we were to call him...so we did. Waited for a ride together very anxiously. Thought we held thing together pretty well. 1000. The driver picks us up and we start driving through Addis. Still a beautiful city. Air is hazy with pollution. Mre traffic as we get closer into downtown. In about 20 minutes we suddenly turn left down a gravel alleyway and then we stop in front of the gate we have heard about and seen on pictures. The driver honks and the gates open to a courtyard with playground equipment. Around the courtyard in a complete circle are rooms and an office. When the vehicle stops we look to the right and there is a crowd of children. The children pour out and Andrea yells, "That one is mine!" What an awesome moment. Wile this is happening, yared greets Karl and myself as I search for those familiar faces. The children come up one by one to greet us by shacking our hands and saying "hello!" then Yared asks one of the other boys to get Ajura and Obama/Ahmi. I watch as the boy walks to one of the rooms and then our boys emerge. I was in shock! I hugged Ajura first. He is shy and tentative. Yared warned me that Ahmi had tripped this morning so he has a piece of white athletic tape next to his right eye. Ahmi greets me and lets me hold him. Neither boys know that we are their parents at this point I don't think. We start playing with balloons the rackaways brought and then another 7 year old boy who speaks English pretty well told each of our boys in turn "Obama (points to me), Mimi!" "Ajura (points to me), Mimi!" At this point my heart explodes with joy as I see the comprehension on Ajura's face and watch Ahmi mouth the word "Mimi" as if he is trying them out for the first time. Ajura is still shy and more interested in playing basketball but acknowledges us with special looks or try to sit close (especially with Karl). I can't imagine how me feels an dhow scary and exciting and overwhelming it is for all of us. At least we knew this was going to happen today. We played balloons, sunglasses were a hit, and watched them eat lunch and say their prayer together. Those children follow such a tight schedule and behave so well. There is no yelling from the nannies. After they eat, each child goes independently to wash their hands (they do this before dinner too). All except our Ahmi who practically has to be hosed down because he has food on his shirt, pants and even in his pink crocs! So cute! Ahmi loves to snuggle with both Karl and me and even seeks us out and gets jealous when other kids try to get our attention. He even kissed me on the cheek! Ajura Is quick to smile and is really warming up to Karl by the end of our visit. Ahmi seems a little sad when we say "ciao" but Ajura lingers with a smile on his face, understanding that we will be back tomorrow. We leave in almost utter silence in the car. We are all wonderfully overwhelmed. Our wonderful driver Benjamin engages us zombies in conversation. E decide to meet at 1600 to discuss dinner plans. Upon getting back to our room we Skype our families and friends. They are all so excited! At 1600 we meet up with the Rackaways at the cafe. We decide to eat at Lucy's tonight. Benjamin drives us there for $6 a couple round trip. I ordered the chicken tikka and Karl had lamb curry. Both were very good. Our total including two beers for 5 people was $35.00. It has been so nice having the Rackaways traveling with us. We have a lot in common. S i noticed when we were at Lucy's that the emblem of the restaurant was a skeleton that looked familiar and then (DUH!) I realized the restaurant was named after the "missing link" skeleton Lucy. The restaurant is right nex to to Natural History Museum so on the way back I asked Benjamin if Lucy was in there and he said "yes! She is very famous!" We have to add that onto the to do list which currently includes Entoto mountain and shopping. Still love it here and now have fallen in love with two little boys. Can't wait to see them tomorrow! Looking forward to some good sleep tonight after the emotional day!