EMBASSY TRIP August 24 and 25 th

Well due to a bum neck, I unfortunately (or thankfully, who knows) had ample time to pack and plan, but thanks to wonderful friends, family, and of course my amazing husband all "required" pre kiddos tasks have been accomplished and I can proceed with a sense of accomplishment. It is difficult for me to sit by and watch everyone else pull my dead weight around. Karl has taken away my luggage  pulling priveledges twice now for what he feels were infractions on the "rules."

Anyway, our flight left Bismarck at 1730. Before dropping us off my dad surprised us and brought a basketball hoop for the boys! Ajura is going to be beyond THRILLED! My mom and dad dropped us off. Security was highly humorous. Bismarck must have recently received their body scanner and they are getting used to it. My hair is up in the normal Lura top knot style and due to the "density" (their words not mine), they needed to pat it (yes, just the top knot) down. Even after I offered to just take it out. We laughed pretty hard. All else was uneventful. Was able to grab my favorite treat in Denver! Caramel apple smothered in nuts and chocolate.  Fight to DC was on time and easy. Checked into the hampton inn and got to sleep around 0230. Alarm awoke us at 0630. Great sleep but really just not long enough. Loved the hampton inn though.  Airport stuff (you know... Security, check in) all uneventful. Just sitting and waiting to get onto our 13 hour flight to addis. We arrive at 0745.  The plan then is to eat breakfast with the rackaways hopefully and then nap and late afternoon head to pick up the boys at the care center!!!

June 2nd

Currently in Frankfurt airport and am annoyed that I need cell phone service in order to use the free internet. Karl had to laugh that we just came from Ethiopia where an entire meal would cost about $5 for both of us and our diet cokes in Frankfurt are 4 Euros each. There is a funny sense of camaraderie in the women's bathroom here as we are all trying to brush our teeth and wash our faces in 1 sink. I fought more with Teha and we each had our own sink.  One more 8 hour flight and we will be in the U.S. Miss the boys but I am homesick too. Can't wait until we are all in one place.

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.

May 31- COURT!!!

Woke up at about 0800, slept fairly well after taking Ambien last night. Karl's foot is purple but not too swollen and doesn't hurt. Went to eat at around 0845. Really nervous for court today. Rackaways met us in our room at 0945 to drop off their luggage and we met Benjamin to go shopping at the post office and Tamoca. We spent  $1000 birr on coffee at Tamoca! We have lots of gifts for our friends and family. We bought a beautiful painting, 2 Ethiopian flags, and another giraffe carving. All negotiated by Benjamin of course. He is the best!! We didn't realize how efficient shopping with Benjamin would be. We were back at the Addis View by 1045! The Rackaways and ourselves hung out in our room for a bit, looking at pictures of Haiti and talking. We then decided to have "lunch" (coffee and cake of course) at the cafe. We waited as patiently as possible and at 1330 Benjamin picked us up. We arrived at court at about 1340 and couldn't find our liaison but were guided to the PACKED waiting room. There was nowhere to sit, no A/C, and big signs that said SILENT on the wall. Our liaison showed up shortly thereafter saying, "are you nervous?" We all nodded our heads (silently of course). She said "There is nothing to be afraid of. The judge is a woman and she is gentle." So we waited and waited. At about 1430 an older Ethiopian man offered me his seat and the man next to him let Andrea and Maddie share his. So nice to sit down. EXTREMELY ANXIOUS. Sat next to a woman who has been living in Ethiopia for 3 years with her husband who is a pastor. They are adopting a 17 year old girl who was with them. Hard to talk much due to the SILENCE sign on the wall. Finally at 1500 on the nose, "Brothers and Sisters" was called. The Rackaways, our liaison, and us go into the judges quarters and take a seat. She checks our passports and begins firing questions. "Do you have any kids?" "How long have you been going through the adoption process?" "Have you completed your training?" "Wil you teach your children about Ethiopian culture?" "Have you met the children?" "Do you realize that once the court approves it is final?" "Do you still wish to adopt these children?" We answer appropriately with our hands clasped tightly together and then she says, "All your paperwork for court has been approved, however we are still waiting for a letter from MOWA." Then all of a sudden we are being shuffled out the door. I have no idea is we passed or not. In the hallway our liaison assures us that we passed but we are all still wary. Benjamin is waiting for us and takes us directly to the care center. ALL the kids are playing and surround us. We hug our boys who come running to us! I then go to the office to see if we can call Yared to get a final answer. Yared talks to me and then calls MOWA and calls back and says "They are yours!!!" Both families passed court!! The kids were all eating a snack when we left the office but when they were finished Karl and I snuck Ajura and Ahmi into their room and gave them their T-shirts that matched ours, necklaces, and photo books. They were so excited! Ajura then plays with the camera and was looking at our Haiti pics out of nowhere spelled "B-A-N-K." I then asked him to spell the letters on our T-shirts and he said "S-P-E-A-R-S." We are so proud of him. Ahmi was wild but would run around and then jump into my lap and put his photo book in my purse for safe keeping. Beginning to trust us! I also got another kiss on the cheek. IN LOVE! After two hours our driver picks us up and Rackaways immediately leave for the airport. We will miss them! They have been great traveling companions. We Skype and Facebook to share our good news. Have a good dinner at the hotel (I had fasting firfir- very spicy but good!). At dinner, we ran into the Belgian couple ( who I failed to mention earlier, who we rode to court with). They  also passed so there was congratulations all around. They are adopting a 7 year old and 5 year old. Very nice couple. Phew it has been a day!

May 30th

I am sorry it has taken me so long to catch up on the blog, it has been a REALLY busy week going back to work right away and trying to start getting things ready for the boys. So here is the catch up!

May 30th
Woke up this morning after sleeping really well through the whole night. However, after eating breakfast I still felt shot so I went to lie down until 0900. Before we left we made sure to have enough money with us to go shopping today. Benjamin gave us a ride to the care center. Karl filmed much of the drive so that was cool. When we arrived the boys were at school so they sent someone over to get them. Seeing them walk through the gates and give us hugs was great. We each sat and held one boy for at least 10 minutes. Ajura loves the camera so he took most of the photos today. Ahmi had a great time with the stickers we brought. I even forgot the Big Bird sticker on my arm so when I took it off at the hotel later I had a nice tan line from it. We were able to ask Yared questions about the boys. They both have scheduled naps in the afternoon, however, he said Ajura is usually too busy and doesn't nap. Ajura prefers bananas, sandwiches over injera, basketball and tea. Yared also said that they are both quite shy and probably know more English than most because of Gambella proximity to Sudan. Really had a good time with the boys again today. Can't wait for court to be over tomorrow so we can give them their gifts. After our time at the care center we went shopping a the open air market. Benjamin went with us and got straight down to business. In half hour both families had traditional outfits and more scarves than I will know what to do with for $75.00. Benjamin did all our bartering for us which was very very nice. We will finish up our shopping tomorrow morning. Now back to the hotel for lunch (coffee and cake) and a siesta.

After a nice 2 hour nap for both of us we ordered more cake for room service. Our favorite waiter arrived. Yummy coffee as usual.  Got ready for dinner. Went to Yod Abyssina for dinner. It is a traditional Ethiopian meal served family style. We ordered doro wot, beef tibs, and lamb something. 1/2 kilo of beef tibs would have been more than sufficient. Oh quick note insert, had to walk through metal detectors to enter restaurant. Food is served on a large platter of injera. So good! The music and dancing was also incredible!!! I was watching the dancers and all I could think of was: "Am I really here experiencing this?" Ethiopian people are beautiful, kind, soft spoken, generous, and quick to smile. I am so thankful that through our children we will have a tie to this country forever. I am eternally grateful for that! I will be so happy to be done with court tomorrow. I pray all goes well.

*of note: while leaving for dinner Karl, in his haste, missed a stair and twisted his ankle. This poor Ethiopian woman tried to catch him on the way down, he would have squashed her. He is okay but icing his foot.

May 29th

Woke up at 0700. Not the greatest sleep last night due to noisy neighbors. Actually falling asleep ok but if I get woken up it is difficult to go back to sleep. That is really the only jet lag I am suffering from. We met the rackaways for breakfast and then at 0915 we head to the care center. On arrival there are no kids to be found because all the little ones are being bathed. We meet Siter Almaz and she sends someone to get BOTH boys out of school. We thought only Ajura was in school but Ahmi goes too I guess. Aura was very shy towards me yesterday but when they came through the gate both boys had big smiles on their faces and came straight to us for hugs. Ajura even reached out for my hand. I was snuggling Ahmi and the nannies told him it was bath time so it was. Great opportunity to spend time alone with Ajura. Karl pointed to Ajura's shirt and Ajura said "tiger"!! This shocked us both because we didn't think he knew any English as of yesterday. After Ajura's bath he had a different shirt on that had dolphins on it, when we pointed he said "fish." Such proud parents!! While waiting for Ahmi, Ajura was pulling Karl's leg hair and cracking his and Karl's knuckles. Then he noticed Karl's ring and my ring and grabbed both our hands and touched our rings together. I welled up with tears. What a touching moment provided by two little hands. We played with bubbles and Karl played soccer N basketball. While I was taking a family photo of the rackaways another little boy was trying to get into the photo. Karl pointed at the boy and asked Ajura in Amharic what the boy's name was and Ajura thought he was pointing at me and said "Mimi." That was the first time my son called me "Mimi." What a feeling. We played some more and for about 5 minutes Ahmi let me rock him and he shut his eyes and just relaxed. We need to get a rocking chair at home. When our two hours was up we went to Yared's office briefly to discuss court and have our visas copied. We made arrangements for a trip up to Entoto mountain today at 1500. Our drive back to the guest house was kinda icky because it was extremely smoggy downtown today. When we got to the Addis View Karl's buddy Abraham showed up so I went to take a nap while he is out exploring. 2135. At 1500 we met up with the rackaways and our driver drove us to Entoto mountain which elevation is 10850 feet. O top of the mountain is a museum, palace, and orthodox catholic church. The women were all dressed in long skirts and head scarves. We paid 50 burr to get into the museum. Our driver accompanied us the whole time and insisted the tour guide to restart the tour in english for us. Very nice gesture but it made me feel like a pushy American and I hate that. All of the items in the museum were catholic religious icons, ceremonial dress and books along with items of the former kings and queens of Ethiopia. After the museum tour our guide then showed us the former palace and overlook of the city. The air is so polluted here that you just see a hazy view of the city. The palace is very interesting because although the crowns and attire of the royal family have diamonds and rubies the palace was very small and humble. Eucalyptus trees are planted everywhere because they grow fast and provide good lumbar, however they need a lot of water so they dig trenches around the trees to collect water. Very interesting. On the drive back we pass through the market where we will go tomorrow. We then go to Top View restaurant. Er nice place but we arrived too early. People eat late here. So the menu was pretty slim so we all had cheeseburgers and fries and coke. It was very good though. Our driver picked us up and we headed to the guest house early to get some good sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day!

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!