Lux et umbra vicissum…

[Since I can’t post their names yet, I’ll call my future daughters L and B.  I’ll also remove parts of my entry that were mostly notes for another family on their own daughter or things that say too much info about L and B.]

I spent much of the day - from 11 AM to 5 PM - with L and B.  The Lord was good and I did have some time to connect with B [who doesn’t speak English]; I let her and L try to teach me Amharic. :)  They couldn’t stop laughing at my attempts!  I also spent a lot of time watching B play.  She’s athletic and seems to enjoy any game with a ball.  L mostly stayed by my side.  She’s very sweet and quiet.  Well, by quiet I think I mean thoughtful.  She likes to read and have times by herself.  She gets tired of the noise at the orphanage sometimes and tries to find a quiet place to sit.  I told her that our house gets noisy, too, but not quite as noisy as the orphanage!

L really seems to want to bond with me.  That should help the process a lot.  She said she wished I could just stay at the care center while I was in Addis, and she told me she’s happier when I’m there.  She’s a very sweet girl.  I’m concerned that she may be trying too hard to please, though, and might not be willing to tell me when she’s unhappy.

B is sweet, too, but more shy than her sister.  I think she’ll do well with the children in school because she loves to join in games, but I’m afraid getting to know her heart may take a while.  She’s full of fun, that much was obvious!

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Oh, and when asked their ages, L says she is 13 and B is 8.  We’ll see what the courts decide to put on their birth certificates.

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L very much wants me to come back to the care center while I’m here, but I told her I didn’t know if I would be able to.  I’d like to make it back one last time before we go so that I can say goodbye.  I wish I could bring them home with me.

After talking with L, I’ve been thinking more about dating and courting.  I wonder if it would work to mix the two.  Could a boyfriend be required to court her until we’re comfortable with them going somewhere together?  Especially if the “dates” were with a group rather than alone.  I don’t know.  We’ll need to think about it soon, though.  L is already a young lady.  And a very lovely one at that.

A Dumb American’s Experience in a Half-Western Hotel

When I first arrived at the Ghion hotel, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. The front of the building was certainly impressive enough. There was a winding drive that rambled in different directions amid beautiful landscaping, and the whole front of the hotel was lined with lights so that it had a feel of both grandness and a certain sense of welcome.

On entering the lobby, I was aware of some of the first difference between this and a western hotel - or at least any hotel I’d stayed in before. Whereas I was used to seeing large lobbies with sweeping registration counters, this lobby seemed small, though grandly designed, and the registration desk was really only large enough for two people to stand comfortably side by side (though I’m quite sure that more than that manage at times.) [side note: the lobby was actually bigger than I realized, but since we arrived so late some of the lights were off… also the registration counter did have a wrap-around section that I hadn’t noticed at first]

I do not count among my talents the ability to understand folks with thick accents. This is always an embarrassment, and so it was at the front desk. At first we had to make sure I actually had a reservation (there was some uncertainty), but that was handled by Getachew, my wonderful driver and friend in need. However, once it was settled that I did, in fact, have a room, he headed out to go to his own home and I was left to fend for myself. *sigh* The man at the desk was telling me something, but I hadn’t a clue what it was. At first I tried having him repeat the information, but after he had repeated it twice and I still hadn’t understood, I decided to take the, “Um… oh… ok…” approach. At which point, looking slightly resigned, he motioned to two porters to take my bags. I didn’t have the will to fight for my bags, so I resigned myself to the fact that I’d be tipping them for a job I could have done myself, and we proceeded to my room. It was only after I had entered the room that I finally realized the man at the front desk may have been telling me how much to pay him. [I decided later that he may have been telling me what time they served breakfast…]

My room was a bit of a puzzle in itself. On walking in, my able porters immediately deposited my bags and turned on the television. I tipped them and they left, at which point I took a more thorough look around the small space. There were two twin beds, each with a small nightstand, a small desk with an internet plug and ashtray on top, and a small TV stand with a little TV. There was also a nice-size bathroom and a sizable wardrobe. All in all, it was perfectly satisfactory for my needs. When Michelle gets here she’ll use the second twin bed, and really we’ll mostly be here to sleep and maybe type or write.

But then I faced my first conundrum. The TV seemed loud and I wanted to turn it off, but gosh darn it where was the power button? There was no remote to be seen, only a small sign on top of the TV stating which channels were what (there were six of them). I started playing with the little round buttons on the front of the TV, none of which were marked, and before long I had learned which ones were channel up and down and which were volume up and down, but nothing turned the darn thing off. I turned the volume down a bit and walked away in defeat determining to try again later.

I then went in to use the bathroom only to be unable to find the flush handle for the toilet. I was beginning to get frustrated and was starting to wonder whether the bucket which I had taken for a trash can was in fact there to provide a means of flushing.

At that point I stopped and reminded myself that I had had very little sleep and things would probably make more sense in the morning.

I did finally manage to turn the TV off. The button was recessed and, being black on black, hard to see in the dim light. The morning then revealed to me that the little knobby thing that seems to be lying loosely on the back of the toilet actually lifted up to flush it. I raised my arms in victory upon this discovery.

Another time maybe I’ll write about the large windows in the shower and the man sweeping the path outside with a large frond of some kind, but right now I need to go pay the poor front desk man for my room and exchange some money. Then I’ll be ready to find out when I can meet my daughters.

Refueling in Rome

Local time - 12:55 PM   EST - 6:55 AM

We’ve been sitting for a bit now, so I’d guess we’ll be taking off again soon.  We just stop to refuel, get more food and drinks, take on a new crew…  and I think I saw someone come through with things from cleaning the bathroom.

This plane is different than the ones we flew on on last year’s Ethiopia trip.  I think it’s a little smaller (7 seats across in a pattern of 2, 3, 2) and it seems older.  The seats are more worn, more of the tray tables and cup holders are minorly broken, and - much to my chagrin - there are no screens on the backs of the seats.  Not long after take-off they started an in-flight movie shown on the TVs that are placed at regular, though not exactly frequent, intervals above the aisles.  I think the move was “Facing the Giants”, but I’m not sure because I was in the bathroom when it first started.  I tried to watch it for a while but eventually gave up.  I found that I was either straining my eyes to see the TV a ways in front of us or I was craning my neck to see most of the screen that was almost directly beside us.  The whole exercise began to make my head hurt which in turn started me feeling motion sick, so I decided to stop trying.  It was just as well, because partway into the movie it cut out for an announcement and they never turned it back on again.

I am happy to report that, though this may be a different airplane, it too has the toilet held together with tape that says “Evidence - Do Not Tamper.”  I’m beginning to think of that as a rather quirky feature of Ethiopian airlines and I would have been a bit disappointed had it not been there.  Unfortunately, the toilet paper dispenser was also broken and had not been taped, and the soap dispenser left much to be desired - namely, soap.  I had to content myself with extremely well-rinsed hands until someone thought to put a small bar of soap at the back of the sink.

I have a window seat this time, and I was noticing that the game of finding shapes in clouds can be done in reverse.  As we approached Rome, I could look out at the patchwork of lands, and a group of trees might look like a dancing girl, a grouping of fields may look like a whale spouting, and the varying shades on a hill may give the appearance that a giant is resting his hand there.

People on this trip so far have been very kind.  Actually, I started to get the idea that I must look particularly naive because of how many people decided to help me.  From the man at the ticket counter carefully explaining my boarding pass and where I should go next to my seat mate who assured me that I would do just fine on my trip, everyone has been taking care of me.  Just another one of God’s blessings on this journey.  The blessings are overflowing!

You’ll read the obituary in the papers soon. “Woman missing after paperwork avalanche - presumed dead.” So, meeting our girls really put me in turbo mode. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do before, but now that our first adoption is finalized everything else can be done… and I’m trying to do it all at once. Somehow I’m thinking this is going to push me over the edge. But how can I take things one at a time when I know that the girls are waiting and all they’re waiting on is our paperwork??? It’s a tough one.

I’ll type up some of my journal entries from the trip later. Michelle had originally said we wouldn’t be interviewing more children this trip, but when people hear that she’s coming they start coming out of the woodwork. By the time we left Ethiopia we had interviewed over 100 new children for adoption. Crazy stuff.

I can post some of my generic photos when I type out my journal entries, too. I can’t post many pictures of the kids since that’s considered a breach of confidence or something, but I got lots of other pictures - ones of the countryside, the hotel rooms we stayed in, and some local people who didn’t mind having their pictures taken.

But that’ll be a little later. Right now, it’s time to go spend a good hour or so with my manila folders and lots of forms!

This has to be brief because we pay by the minute and I think Michelle is almost done with her email, but I wanted to post something while I had a chance.  This has been an amazing trip.  I met my girls and they’re wonderful!  I’ve helped interview children for adoption, been there to hear how the process works on this end, got to be in on the hiring and beginnings of hospice and sponsorship programs, got sick from something I ate, broke my toe, and met some absolutely amazing people. :)  I can’t wait to type more about it and maybe post some pictures.

Pray for our return flight on Sunday night into Monday morning.  Since my toe is broken, I’m really hoping it won’t be too full and I’ll be able to put it up on the seat next to me to keep the swelling down a bit!

More when I get home…

Our bedroom’s a bit of a mess, but that’s not so different from normal. I don’t have enough donations to stuff two large suitcases like I was hoping to, so I’ll take two medium-size cases to make things easier on me. I’ll be able to fit almost all of my personal belongings in my backpack and travel purse, so I shouldn’t have to worry about lost bags. At least, I won’t worry as long as they make it while I’m still there. So far when people have talked about losing their bags when going to Ethiopia, the bags have arrived within a week. Unfortunately, the frequency of bags being lost in the first place is relatively high. So nothing I need for everyday survival will be in my checked baggage.

I decided to bring laundry soap this time, too. I’ll only be bringing the clothes that fit in my backpack, so I’ll need to wash them a few times while I’m there. I may let the hotel take care of it in Addis Ababa if it’s not too expensive, but in the other areas we’ll be staying I’m not sure they would have any laundry service available. I’ll wash the clothes I bring in the sink and hang them… somewhere… to dry overnight. I’ll let you know how that works out.

For now, mostly what I need to do is switch things from the one huge suitcase into two medium ones. Once I’ve done that it’ll just be a matter of double checking against my packing list to make sure I didn’t miss anything! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been packed this far in advance. Ok, so that’s kind-of sad. Oh well.

While I’m in Ethiopia I’m going to try to email Joel occasionally to let him know how things are going, but I don’t expect to be able to blog. Maybe Joel will post some of my emails or something. Anyway, since tomorrow is Mother’s Day I don’t know that I’ll be on much, and knowing that I have a chiro appointment in the morning Monday and the flight out in the evening, I’m not sure if I’ll be on again before I leave.

Wish me bon voyage!

I went shopping today.  I bought a lot of things, but very little of it was for me.  I did buy myself a small sun hat, a pair of cheap sunglasses, and three cheap t-shirts for the trip.  (I haven’t gotten new shirts in a long time… since high school, I think… and I didn’t have many that would match things easily.)  The bulk of my purchase, however, was cloth diapers and their accessories. [Read more →]

Just thought I’d post a quick picture of the bracelets I made for the girls. I’ll give them their bracelets sort of as a piece of promise jewelry… a pledge that we’ll return for them.

Though it isn’t immediately obvious, I used the colors of the Ethiopian and American flags when making these. The Ethiopian flag is green, yellow, and red (the yellow is a gold in the bracelet), and American flag is red, white, and blue. The flag colors are separated by clear beads. I stringed the beads on hemp this time to try to ensure that they won’t break. The hemp is much stronger than the stretchy cord I usually use for bracelets.

I had told Joel some time ago that I was going to take everything with the adoption one at a time at this point unless God showed me somehow clearly that I needed to hurry the heck up.  Which means, mainly, that I wasn’t going to allow myself to be surrounded by paperwork but would handle each piece separately and not get stressed.

And God laughed.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with our case worker about visiting the girls while I’m in Ethiopia, and it’s been a very productive conversation.  But suddenly it took an unexpected turn.  Though often people are waiting for a while for their children to be moved to the care center, for some reason ours are going to be moved there at the end of this week when we haven’t even been expecting it.  Actually, it’s such a shock to us that we verified that we had read our email correctly.   It turns out that they’re moving them figuring our paperwork will be in any day (since the finalization is now complete on our first adoption).  Ah.

…

AAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

First off, I feel more than a little guilty knowing that there are families that wait as patiently as possible for their kids to be moved AFTER all of their papers have been in.  We have friends who have waited for quite a while, and we probably know some who are waiting right now.  Why should ours be moved and not theirs?

Second, I feel incredibly blessed in that visiting them will be tons easier than it would have been.  I was going to have a two hour side trip to visit with them for an afternoon or something, and now they’ll be right in the capital city where I’ll be spending the bulk of my time.  And since I’m traveling two days before Michelle, I can use those two days to get to know my future daughters.

Third… ok, so how clearly can God give hints??  Wow.  Ok.  So, when I get back, I’m going to surround myself with paperwork and get it done as fast as possible. :)  Hm… maybe we could even put in for our police clearances before I leave.  Well, God… I’m taking the hint, now give me the strength.

A four year old’s idea of good dinner conversation:

“Mommy, why don’t dogs have snot or boogers?”

A four year old’s concept of fractions:

“Mommy, since there are three of us, why can’t you just split it in three halves?”

What the two year old says when she wants to imitate her sister on the piano:

“I’m gonna go do my piano blessings.”

And a six year old’s idea of geography:

“What country is Ethiopia a state in?”