Oh dear, where do I start? Do you want the long story long or the long story longer? Let me guess, you want the long story short, right? Here goes...
We traveled to Ethiopia in March with my sisters and sister-in-law, and we had a fantastic time. It was a much different trip this time around for Mark and I because we didn't have to start taking care of a baby 60 minutes after our arrival. Travis (Gladney staff) met us and our mountain of humanitarian aide at the airport in Addis Ababa. Travis wondered if we'd packed any clothing for ourselves! It was here that we met our driver, Abey. He was our driver, our haggling coach, our macchiato finder, our patient navigator. Here we are standing with Abey in the yard of our guest house on our last day in Ethiopia:
Abey was our lifeline. He not only took us to those places we requested to see, he also suggested those things he thought we should see before we left. He was our lifeline with an ever-present smile and a good sense of humor.
Once all of our luggage was loaded into our van, Abey took us to our guest house, Ayat House, which is within walking distance of the foster home in which Baby L currently lives. Ayat House was wonderful and I highly recommend it to anyone who may be traveling in the future (I promised the owner, Wagayahu, that I would put that out there, and it's true!). Here is a picture of us standing with Wagayahu and his son Mulu in the front yard on our last day in Ethiopia:
Wagayahu has owned the guest house for several years. He lives there by himself while Zemet also lives there to assist with guests when they arrive:
When larger parties come to stay, Zemet's mother will come to help Zemet:
All were wonderful people. Wagayahu was quiet and kind with a knack for gardening. One never would know that he was a 4 star general in the military at one point in time. His son, Mulu, was visiting with his own son from Germany. This is where Mulu lives. He is fluent in Amharic, English, German and Russian and works at Frankfurt Airport in maintenance. He has siblings who live in Switzerland. We didn't have much opportunity to interact with Zemet and her mother, but any that did arise was pleasant despite the language differences. Oh, and anything that they cooked smelled fantastic!
Once we arrived, we started our sightseeing marathon. We saw so much in the several days we were there and only a few things were places Mark and I had already been. We ate at fantastic restaurants, shopped in the streets of Addis, toured Entoto Mountain, visited the Orthodox Church where Hailee Salassie and his wife are buried, went to the National Museum and saw, among other things, the remains of Lucy, spent an afternoon at the zoo, drank macchiatos, drank more macchiatos, toured Sabahar silk factory, took an afternoon trip to the countryside, the list goes on and I've pictures for it all. You can view them on Snapfish right here (NOTE: If you've never been on Snapfish before, you may have to establish an account before you can view the photos. It's easy to do and it's free). Mark and I are so glad that three more members of Maya's and Baby L's family have been to the country in which they were born, for three more people to be able to talk to them about the beauty of the places and the people and for three more people to be able to share in their culture.
Perhaps our favorite outing, however, was the short walk down the dirt road to Baby L's house! We got to visit with her 3 times while we were there. When we met her for the first time, I couldn't help but notice 2 things immediately: she smelled exactly like Maya did the first time we met her, and she is loved, loved, loved by her caregivers. She loves them, too. It's so very easy to see this in their interactions with one another. So much so that a part of me felt guilty for "intruding" on this family of hers. Unfortunately for you, we are unable to post any photos at this time, but trust me she's healthy, happy and beautiful!
On March 17th we awoke to our court date. All went smoothly and we passed that portion of our court hearing. The part that we've yet to pass is receiving the letter of approval from The Ministry of Womens Affairs (MOWA). O.K., here's where the details come in. If you're following Ethiopian adoptions, then you know why we hit this glitch. If you're not following Ethiopian adoptions, then just know that this is a glitch that many are experiencing due to some changes in the Ethiopian Adoption process. It's long and complicated and may eventually begin to sound like white noise to you, so I'll spare you the details. Sooo, we technically still have not passed court. We are waiting for our letter of approval from MOWA to be forwarded to the judge that heard our case, and once we get that and we pass court, we then receive our embassy date that tells us when our second trip will take place. This is when we bring Baby L home.
We left Baby L on Saturday and it was very hard to do so without knowing when we may see her again. Our consolation is that she is incredibly happy and has no idea who we are. She isn't missing us one bit! We've since received 2 updates on Baby L from in country staff:
April 15th - "Baby L has such a sparkle in her big, beautifully expressive eyes as caught in this sweet photo!
Baby L’s measurements:
Weight: 8.5 kg = 18.7 lbs
Height: 67 cm = 26.4 in
Head Circumference: 43.5 cm = 17.1 in"
May 2nd - "Baby L— Baby L was as cute and charming as she has ever been. She was really engaging and vocal, saying “ah-deh-deh” as she grabbed for my watch. Any time she caught my eye, she would smile wide, her cheeks all bunched up on either side of her face and her four teeth gleaming proudly."
Yep, she's four teeth that appeared since we last saw her! We are anxious to bring her home but know that it will happen when it's meant to happen. As I've heard in the past, "International adoption isn't for sissies". We now know what this really means.
