Sunday, July 21, 2013

After a great nights sleep (thank God), we woke up to a delicious breakfast of pancakes, smoothies, and tea. The pancakes were huge and very dense. Dr Ron gave us some acupressure thing to do on the plane to get our internal clocks set to the time here in Ethiopia. I think it worked as we felt great after getting only 8hrs of sleep after not sleeping for 28hrs. We then watched the rest of The Sandlot which we all started the night before and took a walk around the local area on the hunt for mangoes. We were blessed to be able to spend the whole day with our new friends, Nate and Andrea. We went to the International Evangelical Church, which started at 11:15. The church was beautiful and the format was very similar to that of the Vineyard. The sanctuary was large and included a balcony. It was almost completely full with a variety of ethnic background, with the majority being Ethiopians. Worship was very nice with a large group of singers, a drummer, one guitar, and keyboard. There were young kids singing as part of the worship band, with one teenage boy that was very energetic and filled with The Spirit. It was great. We were both pretty emotional as we sang How Great Is Our God as just the voices, realizing the diversity that existed in the room but all worshipping the one true god. The pastor was American and gave a nice message which resonated with our trip and the adoption process. Offering was between songs (including singing while the offering was taking place which we liked) and there was no communion. The service ended in worship. After church we went to lunch at Island Breeze. It was predominantly American food but Brian had Ethiopian chikena tipe. It was very spicy but delicious. We also had Cocoa Cola, onion rings, and Amy had a burger. After lunch we went to the market area next to the post office. We never do well at places where you have to barter. Especially when you are in a 3rd world country and you know it's their livelihood, I feel terrible asking them to lower their price. Either way we got some souvenirs for the kids and ourselves. Someone here at the guesthouse suggested getting some things for Rediet to give her every year on her birthday which we thought was a cool idea. So we haven't gotten anything for her yet but hope to do some more shopping on wed before we leave. After the shopping we hit a coffee place that looks just like Starbucks but is called Kaldy's. Brian ordered a chai latte and instead of being like hot chocolate but with tea, it was like warm frothy milk with a tea bag added. Brian looked quite ridiculous drinking it. Then went to a Tamoca and bought two big bags of coffee beans for people back home. Had a nice dinner of traditional Ethiopian food, injera and wot (stew) at the guesthouse. It was good but very filling. We've enjoyed lots of time connecting with other families here and just sitting around talking and getting to know each other. We even played some foursquare with the kids who live here. Today was a very relaxed day and I don't think we looked at a clock once. Tomorrow one of the families here go to pick up their son and bring him back to the orphanage and he is theirs! They are first time parents and it has been really sweet to hang out with them, give them parenting insight and we got to pray blessings over them for their special day tomorrow. Craziest thing is they have our favorite board game here, Ticket to Ride, and we had the opportunity to teach everyone how to play tonight, it was lots of fun. After another full day, time to sleep!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Today we arrived in Addis Ababa after a long journey filled with no sleep. It took about 2 hours to get thru the airport after obtaining visas, exchanging money, and going through customs. Nesibu picked us up at the airport and we got our first experience of the city. Nesibu described the city as a developing city. There is construction going on EVERYWHERE you look. It's amazing. The traffic is so different from the us, no stop lights, people and animals walking in the streets and lots of horn honking. It's amazing there aren't more accidents but its a system that works. After arriving at the guesthouse, we got the privilege to go meet and serve the children of the yzm at the Saturday feeding program. We got to hear about all of the programs yzm runs and what sponsorship money goes towards. We then went over to the feeding center/school and it was an eye opening and amazing time. We met many children, many who came up to us shaking hands and introducing themselves. All with smiling faces. We got a tour of the preschool and kindergarten rooms, and then went and helped serve food to the children. They received a main dish of rice, beans, and a vegetable served with a roll and banana. The rice was in a very large vat that was very heavy. The children kept asking for makayla.....which means spoon. Birtukan said it costs roughly 3000 birr each Saturday to serve all three locations. We estimated about 75 kids at our site. After serving the food we hung out and played with the children. They were a true joy and loved the simple things. They enjoyed taking and being in pictures, wearing my sunglasses, listening to funny noises, faces, and hand gestures. They found my bracelet and our tattoos interesting. They also loved thumb wars. After yzm we went back to the guest house and had spaghetti for lunch with yummy rolls and an Ethiopian spice sauce. That was followed by a coffee ceremony in the guest house in which they roast the beans and crush them by hand. Water is added and then cooked over a charcoal fire inside. Incense was burned while the coffee was cooking. Amy and I had our first taste of coffee in the form of machiado. It was bitter even with added milk and sugar; however, we both drank some and now can say we have had coffee in our lives. At 2:30 we were picked up by AAI driver and social worker to go to Hilawe (orphanage) and meet Rediet. It was about a 30 minute drive thru a lot of different scenery and scenarios. When we arrived at the orphanage and the gates opened our daughter was waiting with a huge smile on her face and her arms out to embrace us. We can't describe the amazing feeling it was. Rediet instantly gathered all of her friends one by one to meet us, took our hands, and gave us a tour of Hilawe. It was a nice facility with about 40-50 children we are guessing. We talked with rediet for a while and listened to her tell us about Jesus, her bible, and her church teaching. Rediet and the kids enjoyed the cameras and sunglasses as well. We played ball with the children and asked questions thru Mitin. We connected with three siblings that we heard were going to be adopted via a connection with Tiel. It was hard to leave Rediet but she understood the schedule and when we would be back. At one point we asked her if she was okay with us adopting her and she replied with a big smile and a Yes. We returned back to Morning Coffee, chatted with Jerome and family, took a short nap finally, and had dinner with our friends. At this point we had gone approximately 30 hours without sleep prior to the short nap. Dinner was a vegetable pie with salad. It was delicious. That was followed by tea and watching The Sandlot with everyone. Halfway thru the movie the power went out which is common. We headed upstairs to get ready for bed. The power was not off too long this time. We have plans to go to church and spend time with Nate and Andrea tomorrow.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Up at 3:00 a.m. In Chicago to get shuttle at 3:30 to take us to airport. Plane departed on time and flight went well. We met Helen, and two families from Chicago. One was adopting a baby in Ethiopia, they were named Jason and Linley. The other couple was headed to Rhuwanda to visit their daughter in the Peace Corp. Made it to DC on time and had a little difficulty finding terminal for next flight but made it with time to spare. Traveled with new friends in which Helen invited us to her sisters Ethiopian wedding. Looks like the Ethiopian people are already living up to their friendly reputation. Flight left DC around 9:45 and all went well. It was LONG! We met the family behind us who is from NW Iowa and also heading to Ethiopia to adopt. Turns out they are staying in same guest house, Morning Coffee. Crazy! We can't wait to get to know them more in the next week. Jerome and Tami are traveling with their biological children - Caleb (21), Kaley (17), and Elijah (9).