First Week in Ethiopia-Play by play.

Nov 18-19 Fly to Beijing, Drink our first Starbucks coffee in a year and a half! Take a train and a shuttle to terminal 1. Averi and Eli bounce around the play area as we wait to board our plane to Africa!

Nov 19-6am. Arrive in Addis Ababa. Spend the day resting at the Ethiopia Guest Home. Visit with other adoptive families (one family from Florida adopting a 10 month old girl and one family from Ohio adopting an 11 month baby girl) Great time sharing stories.

Nov 20-Anxiously wait to meet our girl. Fly to Mekele at 1:25pm. Go to our hotel. They don’t have any record of our reservation. Go to a few other hotels looking for a family-size room. Find a hotel for only $15 a night with a great restaurant right next door. Go to the orphanage. Give Acacia a great big hug. Averi gives Acacia a teddy bear. She says thank you and gives Averi a kiss on the cheek. She takes Averi by the hand and runs to play in the outdoor playhouse. They play with flowers and make coffee with her tea set. I take lots of pictures and video. She captures our hearts! Gabe and Connie take us out to eat traditional Ethiopian food.

Nov 21-Meet the Parkers, a family adopting a 11 year old boy from the same orphanage. Go to the orphanage. Play with Acacia. She and Averi braid my hair.Averi, Eli, and Acacia drink real coffee together. Acacia feeds us lots of popcorn. Eli plays soccer with the boys. Visit the Orthodox Theological School.

Nov 22 –Go to the school of the blind. Eat lunch with the children at the orphanage. Watch Acacia eat two huge plates of food! Play with a purple balloon for an hour. It breaks. Acacia cries. I hold her. Larry comes to sit with us. Averi takes funny pictures of herself to cheer her up. Averi and Acacia do Ethiopian shoulder dancing. Larry dances with Acacia and spins her around. Back to her cheerful lively self. Acacia shows us her room. Sit together on her bed. Write her name on her new teddy bear. She proudly shows her friends her name on the bear’s dress.

Nov 23-Get ready to depart for a close-by town where the Parker’s Ethiopian daughter is from(adopted her 2 years ago). Get in the car. Acacia and their son are in the car! Visit the Bible Society. Meet the translators translating the bible into Tigrinya-our children’s language for the first time ever after 9 years of tedious labor! Then off on a great adventure with our kids! Acacia gets sick a couple times. After arriving in a small town 30-45 minutes north, go west an additional 17 kilometers on a very bumpy road. Take in the beautiful scenery: red rocky cliffs, huge trees, rock-brick huts. Climb many stairs to visit a rock-hewn church. Visit a lame priest. Pray for him. Go to the orphanage. Give Acacia a photo album with lots of pictures of us. She shows all her friends. The kids sing worship songs for us in English and Tigrinya. Surround us and pray a powerful blessing over us. Hug all the kids. Say goodbye.

Nov 24-Fly back to Addis. Wait an hour and a half until our shuttle arrives at the airport. Get back to hotel. Eat dinner. Rest.

Nov 25-Go to Court! Wait 2.5 hours to see judge. Judge approves other 2 families. Says, “Sorry. We are still waiting for another document. We’ll approve your case in 13 days.” Walk out confused. Why are we here if the papers are not ready? Ask our translator. She says, “Don’t worry.” Call agency representative. She says, “Don’t worry.” Call orphanage director. He says, “Don’t worry.” So hard not to worry. Go to Transition house. Hold babies. Play soccer with older kids. Feels cramped. Not enough room to play. Pray for the children. Our daughter will come to stay here in 4 days. Sad for her.

Nov 26-Take shuttle to check another hotel. ½ price. Go near post office to buy souvenirs. Go to Kolbi coffee. Drink coffee. Eat ice cream. Buy honey peanut butter at foreign supermarket.