Our Journey to Ethiopia... Day 2

We awoke to the sound of barking dogs and a cocaphany of mosk calls all competing with each other for the ears of those trying to pray, or in our case... sleep. We looked over and knew it was the day... the day we had been waiting for... the day we would meet our boy, Abraham!

As we arose from our rock hard bed and I attempted a shower. The water barely spouted out and it ranged from scalding hot to freezing cold. Needless to say, this shower turned me off from attempting another one the rest of the week! It was sink rinses for me from then on. We got dressed and I headed down the the lobby of the Union Hotel. They have a restaurant in the lobby. Tom opted to stay up in the hotel as his nerves were really getting to him. He had a Zone Bar and looked out the window of our hotel. From there he could see a bustle of activity (things start in Ethiopia as the sun rises around 6:00am). The outlying hills were filled with beautiful tress and lush green grasses, something we weren't expecting. Down below on the street were people constantly walking, walking, walking. To where? We have no idea, but there were always people walking - on a mission to get somewhere. Outside of our hotel, there were men were working on construction of a building. They were making a form for a 2nd story floor. It took us a while to figure out that this was what they were doing. The reason being that in Ethiopia the building materials mostly consist of wood. The scaffolding is something that you would never see in the States. It was astounding to see what they could accomplish. These people are incredibly hard workers and it is amazing to watch them at work. Below our hotel there was also a man who had a sewing business. Each morning he would bring out his manual sewing machine, set it up, hang a rope and any garments that he would be working on that day. Then he would sit and wait for someone to bring a pair of pants, a shirt, a skirt to be mended. At the end of the day, he would pack it all up inside of his house and shut the gate to eat and sleep and thus start again the next day.

Our view of a building in progress outside of the Hotel

These wood sticks will be used for scaffolding

Look in the background - you see the beauty of the countryside. The orange tarp is the man with the sewing business.

As I headed down the stairs to the lobby I could hear the nervous bustle of our traveling buddies. Everyone was ordering breakfast and I sat down to chat and order. It was an omelet with cheese (barely any), onions and green peppers. It was quite good served with toast and butter. As we all chatted away, we suddenly heard Megan call out, "There's Almaz." We all ran to the window like children awaiting their dad to come home after a long trip. We all gave her a big hug when she came in and then she got right to business. She helped us all fill out our forms and answered any questions we had concerning the paperwork. This was the paperwork that would be needed at the US Embassy for our official adoption (in Ethiopia - we still have to re-adopt in the US). She explained that we would go to Hannah's Hope that day, come back for lunch and then head to the US embassy. She said we'd be quite tired after that so we wouldn't schedule anything else that day (she was SO right). For those of us adopting infants, she said that they would be with us the rest of the time - that was crazy, exciting and a bit scary. Then, suddenly she said, "OK, let's go meet your kids."

Working on our documents for the US Embassy

We all jumped up nervously and walked through the doors. Each of us held our spouses hands as we walked the road to Hannah's Hope. It was full of rubble and debris as well as people traveling to and fro. None of them had any idea this would be the first time we would all meet our children. It was a quiet walk. We approached the door to Hannah's Hope and we were greeted by beautiful toddlers playing as well as African music playing in the background as babies were being fed by their special mothers. What a sight it was - to know my son had lived here for half of his life gave me such an overwhelming sense of love, respect and gratefulness.

Walking the road to Hannah's Hope


Hannah's Hope Gate just before we entered to meet our son.

I walked over to the baby area (a covered outside play shed essentially) and asked where Abraham was. A special mother pointed him out to me - he was on the back side of the baby room. Tom turned on the camera and recorded me meeting our son Abraham. I walked over and turned the car seat he was in toward me. I smiled and said, "Hello Abraham." I absolutely could not believe how beautiful this boy was. I could not believe I was actually getting to touch him, to see him, to talk to him, to hold him. I reached down and stroked his face and beamed from ear to ear. He looked so intently at me and opened his mouth just a bit. I picked my beautiful boy up; brought him to my chest. Abraham instantly leaned into me and held me so tight as if to say, "Hi mom, I'm so glad you're here - I've been waiting for you." We simply held each other. My emotions were indescribable. I was thrilled to finally be holding my precious boy. Tears were the only thing that could come. I had to relinquish him so that his dad could have the same experience. As Tom held him, Abraham looked at him as though Tom were some strange creature that he'd never seen before. It truly was adorable and oh so precious. We were instantly in love. We spent the next 15-20 minutes switching off holding him, talking and holding the other sweet babies. We watched as the older children got to know their parents. It was such a pleasure to be a part of ALL of this. Abraham fell asleep in my arms and I did not want to let him go.

The baby room/play shed at Hannah's Hope.

Meeting my Abraham for the very first time!


Tom meeting his Abraham for the very first time!


Proud parents - what an incredible feeling!

Almaz let us know we needed to head back to the hotel to eat lunch and get ready to go to our US Embassy appointment. As we walked back down the road to the Union, I was beginning to feel a bit ill. The altitude was really getting to me. It was super hot and I was having a hard time swallowing because my mouth was so dry. When we got back up into our hotel room I tried to eat some lunch, but could barely choke down some crackers and water. Water, water, water - this was our staple. I cannot recount the number of bottled water that we went through. We used it for drinking, cleaning baby bottles, and washing our hands. We played with Abraham who continually smiled at us, and delighted us. We then headed down to the lobby for our appt.

Hanging out with my boy before our Embassy appointment. Cuddle time is wonderful!!

When we arrived, our drivers Danny, Binyam and Yohannes were there to drive us. Of course, in Ethiopia there are no car seats, so we would be holding Abraham in our arms. He was quite happy about this as it provided him lots of cuddle time and ample opportunity to look out of the window. The older kids reunited with their parents (they had stayed at HH for lunch) and we headed out. Again, it was a very hot day, so windows were open. As we drove we again saw so much poverty, yet the beauty of Ethiopia. Some roads were paved and some were giant dirt roads that provided quite a bumpy ride for all of us. There was a lot of jostling going on, which the children appreciated and the adults were stun ned by. While looking out of the windows, we saw things such as herds of goats and donkeys walking down the road and at the same time men in business suits traveling to their next destination.

A small "store" where vegetables are sold

Goats taking a rest on the side of the road.

Donkeys walking up alongside our moving car!

View of the other van - driving to the Embassy


Looking closely you'll see the disparity - there is a man huddled on the side of the road and others seem to be going about their business. But, don't let me paint a picture that is not the case - Ethiopians LOVE each other and take care of each other - they are the most loving, beautiful people I have ever met.

As we arrived at the US Embassy, we saw a building that surprised us. We were expecting the typical opulence of America, but it was housed in a very humble building. Honestly, it was quite refreshing. We passed our money off to Danny and Yohannes to take and exchange. As we were doing this a very thin and obviously undernourished man walked up to us asking for money. Almaz handed him some Birr (Ethiopian currency - $10 birr = $1 US dollar). I felt so bad for him that I handed him a US $1 - all that I had in small bills. He looked at it as if it were a piece of garbage and must have said something to that effect to Almaz. She grabbed the dollar, handed it back to me and gave him some more birr. Then she strictly told him to "scram." He stood there and pulled out a hanker chief and pulled out the "tears." It was quite uncomfortable and I wasn't sure what to make of the situation. I felt bad that I had tried to give him the wrong amount of $, that this man had to resort to begging and faking tears. What a difficult situation. Finally, we walked to the Embassy and had to pass through two sets of security. Of course, no cameras were allowed.

We all sat down in the waiting area and Tom fed Abraham a bottle. I watched as the older children played with the toys that were there and was in awe of how we were all here to adopt these children and forever make them a part of our families. By this time I was feeling exceptionally horrible (due to the heat, change in altitude and lack of sleep). My stomach and head hurt and my mouth felt as though it was full of cotton. Finally, they called our names and we headed up the stairs to the sounds of, "Yeah Greshams" from our travel group. When we got up there, we went to a window and young American girl asked us a few questions that I can't remember now and we signed a paper saying, "Yes, Abraham is our son." It literally took all of 2 minutes. We signed away, looked at each other, smiled and gave him a kiss. He was officially ours! We walked back downstairs and everyone cheered. It was truly a glorious moment! It once again confirmed the love that I felt (and feel) for those who we traveled with - they were all such an incredible blessing.

This is the picture that we got of Abraham at the US Embassy - this kid is SOO stinkin' adorable!

We rode back to the Union seeing much of the same. I was VERY ready for rest at this point, as was Tom. I can't say enough how much I appreciate my husband. He is such a rock. While I was feeling so horrible he took Abraham (not that he wouldn't anyway, but he just does it and takes care of me too). We got back up to the room and he suggested that I pour one of the Propel packets into a water bottle to try and get some electrolytes. I drank that and it was like life came back to me. We then went down to dinner with everyone else at the Union. We had spaghetti - which was quite delicious. I ate almost all of mine. After dinner, we both headed upstairs to bed. We spent time with our precious new son. It was so fun to change him, put on his jammies and cuddle him while giving him his bottle. He constantly gazed at us and went right to sleep. That night he woke up four times (Tom and I took turns), but went right back to sleep with his bottle. At times it was hard to sleep because I just kept thinking, "this is my son, I can't believe I am here with him. Thank you God!"

Abraham in his jammies - getting ready for bed.


Getting some cuddle time in with dad before going to sleep.

We went to sleep dreaming of our precious children at home, the miracle of our new son, and with anticipation of our next day in Ethiopia...