he blog. Here's day 1 and 2.We left on 7/27/07. We flew out of Providence, RI. Our flight was scheduled for 6:30 am so we arrived at 5:00am. I had a dream we forgot the stroller. Guess what, we forgot the stroller on the shuttle bus but got it back. We arrived at Dulles airport around 7:30 am and left on Ethiopian Air at 9:45 am. At Dulles we met, N, who was also adopting a 3-year-old boy from our agency. She was traveling alone and it was good we could help each other out. (We knew we were traveling together from the yahoo on-line group) The flights were very smooth with no problems other than my TV didn’t work.
On 7/28/07 we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 8:15 am. (Ethiopia’s time is about 7 hours ahead of us) Our total airtime was 17 hours. Once in Addis we had to go through customs. Rick and I were on the last bus to bring us to the airport from where the plane landed because we were helping some elderly Ethiopians get off the plane. This put us way in back of the line for customs. Consequently, it took us 1 & ½ hours to get through the customs line (we already had our visa). As we waited in line we could see our luggage on the belt. By the time we made it through customs the belt stopped running and our luggage was no where in sight. Rick, N and I were checking everywhere to find our luggage. Anyone we asked for help said they didn’t speak English. I was very tired and a bit cranky. My solution, in the middle of the airport, I yelled out three times, "I need help!" Someone came running over to shut me up. I explained our situation and she helped us find our luggage. Then we went through the luggage scanners again and out to the front of the airport. We saw, Mullet, our driver and met two other families that were on the same flight who were also with our agency. Off we went with to the van. No one offered to help until we got to the van. Then people were just grabbing our luggage and helping to put it on top of the van. We had been told people would do this and would expect a tip. While in the airport we exchanged $100 for birr (Ethiopian money). We gave them about a $10 tip.
Off we drove through the capital, Addis Ababa, to our orphanage. In the city we saw goats, cows, and chickens everywhere, even the streets. Lots and lots of people on the streets too. We’re told in Addis there are 2 million people. Some things that struck me were so many people without shoes or other pieces of clothing. So many people seemingly doing nothing or having nothing to do. Beggars running and following our van asking for money. Children around 10 years old were trying to sell us gum or tissue. Young mothers were begging us for food to feed their babies. People sleeping, literally, in the streets. Exhaust from cars
making us gag. Finally, scaffolding made from sticks.At about 11:00 am we arrived at our orphanage, Horizon House. We drove down an ally way and came to a gate. The driver beeped his horn and the gate with barbed wire opened. There we were in a courtyard. To the right was the Horizon House or guesthouse. This was where we stayed. To the left was the guard station was. Right in front of us was about 5-9’ x 9’ rooms for the infants.
We all unloaded our luggage and ourselves. First we were all shown our rooms. Then we went down to the courtyard to meet K first. As we arrived we saw other parents already had their children. It was surreal to see people like us meeting their children for the first time. The nanny brought us to K’s room. It had about 8 or 10 children, two to a crib, aged 6 to 12 months. At the door the nanny said K is in there. There was no light and it took my eyes a minute to adjust. I looked around at the cribs and the infants in the cribs. My secret concern was I wouldn’t be able to pick K out. Then I saw him and went over to pick him up. He stared at us and didn’t smile. I was so happy to be holding K finally. He was cuter than the picture. K has a hernia on his belly button and I was concerned because I didn’t know they were harmless. We stayed with K for about 15 minutes and went to meet T.
A guard walked us to where T was staying. It was in a different location but only a 5-minute walk. There is a tall wall with a gate and barbed wire. Our guard knocked on the gate. Soon the gate opened by another guard and the two men spoke. We heard the other guard say something to others behind the gate. All we could make out was T’s name. Then he opened the gate. At first we saw about 20 children. Then it was like the Red Sea. The children parted and the open path led us to T. He stood there looking shy and not really knowing what to do. I thought, "T I don’t really know what to do either." We knelt down to his eye level and began speaking to him. Then I took out an animal cracker for him. As I did I realized there were the other 20 children and 5 nanny’s watching. I heard my mother in my ear, "If you don’t have enough to share with everyone don’t eat it in front of others." Ooops this was one of the first mistakes I’ll make as a parent. I picked T up and carried him over to a ball. I sat on the ground and we rolled the ball between Rick and T who was in my lap. We stayed with T for about 15 minutes and went back to Horizon House for lunch. Then we took a two-hour nap. We went and got K. Rick stayed with K while I went to get T to bring him back to Horizon House to be with K and us. When T saw me he came running into my arms. He looked so proud as I carried him away from the others.
When T and K first saw each other there were no tears or any emotion. T would not go to Rick or anyone that first day. The four of us sat in a corner and played with toys. I had a stuffed animal for each boy. We had already given K his. When I gave T his stuffed animal his eyes lit up as if I had given him the most precious gift. He played with it for a minute and then gave it to K. Then he started to hug and kiss K. At around 5:30pm we brought them back to their rooms for the night. Rick and I had dinner and went to bed.
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