Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Finally an update....

Well, I have been back for a few days but figured it was time for an update with more detail and I think I finally have the time.  Let me go back to the beginning of the trip......
Friday-Saturday 29th-30th-  The flight over was long but pretty uneventful.  I was impressed flying from light into dark and then back into light.  At the airport we met Simone and her son Jacob and Barbara and her friend JoAnne and once we got there we got through everything pretty quickly and met up with the other families.  Delaney earned her keep pretty quickly by finding Barbara's missing bag which was a good thing considering we saw the large cage that held all missing luggage.
There are 2 guest houses in Addis Ababa, one with the infants and one with the older kids.  We pulled up to the older kid house and Jen and Dan were supposed to stay there but since they had an infant, I switched with them.  Mulat took us in and we unpacked a little....it was about 11:30ish.  I had asked him what we should do and he said go see your child!  Lunch would be at 1 so we had some time.  Delaney and I walked out and we asked one of the nannys and they sent him out.  He was shy, smiling and started checking his bag that we brought him with the cars and books and bakugans.  Before I knew it, it was time for him to eat and nap.  We had the guard walk us over to the other house for our lunch.  The neighborhood isn't the greatest so we are not allowed to walk anywhere without an escort.
After his nap time, we went and played with him until around 6:30 which is dinner and then bed time.  It was a little slow connecting but didn't take long and we were running around, he was checking things out and kicking the ball....which he loves!
Most of the week went about the same because the kids have very set hours with eating and sleeping.  In between those times we played alot of ball, colored and learned about each other.  One thing we learned is that Matiyos knew his ABC's and 123's and could also write them and write in Amharic.
Monday was a special day...Matiyos got dressed in his new clothes and shoes (a little small!) and we went to the Embassy for the interview to get his visa.  It was a long ride over, mainly because there was an African Conference that had alot of roads closed.  Out of our group, we were the 5th called to the window and the interview took about 5 minutes or less and we were told the Visas would be available on Wednesday.
After everything the bus took us back and we dropped off the kids and had lunch.  After lunch we went to the mall and shopped there and then to the market where we could bargain our prices.  We picked up alot of things there as gifts and after the market, we went to a coffee house....they roasted the beans there!  The smell was amazing!  After that we stopped at a bookstore and I picked up some books for Matiyos to use at home and help with english.
Tuesday and Wednesday I went on the birth family visit.  It was a long drive with 2.5 hours being on a dirt road that was pretty bumpy!  The visit itself I will refrain from talking about.  In a way, I am still processing it and it is pretty private which I am sure people understand.
Matiyos was very excited to see me when I came back which was nice because it also means that he is attaching.  At this point, I had found out that people had been sick after the authentic dinner we had on Monday (forgot to mention but it was GREAT!)  Turns out it was a 24 hour bug and it hit me around Thursday night.  I slept ALOT but was mostly just nauseated.
Friday, about 2 hours before we left, the airline called to cancel our flight for 24 hours.  This was also just as some of us were talking about what American food we wanted when we got back!  Saturday night we did make it to the airport and they delayed another hour but finally we got on our way.  The flight was good, we all slept the first 6 hours which was nice and then napped during the second 10 hour leg.  We landed to 30+ inches of snow from a noreaster that made its way through.  Got there about 9:30, had a crab-ass customs guy, waited an hour for luggage which I don't get because the airport was essentially closed.  It actually took less time to get through immigration!
As soon as we got out, I went to starbucks...mmmmmm....starbucks.  I then promptly spilled in in the car....OY.  Took a couple hours longer to get home because of the roads, we stopped at McDonalds which was nice and Matiyos had  a cheesburger.
Got home to Mom, Tom and Kim and my Girl Scout sign hanging on the door that the girls had made for him which was really nice! And a birthday cake for me so it was a good birthday!

Adjusting has been good, yesterday was the dentist and doctor and he did great.  Had to have blood and xrays done and start immunizations.  He got 3 and today he is a little sick.  We are waiting to see how he does because another blizzard is outside with probably 10 inches already....so it isn't like we can take him to the doctor!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

At a hotel......

We came to the hotel to use the internet and find out about our flights.  I am supposed to be leaving on Friday but there is some major snow supposed to happen in Maryland.

Got back today from the birth family visit.  I have decided that once I return I am going to do one long message about the entire trip because there is alot to write.  But I will say that it was life changing, heart breaking and amazing all at once.  The family meeting was not what I expected but I still don't know what I did expect.

Off to find out about flights!  Wish us luck!