Email Home on our First Day in ET

Since we are unable to post pictures yet... I’ll just copy one of the emails we sent home while in Ethiopia. It’s a brief recap of our first day.

Yes, I'm already a day behind in updating.... my bad. The internet was a bit spotty last night, and was going to try sending an email this morning when i woke up... but guess what!? Apparently they TURN the POWER OFF at NIGHT at the Guest House where we're staying!!! You can imagine the mini-freak-out i had. Needless to say everything turned out alright, as they have the power on by 6:00 a.m. (though today it was after 7:00... but whatever ;-)).

Here's what i (we) tried sending yesterday...

Hi everyone!!
We made it to Ethiopia safely at about 8:20am Ethiopia time (12:20am back home). The flight was very smooth, but LONG! Thankfully i (jody) was so exhausted i was literally asleep on the plane (leaving Chicago to DC) before we even took off! I then woke about 20 minutes before we landed. Now THAT'S the way to fly!

Once we got to the airport in Addis Ababa, it took a long time to get to make it through getting our Visas. After that it was a brief interview-thingie where we had to get our picture taken and whatnot. Then it was off to the baggage claim, followed by the Currency Exchange.

One thing that made me a little sad... after we got our bags and Boz was exchanging our money, i saw about 10 guys who were getting their "baggage" which was literally some clothes in plastic bags. Made me sad.

After all that we got stopped at Customs (shocking right!?). They thought they saw something in our luggage, but it ended up just being a bag full of toy, metal cars. HA!!

Once we walked out of the Customs area and into the airport lobby, we immediately saw our driver (and now friend) Dawit and Job (no sign was needed as i recognized them from other's pictures). Also, we were one of the few white couples to get off the plane, so chances were good that they'd recognize us. LOL!! At 10:30a.m. we arrived at the Yebsabi Guest House.

With no time for a nap or shower (ACK!!!) we went to lunch at the Amsterdam Restaurant with another couple who are here for embassy. It was fun getting to know them as well as their 6 and 8 year old boys. The food from what i remember was incredible... though neither one of us had much of an appetite. Way too nervous to be eating at a time like this!!

We were FINALLY GOING to MEET our CHILDREN!!!!!

They're actually there. A little girl, a little boy. Our SON and DAUGHTER!

At 1:30p.m. we were pulling up to the gates we have seen so many times in pictures! We were actually here. In mere seconds we were going to be walking (driving) through those gates, and we were going to meet. our. kids! i can't put into words what was going on in our heads/hearts. It was actually. going. to. happen. The moment we had dreamed about 18 months ago when we began this amazing journey. It was finally here. We were about to meet our kids.

We pulled through the gates and nervously hopped out of the van. I'm sure we were a sight ~ exhausted from being up the past 36hrs (didn't sleep much on the plane), not having showered since 2:00 a.m. on Friday, not knowing where to go, where to stand. We all went up on the porch for the big moment! Then were told that they were actually walking over from the other transition home. So we raced down the stairs, and anxiously waited by the gate. Knowing that at any second, our life was about to change.

Before we knew it we got our first glimpse at the cutest little boy, followed immediately by his beautiful sister!!! We. were. smitten.

The other couple came with us to take pictures and videos for us, which was super sweet!!! It was emotional and a little awkward at first. Not knowing what to say to them and how to act and show you love them without scaring them was a little difficult. However we got through it and within a few minutes we had our first “Family Picture”. Which I'll be posting tomorrow hopefully!

Around 2:00p.m. some of the other kids from the older transition home (our agency has 2 Transition Homes - one for younger kids and the other for older) came and played in the yard. We had a chance to play with kids from 3 years old up to 12 years. It made it a little (read: lot) more difficult to give “A” and “Z” all our attention, but it really broke the ice with them opening up and talking more. I can't even tell you how adorable their little voices are!! Granted, they really don't speak a lick of English... but it's cute nonetheless!

We didn't do a whole lot with them the first day, just mostly playing with a beach ball, and kicking the soccer ball around. i did break out the nail polish to do her nails and she loved it!! Though, so did about 23 other little girls! Before i knew it, i had a million little fingers being shoved at me. Poor Miss A kept getting scooted out of the way. It was really overwhelming, as i could barely move at all. They were all trying to sit on my lap, climbing on my back - it was madness. So i made them all wait (as best i could!) until i was done with A's, then i got started on all the others (while keeping “A” close to me). Luckily there was an older girl (around 11?) who was there. I pained her nails then she helped me out and started painting toenails. It was a lot of fun!

i found out later that during this time, Boz and “Z” came up with a new game called, "Let's Run from Boz and Hide in the Bathroom". After a few rounds of this, Boz said that he get his first hug!!! I'm jealous.

At 4:10p.m. all the kids left and “A” walked out with them, although she was supposed to stay. When the nanny brought her back to where we were, she began to cry and walked off to be alone. *BROKE OUR HEARTS* I went over to try and talk to her, then Boz did, then i remembered we had Fruit Snacks. After a few of those, she came back over and we all sat in a little circle while they ate their snacks. It was a little weird, because some of the nannies, and guards were all sitting there watching this go down. Not the most fun having an audience at a time like that. But we felt like it was a notch in our buckle. Whew.

We got back to the guest house around 5:00 and dinner wasn't until 6:30 - ugh. It took just about everything we had to stay awake to eat. We were looking at all the pictures and videos we took and kept nodding off. If you can't stay awake for your new kid's pictures, then you KNOW you are EXHAUSTED. Needless to say we made it a quick dinner (here in the Guest House) and we were in bed by 7:15p.m. It was beautiful.

Keep praying for us and our kiddos. Pray we continue to bond with them and that they open up and communicate with us more. Also pray for us with the culture change. This country is SO different from ours. People come to your car to beg, military security at banks and general areas walk around with machine guns, and driving.... LOL.... don't even get me started on that! It's incredible…there are no rules for the road…no stop signs, no speed limits, and it wasn't until today (Day 2) that we saw our FIRST stoplight! And even that wasn't working. Our driver is GREAT so there is nothing to worry about.... we don't think. ;-)