Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Gotcha Day

Today was "Gotcha Day", the day we finally took Eleora home with us!  Yesterday was "Metcha Day", the day we met her for the first time ever.  Unfortunately it was only a 2 hour visit, and we weren't allowed to take her home with us.  But today was different.  Today we visited for a couple of hours and then left with her on Amber's lap!  Since we haven't had Internet access for a couple days, there's a lot to recap.  Here goes.

We started off Sunday with breakfast at the guest house where we're staying.  Personally, I've fallen in love with the fried potatoe pancake thingies that taste a little like Lefse.  Most of us attended church at the International Evangelical Church.  The pastor there is from the US, but the congregation is very multi-national, including people from Europe, Australia, China, America, and other African countries.  Afterward we had Italian food at Makush.  This restaurant is also an art gallery, and showcases some really good work from Ethiopian artists.  Afterwards, most of the families went to the Transition Home to spend time with their kids.  For reasons unknown to us, only "court families" could meet their kids.  "Embassy Families" had to wait until Monday before meeting their kids for the first time.  We are an "embassy family", meaning we're here for an embassy appointment so we can take home our child home for good.  Court families are here for their first court visit, where they officially declare their intention to adopt their child.  Anyway, Amber and I opted to visit the National Museum instead.  It was pretty cool.  We saw a number of historical artifacts, especially from the days when Ethiopia was a kingdom.  We also got to see Lucy's bones (the prehistoric hominid, not the lovable red-head).  Pizza dinner was back at the guest house.  We also ventured out as a small group onto the local streets near the guest house.  There was definitely a tension between us and many of the Ethiopians crowding the rough sidewalks.  It was also heartbreaking to encounter the homeless women and babies begging for food or money on every street corner.  

Monday was "Metcha Day".  It started off with a couple hours spent at the Hilton filling out all the immigration paperwork for our appointment at the embassy on Wednesday.  After some lunch at the Hilton we left for our first encounter with Eleora at the transition home.  We were the first family to be united with our child, so we handed our cameras off to another family so the moment could be photographed well.  We waiting in the front courtyard, and Eleora was brought out to us by one of the nannies.  It was a little awkward, because it started to rain hard at the exact same time, and Ellie didn't exactly like that.  We stepped under the awning of the front porch and things were fine.  It was one of those moments you never forget, similar to experiencing the birth of a biologically born child.  We had conversations with the staff psychologist and physician, where we learned as much as we could about her.  When the time came, we had to leave her with the nannies and walk away.  That wasn't easy, but it was okay knowing that we'd be back the next day to get her for good.  The entire crew headed to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant for dinner.  It was really fun!  We ate some really great stuff using Ingera to grab handfulls of lamb and chickpeas.  The honey wine was way different (better) than what we've tasted in the US.  This restaurant offered a great live show, wich included traditional music and dancing.  All I have to say is that Ethiopian dancing is all about the shoulder-action.   

Tuesday (today) was "Gotcha Day".  But before getting Ellie, we got to do a little shopping.  Thankfully, our driver/guides took us right to a small collection of shops that offered the best stuff for good prices.  Compared to all the other shops I had poked my head into so far, these definitely were a step above.  We pretty much dropped all the cash we had on souvenirs.  After we get Ellie, we won't be able to shop or be seen in public in general, so this was our one chance.  We had another lunch at Makush before heading to get Ellie.  It was great to be reunited with her, especially knowing that we won't be giving her up again!  We brought all the intended transition home donations along with us, so thanks again to everyone who contributed!  This only included half of the donations, since the other half will be going to the orphanage on Thursday.  We changed Ellie into the clothes we brought for her, and left her orphanage clothes behind for other kids to wear.  She was good on the bumpy drive home.  The rest of the evening was spent hanging with all the other families.  There were 3 other kids that got to come home with us today, so the lobby was a fun place to be as a group!


--
Bryan

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