So much has happened since my last post… I tried several times to write while in Ethiopia, but the internet connection was extremely slow and I wasn’t even able to open the blog fully to access my account, so posting wasn’t an option. Here’s a recap: As planned, we travelled to Addis Ababa in mid-December, met our kids for the first time on Friday, Dec. 18th, completed our Immigration preparations at the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, Dec. 22nd, and returned home with them on Christmas Day.
The day we met our children was very different from what we expected—Sascha and I thought the kids might be distant at first, that we’d all feel awkward, that it would be strained. Much to our surprise, they nearly knocked us both down with hugs and kisses, and “Thank You, Thank You…” First we cried, then we played and laughed and quickly became comfortable with one another. Each day we spent more time together until Embassy Day, when we began living together as a family at our guesthouse.
Sascha and I with Etsegenet ("Et-SAH-ganette")
Kaleab ("Caleb")
Yeabsira ("Yahbi")
On our trip, we made new friends—amazing families who have adopted children that our kids love like family; friends we will hold dear for the rest of our lives. We are so grateful that all of our kids will have each other for support as they make their way through life.
Ready to go! (Leaving the CHSFS guesthouse in Addis)
Our flight home was LONG. We flew from Addis to Rome to D.C. to Seattle. The kids slept during most of the first and last flights, but played and played during the long one in between (there were nine adopted kids on the plane, along with their new Moms & Dads.) We send our apologies to the flight crew, who put up with many armrest call-button false-alarms and lengthy stays in the bathrooms. We all did our best under the circumstances, but it was not easy! It was VERY helpful to make that trip with the other families—there were about twenty of us in total. One of our funniest moments involved running through the airport terminal in D.C., and coming upon our first escalator. Our kids froze and then giggled wildly! We had no time to spare (or so we thought) so we quickly ushered them on, and they went for it, laughed the entire time, and leapt off the other end intact…
Washington D.C. (heading for Immigrations processing)
What a journey—it was both exhilarating and exhausting, but we made it home safe & sound! Our children were amazing troopers, brave and willing to take every necessary step. Sascha and I are learning so much from them, especially from their incredible positive attitudes. Just look at their shining faces our first morning home:
For our first Sunday Breakfast, we enjoyed (Thanks to Deb Llewellyn) hard boiled eggs with "Berberaise" (mayo with loads of Ethiopian berbere spice mixed in) toast and bananas in OJ. It was a hit!
We've heard many horror stories about internationally adopted kids' struggles to adapt to American food, so we were prepared for some hard times at the table, but our kids are adventurous eaters. So far, we haven't had any challenges at all...except for Kaleab's resistance to lentil soup. He had a minor meltdown and missed most of lunch one day, but ate a full dinner that night (WITH lentils!) Etsegenet is a wonderful helper in the kitchen and all three seem to enjoy our mealtimes together just as much as we do.
We send a special Thank You this week to Chantal Hulet for bringing our car up to meet us at the airport on Christmas Day, Amanda Carlson for preparing an Ethiopian Christmas feast (which we all loved and scarfed down upon arrival) my sister, Kyna Raney, for waking up at 4am to drive us to the airport on our way to Ethiopia, for the much needed grocery staples after we returned home and for helping us out with clothes that actually fit, Pat Lynch for loving and feeding our cat (Melvin) while we were away and for the very special treats she wrapped festively and left in our fridge, Zebib and Wondimu for spending a fun evening with us and translating Amharic/English to help us communicate as we become a family (and especially for the fabulous Doro Wot, Peas and Collards Zebib made to stock our freezer.) Thank you to Deb Llewellyn for the many boiled eggs and the mountain of bananas, to Claudia Ender, who invited us over and made us lunch (after having Etsegenet's hair braided and going to the Ethiopian market in Seattle), and to Elise & Marc for bringing us a super yummy New Years' Dinner on very short notice (especially fun because they came to eat it with us!)...and last but not least, Thank you to the children: Nardos (who made two pair of beautiful earrings for Etsegenet & Yeabsira, and a beaded ring for Etsegenet) Netsanet, Hana, Micah, Ryan, Madeline, Lydia and Michael for being who you are and welcoming our kids into your lives so graciously. It is because of you that Etsegenet, Kaleab and Yeabsira truly feel at home-- you've made all the difference in the world.
A couple of days ago, I was in the bathroom with Yeabsira (she likes to have me in there with her, even though she doesn't really need any help.) Usually we just talk about whatever's going on in the moment, with a lot of silly gesturing because the language barrier is ever-present. She teaches me things like how to ask "are you gassy?" in Amharic! It was just after dinner and Sascha was in the kitchen with Etsegenet and Kaleab. We could hear them all laughing and we had been giggling about something too, though I no longer remember what. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you, me, hee-hee-hee." Then she pointed toward the kitchen and added, "Daddy, Etsegenet, Kaleab, hee-hee-hee." After that, she paused for a moment, smiling her huge, beautiful, gushing smile and in a gentle voice, she said, "Happy."
