FIRST FOUR DAYS IN ADDIS

Internet is slow and sporadic here - so these are slow-going at first. First, a summary of our travels. The plane trip was seamless, the kids were amazing, the only blip being Nati's nausea and vomiting a couple of times - we learned he doesnt like "Descents". The airport arrival was hectic, and took two hours of lines. 9 of our 19 bags didnt arrive, so we had to file a claim. They assured us they would arrive on the next flights in a couple of days. God surpised us with more than enough large vehicles waiting to cart our things to our guest house. We finally slipped into our beds at 1am Ethiopian time. (We are 8 hours ahead, so it was 5pm in Kansas).

Tuesday: The weather is cold and rainy, very muddy. It is now almost 5pm the next day and we have had a cultural lunch, celebrated two coffee ceremonies (pray for Steve...he doesnt like coffee), learned alot of Amharic, been to the market, changed money, and I have ventured into a bread shop for my first puchase alone. I of course have already made tipping mistakes, etc - very big learning curve here. Accomodations are okay - twin bed for each set of kids to share, living area, bathtub with hot water, small fridge. Nati is understanding his amharic language and Lydia is introducing herself in Amharic.

Wednesday: We are being forced to learn Amharic quickly as this morning we awoke to ring the househelper alone in our guest house and she speaks maybe one or two words in English. After many tries resulting in blank stares but a sweet smile, I finally got a nod and an "ish" (okay, yes) and she turned to go. She returned with eggs, firfir (an Ethiopian spicy injera dish for breakfast), and after my request of "marmalata uhfalagala" she returned with jam for our bread. We were so excited to have had breakfast on our own with our family and that we werent eating goat liver or something scary. The accomodations are good, but kids are struggling to get used to sleeping two to a twin bed. Nati was wide awake at 3am and very upset that we made him return to bed at 4am after coloring for an hour. We are shivering, but doing well - temps are 50's to 60's, so our kids think they are dying...curtis' last quote, "I feel like I'm lying naked in the snow!" They are all attempting Amharic, enjoying the sights..."look mom, a wild goat!" All afternoon we were "stranded" in our guest house with no working phone and no way to contact our hostess for a ride, and no food....so, we were literally forced to use any bit of Amharic we knew to communicate with our househelpers who speak no Amharic. It looked like this..."uh....yellum food, uh, yellum silk, hungry...uh....eat?" Thankfully, one spoke to the other a bit and then turned to us and said, "soup?" We smiled and said, "ish" (my new most common word - which means, "yes, okay"). Ten minutes later we had a large bowl of soup for the family to share and we had peanut butter and bread for the kids and muz (banana). It was a frustrating afternoon, as we felt so helpless and I realized it was the first of many times of feeling that way. The kids were mesmerized watching our househelper do our laundry by hand and hang it to dry...they'd never seen anything like it.

Thursday: Yesterday, we spent a long day of errands in the car and it was a warm day - probably only 75, but no a/c and 5 of us smashed in the back of a toyota corolla so I had not only the language barrier and the difficulty of it spending 5 hours to do what I could have done in 15 minutes at Target, but I had 4 kids who were tired, hot, sweaty, and grumbling that someone was poking them or smushing them...I was pretty wiped by the time we got to lunch and Steve took 3 with him so I could do more errands to explore Nati's roots. We went then to the orphanage where had been taken in at first, and met the sweet little woman who cares for HIV orphans. She showed me his file, and pointed to a picture of a scared little boy (my Nati) and said, "this was first picture when got here". Tears came immediately. Nati did fine at this home, and kissed the lady when he saw her. Then we went to the HIV treatment center to dig deeper. They couldnt find the file, but did give us his last name (his father's name). The woman there, who is HIV+ was very eager to find it, as it may contain a picture of his mother who brought him there with her. I was overcome with feelings for this woman's passion to help women dying of HIV and get their children into safe situations. I was overcome as I sat there thinking, "this woman is the first woman I have ever sat across from who has HIV". She was beautiful and hardworking and dedicated and amazing. I said, "Igzhgayber Yisstillin" as I left, which means, "May God give you more, increase what you have" and I teared up as I even said it. Nati was asleep in my arms through all of this meeting. Then we did something that was the hardest thing I've had to do so far...we visited the orphanage that this woman, Haregowin, started for HIV+ orphans. There were 30 kids living there age 1-14. They were all in a classroom posing for a photo when we arrived and they greeted me with a greeting in unison with eager little smiles. The most gorgeous, happy smiles you've ever laid eyes on...I was speechless. I held back tears the whole time as little hands reached out for me and kissed my hands and leaned their cheeks up to me for a kiss. I thought how cruel this horrible disease is, that it effect so many who are so tiny and innocent. They have no idea they are sick, or different. They have no idea why they cant be adopted or likely wont be (this is beginning to change) but maybe their siblings will be. In another room the nurse escorted us in to see a tiny 3 year old with large round eyes lying in a bed sick. She had no smile, and looked so sad. I talked to her in my few words of Amharic, and felt so badly for her. This woman, Haregowin, lost her daughter to AIDS years ago and made it her lifelong mission to care for HIV+ children and HIV orphans. Her organization has a website, I think, it is called, "Attitigeb Worku Orphanage" - check it out, it is a worthy cause. Anyway, it was hard to leave that orphanage and wave at the little waving children as my driver said, "goodbye beatiful children...may you be here in 10 years or 15 years or more if God decides". Later that day, we attended a party at our host's home with two other adoptive families who are here this week. One was a mom who was here with Steve when he picked up Nati. They have 3 biological children, 3 from Ethiopia, and then they just told 2 more children yesterday that they would be adopting them. Another couple came with them and their 3 kids and were picking up two siblings from the same orphanage. We had cultural food around a fire and enjoyed being with other families from America and seeing all the children play together. We fell into our beds exhuasted last night, and all the kids are still sleeping now, at 7am. The roosters start crowing about 5am and you can hear the praying monotone voice on the loudspeaker about 6am (both Orthodox and Muslims have a call to prayer in the morning), so sleeping in is difficult. We have our plane tickets for Mekelle, and will leave at 9am Wed. morning. I am feeling the need to get settled, stop living out of bags and get into my own home. We still plan to visit Nati's former foster home/orphanage on Monday, go to Market, and find a couple more items to take to Mekelle (that will take 8 hours probably - I am learning). I am happy to leave the hustle bustle of Addis - it is a very crowded busy city of 6 million. The streets are crawling with people and the needs are overwhelming. Every street has storefronts which are metal roofs over two side-buildings where someone is selling fruit or shoes, or something...then behind it are rows and rows of tin roofs covering homes where people live. The alleyways are filled with goats and cows and donkeys and children playing. In the roads, people hover at your window begging for money...some old, some children, some disabled. It is hard, because you want to give to all, but there are so many. I gave 1 birr to a man because I had watched him spy me walking to my car and he had literally crawled across the busy street with his hands scooting his mangled legs behind and under him until he got to my window. 1 birr was a generous donation here - most give 10cents or 25 cents of a birr - this was a whole 100cents, yet only 12 US cents total. Big deal, I thought, "dont pat yourself on the back Pam, you only gave him 12 cents". It is hard to know how to help and how much to help when I already struggle with the feeling that whatever is done will not be enough. Please pray with me for our family to know how to balance all of these feelings and to know how to respond. Mekelle is a smaller city of 180,000, so we are looking forward to the change in atmosphere. The kids are doing well with it all - though it is always hard to be patient when things take 10 times as long to do. Lydia waited all day yesterday for us to find her a little cup of milk and you should have seen her sip slowly away by the fire last night in my lap. Make me wonder how many little ones long for just one little sip of something cold and fresh to drink...