Ethiopia Day Two

March 26, 2012
After a fitful night of sleep (seriously we probably each slept for about three hours), we went down for breakfast at the hotel.  The porridge is really good, so that was a good way to start the day.  After breakfast, we brought down our donation bins and soon after Wass came in to get us.  Wass (the driver for Hannah’s Hope, among other jobs he does there) is the greatest…he speaks great English, is hilarious, and very kind, a father figure to all the older kiddos at Hannah’s Hope. 

When we arrived at Hannah’s Hope, we saw the big black gates and just couldn’t fathom the fact that we were actually there.  To get there you drive across dirt roads (though they are being paved with cobblestone currently) and then this nice big building just rises up, it is so surreal to actually be standing in front of the place that you have seen so many times in pictures.  We walk through the gates and get to watch a fellow traveler here for trip #2 be greeted by his three year old daughter who had the most deliriously happy smile that you have ever seen on her face.  I had to wipe away tears at the beautiful reunion and thinking that this little girl has a forever Daddy now.  After a few minutes, Tsiege came to get us and lead us to the courtyard where the special mothers had all the babies out in the sunshine.  I spotted our little guy from afar and they immediately stood up and handed him to me.  It happened so fast I didn’t have time to get emotional, I was immediately trying to comfort him as he was looking at me like “who in the world are you?”  He cried a bit with me and also with Josh, but soon the special mothers had rushed over with a bottle and then ushered us along with the Bloodsworth family and their infant son into a meeting room. 

We just sat there for about thirty minutes, taking in every detail of our son.  He is so handsome!  He has the funniest hair (it is all over the place), precious fingers and feet, and gorgeous eyes.  He is growing for sure, but was actually smaller than I anticipated based on the pictures we had received recently.  He's still a baby.  We got to give him his bottle, burp him, and even saw a few sly smiles here and there.  Then (too soon), the special mothers came in to get both boys for their nap times and we went through our orientation with Almaz, hearing all about the court and embassy process and many more things.  Afterwards, we got the official tour of Hannah’s Hope from Almaz, which was great because we got to see where our son sleeps and plays and everything else.  Josh and I decided to stay a little longer and we spent that time playing with the older children (those not old enough to be in school), who *loved* stickers as well as having their picture taken! 

When we had about ten minutes left before we had to leave, we decided to peek in at our baby napping one more time.  He had actually just woken up, and he was in a really good mood sitting in the bouncy seat.  Daddy leaned in and tickled and talked to him while Mommy snapped pictures, and would you believe he was cooing and giggling and smiling up a storm? It was beyond precious, I only wish I would have gotten my video camera out!  Wass was standing at the door watching some of it and two special mothers were in the room, they told Wass to tell us that that was the first time they had heard him "talk"!  Oh My!!!!  What a special moment that we will remember forever! 

It was hard to leave, but good knowing we would see him again the next day.  Plus we had a busy rest of the day planned.  It is important to Josh and I to see a lot of what our son’s culture is like, so we hired a driver to take us around the city and show us important sights and what life is like in Ethiopia.  We asked specifically to go to Entoto Mountain where the women fuel wood carriers work, but on the way there we were able to see much of the city.  Our driver Sisay (who was very kind and knowledgeable) pointed out many historical and modern buildings and other things.  The drive up Entoto was fascinating, the women (many of whom are elderly) carry the eucalyptus tree branches in bundles on their back, and they are so heavy that the women are bending over at the waist from the weight of it.  It was impressive, and sad, and convicting all in different ways. 

After coming down the mountain, we saw St. George’s Church, the oldest church in Addis Ababa.  We went inside (had to remove our shoes) and got a tour from a guide there, who also took us through the museum.  Here we learned some history of Ethiopia and Christianity here. Lastly, we went to a store called Salem’s which was recommended to us and bought some beautiful things that were handmade right there on the store grounds. 

Now we have had dinner and are in the room for the night crashing from a tiring day (and lack of sleep last night).  Tomorrow we get to go back and see our sweet boy some more, and may try to do some more shopping or visit a local museum in the afternoon.