Ethiopia Part 3: the good, the bad and the yucky.

Tuesday

We had our embassy appointment on Tuesday because Monday was a Muslim holiday (I want that job, they are closed for all American, Christian and Muslim holidays). We had to leave for our appointment at 2pm, so in the morning we went over first thing to visit and play. We stayed until lunchtime and went back to the hotel to eat. Ashenafi went down for his nap a little early so he could get a good rest. At 1:30 I went back over to pick him up. He was playing with 2 other kids and 3 caregivers in the dayroom. He had a good nap and was all dressed and ready to go.

Usually you have to bring clothing to change you child into when you pick them up, everything they have on them stays for the next child who will take their place. But Genet had very specially dressed Ashenafi in this Ethiopian outfit (complete with a long sleeved undershirt!) and was very clear that he needed to take it to America. Only his shoes stayed behind (she was disappointed I only brought Robeez, not tennis shoes, but I really didn't know what size to bring. I promised her he had tennis shoes in America, and then it was okay).

Most surprising of all, was that when Genet helped me strap Ashenafi into the Ergo to walk to the hotel he didn't even peep. We walked away pretty unceremoniously five minutes after I got there. We walked to the hotel and pretty soon we were all loading up into the vans. Ashenafi was quiet and just taking everything in. He stayed in the Ergo for the van ride and really enjoyed looking out the window the whole way.

Getting out of the vans at the embassy was uncomfortable. We were this parade of white people walking down the street with little Ethiopian children in tow. I think everyone in our group felt somewhat uncomfortable at that point, and very much under scrutiny. When we lined up to enter the embassy, I thought it was humorous how all of us were just these wide-eyed scared little people, and Almaz, the one non-American was having to coax us into our own embassy. You go through metal detectors and passport checks twice to enter, and they confiscate your cell phones, cameras and anything that might have a battery (why?? no idea) Apparently a matchbox car looks very intimidating, and they confiscated that too.

In the waiting room there is this really scuzzy looking play area where we sat with the older kids and rolled the ball around (sure would have been nice to have our little car too) for a while. But pretty soon Ashenafi had reached his limit and began screaming! It was just too much for him. My mom was sitting with Sunday, holding Elyse because Sunday was so sick. Casey was sitting outside, bothered by the altitude and feeling quite queasy. And I was pacing Ashenafi in and out, feeling quite sorry for everyone who had to listen to him scream, knowing screaming children don't help settle your stomach.

When our name was called to go upstairs Almaz took Ashenafi while I went to the window to complete the interview. The first question, "was this the child you were expecting?" Ha! Very funny embassy guy, yes I was completely expecting that screaming, purple faced, toddler. So there! And I'm taking him home with me. Nine of us went through without incident, but one family was unable to complete their paperwork. So we all loaded into the vans (and Ashenafi conked right out, nothing like a good scream to put you to sleep) and Almaz got right to work straightening out the last case- which was resolved quickly the following day, thank the Lord!

The rest of us went to the Union to eat dinner and call it a night. Ashenafi had spicy sauce on rice and veggies for dinner, and eat without incident. We went up to our room to play for a while and at 7pm I strapped him into the Ergo (offered a bottle of formula with NO success) and we went for a little stroll. The magic spot for us was hanging out downstairs by the lobby sinks. There's no sleeping guests to disturb and a big mirror to stand in front of and "rock" (standing up of course). About 5-10 minutes and he was out.

The little bed provided for him was way too small, so the little bed hog slept mostly with us. That first night he really only slept on top of me, so I didn't sleep much. And when he wasn't on my chest, he didn't leave much room for anyone else.

Wednesday

Wednesday was shopping day for about half our group and birth family meetings for the three older kids. Our meeting was at 11am, so we really took it easy all morning. We had a great time playing in the hotel room, looking out the windows (he's a big fan) and eating breakfast before heading over to play before our meeting. When we got there, Ashenafi had a little snack while his buddies had their "potty time" (can you see who's a little spoiled?). They were all lined up "doing their time" and he was sitting right in front of them getting fed on Genet's lap. "Suckers!"

Almaz wasn't very confident his dad would come to the meeting, so we were prepared for that. We pushed kids on the swings and were very popular! Then Ashenafi's dad arrived, and we went to the office to meet. Ashenafi didn't want to hang out with us, so he played with the kids until it was time to take some photos. Above you can see him with his "transition object", that Gertie ball was a lifesaver during our trip. It is about the only thing he was interested in. The other kids loved the toys I brought, Ashenafi only had eyes for his "quas".

We had a very nice meeting, and found out some very good information about Ashenafi and his family. We also got some photos and there is a chance we may be able to get a photo of his mother from the extended family. I am so glad AGCI works hard to have birth family meetings, I really think Ashenafi will be glad we have the information we do.

This is Ashenafi's bedroom window at Hannah's Hope.

Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch, a big plate of cooked carrots, potatoes and spinach (big mistake- cooked spinach should only be seen once) . That's when I got sick, Ashenafi started running a 104 degree fever (and cutting his top molars- to be discovered later). At one point my mom was out of the room, I was barfing in the bathroom and Ashenafi was screaming his head off on the bed when Sunday popped in to see how we were doing. Ashenafi didn't stop screaming for several hours (and Tylenol and Motrin) and finally I asked Mom to take him back to Genet because I couldn't even sit up (except to puke).

Thursday
The next 24 hours were filled with violent retching. I'll spare you the details, it wasn't pretty. Ashenafi spent Wednesday and Thursday nights at Hannah's Hope and I really don't think they believed us that he'd had a fever, because of course it was gone by then (we put him on antibiotics right away, the pediatrician suspected bronchitis). All of the babies came with what we lovingly called "orphanage cough", even the Holt babies at our hotel. So I really don't know what he had, but he still has a cough (three weeks later).

By Thursday afternoon all the other families were getting ready to fly home. Almaz came to the hotel to go over our immigration paperwork to say goodbye. At that point we wanted to go home so bad, but knew we couldn't travel home, let alone with a toddler to keep busy. We had our return trip changed to Saturday evening and laid low Thursday night.