Shades

There is another family staying at the guest house with us and they are adopting two older boys.  It is fun to see how much affection they show towards Anna and how they take care of her.  Today, one of the boys took off his headband and glasses and put them on Anna.  The look was not quite right so he pulled out her ponytail and adjusted her hair as well.  You can see the results in the above photo.

                                                            

There is more to tell about our trip up the mountain, but it is a tale too long for tonight.  I will try to find time soon.

A Day on the Town

One of the gestures in Ethiopia is the way people say yes.  They do a quick lift of the chin, or upward nod, along with a raising of the eyebrows.  At times Anna is a little shy and she says yes with just the slightest raising of the eyebrows.  Another gesture among the youth is to turn their head to the side and shrug the shoulder to which they turn their head.  I think the appropriate translation for this is "whatever."  Anna does it beautifully and as she becomes more comfortable with us, she does it more often.  She is so cute when she gestures "whatever" that it is hard not to smile and laugh.

 

Today we went out on the town and did a little shopping.  After getting back to the guest house CrazyMom took out Anna's braids which were a little too tight for her.  It was a long process and Anna did great sitting still for it.  Well, she sat still for the first half of it and slept through the second half.

 

Tomorrow we are off on a small day trip up a mountain that overlooks Addis Ababa.

AHOPE and Embassy

Before I tell you what we did today, I first want to tell you more about Anna.  The true Anna emerges more each day.  Last night I was running around and hiding in different places playing a little hide-and-go-seek / peek-a-boo with her.  She would give me this smirking grin and then laugh and giggle whenever she found me.  This morning, when I saw her for the first time I peeked out from behind the door at her and her face just lit up, then she did her grin/giggle/laugh routine.  She gets livelier each hour that goes by.

 

Anna is also a professional snuggler.  The very first morning CrazyMom got up to take her to the bathroom and I was still in bed (no comments on that one please).  When CrazyMom came back to the room she dropped Anna off on our bed and left to do something.  Anna immediately worked her way up to my side, slipped one arm under my neck, threw her other arm over my neck, and buried her face into the side of mine.  When we are out and I am carrying her in my arms at random times she will throw her arms around my neck and give me a big hug and kiss.  I am not sure, but it almost seems like she does it when other people are watching us to show them that this is her dad.

 

She seems to be attaching very fast and is comfortable with us loving on other kids.  Tonight I had another girl who is at the guest house sitting on my lap and Anna would catch my eye, but she was not possessive.

 

Now for the day.  We went to AHOPE this morning to deliver all of the donations that we carried over.  It was enough to fill the trunk of our taxi cab – but keep in mind these are tiny Russian made cars.  It was great to spend some time again at AHOPE this year.  There are a lot of good things going on there.  It was great to see how Anna responded in this environment.  Even though she did not know the kids, she would go off to play with them.  After a few minutes she would come back to "check in" with us by getting a hug or briefly being held, then she was off again.

 

This afternoon we went to the U.S. Embassy with the other AAI families.  Everything went as expected, which was great.  The photo-of-the-day is of Anna all dressed up and playing around after the embassy appointment.

 

Tomorrow is a day out on the town with a driver who worked with us last year.  We are anxious to see him!

Another Day in Ethiopia

Today was a day just to hang out without much on the calendar.  We went and visited Layla House, which is an orphanage connected with Adoption Advocates International.  While we were there, we had a doctor look Anna over and, although Anna was not at Layla house, he had seen her before and so he had a file on her.  It was nice to see that some of the ailments she had a few months ago they had been able to clear up.  We did also end up going to a local clinic for a stool sample.  This clinic made the "photo of the day" and is shown above.

 

We walked home from lunch and stopped in a few "stores" along the road that are generally not frequented by "forengees", or foreigners.  I bought two loaves of fresh baked bread for 1.25 Birr each.  When we were here a year ago I recall the loaves only being 1 Birr, so I guess inflation is everywhere.  While a Birr is only 10 cents USD, it does represent a days wage for the lowest end workers.

 

During Anna's afternoon nap, I went out and roamed a bit.  I blended in really well and nobody took me for tall white lanky American.  Actually, lots of people would call out to me and say a word and point.  I would smile and say hi but I had no idea what they were talking about.  I then came upon a really fancy restaurant – the fancy type with tablecloths, English speaking waiters and entrees for 50.00 (Birr that is, which is $5 USD).  I looked up and saw the name of the restaurant – arco  something or other – the same word that everyone was calling out to me.  I guess everyone who saw this wandering forengee figured I was lost and were directing me to the only place around that made sense – the fancy restaurant.  So much for blending in.

 

Now, CrazyMom tells me that the only thing people are interested in is more info about Anna and she has not been happy with the limited amount that I have provided.  Here are a few paragraphs that she wrote that will fill all of you in:

 

The first thing we've noticed about her personality and behaviors are how different they are from K.D. (editor's note – I have failed to tell blog readers that Anna is K.D.'s little sister.  Sorry!)  She's been VERY mellow and content and quiet.  Her fine motor is great and she is a tidy eater.  Last night she got a little bit of shiro wet on her shirt.  At first she didn't notice it, but when she did, she took a bit of injera (for lack of a napkin in the hole in the wall restaurant) and tried to wipe it off.  She neatly licked each finger clean if she got any sauce on it. And, as opposed to K.D. a year ago, she eats everything in sight and gladly picked up the very tough meat and barely cooked onions from dinner last night and popped them in her mouth and commenced the big chewing project required to get them down.  It's entertaining to watch her eat because she just doesn't quit. 

 

She has a sweet and ready smile and is starting to talk to us a little bit.  We went for a walk early today and stopped in at a tiny "supermarket".  She enjoyed pointing out things she recognized, namely biscoot (cookie) and caramellow (candy) and macaroni.  She's quiet and a bit shy, but has told several strangers her name when they've asked her and showed preference for being held by us over the social worker from the orphanage who went with us to the doctor this morning.

 

Tomorrow should be a big day for us because we get to go to the U.S. Embassy for our visa interview.

We Made It!

After a four hour delay in Washington DC, we finally arrived in Addis a little after noon local time.  It has been a whirlwind ever since.  While we were still in the airport, we talked by cell with an AAI contact and she asked if we wanted to go get Anna in 40 minutes or if we needed a little time.  After the grueling trip, we decided we needed a little time.  We went to the guest house, unloaded luggage, took a quick shower, and then were off to meet Anna.

 

We were taken to the KM care center and, after meeting Sister Lutgarta, we were led through a gate, a walkway, another gate, across a courtyard, up some steps, and into an upper hallway.  As we were going down the hall we saw Anna sitting on a counter through a window.  She was all smiles, which was refreshing to see since she was somber in all of the photos we had seen so far.  After waving through the green iron grid window for a moment, we went around and into the room.

 

There were 25 kids, a dozen cribs, two strollers, three workers, and now our escort and us.  CrazyMom made here way through to Anna and picked her up.  Anna was all hugs and smiles.  The room was so small and there were so many bodies, I could not physically get through, so I started interacting with some of the other kids for the moment.  This was officially naptime and it was clear that our arrival had ruined any hope for that.  Things were getting pretty chaotic and so we were led off to another room where we could spend a few minutes alone with Anna.  After a few more minutes of interacting in the courtyard with lots of kids, we were off.

 

For dinner we ate at an Ethiopian restaurant that redefines for me the term "hole-in-the-wall."  The 11 x 18 foot dining room had holes in the walls, had tiles coming off of the floor, and had 6-8 random wall decorations.  An 8x10 of a white person passed out on a bed with a keg took the cake.  Anna ate and ate and ate.  Part way through the meal, I stopped eating to make sure there would be enough for her.  She ate as much as I did, and then kept going.  "Bacca?" CrazyMom would say, which means "done."  Anna would shake her head no.  Once, CrazyMom picked up the tray with the food on it to take it away and Anna interpreted the move as CrazyMom handing her the tray.  She reached out and pulled it closer to her.  We did eventually cut her off because we were afraid of what would happen if she ate any more.

 

Anna is now asleep in the room.  Today she appears to be a happy 4 year old girl.  She may be a little small, but she seems heavier than what we were told, which is good.  She prefers to sit and kiss the photos in the albums we brought her rather than run around and play.  But that is just today.  It will be fun to discover more about her tomorrow.

 

Packing for Ethiopia

Heavy. That one word sums up our luggage. We are trying to pack in as many donations as possible and the net result is heavy bags. I had sent out a short list of requested items from one of the orphanages to my colleagues and a few friends and they responded with a host of supplies. The killers were the bottles of hand sanitizers – especially those hefty 64oz jugs. Then there was the 13-pound pediatric medical reference book that the orphanage nurse had requested. HEAVY.

In addition, some people donated some funds to help out with the cause. CrazyMom took the kids to the thrift store on 1/2 price Wednesday and they shopped for the kids at the orphanage. Since F.G. had lived in an orphanage, she was the expert. In addition to the pants and belts that had been requested, F.G. insisted on buying pajamas. She said the kids always wanted to wear pajamas, but they did not have any. At one time CrazyMom was searching for a matching top to some pajamas and F.G. said, “Oh, it does not matter. They wear anything.”

This photos shows what they bought with the $125 donated – 34 pairs of pants, 20 belts, 15 pairs of pajamas, and some miscellaneous items. This was added to the other clothing items that were donated.



Shopping for donations reminded F.G. of a time when an adoptive mom brought a lot of clothes to the orphanage she was at. After the mom left, the workers spread all of the clothes out on the floor and let the kids go through and pick out one outfit. F.G. found an outfit she really liked but then an older girl wanted it. The girl hit her in the mouth and knocked out a tooth. She did not tell any of the workers because she did not want to get the girl in trouble. Later, one of the other kids was walking around holding up their pants. F.G. switched pants with her since her pants were a little smaller.

This photo shows one of the bags filled with donations. We repacked several times last night to get the weight just right (or so we thought).



When we were checking in at the United counter, it turned out that my scale at the house was off a little and several bags were a few pounds overweight. They agent let us know that but said he would only charge us $50 for the one bag that we had packed to be 70 lbs. That was fine with me because I was using $50 that someone had given me to pay for the extra weight luggage. After he had taken our money and given me the change, he started asking us about what we were doing. It turns out that he is from Ethiopia and goes back every summer on mission work with his church. He asked me to give him back the change and when I handed it to him he returned my original bills. Looks like an orphanage in Ethiopia will get the $50 rather than United Airlines.

We are in the airport now waiting to go to Washington DC where we will have to spend the night. More to come later.

Off to Ethiopia

This photo is from 1 year and 5 days ago, taken within the first few minutes of meeting F.G. and K.D. at the care center.  As you can see, I have not made it five feet from the car yet.  I remember wondering what the first meeting would be like.  I knew it would not matter in the long run, but boy, did I ever want it to go well.  And it did.  I can still distinctly recall getting swarmed at the car.  F.G. immediately clung to CrazyMom and K.D. to me.  I felt more like a trophy than a dad, however.  K.D. kept yelling, "Papa!"  Not to me, but to others to let them know that this was his papa.  He clung to me with one arm and used his other to push away any kids who got too close.  This was his Papa and there was not to be any sharing.  Not yet, anyway.

 

Tonight it has been a year and a day since F.G. and K.D. landed in America.  It is hard to believe all that has taken place in the last year.  CrazyMom and I collected the kids and sat down by the fire for a few minutes to talk about the year.  We talked about F.G. and K.D.'s first day in America and I was surprised at how well they remembered the details – the dumping of toy cars, the simultaneous wanting of a Buzz Lightyear toy, and which sibling showed them what in the house.  It was fun to then turn the conversation and think about what it will be like for Anna just a few weeks from now.

 

We leave for Ethiopia on Saturday to go and bring Anna home.  This time things are a lot different.  For one, there are fewer unknowns.  We know what the flight is like, we know what it is like to be in Ethiopia, and we know what it is like to bring an Ethiopian child into our home and make her our daughter.  This makes the whole event seem smaller, more familiar, and almost more casual.

 

Another big difference is that there is a lot less hoopla this time.  Last time we were going through the process with two other families from our church and things seemed high-profile.  There were events, speaking engagements, and fund raising for the group.  This time is quieter.  Not as much of the advancing-the-cause-of-orphans-the-world-over stuff.  I guess the second time around seems less like a BIG EVENT and more simply like a lifestyle. 

 

So off we go.  Pray for us.  Pray for safety.  It would be a real bummer if in our efforts to reduce the number of orphans in the world there ends up being more of them.  Pray for our kids as they will have to go the longest they have ever been without us.  And pray for Anna.  It is hard to imagine all that will be going through her sweet little head as these white people from a land across the sea come and take her away from all she has ever known.  For F.G. and K.D. it all seemed wonderful.  But they were older and understood more.  They knew things Anna may not know.  So keep her - and all of us - in your prayers.

K.D.'s Birthday

K.D. had a birthday last week. We usually let the kids pick out what they want for their birthday meal and K.D. said he wanted to go to an Ethiopian restaurant. He was really excited about it and insisted on wearing his traditional Ethiopian clothes. Here are a few shots from the day.

Home School and The Canon ST-E2

I recently acquired a Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2. This is a handy little device that lets you set your camera flash wherever you want and then it will wirelessly fire the flash when you take a picture. The other day I had the opportunity to attend The Big Crazy Family Home School rather than the school where I work due to a snow day. As the kids were learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, I was learning about my new flash gizmo. Here are a few shots from the day.

In this first photo of Miss Bookworm the flash is sitting off to the right on a desk aimed at the ceiling. In all of these photos, I had some tinfoil on the back of the flash so that while most of the light will bounce off of the ceiling, some of the light will hit the tinfoil and be thrown forward. Notice the lighting across Miss Bookworms face. Much, much better than the head on flash you get with the flash mounted on the camera.


In the next four photos with kids working at the school table, the flash is sitting on a nearby bookcase pointed at the ceiling. I was free just to roam around and shoot independent of the flash.






Above, Buddy is working on the computer and I set the flash on the counter in front of him, still largely pointing up. In the following shot I was holding the flash in my left hand pointed directly at the cat.



Since I have put the ST-E2 on my camera, I have not taken it off. In fact, I can't think of a time that I would mount my flash back on the camera.

Watoto Children’s Choir

A couple of weeks ago when we had our friends' kids staying with us (see 12 Kids Underfoot) we took the whole gang to see the Watoto Children’s Choir sing.

Once we got all 12 kids nestled into a pew that some good friends saved for us, the program began. One of the first things mentioned was that all of the kids were double orphans from Uganda. Since I had five adopted kids from Ethiopia with me, I realized that I needed to start keeping an eye on them since I did not know what their reactions might be. It turned out that there was nothing to worry about.

It is hard not to be moved when you see a stage full of children whom the world has forgotten singing about how they have not been forgotten, for God knows their name. Here is the finale of “Not Forgotten.”



It was a powerful evening in many respects and has had a lasting impact on our family. We purchased a CD that night which the kids just love. F.G. loves to listen to one of the tracks over and over. The other day she said to CrazyMom, “It is my favorite song. It makes me cry.” Here are the words:

African Lullaby
by Dawn Stride

Who will sing my lullaby
Who will hold me when I cry
When I awake and no one’s there
Who will sing my lullaby

One straw mat
Two sisters, one brother
Our father is gone
Now we cry for our mother
Who will protect
And watch through the night
Who will be there
To blow out the light

Will you sing my lullaby
Will you hold me when I cry
When I awake, will you be there
Will you sing my lullaby

F.G. has already decided what she wants to do with her life. She wants to grow up and be the person in charge of an orphanage, just like the woman from the movie Madeline. She also wants to have two kids and adopt two kids. After our night with the children’s choir, she decided she wanted to adopt from Uganda.

Buddy was also moved deeply by seeing all of these children who do not have a mother or a father. He continues to pray nightly for the children at the Watoto Villiage in Uganda. And he is not the only one . . .