Journey to Ethiopia

This is Nigiste and her new mom Amy and her sister Jennifer. We had the opportunity to get to know them during our time in Ethiopia. They are a great couple of ladies. Nigiste was at the House of Hope with Meron. It will be great to keep contact over the years, so Meron can know another child she was in Ethiopia with.

This is Mekedes and her parents, Marianne and Steve. They arrived at the House of Hope the day before we left, so unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to visit with them. We are thankful to have photos of a couple of the children she was at the House of Hope with to share with Meron as she gets older.

Our last day in Ethiopia. We're eager to get home, but at the same time it's hard to leave Ethiopia. We met so many wonderful people and had such great experiences it's hard to leave it all. We were very fortunate to have the time we had there. Despite it's struggles with disease and poverty, it is a great country. The countryside is beautiful and the culture there is very kind and friendly. We will tell Meron about her heritage, but hopefully someday we can take her back to visit so she can experience it herself. She is such a blessing.

Day 6
Friday, Dec.19



This was our last day in Ethiopia. Meron's travel documents were completed early so we either had the opportunity to go home today or wait until the next Tues. which would have gotten us home late Christmas Eve. There weren't any flights in between and we were missing our kids back home so much so we took the earlier flight. In retrospect, we kind of wish we would have stayed the extra couple of days we had intended because there is so much more of the country and the culture we would have liked to take in, but at the time we just wanted to be home with our kiddos. We also were going to have to go to another guest house so other families could come to the House of Hope, and before we left for Ethiopia we were told that we were not able to take Meron with us out in public because people have raised questions and concerns over the number of Ethiopian children being adopted by foreigners. While we stayed at the House of Hope, we would leave Meron with her nannies when we had to go somewhere and they had a driver that helped get us around. At the guest house we would have to leave her with nannies she didn't know, and we didn't want to do that to her after having just gone through getting to know us. We also didn't think we would have any transportation. So with that knowledge we thought our last few days would be spent sitting in the guest house, and we thought we might as well come home early if we weren't going to have the opportunity to see more of Ethiopia. Since we have been home we have found out that we could have taken Meron with us places and the guest home had a driver we could have hired. Oh well, the experiences we had were priceless and maybe someday we will be able to take Meron to see the wonderful country she came from.



Before we headed back home, we had a full day ahead of us. In the morning, Tsegay's wife took us shopping for souvenirs. We were able to by some wonderful souvenirs to give to Meron through the years as well as some beautiful items to give to her siblings to help remind them of her culture. I wish I would have thought to take some pictures while we were out and about that morning, but I think I was still a little out of it from the day before.



Later that afternoon we had the opportunity to go see Meron's orphanage where she spent the first five months of her life before she went to the transition home. It was an absolutely priceless opportunity. It's hard to describe the emotions. The pictures tell a lot.



This is a courtyard area when you first come into the orphanage.

This wooden pen area had rabbits in it, we thought they might be pets, but when we saw a rabbit skin hanging from a tree we realized that they were for food.

This sweet girl is standing in front of one of the rooms. Most of the other older children were at school while we were there. It would have been hard to see all of the older children there because unlike the House of Hope, the children here are not matched up and waiting for their families. Unfortunately, only a small number of the older children will probably be adopted.

This is the nurse. She is standing in one of the baby rooms. They have small cribs wall to wall with two babies in every crib. It is overwhelming to see the need there. The orphanage workers are wonderful people who love these children and give it their all to care for them, but the need and the number of children leave little time except for basic care such as feeding and changing.

These women are washing laundry and diapers at the orphanage. The conditions are rough and the work endless, yet they were smiling all the while.

These young women got a kick out of getting their picture taken and seeing themselves on the digital screen.

After dinner that night it was time to say goodbye to all of the amazing people we had met throughout the week, and who played such a huge part in caring for Meron and helping us make her a part of our family.

We then headed to the airport to start the long trip home.

Journey to Ethiopia

Here are some random photos from our trip.



Hanging out at the House of Hope. She's still
trying to figure out what's happened in the last
couple of days.

The blue buses are taxis. Our driver called them

"blue devils", driving in Addis Ababa is like organized

chaos. I wish I would have gotten a picture out the front

window to tell the story better. Cars drive within inches

of each other and the lines on the road, if there are any,

are just taken as a general guideline.

A modern building in Addis Ababa.

It is not uncommon for cattle, goats etc. to be grazing

alongside the road in Addis, or just walking down

the street.

Meron sleeping in her crib at the House of Hope.

This is a view of the Ethiopian countryside.
Addis Ababa is in a high elevation area of Ethiopia
and the mountains are beautiful.

On the other side of the cars is an area where they

had their millennium celebration last year. They

celebrated the millennium in September of our

2008. We follow the Gregorian calendar and Ethiopia

follows the Ge'es calendar of 13 months. They have 12

months of 30 days and 1 month of 6 days. It's hard to

see but there is a large sign of lights right beyond the car

that says 2000.

This is the lion of Judah. The lion is represented in

many places in Ethiopia.

This is a woman carrying a large bundle of wood or

something along the mountainside road. Many women

do this job everyday. Ephrim told us that Ethiopian

women are very strong, most of these women are very

old and they go up and down this mountain everyday doing

this hard physical labor.

This is a former king's house.

This is another view of the Ethiopian countryside.

Day 5

Thursday Dec. 18

This was Embassy day! Other than meeting Meron, this was the most important part of our trip for the adoption. It is an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa to ensure that we are indeed Meron's adoptive parents, that she was legally an orphan and to start the process for her to get a travel visa. Unfortunately, nature was against me starting the night before. Wednesday night I woke up with wrenching stomach pain which soon turned into double-ended unpleasentries I won't go into detail about. I was so careful with what I ate and drank, I thought for sure I would avoid contracting any kind of sickness from the food or water. We even used bottled water to brush our teeth. The only thing I can think of is that maybe I could have gotten something from our eating utensils, because the plates, glasses and silverware were washed in regular water. Anyhow, I started popping pepto pills hoping to start feeling human again before our visa appointment. We had taken a prescription with us for this kind of sickness, but the day before we left I read about another family that had traveled before us and the husband had gotten sick and had a terrible reaction to the medication. He ended up in the hospital because of the antibiotic. So, the thought of having a reaction and being hospitalized there freaked me out. That was a big mistake, I should have started the prescription as soon as I got sick, but I continued with the pepto which did nothing. Noon came and it was time to go to the Embassy. Rescheduling or missing your appt. is not an option. I felt terrible, the car ride to the Embassy felt like an eternity. We finally arrived and stood in a short line to go through security, all the while with my sickness bag in hand. I probably looked like quite the picture, pale-faced and all hunched over holding my stomach. After a short time, we got through security and they took us to another building to wait to be called for our interview. We went upstairs to a small, hot, overcrowded room and sat down. It was only a matter of minutes and I needed a bathroom fast! Upon asking Tsegay were the ladies room was, he informed me that the only one was back in the other building! So the next hour entailed of going back and forth between buildings until we were called for our interview. Finally it was our turn, and we were called up to a window like a bank tellers and asked to raise our right hand and say an oath, although I couldn't say what it was because all I was concentrating on was not throwing up on the Embassy official. I'm assuming I must have looked pretty terrible because upon finishing the oath, the official told me I could go and Brandt could finish everything else. Needless to say I immediately started the prescription, because at that point I couldn't imagine that any reaction I had could feel any worse. The rest of that day and night are kind of a blur for me, I spent most of it in bed and the bathroom. Brandt was amazing through it all. He completely took care of Meron and all our paperwork that day. I also forgot to mention that Meron had SEVERE diarrhea and was going through entire outfits every hour and Brandt was a trooper through it all. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty miserable and didn't think to take pictures of anything that day.

Earlier in the day, before our appt. Ephrim took Brandt out of the city so he could see some of the countryside. I wish I could have been there, it seemed pretty amazing. He was able to get some pretty amazing pictures though.

Journey to Ethiopia

Day 4

Wednesday, Dec.17

This was our first full day in Ethiopia. After breakfast, Ephrim took Brandt and I and Amy and Jennifer to Lion Zoo. It was a small zoo, about the size of a park, but we were able to get extremely close to the lions. A chainlink fence was about a foot out from their steal bars and that was it. I suppose if you were crazy enough to try you could reach out and touch them. It was kind of funny to see rabbits at the zoo. They also had monkeys, some in cages and wild ones on the outside. The wild ones hung around the outside of the cages visiting their buddies.

After the zoo, Ephrim took us to the national museum. It was very interesting. We had a great guide who was able to share a lot of cultural information with us. He did drag things on a bit long in the evolution section, and lost us with a lot of details, but the rest of the tour was spectacular. We were able to learn about some of the different tribes in Africa, as well as see ancient artifacts. There was also a section full of crowns, robes and furniture from past kings and queens. There is a lot of history of Meron's country that we didn't know about.

ancient dice

After the museum, we went back to the House of Hope and spent time with Meron. Tsegay also gave us a tour of the House of Hope and we were able to take some pictures because the children were napping. We were not allowed to take pictures with other children in them because they were matched up with other families and we didn't have their permission. We would have liked to take pictures of the other children Meron was there with for her to have someday, but we were at least able to exchange photos with the two other families that were there when we were.

Journey to Ethiopia

playing with dad

Meron's day nannies

Meron's night nanny (she had a special bond with her)

This is Tsegay, who represented us in court.

This is Selay, our amazing cook, roasting beans for coffee.

courtyard at house of hope

Meron's nursery at house of hope transition home.

This was our room at the transition home with Meron.

Playing with Meron our first day together.

The other part of the courtyard at house of hope.

Journey to Ethiopia

Meeting Meron at the House of Hope

One of Meron's nannies

House of Hope in Addis Ababa

Day 3

Tuesday, December 16

Around 11:30 Ethiopia time we arrive at the House of Hope, which is the transition home Meron had been staying at since her referral in October. When we arrived we met Tsegay, who is our in country representative. He represented us in court and handled all of our paperwork. We were brought into a sitting area and waited to meet Meron. Words cannot even express the excitement and anticipation we were feeling right then. After about fifteen minutes, one of Meron's nannies brought her in to meet us. She was so beautiful. We had studied her picture for months and couldn't believe we were actually looking at her face to face. Her nanny handed her to me and immediately she started wailing. I wanted to be able to comfort her but she had no idea who I was. After holding her for a couple of minutes I handed off to dad, and she continued to wail. Thank goodness we had prepared ourselves for this, and it was a small comfort at the time to remember that we were told that it was a good thing if she cried and didn't want anything to do with us at first because it showed that she was attached to her nannies and in time would be able to attach to and bond with us. Eventually we were able to distract her with toys and she would calm down a bit, until she looked at us then she would cry again.

A short while later, it was time for lunch. Although eating was the last thing on our minds right then. It is tradition to all sit down together and have lunch. Selay, the cook, prepared us a wonderful lunch of fried vegetables, beef with Ethiopian spices and injera (traditional Ethiopian flatbread). Throughout lunch, Meron would play with her toys then look at us and cry until we distracted her with a toy again. We had lunch with Tsegay and Amy and Jennifer. Amy had just met her daughter a couple of hours earlier, and Jennifer, her sister, came to Ethiopia with her. It was a little awkward at first because we had just met all of them and Meron would cry and we didn't know how to sooth her. It all was a little overwhelming, but everyone was so kind and throughout our time there we were able to spend a lot of time with Tsegay, Amy and Jennifer and create great friendships. After lunch, Tsegay took us to our room we would stay at for the week. We were very fortunate to be able to stay at the House of Hope because they can only accommodate two families at a time. Additional families have to stay at a hotel or guest house. The time we were able to spend with Meron experiencing her environment was priceless. It was also beneficial to her to be able to get used to us while still in her environment with people she knew. We were able to spend the afternoon in our guest room getting to know Meron and relaxing. By later that afternoon, dad was able to get her first smile.:) Meron transitioned to us very well over the next few days.

Journey to Ethiopia

We saw these cute boys near the House of Hope

Cattle in Addis Ababa Our driver, Ephrim

Day 3

Tuesday Dec. 16

As we fly into Addis Ababa we are able to look out the window and get our first glimpse of Ethiopia. It is beautiful. It is very mountainous, which I didn't anticipate. It reminded us a lot of when we fly out west. We were also able to see the Nile River. Sometime in the late morning we land in Addis Ababa. Wow! What a good feeling to be on the ground again. Although we are exhausted and a little homesick, we are filled with anticipation, because Meron is somewhere in this city! We just want to hurry up and go meet her, but we have to go through other steps first. After we get off the plane we make our way to the Visa office too get our temporary travel visas. This went relatively quickly, then we were off to exchange money. The lady who helped us was none too friendly or helpful, which didn't help, since we were already starting to feel a little overwhelmed and out of our element. Then we found our way to baggage claim, and much to our surprise and delight, all of our luggage was there. I forgot to mention that in D.C. we had to check all of our luggage, because Ethiopian air has tighter regulations on the size and weight of a carry-on than the other airlines. A couple who traveled a few weeks before us lost ALL of their luggage and spent their entire trip with just the clothes they were wearing. After we gathered our luggage we were shuffled toward the door. By now the language barrier is very evident and we were exhausted and feeling very overwhelmed and homesick, and that's when we saw a man with a bright beaming smile holding a picture of us. It was Ephrim, our driver, and who also ended up being our link to Ethiopia for the rest of the week. Immediately, we felt at ease with him. He had such a great spirit and was just so much fun to talk with. He shared with us a lot about Ethiopia while we drove through Addis Ababa on our way to the House of Hope where Meron was.

Journey to Ethiopia

Day 2
Monday Dec. 15

We wake early filled with anticipation. In less than 24 hours we will be holding Meron in our arms! We have studied her picture and wondered about her for months now and we are so close to finally meeting her. We have a six o'clock flight to D.C., with a couple of hour layover then off to Ethiopia. The flight to D.C. was quick and uneventful. When we get to D.C. we headed to Ethiopian Air to check in for our flight. It was kind of exciting to finally get a glimpse of some Ethiopian people. A couple of older women were dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing, which are like long dresses with several layers of shawls draped over them. It was also interesting to listen to them speak the language. We also got our first taste of the pace of their culture. All along this process our agency has stressed over and over that the Ethiopian pace of doing things is not at all like here in the U.S. They are very laid back and move at a much slower pace. They don't show urgency in anything, what is the hurry, things will eventually get done. So we were told to prepare ourselves to be patient and move at their pace while in their country. Which we did, so it was no surprise at how things were in the airport. Their system of checking people in, didn't seem to be a system at all, and there certainly was no urgency to get us all on the plane in any timely manner. Once the plane was boarded and we took off, it was a couple of hours later than scheduled. I don't say this out of disrespect, it was just interesting to see how differently they ran things, and I am glad that we were forewarned and prepared to take things as they came. No matter how slowly they came. :) Once we were in the air we settled in for the LONG flight. It was a fourteen hour flight from D.C. to Addis Ababa. We had an hour layover in Rome for refueling, but we didn't get to leave the plane. Plus it was 2 a.m. and pitch black outside, so we were in Rome but have no idea what it looks like. After nine hours on the plane we were hoping to catch a glimpse of some mountains or something. No such luck. So we were off again. It was hard to get settled in for another five hours, especially after watching the little t.v. screen show the plane creep across the Atlantic at an unbelievably slow pace for the last nine hours. But we were within five hours of finally being in Meron's country! We were seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and getting excited again.

Journey to Ethiopia

Day 1, Sunday Dec. 14

What an overwhelming an exciting day. This was the day before we flew to Ethiopia. We started the day going to church together with the kids, which was such a comforting thing with all of the uncertainties we had of the week ahead. Then we came home to pack, yes we are one of those families that does everything at the last minute. :) No matter how many times I tell myself I'm going to prepare ahead of time it just doesn't seem to happen. So, we pack and unpack about five times trying to eliminate anything we don't really need. We were trying to keep it to three suitcases, one large one of donations for the orphanages and two small carry-ons with our clothing and Meron's things. I didn't think it would be possible, but we made it. They were busting at the seems, but we were finally packed. Our biggest concern was our paperwork. We were terrified of forgetting one of our documents. We thought it wouldn't go well to show up at our Embassy appointment and realize we left the paperwork on the kitchen counter!
Around six that evening we loaded up the van and prepared to head to Indy to spend the night because we had a six a.m. flight. This was probably the single most difficult moment of this entire journey for us. To have to kiss the kids goodbye and know that in 24 hours we would be halfway across the world from them was one of the hardest things we've done. But we knew that God was watching over all of us and that everything would be o.k. So, we said goodbye and with tears in our eyes drove out of the neighborhood and headed to Indy. It's amazing how your whole heart can be in two places at once. On the one hand we couldn't bear to leave our children here, but on the other hand we knew our other precious child was waiting for us to bring her home. We truly relied on God's strength to keep us sane through all of this. Later that night we checked into our hotel and tried to get a good night's sleep for the long day ahead of us.

Journey to Ethiopia

Wow, it's hard to believe we've been home for over a month now. Time really flies when you get back into the swing of things. Meron has adjusted better than we could have ever hoped for. She is so happy and has such a bubbly personality. Ty, Lane and Shelby adore her and she's taken to them so well. It seems like she has always been a part of our family.

I've wanted to share our trip and some photos, but it seems overwhelming to do it all at once so I'll break it down by days and post a little at a time.