Day 4
We spent the morning relaxing at the hotel. In the afternoon we met our guide/driver Gustacho for a little shopping trip. Driving through Addis Ababa is quite an experience. No seat belts, in a little 1987 toyota sedan with two small children who keep trying to play with the door latches and roll down the windows. There are absolutely no traffic laws in Ethiopia. You can stop in the middle of the road while trying to make a left hand turn, (they drive on the right side of the road like in the US) fail to stop at a light, drive around someone on the shoulder, or just make your own lane if traffic is going too slow. We went to a little shop, basically a small shack the size of a large walk-in closet. As we got there it began to pour! We made it inside. Micah and Hannah were incredibley clingy. They had never been in a store before. The owners served us hot tea and the kids coke. Our kids each took one sip and didn't want anymore :) As Kurt and I were shopping the owners offered the kids different things. I was a little annoyed because we were shopping for other people. We didn't want the kids to think they could have whatever they wanted. Thankfully after showing Micah and Hannah a couple things, they stopped. It was a nice store because they sold so many different items we were able to buy a lot in just one stop. After shopping we headed back to the hotel. I was not feeling well. I eventually figured out I could not drink the tea in Ethiopia. We're not sure what kind it was but everytime my stomach got upset. The smog and crazy driving did not help either. We rested in the afternoon then had traditional Ethiopian food for dinner. The kids love Injera!!!! Hannah asked for at every meal while we were there.
Day 5
We needed to go back to the CWA Care Center to complete our paperwork for the Embassy Appointment on Tuesday. It was a cold rainy day just like most every day was while we were in Addis. The driver came to pick us up at our hotel. It was really fun to see the other families and their kids. We were all so focused on the kids on Saturday we didn't visit much. We enjoyed sharing stories and soon found out that Hannah and Micah were very easy compared to the others those first couple of days. Many of the kids were not sleeping well, others were very quiet. We could see early on that our kids were easy going, and generally happy. It was also neat to see all the kids talking and playing with each other. The care workers enjoyed seeing the kids one last time. There were several friends of Hannah and Micah's who were still waiting for their parents that were really excited to see the kids again. Kurt and I let the kids play and eat lunch with their friends while we finished up our paper work. We had done most of it at home, which made everything go much faster that day.
Kurt had left our backpack on the front porch of the care center while we did paperwork. We came back to put something away in it, Kurt noticed that all the snacks were gone and just the wrappers remained. We then found two small plastic figurines, a dog and a horse. Micah and Hannah had gotten in our backpack and shared the snacks, then they tried to take the toys from the care center home with them :o So sneaky. Eyob told us the kids could take the toys, I said no it was okay they needed to stay here, we had the kids take them back inside. When we returned to the hotel room we found that both the kids had a ball in their pocket from the care center. Whatever! :)
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Trip to Ethiopia Part 1
Day 1
We left Nashville, TN on Thursday August 30th on a small Untied commuter plane headed for Chicago. We had 4 large checked bags full of donations and clothes and 4 carry on bags full of neccessities like paperwork for our US Embassy apointment. We arrived in Chicago to begin a four hour layover. After eating our last American meal for ten days at Chili's we read and talked while we waited for our Lufthansa 747 to leave. We slept a lot on the flight across the Atlantic but did not miss a beautiful sunset over Newfoundland, Canada. We landed in Frnakfurt, Germany on Friday morning at 6 am.
Day 2
Killing time for a 5 hour layover is not fun and the Frankfurt airport had little to nothing to do and barely any seats. Thankfully it was early in the morning and wasn't too busy yet. We found seats and watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Kurt got us a healthy breakfast of McDonald's cheese burgers and fries with soda. Already the food tasted different. Our meal was almost $20. We went to the holding area for our next Lufthansa flight to Ethiopia. It was here we figured out we would be stopping in Sudan to let people off the plane and refuel. We were glad that we didn't know about that sooner, I don't think our parents would have been happy to hear about that stop. We flew on another big airplane to Addis Ababa. On this flight we slept and watched Music and Lyrics.
We landed in Addis Ababa at 9:30pm on Friday August 31st. We got our Visas and exchanged money quickly without any issues. On our way to baggage claim we saw Eyob and Cazzoon our CWA escorts for our stay. They helped us get our luggage and we headed out to the car. I pictures a lot more people outside of the airport begging or wanting to help with our bags for money, but hardly anyone was there. We got to our hotel the Ghion and checked in. I though I would be awake all night anxiously awaiting meeting the kids, however the jet lag got the best of me and we both slept very well.
Day 3
We woke up, got ready (Kurt had to hold the plug for my hair dryer in the wall while I did my hair-he's the best!), and went o breakfast. Breakfast was a buffet provided by the hotel. There were a lot of interesting foods, I ate bread and eggs. We then had to wait until 11 am for Cazzoon to pick us up and take us to the kids. He ended up being late :(
On the drive to the care center it was so exciting to see Ethiopia that the time passed quickly. We arrived and walked up to the gates. Cazzoon told us that our kids were very excited about meeting us, they kept asking him when we were coming. We walked in and two little girls ran up and hugged us. One would not let go of Kurt (it wasn't Hannah) We made our way to the building and opened the door. I saw Micah grinning first and Hannah was right next to him. I hugged Micah then Hannah. Kurt hugged them next. The first couple minutes were ackward. Since they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Amharic we just kinda stood there smiling at each other. Hannah almost immediately was on my lap and Micah with Kurt. Micah loved Kurt's digital watch so Kurt let him wear it. They called us Mommy and Daddy from the first time we saw them. Then the kids all went and washed there hands. Kurt and I followed them. We noticed Hannah walking up the stairs crying. Kurt picked her up. Then a Care worker came and took her from Kurt. She went in the house with her. So Kurt and I just followed up the stairs and sat down to eat. Hannah came back with a smile and a new shirt on. She had gotten the sleeves on her other shirt wet, which is why she had been crying. We all ate lunch together with the other two families there picking up their kids. Afterwards we left and took Micah and Hannah back to our hotel room. We all took a nap.
To be continued...
We left Nashville, TN on Thursday August 30th on a small Untied commuter plane headed for Chicago. We had 4 large checked bags full of donations and clothes and 4 carry on bags full of neccessities like paperwork for our US Embassy apointment. We arrived in Chicago to begin a four hour layover. After eating our last American meal for ten days at Chili's we read and talked while we waited for our Lufthansa 747 to leave. We slept a lot on the flight across the Atlantic but did not miss a beautiful sunset over Newfoundland, Canada. We landed in Frnakfurt, Germany on Friday morning at 6 am.
Day 2
Killing time for a 5 hour layover is not fun and the Frankfurt airport had little to nothing to do and barely any seats. Thankfully it was early in the morning and wasn't too busy yet. We found seats and watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Kurt got us a healthy breakfast of McDonald's cheese burgers and fries with soda. Already the food tasted different. Our meal was almost $20. We went to the holding area for our next Lufthansa flight to Ethiopia. It was here we figured out we would be stopping in Sudan to let people off the plane and refuel. We were glad that we didn't know about that sooner, I don't think our parents would have been happy to hear about that stop. We flew on another big airplane to Addis Ababa. On this flight we slept and watched Music and Lyrics.
We landed in Addis Ababa at 9:30pm on Friday August 31st. We got our Visas and exchanged money quickly without any issues. On our way to baggage claim we saw Eyob and Cazzoon our CWA escorts for our stay. They helped us get our luggage and we headed out to the car. I pictures a lot more people outside of the airport begging or wanting to help with our bags for money, but hardly anyone was there. We got to our hotel the Ghion and checked in. I though I would be awake all night anxiously awaiting meeting the kids, however the jet lag got the best of me and we both slept very well.
Day 3
We woke up, got ready (Kurt had to hold the plug for my hair dryer in the wall while I did my hair-he's the best!), and went o breakfast. Breakfast was a buffet provided by the hotel. There were a lot of interesting foods, I ate bread and eggs. We then had to wait until 11 am for Cazzoon to pick us up and take us to the kids. He ended up being late :(
On the drive to the care center it was so exciting to see Ethiopia that the time passed quickly. We arrived and walked up to the gates. Cazzoon told us that our kids were very excited about meeting us, they kept asking him when we were coming. We walked in and two little girls ran up and hugged us. One would not let go of Kurt (it wasn't Hannah) We made our way to the building and opened the door. I saw Micah grinning first and Hannah was right next to him. I hugged Micah then Hannah. Kurt hugged them next. The first couple minutes were ackward. Since they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Amharic we just kinda stood there smiling at each other. Hannah almost immediately was on my lap and Micah with Kurt. Micah loved Kurt's digital watch so Kurt let him wear it. They called us Mommy and Daddy from the first time we saw them. Then the kids all went and washed there hands. Kurt and I followed them. We noticed Hannah walking up the stairs crying. Kurt picked her up. Then a Care worker came and took her from Kurt. She went in the house with her. So Kurt and I just followed up the stairs and sat down to eat. Hannah came back with a smile and a new shirt on. She had gotten the sleeves on her other shirt wet, which is why she had been crying. We all ate lunch together with the other two families there picking up their kids. Afterwards we left and took Micah and Hannah back to our hotel room. We all took a nap.
To be continued...
Sunday, September 16, 2007
New American Names
So I know I promised to post details about our trip to Ethiopia...however a funny thing happened that we just had to share. Kurt and I took the kids swimming on Friday to the YMCA. They both love the water (of course...they're our kids ;)). We have been trying to transition them to their American names, Micah and Hannah. They do respond to both Leyuneh and Nigist (their Ethiopian names) as well as their new American names. Yet they still call each other and themselves Leyuneh and Nigist. This is the exchange that occurred:
Kurt: "Leyuneh come here."
Hannah: "No Daddy, that's Micah."
Not only was it adorable, it was also so exciting that they are really beginning to identify with their American names.
Today Hannah also was referring to herself as Hannah. For example if she wanted the ball to herself she said, "Hannah's quais" or Hannah's ball.
Just had to share.
Kurt: "Leyuneh come here."
Hannah: "No Daddy, that's Micah."
Not only was it adorable, it was also so exciting that they are really beginning to identify with their American names.
Today Hannah also was referring to herself as Hannah. For example if she wanted the ball to herself she said, "Hannah's quais" or Hannah's ball.
Just had to share.
Monday, September 10, 2007
We made it home! After 30 hours of travel we are back in Tennessee. Micah Leyuneh and Hannah Nigist are amazing! We are so blessed to have them as our kids. They have been so good in spite of all the changes they have endured. I am planning on doing a play by play of our trip but being jet lagged and sick that will have to wait. Just wanted to show off our kids and to let everyone know we are home safe. I'll write more soon.
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