Yesterday when we left Addis Ababa at 5:15 it was pitch black. We could see the muslims of the city coming out of their homes for the morning call to prayer and that was only because they had the traditional white robes on that showed through the darkness. As we were driving we were able to see the sunrise (which is unlike any sunrise I’ve ever seen it’s so beautiful) and much to my shock, there were people out everywhere. Though they weren’t out for a Sunday stroll, they were already hard at work. Men, squatting over their gardens plowing, hoeing and planting. Women carrying sticks, children and water. Children doing laundry, carrying each other and playing. I thought about how different America might look had we all shared the work ethic of the Ethiopian people. There are Americans like that, don’t get me wrong, but I think our motivation behind it is very different. In Ethiopia, it seems to be all about pride. Pride of their families, their homes, their crop, their country. In America, there is certainly pride but I think it tilts a different way for the majority which is altogether sad after comparing the two.
 
We were able to stop at a typical hut on our way home from Hossanna yesterday. It was a beautiful hut, startling to think of a family living in it. We were met with around 100 Ethiopians wanting to get pictures, to see us, etc. So Zach took a picture of me with some of them. I think they came to look at us because, speaking of me now, I am almost see through in this country. The sun shines so brightly, in all of our outside pictures I blend in with the scenery so it looks just like a wig and eyes. Kind of embarrasing but I can completely understand why they might want to see the see through woman, I am quite the sight to behold.
 
Anyway, this morning we will go pick up Tariku at 9am and we get to bring the kids back to the care center until after lunch. It will be a lot of fun having them all here to play together and I can’t wait to get so much time with Tariku, as it will be the longest we’ve had yet. After that, we’ll get to tour Addis and go to museums, etc. We will report back after that, probably with a lot of pictures!

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.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } Today was amazing. I’m not going to write too much about it because it’s so very personal to us, but it was terrific. I’m just praising God that we were able to experience this. Tariku is such a blessing to this world, I just must pinch myself sometimes!
 
There is no way to verbalize what today was like (not even for me) but I know this entire process would not be the same without it. We were able to take a 3 hour drive South, to Hossanna. The place where Tariku is from was still about 120km south of Hossanna but it gave us a glimpse of what he lived like before he came to the care center.
 
Anyway, we’re off to go see Tariku and give him an extra special hug. Post later.

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } So here I am, 1:50am in Addis. Zach and I woke up at about 12:30am when the dogs started barking, a house alarm went off and kamakaze bugs were making their way near our ears. He is so good at shaking that off and dozing once more but here I sit. Supposedly the sleeper of the pair of us, I have been unable to find my “gift” here in Ethiopia. Surprisingly enough, I don’t feel tired at all. Must be all this altitude (which is also what I’m blaming for constant light headedness).
 
For those who have went here before and are commenting that I blog a lot. I do that because you all downright pissed me off when I didn’t hear from you all the time. 🙂 Plus, I’m awake all the time so that helps as well. We also have a couple at a hotel and another family at the old guesthouse so we’re not sharing computers a lot.
 
I remembered something else quickly. We got to see Tariku eat lunch. Talk about joy! This kid can eat. I’m telling you. It was fascinating watching the nannies get them all ready. They sit at the table, first was a bowl of soup. Then came the meat course, which Tariku was obviously most excited about (yay for beef!) They gave them all HUGE spoons and Tariku would fill the entire thing up and stuff it down his mouth. Then look at us, smile, take another huge bite. It was great. We taught him the art of saying, “mmmm” after bites of beef and “ahhhh” after a refreshing gulp of water (which he drinks more than any other human on this earth).
 
We also witnessed the first potty break. After a bit of “wee wee” on his and Zach’s hands, we’ve learned we’re going to have to teach him to “shake it off” a bit more before he pulls his pants up or mom will be doing more laundry than I care to think about and daddy will be “that guy” that always smells like little kid’s urine. Tariku was good about washing his hands right afterwards, though so that’s something.
 
So I’m scheduled to get up in approximately 2 hours. The trip to Hossanna is about 4 hours from what I hear so I’m hoping I can sleep some in the car. It doesn’t help that I wake up starving every few hours. Apparently Ethiopians don’t starch or fatten their meals as much as Americans do because the Ethiopian food is just not sticking to my belly at all (not that that’s a bad thing) so I’m left rummaging the kitchen for PBJs at 2am. Brings me back to my college days but there’s less beer and more clarity.
 
Getting updates from my sister-in-law on our kids has been soo great (thanks, Leslie!) I did cry a bit when I talked to them the other day but overall we’re doing fairly well. I miss them immensly but know they are being taken care of very well so that helps out more than I can say. I really think once we get home, settled, teach Tariku a bit about sharing, and catch up on some sleep, my kids are going to get along famously! Please, God, don’t let those be famous last words.
 
On that note, must go either keep my eyes closed until sleep arrives or move around so much Zach wakes up to talk to me. 🙂 I’m sure he prefers the former.

Another great morning. We woke up to fantastic scrambled eggs and banana bread. I realize I keep talking about food, but I love food and they have perfected the art of cooking here. And the coffee!! Ethiopian coffee makes Starbucks look like a bunch of 4-year-olds with a lemonade stand. I’m hoping they can just put it in a bunch of IV bags so I can just load myself up every morning upon my return. And it’s always fresh, always fantastic. So moving on…

We got to the office to talk to the doctor, nurse, social worker and nanny who has been taking care of Tariku. It was nice talking to them. We asked the nanny what she wanted us to tell Tariku about his time here. She said tell him he was always so sociable, always so loveable and that they will miss his smile. Did I cry? Yes, is she so right? Yes.

We then got to watch a video from his birth place. I won’t go into too much detail because it is Tariku’s story to tell but it was so very powerful. So very emotional. It will be something he can treasure for the rest of his life and this DVD alone was worth everything we went through with CHSFS. I’m eating big time chow right now as I’ve witnessed how fantastic of an organization CHS is here. People say it every time, but it’s so true. The nannies LOVE the kids. They get so much love you wouldn’t believe. You truly wouldn’t.

Tariku was superb again. He seems to be a bit partial to me but who can blame him (just kidding). He got mad at us for the first time today. When the kids here get mad they do this shoulder shrug thing. They shrug one shoulder a couple times, I think it’s the equivalent of flipping us off but that’s hard to tell. Another little boy had taken the audio recorder we had sent Tariku and was listening to it. Well we let the boy play with it a bit too long. Tariku went to a seat opposite us, turned down his face. I said, “Zach he looks sad.” So we started calling his name. We got the shrugs, then the tears. I couldn’t help it, I had Zach snatch that toy like a 2-year-old. Much to my pleasure, Tariku cheered right up. And proceeded to say, “Thank you, daddy.”

He’s taken a liking to saying, “I love you”. He has no idea what it means I’m sure, he just knows when he says it we’ll kiss him and do whatever he wants us to do so that’s nice. He also started walking off and then motioning us “come here” and wants us to see everything. So he’s training us well.

The pictures are in his bunk bed. I never thought I’d say it, but his eyelashes make Zach’s look like mine (which is to say, nonexistent). He is beautiful. I’ve started memorizing every scratch, every scar, every freckle. It’s been fun getting to know everything about him. We won’t get to see him until tomorrow night and I’m already missing the kid.

Leslie, will you tell Trysten that Tariku liked listening to his voice the best? He just kept playing it and saying, “TT”. They are going to be the best of friends. I’m so stinkin excited.

Tonight we will go to AHOPE (the center that houses HIV+ children) then shopping (yippee!) and then to the Crown Hotel where we will see traditional Ethiopian music and dancing. I’ll post after that as well. Hope you enjoy the 4 pages!

We just got back from our time at AHOPE and shopping. AHOPE was amazing. Just 2 years ago the government decided they would pay for the essential anti-retroviral medicines for HIV+ kids. The person giving us a tour said AHOPE had changed so much in the last 2 years as before that it was pretty much a hospice for + people. So incredible to think about. AHOPE is definitely an appropriate word because the kids were amazing and beautiful in a way that I’m not sure American kids would be should they be in the same situation.

That is kind of the theme to Ethiopia. In a country that should, for all intents and purposes, be without hope; hope is all around. I’ve heard comments from Americans who feel really sorry for the Ethiopians. I tend to look at the Americans with more sorrow than the Ethiopians. There is definitely poverty. There are the crippled who would undoubtedly be “whole” in America. But the Ethiopians are so much closer to God. They are more like Jesus than I’m sure I will ever be. They have so little but that also means there is so very little between them and Jesus.

With that said, we should not give up on them or count their cause as a loss. They deserve much, much more. But I envy how hopeful their eyes are and how welcoming they are to us. There are grown men holding hands, women with their arms around each other. Completely heterosexual and completely overt with their affection and I’m envious of that.

On a lighter note, we went shopping and Zach and I did our best to boost their economy. J I hope you guys are prepared to see all the goodies!

We just got back from the Crown Hotel. Amazing dancing, fantastic food, beautiful people. We will hopefully post a small video when we get home. Time for bed. It’s 9:35pm here and we have to be up at 4am to go South to Hosanna. Should be an emotional day! Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!

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Tariku is tiny. They had told us he was 33lbs and 40 inches tall in our social report and there is absolutely no way this is true. He feels about as heavy as Dailah (somewhere around 25lbs) and much shorter. He is still tall and lanky compared to other boys here but much smaller than we had thought. He also looks a lot younger in person than his pictures. He definitely looks closer to 3 than he does to 4 or 5 even in his pictures. He is just a little angel.
 
Every morning around 6am there is a call to prayer for both the muslims and orthodox christians of the city. At night it seems they are almost competing with each other over the loudspeakers so it sounds more like a shout. In the mornings it’s very calm, humming of some sort. I obviously have no idea what they are saying but it is beautiful. As Leslie said in her blog, my kids arise early with their mom so I enjoy a little background music to my blogging and reading while my dear husband puts a pillow over his ears and wishes for the comfort of silence.
 
It is 6:45am here and I am about to get in our shower. As Chandra wrote, the shower in room 204 is quite interesting in that the shower curtain doesn’t go down to the floor entirely alas the entire bathroom was flooded yesterday. I was also the first to rise and shower yesterday (imagine that) so was met with the coldest shower in history. It was one of those where you tried not to let the water touch any part of your body until absolutely necessary. Zach thought he was quite funny when he was up last (imagine that) and had to turn the water WAAAAY down as it was scalding him. I, somehow, missed the humor. He must not be as funny in Ethiopia. 🙂
 
The cooks are beginning to start dinner. I am pleased to announce the other travelers have learned there is very little that can keep me in the way of our scheduled meals so they are nice enough to let me first in the line. On that note, I better go hit what will undoubtedly be a cold shower and then get in that line for the amazing food they cook here. One quick note, Zach asked last night what I planned on wearing today. I told him something that I would still look good in after I cried. 🙂 This is because we will be watching the DVD of Tariku’s life before he came to the care center (they go and tape kids upon hearing they are wanting to be relinquished so the adoptive parents will have a good idea of their background). Should be a doozy. You will here all about it. 🙂

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There is literally no way I can tell you how very awesome it was to have our son run into our arms this morning. There is NO WAY I can tell you how good that felt.

So it began with some awesome pancakes made by the beautiful, talented cooks here at the guest house. Then it was time to go to the office to sign a waver saying it was okay to take pictures of us. Then the words, “You can go meet your children now”. The 4 sets of us adopting older kids loaded into the van. I started getting chocked up, tapping my legs, chewing my lips.

When we got to the school where they were, we were told to go in a room. One at a time they called us to meet our kids. Guess what…we were last. But it was priceless, Tariku’s social worker told us to come meet him.

So we went through the garden, the play yard and into the first school room. We just peaked in and saw him right away. Once he saw us he got the BIGGEST smile and came RUNNING into Zach’s arms (because he was kneeling). I started crying, and Zach stood up so I could get a good look. Tariku took his other arm and brought me into a big family hug. He did not let go the entire 2 hours we were there. He kept touching our faces and our arms. He would have us sit  down so he could sit on our lap. When he wanted to move he would get up then put his arms up. Once we said “up” he caught on and ended up telling us “up” by the end of our time. At one point I had taken him to snack area. Zach went to talk with another family. Tariku turned and noticed Zach wasn’t there and started yelling, “Daddy, daddy”. So we quick went to find him and Tariku was much better.

Then a few minutes later I had to go to the bathroom (turns out my bladder must be smaller in Ethiopia). So I went in to do that, Zach comes soon after saying Tariku was yelling for me.

In our short time together he had learned mommy, daddy, up, thank you, please. We had learned machinet (car), Tariku (pronounced tar-ee-koo but roll the r, memorize that, because that is how we will be calling him now). J So we’re already learning from each other.

He was such a joy. Always loving, gave us lots of hugs, lots of kisses and we got quite a few belly laughs out of him. He’s a Klipsch, loves when daddy throws him in the air. He also loves to play with mom’s hair and chest (for some reason he enjoys rubbing it, but that’s cool). When it was time for us to go, he started to cry until his social worker translated that we are coming back today. After that he gave us LOTS of hugs, kisses, waves and blowing kisses.

So we’re very hopeful today. He is very possessive of the car we brought him and he quickly took over our water bottle and proceeded to down the entire thing and then keep refilling it. Though he was quite nice and shared the water with his friends.

I’m not going to lie to you, the first meeting exceeded my expectations. The pictures do not do him justice, he is far too adorable. He has HUGE dimples, beautiful white teeth, a beautiful smile. The curliest, light hair. His eyelashes are looong and curly and his lips are perfect for smooches!

So we just had lunch which was AMAZING and are now waiting to head to the office again so we can do some paperwork business. After that, we’ll get to spend some more time with Tariku which obviously I’m so excited for.

I probably won’t be able to post this until tonight as there’s just one internet connection for all of the centers at CHS and it turns out 3:30 in the morning is best time to get on.

Ok, so we’re back. It’s now 5:30 our time. We just got done seeing Tariku for the second time. He got excited when we came again and came running into my arms (that will doubtfully ever get old). It seems attaching is going well as he would leave us for a bit more knowing we were still going to be there when he turned around. Still wouldn’t go too far, but it was good seeing he understood we’re here for him.

The kid loves THINGS. He hoardes them like it’s his business and let’s out a little squeal if someone tries to take things from him. Another cute thing he does is, instead of answering yes, he just nods (kind of like people do when they’re saying something akin to “what’s up?”). It’s soooo precious.

We went through the photo album with him. He had obviously seen it many times. He can say “TT” and “Dailah” and knows who they were as he would point at them in every picture. Zach and I are attempting many Amharic words to help ease the transition. So far the only one we’re real good at is “Shinte” which is basically asking him if he has to go to the bathroom. Can you tell what we consider important in this family? J

We’re in the guest house for the rest of the night. We were able to take a bit of a walk to the office today. The city is amazing in the dichotomy of it all. Big buildings with squatters outside. Gold brushed buildings with cows and goats randomly walking by. It really is amazing.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when the kids were getting ready for a snack. One of the couples here are adopting a 6 and 7 year old and the 7-year-old led the group in a prayer. All the kids folded their hands to pray. I swear, I could literally see God smile.