Ethiopia

I put the pictures first because I am sure that is what most want to see...

It is difficult to put to words my thoughts and feelings on our trip to Ethiopia to bring SweetPea into our family. I have been having an internal debate with myself since arriving there as to what I would actually put in this blog. There is much I would've like to have known and expect before going that I had not found in books and blogs. I hope by being truly honest in this that I will help other families that also are also on the journey to bring a little one home.

Trip there:
The travel to Ethiopia was long and extremely uncomfortable. I was happy that we chose to fly on Emirates, but our placement on the plane sucked. We were in the middle two of the center four seats, between two large men... just behind the bulkhead seating. Which meant that we got to witness the comfort that those in bulkhead had, but definitely felt none of that comfort. The one saving grace on that 14 hour flight was the individual TV's that each seat had. I watched 4 movies and played many video games, which kept me from handing the VERY large man next to me a box of baby wipes and some deodorant and asking him to perform a little self maintenance.
When we landed in Dubai, the airport was mostly deserted except for passengers arriving from a Saudi flight. It was actually very difficult for me to be in the restroom with these beautiful and energetic women in the restroom, who once they left covered their faces and meekly walked behind their husbands. D and I were very much the oddity at that time and top it all off the visa/customs lady was extremely rude to us.
We had to stay overnight in Dubai and the hotel room was provided by Emirates. The hotel was nice, but they took us to a room that was down some long smoke-filled hallway that seemed to be in the basement of the hotel. The room was something that would have been in a Motel 6 here in the states, one that I would have rejected even when I was in the military. It appears that these rooms are "special" and are saved as the freebies for the Emirates layovers. Oh, and for the ladies, there was no in-room hairdryer. The hotel also did not provide the requested wake-up call, so it was lucky that D and I even made our flight.
The flight to Addis started out a little not so great also. An entire hygienically challenged family sat across the aisle from us and we were ever so grateful once they donned the Air Emirates blankets that were so kindly provided in each seat. The other frustrating issue was that the family put their small child (2-3 year-old boy)in the aisle seat, did not strap him in and then they immediately went to sleep. The little boy kept getting up and running up and down the aisle and hitting other passengers. He left D and I alone because I continually gave him the stink-eye. The situation finally required a Hindi-speaking flight attendant completely bitching out the odoriferous father.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, and before we knew it we were descending toward Addis. Every time I think about it, what comes to mind is the glint of the corrugated tin roofs in the sun.
We made it through visa and customs pretty quickly, grabbed out luggage and headed out to find our driver. We waited for ages and finally ended up taking the hotel shuttle to the Hilton. Check in the Hilton was pretty easy and they transported our many very heavy bags to our room for us. The room was simple yet clean and reminded me of the rooms at Holiday Inn in the US. It was a big improvement over the freebie in Dubai.
DAY ONE, Meeting SweetPea:
We immediately contacted Tsegaye, the House of Hope, director so that we could arrange transportation to see SweetPea, but he advised that she was sleeping and would not be up until after 4 PM. I was disappointed, but grateful that for the time to freshen up and rest a bit. At 4, our driver Abel arrived and drove us over to HOH. The drive over was not very long, but it was very eye-opening. I have never seen so many people... there were people everywhere all walking, most dressed very well, but there were still hundreds that appeared very destitute and hungry. Somehow, these people were all intermingled with one another in some strange conglomeration of humanity that was almost over-whelming. There were children also interwoven with these people; many who appeared to be very young and completely on their own. Every time people caught site of D and I in the car they stared unabashedly and many tried to approach the vehicle. Our driver Abel always quickly waved them away with a glare and a 'piss-off' shoulder-shrug. The other thing that was very apparent was the intense driving seen. People walked out in front of traffic in all directions and didn't even get ticked-off if they were almost hit by a car. Also, the cars, all of the cars, were driven almost lawlessly. The lines on the road were completely ignored and what was supposed to be two lanes of traffic could become six lanes in seconds.
I was quite stressed and motion sick by the time we arrived at HOH, but very excited. Tsegaye greeted us right away and we were escorted to the common room. We were only there a couple of minutes when one of the nannies brought SweetPea in. That moment is a blur to me, but I remember thinking to myself that I had to hold it together and not cry so she would not be scared. She greeted us by shaking our hands and saying "hello, mommy; hello, daddy" in a very soft, almost inaudible, voice. We all sat down, and I gave her the doll my SIL made for her. It was a big hit and after much discussion (and translation) she named her doll "Mee-tu" (means little girl in Amharic, I think.) We worked with a sticker book and colored, and after about an hour or so, another little girl also came in to play. We later found out that the little girl (I will call her BT) and SweetPea had been together in the orphanage in Asela together and were moved to the HOH at the same time. They also had been sharing a bed that entire time and were very attached to one another. SweetPea seemed to enjoy playing with us, but she was not the least bit interested in letting us hug her or sitting on our laps. BT, however, hopped in my lap immediately and planted a big fat kiss on my cheek. It was sweet, and I will continue to wonder if she will also greet her own parents that way, or if she will be frightened of them like SweetPea was of us.
We ate dinner at HOH and I must say that they food was excellent. It was all very traditional Ethiopian food and the cook was fantastic. She waited on us like we were royalty and I felt really bad about it. Oh, just a heads up for other CHI families: They give the kids watered down orange soda with every meal. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but I was definitely surprised. The cook also waited on the children and admonished them quickly if they stepped out of line. It was kind of funny, because she spoke very softly, but the children gave her much respect.
After dinner, Tsegaye informed us that we should take SweetPea back to the hotel with us for the night. I was pretty surprised, because I had assumed that she would not be ready for this for several days. I even requested that he ask SweetPea if she wanted to go with us (I think he was a little offended by this) and she said she was ready to go. She immediately hunted down BT who had earlier taken off with Mee-tu and once the doll was retrieved hopped into the back seat of Abel's car with a huge smile on her face.
The ride back to the hotel was uneventful by Ethiopian standards (by US standards we were almost in 5 different accidents and almost hit at least 10 different pedestrians.) SweetPea giggled almost the whole way there (the entire ride with no seat-belt) and hopped out of the car immediately upon arrival. She waved a quick goodbye to Abel and then grabbed my hand so we could walk into the hotel.
We played for a little while in the hotel room and when it was time to go to sleep she lied down quietly for a couple of minutes and then giggled for about 20 minutes before falling to sleep. It was a really nice end to a very hectic day.