Well I am still an earlier riser-even in Ethiopia. It is 4 am our
time out here and since we went to bed around 9 or 10 we are both up
again (rob is out at the other guest house in search of coffee. I am
trying to send shorter emails more frequently as our internet is kind
of spotty here and I am always so excited when the dial up actually
goes through!
Last night we ate dinner with the other 11 families here-3 are
adopting babies and the rest toddlers, with one family adopting a
sibling group of 3. The split is about even- 1/2 are from out east,
1/2 midwest (nebraska, minnesota, madison).
Today the families who didn't go to the southern region yesterday are
making the 7 hour round trip today, while we and 4 other families will
be hiring a driver to take in the sights, sounds...and yes..shopping
Addis Ababa has!
Tonight is an authentic dinner out at a restaurant and tomorrow is
prepping for court and the birth parent meeting on friday. Today is a
national holiday so it will be interesting to see what is open/not
open today due to this.
As for pictures, I hope to load a few up next week sometime to share
with you-yesterday was a lot of scenery and video to share with
Minalachew as he grows up. I hope today to get many shots of town and
I am totally fascinated with the "goat market" down the street from us
(I have to be cautious about taking pictures while we are walking so I
hope the driver takes us by the market with the goats today:)).
Reports came through last night from Grandma that Kenny is doing well
back home-yesterday I observed a lot about Minalachew's play-he at
times does like to play alone-merely as a strategy to keep his "toys"
to himself--note to self--tell everyone to watch out if another child
takes his green crayon-that didn't go well for anyone yesterday :).
Minalachew also loves to be praised by older children-this was
observed during the last hour when I ended us seated by a 10 year old
boy that Minalachew had to share every drawing, lego build, or toy he
was playing with. It was amazing to see the smile Minalachew would
give when the older boy praised him-something I think Kenny will
totally eat up at home (note as long as we have plenty of green
crayons around).
Safety-so far down here we have been very lucky-we were stopped by the
Southern Region police only once on our way down and shopping on our
first night went fine. We both do have "hidden" wallets today for
shopping as pick pocketing is a little more prevalent here then we
have had experiences with. The guest house has a guard at all times
and a very big gate that is only opened upon clearance.
I hope to be able to write tonight in regards to our travels
today--however with only one computer and intermittent service it
might be hard.
Take care everyone--we miss you!
rob and jess
time out here and since we went to bed around 9 or 10 we are both up
again (rob is out at the other guest house in search of coffee. I am
trying to send shorter emails more frequently as our internet is kind
of spotty here and I am always so excited when the dial up actually
goes through!
Last night we ate dinner with the other 11 families here-3 are
adopting babies and the rest toddlers, with one family adopting a
sibling group of 3. The split is about even- 1/2 are from out east,
1/2 midwest (nebraska, minnesota, madison).
Today the families who didn't go to the southern region yesterday are
making the 7 hour round trip today, while we and 4 other families will
be hiring a driver to take in the sights, sounds...and yes..shopping
Addis Ababa has!
Tonight is an authentic dinner out at a restaurant and tomorrow is
prepping for court and the birth parent meeting on friday. Today is a
national holiday so it will be interesting to see what is open/not
open today due to this.
As for pictures, I hope to load a few up next week sometime to share
with you-yesterday was a lot of scenery and video to share with
Minalachew as he grows up. I hope today to get many shots of town and
I am totally fascinated with the "goat market" down the street from us
(I have to be cautious about taking pictures while we are walking so I
hope the driver takes us by the market with the goats today:)).
Reports came through last night from Grandma that Kenny is doing well
back home-yesterday I observed a lot about Minalachew's play-he at
times does like to play alone-merely as a strategy to keep his "toys"
to himself--note to self--tell everyone to watch out if another child
takes his green crayon-that didn't go well for anyone yesterday :).
Minalachew also loves to be praised by older children-this was
observed during the last hour when I ended us seated by a 10 year old
boy that Minalachew had to share every drawing, lego build, or toy he
was playing with. It was amazing to see the smile Minalachew would
give when the older boy praised him-something I think Kenny will
totally eat up at home (note as long as we have plenty of green
crayons around).
Safety-so far down here we have been very lucky-we were stopped by the
Southern Region police only once on our way down and shopping on our
first night went fine. We both do have "hidden" wallets today for
shopping as pick pocketing is a little more prevalent here then we
have had experiences with. The guest house has a guard at all times
and a very big gate that is only opened upon clearance.
I hope to be able to write tonight in regards to our travels
today--however with only one computer and intermittent service it
might be hard.
Take care everyone--we miss you!
rob and jess
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