We slept in a bit this morning. We turned in a little earlier the night before because the power went out. Just as we were about to go to bed, it came back on; so we just went ahead and went anyways. Gutu is still having a rough time sleeping. He's up all night long. He'll go an hour and then want to be held and eat and then he's out for maybe two and then back up again. We're a bit tired and can't wait to get him home and on some type of schedule.
Kidus (driver) and Agitu (agency director) picked us up and we went out to visit an orphanage that's way out in the boon-docks. I've learned that when they give you a time estimate around here, you add 25% or more to it. The 1.5 hours lasted about 2.5 hours. The road was mostly pavement (dodging all the farm animals and pot holes) but the last 10 km. was really rough dirt road.
The orphanage itself was really amazing. It was very, very clean. The orphanage director is just getting it started and has about six children now. We took a suitcase of clothes to donate to her (thanks again to everyone that helped) and she was overwhelmed and started crying. She was so very grateful. She sold all of her jewelry and valuables to open the orphanage and doesn't have much except a whole lot of love. She sleeps in the children's room with them at night to tend to them. Her daughters that are living in Italy send money home each month to keep the doors open. If someone is searching for people living a Christ-like life, she'd be on the list. We were taken to a little sitting room and she served us a great Ethiopian lunch.
The people are so very, very kind. I made it my mission to get as many to smile and wave and was very successful. They have the kindest faces and are so loving and accepting. The drive back home was a little long. I suppose after we spent all day Monday, Tuesday and now Wednesday in a van with incredibly hard seats (Lisa wishes I'd gone to chiropractor school), we'd had about enough. We saw the aftermath of a terrible accident that involved a bus full of people that dodged a donkey and flipped on its side. Stupid donkey! Just as we got back to our guest home, another lunch was served. We tried to escape without it but our cook insisted. She's an amazing cook. It was home-made lasagna with carrots (cooked in honey) and green beans. Very yummy.
Our driver Kidus took us to go shopping and we picked up Korsa (works for our agency doing all the paperwork) to help with the bargaining and to make sure we were protected.
--side note -- In my mind I wrongfully assumed that since his job is so crucial, that Korsa was an older gentleman. Boy was I wrong. When we pulled over to pick him up, I saw him wave and thought it was just another person seeking a ride but then he came and jumped in. He's actually 24 and is really cool and fun to be with.
We went to a bunch of little shops located behind the post office. We were quickly invited into each and every little 5x5 shop. Most were full of the same items such as wood carvings, paintings, and scarves/clothing. We found things that we liked but of course the prices are "high." As you walk away, it's amazing how quickly the prices fall. We didn't turn back though. There was a little store (take notes AP's -- yellow and red awning) and she had about the things we wanted. She was fair with her prices but we still had fun bargaining with her. We shared a lot of laughs. At the end of the row, there's a really big store full of all the scarves and clothes. They were pretty fair too. I have to give a lot of credit though to Kidus and Korsa who kept the pressure on them to give us the nominal price instead of the ferengi price.
The only "event" of the day was our search for diesel on the way home. All the gas stations were either out of fuel or out of power so their pumps wouldn't work. I feared we were going to be pushing but we made it to one just in the nik of time. We fueled and made it back to the guest house to relax and shower Gutu with kisses.
Two other adopting families came and visited until it was time to attend the cultural dinner. They both adopted two kids each and have their hands full; their children are so, so adorable. Yanos is around 6 years old and is an amazing little boy. He's very protective of his little brother and is extremely neat and clean (would fit in well with the Strong family). The dinner was great and it was fun to listen to the band and watch the dancers depict dances from different regions in Ethiopia. The region where Gutu is from has a dance where the men kick their legs up incredibly fast. We'll have to figure out how to put it on You-Tube when we get home.
We rolled in back to the guest house a little late and said our good-byes. Good-byes are really tender here. Each of the nannies would grab the child's face and kiss them on each side. This made another mom tear up (and us) to see how much they're loved.
Tomorrow is the big day...the big reason why we came which is the Embassy appointment. It basically completes our adoption and allows Gutu to immigrate with us tomorrow. Assuming all is well, we'll be on a plane Friday night heading back home. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Love you all.
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