I've been putting off writing this blog entry, not because I don't want to share our experience, but because there is so much to share it's a little overwhelming (and because we've had our hands full with a five month old!) Before getting to our trip I have to say Miles Nahom is adjusting GREAT in our home. He is just the cutest and has the biggest, happiest personality! We've been home for over two weeks now, and I wish I would've written about our trip while we were there or right afterwards, because I'm certain I'll leave out many details.
When we arrived in Addis Ababa it was Saturday morning and we had been traveling for about 24 hours at that point. We were exhausted and took a nap in the hotel. We weren't scheduled to do anything until Sunday afternoon, when we were to pick up Miles! We woke up and had some lunch, met up with some friends we had met on our last trip, and Andy and I decided to take a cab ride to a book store we missed out on during our last trip. It was nice because we could get some Ethiopian children's books (that were also in English!) We stopped at a coffee shop afterwards and enjoyed yummy Ethiopian coffee.
Sunday was the BIG day! We were going to get Miles for good! It also happened to be my birthday. Talk about a great birthday gift! Our good friends Julie and Nathan sent out an email to everyone traveling with us that it was my birthday so I unexpectedly had a little lunch birthday party! Even the hotel staff got in on it, made signs that said "Happy Birthday to Jenny" with five balloons (only one of which was colored blue) and they came out and brought a cake with candles and sang "Happy Birthday"! It was sooo sweet and fun!
That afternoon we met up with Almaz and the rest of the group to discuss and sign some legal paperwork for our embassy appoint Monday. Here we are, happy to have the paperwork behind us and parenthood in front of us:
And then it was off to get Miles! We were so excited to see him again! He was asleep when we arrived so we just looked at him and smiled for a while.
The rest of the trip we really had nothing planned except for the Embassy appointment on Monday morning and the birth family meeting on Wednesday. They did not allow cameras at the Embassy so we can't share pictures from that outing. We waited at the Embassy about 2 hours. I think we were the last family called from our group. We were just asked a few questions by the Embassy worker: did we meet him before the adoption, did we know he had bronchitis, are we still willing to adopt him, ... The paperwork was approved and it was back to the hotel, where we spent a LOT of time during this trip.
Wednesday was by far the highlight of the trip. We got to meet Miles Nahom's birth mother. It was such a wonderful experience. We captured the entire meeting on video, which I am so happy we can share with Miles one day. She looks alot like Miles. She's very young and chose to keep Miles a secret from her family because she is not married and her family, being very strict christian orthodox would not have approved. I will not post pictures of her since I do not have her consent. She brought two friends with her for moral support.
We got the chance to ask her questions about what she wants Miles to know about her. It was so clear she loves him tremendously and only wants the best for him. It was also clear how hard of a decision it was for her. She was very emotional (as were we). She got the chance to hold Miles and just showered him in kisses. She said she wants him to know how much she loves him and that it was very hard for her. She wants him to have opportunities that she didn't and she said she just wants him to be a good person in every way (the same thing we want for him).
She will receive updates from the agency that we send in every year, along with photos. I am glad our agency is so willing to accomodate birth families in this way.
On Thursday morning we took a bus ride out into the countryside of Ethiopia with some other families traveling with us. The landscape was beautiful. There were of course, lots of cattle and donkeys walking to town. There were also a few little houses on the side of the road as we passed, and lots of children running around.
Thursday night we flew out of Addis Ababa, an overnight flight to D.C. on Ethiopian Airlines. We didn't get the bassinet we requested, but Miles did GREAT on the flight. He slept most of the 17 hours, although we didn't sleep much. By the time we got home on Friday at around 1:00pm we were exhausted and all three went straight to bed.
It was a wonderful trip all around. We continue to be amazed at the beauty of the country of Ethiopia and the kindness of the people there. We will definitely be going back.
