Home Sweet Home

Sun.

We got back from Ethiopia w/Yonas Sat. evening. We have been busy adjusting, trying to catch up on sleep, and Tim and I have been trying to get over what our doctor calls "Montezuma's revenge"! I am going to try to post some pics from our trip and a little about our experience. It may take me a few days to catch up, so please be patient!

We arrived in ET about 11ish Sun. eve. We were picked up by T and David, both are great guys! We exchanged our $ at the airport, there was no line while we were there so thought it would be easiest. We didn't have any major issues, the visa processing went w/o any probs. The trip was long and tiring but pretty uneventful. We had more trouble figuring out where we needed to go in the airport at Dulles then in Ethiopia. When we arrived at the Guest house, we unpacked a little, took showers and went to bed. Our room was on the 4th floor and by the end of our trip I really hated those steps! The room was very nice w/a living room area, kitchenette, and 2 bedrooms w/baths. We did not have to share a room. I don't know how we swung this b/c all the other families did.

Mon.

We met the other families at breakfast then went with T to the Hilton to do our paperwork and have lunch. We met Duni there and got packets with information about our children's routines, medical information, vaccinations, etc. We then went to the Transition Home to meet our children. All up us were very nervous and excited. We were the first family and we moved up to the front of the line to get our son and they then said that Yonas was at the dr's and would be back soon. We were disappointed and began to move back while the Farris family moved to the front. A nanny brought out a little boy that looked like Yonas w/o hair. Both our families stopped and looked around b/c he looked like our son but they were telling us it wasn't him and they thought that it didn't look like their son, but they were telling them it was! Finally the nanny said that it was Yonas. Yonas was very upset. He has been at the TH since he was 4 mo's old and is very attached to his nanny's and his surroundings there. Tim and I tried everything to comfort him but he would not stop crying. We finally ended up taking Yonas back to his room and staying in their w/him. Yonas calmed down immediately and fell asleep in my arms. We spent the whole afternoon there w/him. It was great! We also met w/the TH doctor. After that the women went to the spa for some pampering and then we went all went out for a traditional Ethiopian meal w/singing and dancing. They had great food and entertainment.