Quick Rewind

We have a moment for a quick overview of the past two days

Sunday was spent entirely in travel.  Our Ethiopian Airlines flight was good.  Over 13 hours, but they took good care of us and tried to make it as painless as possible.  We were served a couple meals and numerous snacks.  We watched a movie.  We tried our best to sleep.  By the end of the flight, Sarah had two of the top ten scores in a rather competitive in-flight Sudoku competition among passengers, and Ryan had himself well-researched in anticipation of his upcoming Fantasy Football competition.

In Ethiopia, we landed out in the middle of a runway and took a bus back to the airport terminal.  I was struck by the number of stairs we had to go up and down (with luggage) to get out of the plane, in to the terminal, to the visa/customs area, etc.  I saw a couple escalators, but they weren’t working. 

Visa and customs went smoothly.  We exchanged some money at the airport.  And, then we waited for a very, very long time for our checked bag to come through the baggage claim carousel.  Thankfully, we were in good company.  I would have been more concerned if we were the only ones standing there, but as it was, they couldn’t have lost the luggage of every passenger on board…they were apparently just delayed in getting it from the plane into the building.  It eventually showed up.  We found the shuttle driver from our guest house (who spoke fluent English), and made it to our room.

We got settled in our room for just a bit.  It felt like 2am to us (and we still hadn’t slept), but we were anxious to get over to see our girl, so we ate some breakfast (included with our guest house) and called the Children’s Hope driver to come pick us up and take us to the transition house.

Once we arrived, we were taken to the Family Waiting room, and in just a few minutes, the family coordinator brought baby A in to us.  We could certainly recognize her from the photos (though her hair was now done up in about 11 tiny pony tails).  She was pretty quiet and wide­-eyed as she was placed in our arms, but she didn’t fuss or cry at all.  She was just taking it all in with those big, beautiful brown eyes.    

When we got out the toys we’d brought (mercifully, she was grateful for both), she quickly grabbed at the one stuffed animal with a teether and put it straight into her mouth.  She doesn’t appear to have any teeth yet, but maybe soon.  She began to interact more with us, and soon we were brought some rice and carrots to feed her (it was about 12:30pm by this time).  That girl saw the food and went after it hard.  It took one of us to feed her bites while the other one held her hands so she wouldn’t grab the spoon.  She lunged forward for every bite and after several bites began making a satisfied little “umm” sound after each spoonful (lest you become worried that it was the first time she’d eaten for days, she really looks well-fed and cared for…all the children do, and she’s not skin-and-bones by a long shot.  I think the girl just likes to eat).

As the afternoon went on, Baby A got more and more comfortable and started to babble and make some sweet sounds.  She smiled and giggled at us.  She played peek-a-boo and was interested in touching our faces and eyes and noses.  We were delighted with our first moments with our daughter.  She was so responsive and interactive and happy. 

Eventually, we walked around the rest of the house, saw her friends, saw where the kids eat and play, met her nannies, etc.  We put Baby A down for her nap and headed back to our guest house mid-afternoon  (we hadn’t really slept in about 28 hours, thanks to that fire alarm back at the hotel in DC, plus I was starting to have a funny tummy). 

I had a bit of a rough evening and overnight, but I’m feeling quite a bit better this morning.  Today, we’ll go back and hang out with our girl for a little while before going on an overnight trip to the town where she was born and spent her first 6 months of life.  We’re looking forward to seeing a bit more of this country. 

(Pics from House of Hope - Children's Hope Transitional Home)