T.I.A.

This is Africa!

First off, for those of you that have been worrying, we made it to Ethiopia without a single glitch.  Addis Abba is an overwhelming mix of diesel fumes, red dirt, gorgeous Ethiopian smiles, friendly people, challenging sights, searing sun, and harsh economic contrasts.

But, before we get into that - what you all really want to know - the kids are wonderful!  Ashagre is a snuggle-bug, perfectly content to sit in Mom or Dad's lap for hours on end.  In fact, he violently defends his laps against the hords of other children that desperately want a snuggle too.  He is a watcher and a thinker and an overall sweet boy.  Elsa is our wild-child.  We have a feeling she will take on life like she does the rusty slide at her orphange - head first and backwards with wide eyes and a huge grin on her face.  She is very bright and has no problem letting us know exactly what she wants.  She also isn't too keen on sharing Mom and Dad with the other kids, but plays well with them nonetheless.  Ashagre is stacking up to be a Momma's boy, while Elsa definitely loves her silly Dad, but of course, we have so much more to learn about who they are.  We can't wait to get them home and continue the journey.

Now, back to the title of this post.  Today is a great example of how things play out in Ethiopia - you truly just have to roll with it and everything seems to work out ok.  This morning we had planned to head up to Elsa's orphanage, which is on the outskirts of town, 45 minutes from where we are staying.  We knew we had to be back at Ashagre's orphanage by 1:30 for court.  Along the way, we picked up a social worker that needed to go to the same place, so of course, we journeyed off course to run an errand for him.  Finally on the road toward our destination and getting quite close, both the social worker and our driver's phones start ringing.  We had to be in court in 1 hour!  We were dirty in clothes meant to allow us to follow Elsa wherever she felt like going for the day and asked if we needed to change first.  We were assured we were dressed fine for court, even after explaining that we would be kicked out of an American court room if we were dressed like we were.  Off we sped towards court until phones started rining again.  We needed to change!  Our driver rapidly changed directions again (it would take a whole additional post to tell you about driving in Ethiopia) toward our hotel.  After a quick change, we rushed through traffic across town to court.  Court consisted of a 30 minute wait, a 3 minute "yes/no" interview, all to learn that the Ethiopian government Ministry of Woman's Affairs hadn't turned in an important piece of paper.  Not to worry though, our obligation toward court is done and the piece of paper should arrive shortly.  In fact...

...we learned the day of our arrival in Ethiopia that they may be able to fast-track the kids' adoption so that we could bring them home a week or so after we were planning on leaving Ethiopia.  If this is the case, we'll have some decisions to make, but Dakota may stay in Ethiopia with the kids (she will be able to have custody of them at that point and stay with them in a guesthouse) while Brent makes a quick trip back to make last minute preparations and fulfill work obligations before coming back to help bring them home.

This trip certainly isn't easy.  From the emotions of meeting our kids to putting faces to the 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia to seeing people lining up outside of Elsa's orphange in the hope of receiving medical care or the opportunity to leave their children in hope of a better future (Elsa's orphanage is at capacity with 300 children, most of which do not have the paperwork that will ever allow them to be adopted) to the almost suffocating demands of the children that need a snuggle or a smile or a bit of attention.  These experiences give you plenty to think about when you are wide awake at 3 in the morning still realing from the effects of jetlag.  It is exhausting and humbling and tragic and beautiful all at the same time.

We haven't seen much of Addis because we are trying to see as much of the kids as possible.  On that note, Ashagre, should be up from his nap soon so its time to wrap this post up.  We apologize for its disjointed nature - but this is Africa.

We're off to Awasa in a couple of days.  We'll do our best to post, but please understand that we are in Ethiopia!