Ethiopia Day 1

After some 24 hrs of travel… we arrive to Ethiopia on Saturday 19 at 6:45 PM. The driver from CHI (adoption agency) was already there waiting for us and other 2 couples coming on the same flight. All 7 of us, plus driver and 2 other passenger got in the van, the about 20 pieces of luggage was place on top of the van and there we go!

It was a rainy night, the air in the city had a very peculiar aroma, thick and wrapping like a blanket that you could feel covering you as soon as you walk outdoor; certainly we were in a far land!! After a short drive we were at the House of Hope 2, the guest house set up by our agency, and we all settle in our rooms; happy after we were told that we didn’t have to wait until Monday to finally have our daughter in our arms.

We were exhausted after the long flight but still, by 5 AM we were up and ready to go. By 8:00 AM breakfast was served and we were enjoying crepes, juice and great Ethiopian coffee.

After breakfast we were on our way to the House of Hope 1; the transition home, were all of our children were waiting for their respective parents. On the drive there we were planning how the “transfer” should go. [From this point everything was like a dream we were in a daze for a few hours that day] Once we got there it was nothing as planned; the two older children (one being our Mekdes) were in the toddlers’ room having a snack with other maybe ten children. We were trying to take some pictures through the window for a few second until we were told “you can go in” for a second or two we didn’t know what to do, finally we reacted and went into the small room [here we really were in the deepest part of the dream] I kneeled down a few feet away from Mekdes, called her name and extended my arm… and she did… she got up an came to me!! Then I gave her a big hug and kept her close to me for a few moments; How I kept myself from crying like a baby? I’m not sure; I think the stupor of the moment blocked all my other feelings for that time. After a couple of minutes I gave our girl to my wife Patricia (who waited patiently) our son Carlito was happy but kept a cautious low profile. He went in also and gave her a hug and a kiss, a few minutes later he was playing with a soccer ball at the patio.

We took some pictures and video, toured the house, I hope we said thank you! After that we were taken back to our guest house to enjoy our children, play and and enjoy great food and traditional Ethiopian coffee.