Ethiopia Journal: Day 7 (December 30)

The only things on our agenda for Wednesday were an afternoon meeting with Almaz and a cultural dinner.

We spent the morning playing with Miss K and visiting with the other families at the Union. During our trip, Hannah's Hope was in the process of moving to a new location. We were the last group of AGCI families to stay at the Union Hotel and walk up that cobblestone road and through those red gates. For the Wednesday afternoon meeting, we walked that walk for the last time, trying to soak in all of the details--the little grocery stand along the way, the people who seemed to appear out of nowhere--mothers with babies who asked us for spare Birr and children who asked for candy-- and then disappear just as quickly into the nooks and crannies of the alley, the big hole and pile of dirt right before the turn (was it under construction or put there as a blockade?), the random donkey, goat or cow.

(Photo courtesy of the P Family)

As we walked through the gate, the older children rushed out to greet us. They knew all our babies by name and showered them with kisses and affection. Then they wanted us to take their pictures and show them the images on the backs of our cameras. They all had favorite poses and funny faces they wanted to show off and for us to capture.

We couldn't have asked for a better group of people to share such a meaningful event in our lives with. Our time with them at the hotel had the feel of renting a vacation home with a bunch of old friends. Everyone was just so transparent, interesting, funny, real. During the adoption process, I don't think we ever really considered the impact our travel group would have on our trip. It was a huge, unexpected blessing to travel with such a neat group of people! I believe lifelong friendships were begun as we shared laughter, our hearts and an experience that changed all of our lives. We look forward to keeping in touch with everyone over the years as our children grow up.

Our group at Hannah's Hope (A few of the older children have come home since we traveled. Hallelujah! Due to Ethiopia's rules about not publishing the photos of waiting children, I blurred the faces of the children who have not yet come home. Please pray for these precious little ones. I would love to update this picture in the future to show ALL of their beautiful, smiling faces!):

Almaz distributed the children's Ethiopian passports and the paperwork we would need to present to the border patrol and immigration agents when we entered the United States. She threatened to delete any emails she received requesting new originals of any documents we lost (she said it with humor, but we knew she meant business!). She then gave a heartfelt speech about the miracle of adoption and charged us with making a difference, in both our children's lives and in the world around us, by living the gospel. What an angel on earth Almaz is--we just love her!

After the meeting, Hus-B and I called a taxi to pick us and Miss K up from the hotel and take us to the Golf Club, where we ate a late lunch and e-mailed and a few pictures to our parents and our older girls. We returned to the Union for a nap with Miss K, then leisurely dressed for dinner.

(Golf Club photos courtesy of the A Family)

Before we left for dinner, A stopped by the hotel to say goodbye. We exchanged some gifts, which included caps for him and G (they will now be representing our Gators in Addis!), and thanked him for being so helpful and hospitable to us during our stay. At 7 p.m., two buses arrived to take us to the cultural dinner. The dinner was a blast! Live music, demonstrations of dancing styles from various regions of Ethiopia, and delicious Ethiopian food. Most of all, it was an opportunity to celebrate new friendship and growing families. Miss K just loved the music and dancing at the dinner! She bounced along to the beat, grinning from ear to ear. It was a challenge just to hold on to her! (please scroll down to the bottom and pause (II) the background music before playing the video) There were some mystery peppers garnishing the platters of food. Leave it to the guys in our group to double-dog-dare each other to see which of them could down them in the fewest bites and with the fewest complaints. And there was something in those peppers, I tell you! At the end of the evening, the dancers ventured into the crowd to recruit audience members to dance with them. Wouldn't you know that it was all of the pepper-eaters who let loose with the moves! Lord have mercy, for about 60 seconds, my beloved Hus-B turned into a complete Ethiopian dancing machine! Thank you, God, for giving me such a hilarious man to spend my life with! "Like daughter, like father", Almaz observed. One of the dancers actually came up to Hus-B that night as we were leaving and asked him "Have you been to Ethiopia before?" It was just too funny. I'm still kicking myself that I was unable to capture the spectacle on video--shoot, shoot, shoot!

I'm going to save a spot here to post video just in case someone in our group happened to capture it. Please, please, please send it if you have it, y'all! Miss K just HAS to have a copy of it--she will have so much fun watching it, laughing and teasing her daddy about it one day. I'll have to send a copy to Almaz also--she said the older children at Hannah's Hope would get a big kick out of the dancing Ferengis!