When we arrived in Addis on Friday night, we first deboarded the plane outside and rode a bus to the terminal. Once we walked a bit, we came to an area with a lot going on. we asked a gentlemen - who thankfully spoke English - what to do next. First we got our VISAs. It was quick and relatively painless. Each VISA cost $20. Then we went to exchange $300 into Birr. The exchange rate was $1 to 9.9 Birr. We got about 2900 Birr. Then we stood in a line to get our passports checked. It did not take too long either. Next we collected our luggage and luckily it all arrived.
Finally a gentleman checked to be sure we got the right luggage tag numbers and we left through security. We looked around but saw no one holding a sign with our names. A local man approached us - a taxi driver and offered his phone. We made a couple of calls. It was difficult to understand through the accent on the phone. But the gist was that they never got our new arrival information after our delay in Houston. The second person we talked to said they were on their way. We paid the gentlemen 50 Birr ... aprox. $5 for his phone use. A little later he came back with a return call for us. They told us to wait at the Hilton booth.
Our ride did not arrive until 1 and 1/4 hour after we cleared security. I was exhausted and the driver Zewdu was apologetic. He drove us about 30 minutes to the guest house. We were shown to our room. Before Zewdu left he gave us an itinerary. We were supposed to get Elias the next morning!
Our room was nice. There was wood tiled floor as in the living and dining area, a queen size bed - too short for Jeff, a pack-n-play crib, a closet area with no way to hang things, and a sitting area with two chairs and a small table. The bed was very firm but the pillows were plush. The two outer walls were glass windows.
We shared a bathroom - very small, a toilet, pedestal sink and shower with a make-shift curtain. The living area - downstairs had 3 couches, a coffee table, TV, and children's play area - Abi would have liked it. In the same large room, 2 large tables (seating about 8-10 people each) formed the dining room. The stairs up to our floor were marble. There were 2 other bedrooms on our floor, one a suite with its own bathroom. Then the 3rd floor had two additional bedrooms, one bathroom and an outer sitting area. Above the 3rd floor was a very small room that was used as the massage room.
The only problems with our room were ants and noise. Jeff was far more sensitive to both than I was. They interfered with his sleeping as did the hard and short bed. He has not rested well either night so far.
The next morning (the 13th) we met the other guests. Louis & Dorothy were here to adopt a 7 month old son and 5 year old daughter. They brought with them their 3 year old daughter, adopted a year earlier from China. At home in CA they had 5 other children from age 14 - 28 years old. Jim and Angie were here to adopt a 9 month old son and had a 5 year old daughter adopted from China at home in WA. The last family was Micael and Stefania - from Italy. They were adopting a 3 month old daughter through a different agency. Stefania was also from NY, so due to the way their VISAs were done, they had to be in Ethiopia for 3 weeks! However, today the only family still here is the last one. The other two began their trips home yesterday.
Yesterday morning we went to get Eli. The CWA van picked us up at 10:15 with the driver and a nanny from the foster home. We brought clothing donations with us and dropped those off first. Then we were given a tour of the home and held Eli for the first time. It was SO surreal!
Until yesterday Eli had only eaten formula. Before we picked him up, Jim showed us where to buy formula and calling cards to call home. We loaded the phone cards onto a phone given to us for use while we are here by the guest home.
We gave Eli several bottles yesterday and twice gave him rice cereal. He did okay with the cereal. Though he did not seem too excited about it and made many funny faces trying to swallow it.
Breakfast was waffles with freshly squeezed orange juice. Lunch was tuna pizza and dinner was pasta with a red sauce and small bits of meat. The meals were all good (though Jeff would not agree to that statement in reference to the tuna pizza) and we all ate enough.
At about 7:45 we bathed Eli and lotioned him. At 8:00 he ate his final bottle and went to sleep immediately. However, he awoke at 11:00 for another 3 oz and at 3:30 for another 3 oz. At 11:00 after his bottle he went right back to sleep. At 3:30 he tossed a bit before he returned to sleep. Jeff did not sleep well. At 6:30 when Eli awoke Jeff had been awake for a couple of hours.
There is an orthodox church nearby and chanting began at 4:00. Jeff was clearly exhausted, homesick and disenchanted. He felt remiss at a lack of immediate bonding to Eli and he missed Abi. He teared up with homesickness. I miss Abi too, but I am sleeping better than Jeff, so for me, I feel okay about being here. We have 5 more nights before we fly out on Friday. We will leave for the airport Friday at 3:00-3:30.
Today Eli has tried sweet potato, which he seemed to like pretty well, better than the rice cereal for sure. He has been a little more fussy, though. He is pretty chatty: ma, da, na are all repetitive noises. He is mostly happy too. Later today we plan to go shopping and leave Eli here with the nannies.
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