Lunch was pizza and very good. It had olives, peppers, and ground meat. I took the peppers off. They were very spicy. Jeff ate mine and his - but thought he might regret it later.
Later that day - about 2:30 the CWA van came to pick us and Jeff & Eileen's family up. Eli's schedule was all out of whack. Jeff held him while he slept a little while in the morning, then after lunch he slept about an hour.
The ride to the Embassy was about 20 minutes, Zewdu and Sheika took us. We were told not to take any electronics, but apparently no one told the other family. They brought a cell phone, camera, and game boy. There were 2 screenings before entering the building. First we went through a metal detector. They checked our passports and hand-checked the diaper bag. Then they carefully checked the passports and metal detectored and x-rayed the diaper bag at the 2nd screening. Then we went through several doors, upstairs to a waiting room with windows for different services (it kind of resembled the bank with different teller windows).
The wait looked long, but Sheika assured us the wait was by window and we would not wait long for the window we needed. The other family was called first, theirs took longer than ours. When we were called we had to raise our right hands and state we were truthful on all applications. We were asked "Is this the little guy you were expecting?" Which of course, he was - oh, and the person asking was clearly American. Then we were asked what we know of Eli's birth parents. Jeff stated the information we were told by CWA. Then the official said "Congratulation" and that our VISAs would be ready Thursday morning.
Afterward it was back to the guest house, where dinner was rice and a glazed breaded chicken. It was probably our best meal. The evening was kind of rough, though. Eli was very tired, but did not sleep well. He went to bed at 7:30, but he awoke at 10:30, 12:30 and 4:30. Definitely a rough night. Jeff was very frustrated. I think I handled the situation better. I just fed him back to sleep. Unfortunately, it is what he is used to. When we get back to OK I think we can work on getting him on a better schedule, but for now it's not really worth it. Even if we "fixed it" here, we have such a long trip back home, it will be like starting over, I think.
The next morning, Wednesday (12/17/08) proved to be a very eventful day. We had planned to go shopping and to dinner with Stefania & Micael, but Micael got sick, so we decided to postpone it until Thursday night. The two new couples went out shopping but were back early; Jen was not feeling well.
First - breakfast - was some sort of hot cream cereal. It was pretty yuck - much better with sugar but still not good. Lunch was good - pasta with tuna. Jeff, obviously did not like the tuna, but it wasn't bad. Eli took about an hour nap that morning but was pretty cranky off and on.
Then at lunch we asked to go with Julie and Mark to shop while Jen rested. We paid 1/3 of the taxi ($20) and changed our dinner plans once again to go out with Julie and Mark (and Jen and Dustin if Jen felt better). The shopping was good. Better this time than before. We got some bracelets, crosses, an Ethiopian flag, 3 musical instruments (like harps), necklaces, and a couple of wall hangings. Then we got 2 more half-kilos of coffee. We decided we were done - no more spending. We were getting low on cash and did not want to run out.
We had found out (unexpectedly) that we needed to pay in cash (dollars or Birr) when we left for the extras we had used at the guest house: our extra dinners, laundry, and our tip.
Mostly we got our extra water and pop from a shop across the street, as well as the Nan2 formula and calling cards. In addition, the internet was extremely slow and unreliable.
After shopping we asked Aki to take us to visit his church. It was called, Gospel Light Church. It was a really neat experience. It was a very large sanctuary. The other two couples planned to go to church with Aki on Sunday. Aki said there would be headsets they could wear to hear translations in English. They were also building a Bible College next door.
In the midst of picture taking, Aki got a call that Jen was being taken to the hospital. It was kind of scary. He decided we would meet them at the Korean Hospital - a Christian hospital. We beat them there. While we were waiting we saw a large sign of a child with hydrocephalus and a photo of the child after treatment. Eli looked nothing like the before picture. Such a reassurance to us that Eli is okay.
When the taxi with Jen and Dustin arrived, Jen looked pretty bad. However, we did not stay long. Apparently heart problems run in Jen's family and she had been to the hospital in Phoenix 2 days before coming to Ethiopia. However, the Korean hospital did not have a cardiac doctor, so we all left quickly to the Cardiac hospital. Jeff and I felt so out of place since we did not know them well. The van took Hanna - from the guest house - home first, then returned, and Aki took us back to the guest home. Then he went back to the hospital.
In the meantime once plans changed we asked Aki to call back to the guest house that we would now be there for dinner - the 4th decision regarding dinner that day.
Dinner was a cream of chicken soup and it was really good. Eli had slept while we'd been out. He was in very good spirits that evening. He even fell asleep while we watched Oprah with Stefania and Micael - it was her "favorite things" show.
I felt so dirty from the smog that I took a shower and let Jeff feed Eli his last bottle. It was a good night. Eli slept until 2:00 - 6 whole hours! Then another 4 hours until 6:00. And when we woke up he was all smiles. It was a good morning. While we waited for breakfast, he just played and ate a good breakfast of banana cereal.
Our breakfast was waffles - they were good but the drink was an orange smoothie with not much flavor. During Oprah the night before Jen and the others returned. She looked much better. They just told her to slow down and drink lots of water. After all the drama the night before I felt we probably would not do dinner out - so much smog and hassle. Also we did not have the money for a taxi again. However, the two couples planned to go tonight and did not care if we paid part of the cab because they were using it all day already.
So now we have plans - again - to have a traditional Ethiopian dinner tonight. The nannies here have been good with Eli and they'll have to get him to bed tonight.
As I began writing Eli was asleep, but we awoke after only 27 minutes, much too short for a nap! Also, I am waiting for my massage. She is getting the room ready for it now. We each get one free massage. Today is mine - Jeff is not getting one.
It seems so surreal. We should get the VISAs today and we leave tomorrow afternoon. Tonight we will call Abi for the last time from here. I really miss Abi!
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