Ethiopia

So we've been home almost 3 weeks and I haven't posted anything about our trip yet!! I'm so bad at this! But I guess I can use the excuse that I've been really busy since we got home, right? Anyway, we had an awesome trip to Ethiopia. I love to visit other countries, but have only had the chance to do it a couple of times. We arrived in Addis Ababa (the capitol of Ethiopia) on a Thursday night, late. So the drive from the airport to our guest house was in the dark, but the first thing we noticed were the people everywhere! All over the streets and in the shops. The next day we got a better picture of the city in the daylight and again there were people everywhere! It's just so different than around here. And the next thing you notice are the animals everywhere! Donkeys, cattle, goats, and chickens are all over the city!




That being said, you can guess that the city isn't very clean! There was a smell in the air of all the animals and the constant smell of diesel exhaust. I had a sore throat almost every day and I'm pretty sure it was from the poor air quality. The poverty is also unreal!! People are living in tin shacks with dirt floors and there are probably numerous people living in one shack. I had seen poverty like this in Jamaica, but Addis has 5 million people living in it so the size of the poverty was so much larger. It's hard to go to these places and not feel guilty for all that you have. But I've learned to be thankful instead of guilty! The day after we got there we were able to meet Miya for the first time. We were able to spend about an hour with her at the orphanage.



We felt bad leaving her, but she couldn't come with us over the weekend when we were traveling to meet her birth father, so she needed to stay at the orphanage a couple more days. We left the next morning to meet her birth father. The city she was from was about 300km south of Addis, but took 6 hours to get there. The road was actually nice and paved. What made the drive so long was all the people and there live stock in the roads. Seriously, the whole way there there were people walking in the road and herds of cattle and goats that we had to watch out for. It was crazy! But so cool to see this part of Africa! The country was beautiful and so green.




We met with her birth father at the first orphanage that he brought her to. They didn't let us take any pictures inside the orphanage. We got to spend about a half hour with her father and ask him all kinds of questions. It was a great experience and a sad one. You could tell that his decision to bring her to the orphanage was heart breaking for him and he misses her very much. We were able to give him a small photo album with pictures of her and our family, he was so grateful for this! He also said that he hoped she would have a good education and many opportunities here in America, something that she would not have in Ethiopia. We were able to tell him that she would be well cared for and have all her needs met here. He is also a believer and was excited when we told him we were also. Overall it was a great experience and well worth the 6 hour dive!! We spent the night there and headed back the next day. On Monday we headed back to the orphanage to get Miya and attend her going away ceremony. The nannies make a cake and all the kids sing to the ones that are leaving. They also dress the kids in traditional Ethiopian clothes for the ceremony, it was very cute!



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After the ceremony she came with us and we spent the rest of the trip hanging out with her and allowing her to get to know us. She did really well and was never afraid of us. She also did great on the plane ride home, better than me!! She's also done really well at home and with her new sisters. They only time she seems to be sad is at night when she cries some. Other than that she is doing great!! And adjusting to American life really well. She loves water and playing outside! Her English is coming along and it amazes me at how much she understands us already. So here is a new family picture of us!!