Ah, the internet

As occasionally happens in any country, my last blog post was lost. I will have to sum up briefly, as I'm quite tired now and would like to get some sleep: paperwork was signed, other kids from the orphanage were played with and may or may not be seen again in the future. We visited Ben's cousin's adopted children's family's house (did you get all that?). It was wonderful. The grandmother was so very happy that her grandchildren are in America and going to school and are taken care of. She said many times how blessed she felt. Our driver, Dawit, was awesome and did a lot of translating for us. We delivered the gifts that were sent over with Brooke and Ben and she was very happy to have a photograph of the whole family; she didn't open the rest while we were there.

To put things in perspective, a lot of people want their children to come to America. They see it as a wonderful opportunity, rather than a splitting up of a family. For instance, the woman who braided Marta's hair the other day asked Brooke if she would take her son back to America. Just like that. My brain can't quite wrap around the notion, but I'll keep thinking about it and will let you know if I ever make sense of it, of a country full of people who want their children to leave and have better opportunities. A country of at least 12 million orphans from AIDS alone. It's devastating.

The kids all spoke up more today and are growing less shy. Marta and Esrael enjoyed a boisterous swim this evening while Addisu sat poolside and studied English. I think he's figured out our accents because he seemed to understand a lot more today and was doing a lot of translating for his younger siblings. They're all very smart kids and I have no doubt they'll be fluent in English in no time.

My personal bad news of the day (trivial though it may be) is that my camera battery died and I don't have the specialized charger that it requires. It's hard to admit that I am that stupid sometimes, but there you have it. The charger is sitting somewhere at home in that mythical "safe place" where I put things so I don't forget them. Unfortunately, I never can find the "safe place" once I've put something there... It's kind of like a reverse Room of Requirement, if you're a Harry Potter fan. Luckily, Brooke and Ben have a camera that they keep forgetting to use, so I can steal theirs. It takes regular batteries and they have spares, so we're good for the rest of the trip. Dad, I did try and suggest that we get more photos of me, but we all agreed that the kids are so much cuter; it doesn't make sense to waste the battery power.

Speaking of power, I'm afraid my eyes are drooping and I need to recharge myself for tomorrow. We're going to the Ethnological Museum and to the embassy for visas and whatnot. I'm sure I'll have more to tell you when we get back.

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Details

There are so many details I want to collect and share, but unfortunately, it's impossible to get them all in. A few things have slipped through the cracks, though, and I thought I'd post about the ones that come to mind before the day begins and I encounter six thousand more details that I'll never be able to tell you about. This trip has been an amazing experience (especially now that I've had a full night's sleep!) I can't wait to see what days two through six bring! If you ever have the chance to be a part of something like this, do it.

One thing I forgot to point out is that I'm posting photos to my Flickr account. I'm hoping to upload photos every night, but I doubt I'll get to titles and captions any time soon. I chose my favorite 100 from yesterday, so be prepared to skim!

Other details I'm happy to have collected:

• As we boarded the Egypt Air flight to Cairo, they were playing "I Think We're Alone Now," and it very well may have been the Tiffany version, though there was something different about it. Maybe it was a dance mix?
• Speaking of getting diverted through Cairo, that a stroke of luck as it gave us a chance to arrive with all seven pieces of checked luggage. Otherwise, it might would have had to stay in Frankfurt until we returned... apparently there's a new law that says luggage and passengers have to be on the same flight in Europe. The flight was also pretty empty, so we were all able to stretch out across multiple seats and sleep.
• In Cairo, amidst the confusion and passport waving, Brooke kept grinning up at me and asking, "Isn't this exciting?" It really was, even though it was crazy. I heart adventure.
• Brooke and I haven't spent this much time together non-stop since sometime around 1993, so it's especially weird to be in such foreign parts of the world with her. It's great.
• At the hotel, the staff is incredibly friendly. Every time you pass one of them, they say, "Good afternoon" (or morning, etc. depending on the time of day). For some reason, I really like it, and I always say, "Good afternoon" right back.
• I spent $20 on sunblock yesterday (SPF 50, baby!) Somehow, all three of us managed to forget to pack sunblock. What a bunch of idiots. The Ethiopians must just laugh at that, since they don't need sunblock themselves.
• We played at the playground yesterday. On the swing set, none of the kids knew how to pump their legs. So much to learn!
• At dinner last night, Addisu observed me putting my napkin on my lap and did the same with his napkin. I can't imagine all the Western etiquette these kids have to learn on top of everything else. They were all very polite and started to eat their pizza with a knife and a fork until I told Addisu he could pick it up with his hands. They all seemed pretty relieved.
• Addisu, Marta, and Esrael have three of the most beautiful smiles in the world. I'm glad that we see them so often.

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Mission accomplished

Left to right: Esrael, Brooke, Addisu, Ben, Marta

We came here so that Brooke and Ben could pick up their newest children, and today we did just that. It was very emotional... At the hotel, right before we went down to meet the driver, Brooke asked me, "What if they don't like me?" That question flickered through my mind over and over as the day unfolded.

We went to the boys compound first. The drive over gave us our first real taste of Ethiopia, as it was very quiet and dark when we drove to the hotel at 3:30AM this morning. (Was that really only this morning?) On the way to pick up the kids, the van was approached by begging children at a stoplight. It was very difficult not to give them money or at least buy tissues from the one who was selling them. I still debate with myself whether or not it would have mattered if I had.

At the boys compound, Addisu was waiting right inside the gate and gave his new mom a gigantic hug. It was a beautiful moment. He then moved on to hug his new dad, while Esrael snuck up behind. I motioned to Brooke to look behind her and a millisecond later, Esrael was engulfed in a new mom hug, as well. Because of the language barrier, a good deal of today's communication consisted of big hugs and kisses.

Addisu and Esrael showed us the bunks where they've been sleeping, and around the transition home. They were there for about four months, which is longer than most... All of the kids who live there already have adoptive parents lined up through CWA; I believe they're normally moved much closer to their pickup date, but in this case, they were moved much sooner.

Then we walked about a block and a half to the girls compound, where Marta was waiting. She threw herself at Brooke and began to hug and kiss her a lot. Marta is a kissing machine! I can't wait to see her and Lilly together, trying to out-kiss each other. After Ben was treated to a round of hugs and kisses, we went to see where Marta had been staying. The girls compound was a lot more emotional, as some of Marta's friends and even the nannies were crying by the time we left. She and the boys will clearly be missed very much. We will go back on Wednesday to take some more photos and deliver gifts that Brooke and Ben are carrying for other parents who are eagerly awaiting the day when they can pick up their kids.

Because there were so many of us, and one other mother who was picking up her two children today, we went back to the boys compound to wait for the driver to take them to their hotel and come back for us. Ben, Addisu, and Esrael got quite a game of soccer going, while Marta showed Brooke how she helped with the babies. I sat in the shade, leaning against the building with a few of the smaller boys who were very cute and made me very sad. It was an orphanage scene right out of a commercial, with flies landing on their faces, and one boy playing with a length of broken down tube of hard plastic (maybe from a hula hoop... it was too destroyed to tell). I played with them a bit, and noted that one of them kept patting my skin, presumably because it's white. Marta did the same thing later in the day. Knowing that all the kids there already had parents lined up made it a lot easier to avoid tucking one inside my jacket on the way out. (Don't worry, Jesse, I'm still not planning to bring home a baby!)

From then on, it's been a world of firsts for Addisu, Marta, and Esrael. The Hilton is pretty darn fancy, even for Brooke, Ben and I. It's not that everything is perfect, but it's a giant resort. Tomorrow, when it's light out, I'll try and post photos of the views from our rooms. From Brooke and Ben's room, you can see the pool and palm trees and the grounds of the resort (the compound of which is guarded by a guy with an AK-47). From my room, you can see dusty tin rooftops and a bit of new construction. It's a vastly different world in here. And so the kids had their first elevator ride, after what was possibly their second car ride ever, after meeting their new parents for the first time. They were given new clothes and swimsuits, a stuffed animal each, books, backpacks, sunglasses... They probably haven't ever had much in the way of possessions. They also probably haven't ever had to try and remember as much English as they have today. Addisu and Marta both speak some English, but they were also shy and, presumably, tired, scared, and sad today. Marta especially seemed a bit sad after her teary goodbyes at the home.

Another first: I believe Esrael is the world's newest lover of french fries. His mischievous grin appeared frequently as he devoured a few handfuls of them at dinner tonight. None of them seem to share Danny's love of ketchup, but he'll have a lot of time to convince them of its merits.

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Changing planes in Cairo

What we were warned about didn't actually happen. A fellow traveler heard our conversation at the ticket counter in Frankfurt after we missed our connecting flight. Lufthansa booked us to Cairo and then on to Addis from there. I don't remember his exact words, but the man asked if we've ever been to the Cairo airport before. We said we hadn't and he gave a little, "boy do I have news for you" nod. He warned us about the fact that it's difficult to find your way around, and that there are two airports, which I later saw referred to as both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 or old airport and new airport. There's a shuttle that runs between them.

The Lufthansa agent was "pretty sure" that our flights in and out were from the same terminal. This turned out to be true, much to our surprise, and we thought, "Great! Now we just have to get off the plane and find Gate 5; we already had our boarding passes and everything. Easy as pie. But we were not in any way prepared for the Cairo airport.

Our Egypt Air flight out of Frankfurt took off a little late, and therefore got in a little late. We had about 50 minutes to make the checkin time for our connecting flight. Having just spent five or so hours in Frankfurt due to a missed-by-five-minutes connection (which involved much running), and having been traveling for over 24 hours already, we were pretty sure that missing another flight would cause some unpleasant emotions to arise. The plane taxied up to a spot on the pavement -- none of those accordian-style mouths that suck passengers out of planes in Cairo, just a gigantic parking lot for jumbo jets.

As we descended the stairs, buses awaited us. Ben asked a guy twice about getting on our flight to Addis. "To transit" was what he was told. I heard this repeated quite often. "Transit," or "to transit." Not knowing at all what we were doing, we boarded the bus and crossed our fingers.

Along the way, we had met a guy named Assefaw (sp?), an Ethiopian name meaning "to grow larger." His grandmother picked the name; he was her first grandchild, and his birth expanded their family. I couldn't remember his name the first time I heard it, so I kept thinking of him as Bigger. Bigger was also on his way to Addis, and had more experience traveling over here than us, so we wanted to make sure we got to where he was. He was on a different bus, but we spotted him through a window as a bus pulled up to the baggage claim building and figured that must be the right place.

This building was crazy with people. We walked in to about 15 drivers with signs, waiting to pick people up. Baggage claim was straight ahead, there was a security checkpoint off to the right, people standing, people rushing around, people waiting. We made our way over to Bigger, a few people pointing over in that general area and telling us, "transit."

So we waited there for a bit, having no idea why. A bus eventually came and got us. We followed the crowd into another building and went through security. I chose the "keep walking and don't make eye contact" method of getting through, which worked quite well. We then ended up in the most chaotic line I've ever been in. It wasn't a line, per se, but rather a large group of people waving their boarding passes and passports at a guy behind a desk. It reminded me a little of footage of the stock market trading floor. The man was busy processing approx. 35 passports for one woman, the clock was ticking and we still didn't know where gate 5 was. Some people put their passports down on the counter, only to be ignored by the man. Some then picked them back up, making disgruntled comments. Many people sort of wandered around, complaining, or stood off to the side while their travel companions sorted out whatever it was we were supposed to be doing.

Ben and I got a little pushy and veered off to the right of the desk to see if we could push our way closer. It was clear that any attempt to maintain an orderly queue was not going to work here; the Cairo airport could learn a lot from the British in that respect. Eventually, finally, another man came and collected passports for people traveling to Addis. Phew! We handed them to him, and got Bigger's passed along, too. The whole thing in that little room with the crowds of people pushing around a desk, and then two desks, seemed to take an eternity, but we were finally off to Gate 5. Hurrah! One more run through security, and we were in the waiting lounge. On the way through security, Brooke said, "Thank YOU," to the security guard in her exaggerated school teacher way. He made fun of her, repeating it back with much emphasis on the "YOU." It was nice to see some friendly smiles in Cairo, amidst the more serious security guards and the placid people checking passports and boarding cards. Ben says I earned a nasty glance from one of them when I giggled at one of Brooke's jokes. Oops.

We sat in a waiting area for awhile, and then had our tickets and passports checked again as we filed out to a bus that would take us to the plane. The guy checking tickets said, "Have a nice day," to Brooke. His smile and the way he said it made it obvious that he was joking around with her, too. I was teased about this American habit when I was in England long ago, and I find it funny that other people think it's so amusing.

So, long story short, the bus took us to our flight (late, but we were the first busload of people to get on), we got to Addis Ababa without incident, and a guy from the adoption agency was there waiting for us. We're all checked in to the hotel, safe and sound, and I have broadband access, which is neat (although my laptop battery is dying and Brooke has the converter upstairs, so I need to post this now before it's lost).

Apologies for the rambling, but I started the journey with 2 1/2 hours of sleep and haven't gotten a ton since then. I guess the moral to this story is, if you ever have to change planes in Cairo, good luck!

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Delayed. Ugh.

Our flight was delayed, so we're waiting in Washington D.C. to get on our next 6-hour flight. We may miss our connection on to Addis Ababa, which would suck. We're pretty certain that our checked luggage isn't going to make it there at the same time as we do, though I suppose stranger things have happened.

My hope is that we make our connection. Otherwise, we will get in six hours later than previously expected and throw in an extra flight, as we'll have to travel through Cairo. Ugh.

It still doesn't seem as though I'm going to Ethiopia. I'm hunkered down for a whole lot of airplane travel and nothing much beyond that. Too bad our fare class doesn't let me collect frequent flyer miles!

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And, we're off... sort of

I took yesterday off to get everything packed, so I'd get a good night's sleep and be on my way today. Of course, there was a lot to be done in a day, so despite the fact that I didn't dilly-dally, it was after 2:00 by the time I got to sleep. I worried quite a bit about waking up at 5:00, but between excitement over going to Africa and all the water I drank right before bed, I had no trouble at all. Staying awake will be a challenge, but as I'll be on planes for most of the next 28 hours, I don't see that as being much of a problem.

I'm traveling with Brooke, Ben, and a mountain of luggage. Seriously, we checked seven bags and are carrying on a small piece of luggage and a backpack each. I think I counted somewhere between 15 and 20 bottles of infant Tylenol that my lovely friends donated (thank you!) or Jesse and I purchased; those are nestled safely in a suitcase filled with baby clothes and a few of my old clothes which will be donated to an orphanage.

Our flight has been delayed by a couple of hours, so we're hanging out at PDX, waiting for our flight to depart. We're reportedly not in danger of missing either of our connecting flights, so there's no worry there. I think we're all just relieved to be on our way. Although I have to confess, it still doesn't seem like I'm on my way to Ethiopia. I've never been to Africa before, so it's quite exciting, but not real yet. I wonder when it will be...

A before picture, taken around 6:30am. Why am I awake?

This is the guy who took our photo. He was very nice.

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Adoption ambassadors

This is the neat part. My sister has been forwarding me emails from her new web friends who are also adopting from Ethiopia. She put me in charge of compiling requests for pictures of people's soon-to-be kids, just as others did for her while she was in the waiting portion of the adoption process. Here are some of the things they've said:

"I am so glad you got the package. I really do not expect anything more from you than if you will give the gift bag to someone that will get it to the children. HOWEVER, if you do get to check in on my children could you make sure that they know that we love them... and we are doing everything we can to come get them."

"If you see the sick one, tell her I love her.... I am excited to come to get her. I am so sad that she is not well, but we will help her heal. She is in my heart and my prayers.

"[My husband] and I would love it if you could snap some pictures of our little [kiddo]! You and your hubby (and whoever else are with you) have our full permission. Also, would you mind checking if he still has the taggy blanket and stuffed giraffe we sent over for him? Tell him we're on our way!!!! :)"

"Could you girls take a couple of pictures of [my adoptive son] for me? And if you happen to swipe your video camera his direction that wouldn't be so bad!! :) ... I really just want you to hug him and tell him his Mommy and Daddy are coming.

I find myself wondering how many emails just like this my sister and her husband have sent over the past few months, while they've waited for paperwork, and then court dates, and then embassy appointments... If I'm not mistaken, my sister met most of these people over the internet. How lovely that they are all helping each other out in this way and making these connections. I feel very lucky that the simple act of taking a photograph will bring such happiness to an expectant mother and father. I look forward to helping.

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Three things that are more exciting than the weather

I'm very excited to meet Adisu, Marta and Esrael (sometimes spelled Israel -- my sister keeps swapping back and forth). Aside from meeting them, it will be great just to know how to pronounce and spell their names!

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Blue skies ahead

Hmm... I'm really starting to look forward to my trip to Addis Ababa.

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Outnumbered

Let me tell you a thing or two about my sister. Outwardly, Brooke looks like the incredibly warm-hearted mother, wife, teacher and church-going person that she is. She has a great sense of humor, although the two of us drive her husband, Ben, nuts sometimes when we giggle like the elementary school kids Brooke teaches. You wouldn't look at her and necessarily think that therein beats the heart of a crazy woman. And yet...

With three children at home, all under the age of 7, Brooke and Ben have officially adopted three Ethiopian kids, Adisu, Marta and Esrael. Their approximate ages are 14, 11 and 5, but I've certainly heard different guesses for all of their ages. The adoption process has involved a lot of paperwork and waiting, but today my sister received confirmation that the courts in Ethiopia have approved the adoption. Now the only thing that remains is to go pick up Brooke and Ben's three new children. Holy cow!

I'm going to Addis Ababa with Brooke and Ben, a trip which has suddenly started to seem like a reality. My arms have bravely withstood the vaccination process. Polio, tetanus, hepatitis? Please. Not a chance. But until today, the trip hasn't seemed at all real to me. It's been more like when I say to Ransom, "We should go stay in an ice hotel sometime." It's a nice idea, but it's hard to imagine it will actually happen. And yet...

I've got two new nephews and a new niece, and I'm going to Ethiopia with Brooke and Ben. Hot diggety!

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Mood: sick

The day I found out my cousin Meghan died, back in January, I went to her MySpace page. The thing that caught my attention the most was two words under a photo of Meghan and her mother. Mood: sick. With a little frowny face. How terrible that still seems to me. I don't know exactly what took Meghan's life other than that she had the flu and was having trouble breathing. I know that she was in the car on the way to the hospital when her heart stopped beating and it did not start again. Meghan had heart problems all her life and had an artificial heart valve for much of it, but still... it was just the flu.

When I think of Meghan, the memory of her that stands out the most was when we got in trouble with Grandma Campbell. Meghan was about 11, which means I would have been about 17. She was staying with our grandmother for awhile and I would take her to the movies or to get frozen yogurt or wherever you take an 11-year-old cousin when you're 17. On the way back to Grandma's house, we got into a bit of a routine. When were about two blocks away from the house, Meghan would take over at the wheel of my Mercury Topaz and drive the rest of the way. There was no traffic on the street where we started and Grandma lived down a private drive, so there was never any traffic there. At family gatherings, this story would inevitably come up and cause Meghan and I to laugh as we remembered the way it all ended: Grandma was watching out her kitchen window one day when we pulled up. Oh, she looked so stern and unimpressed!

Meghan and I weren't in touch all that often, but I read her MySpace blog posts, and she occasionally commented here as Meghan or The Baker. I, of course, took it for granted that she'd always be around. She was only 26. It is heartbreaking in many ways, particularly for my Aunt and Uncle who lost their daughter. They were both in the car with her on the way to the hospital; I can't begin to imagine the feelings that evokes for both of them.

Whether you believe Meghan is with Yaweh now, or a god by another name, or that she simply continues to exist as a bright memory for those who knew her, she is missed.

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