nerdygirl

Dancing tractors!

rebecca — 2008-04-14T11:22:14-08:00

Thank you, Canada!

Word

rebecca — 2008-04-10T14:20:14-08:00

Jasonaut was right. WordToYour.com is my new favorite site. OK, so he said it in March... I'm a bit late catching up.

Home again?

rebecca — 2008-04-07T15:40:15-08:00

Hachiya (photo by bsterling)

There is something incredibly surreal about a one week trip to Africa. We left on a Friday morning and returned home the following Saturday morning. It's weird enough without the added time zone craziness of arriving in Portland one hour after leaving Frankfurt... somehow, that one hour involved ten hours of airplane travel. The mind boggles.

So far, my mind has pretty much been alternating between boggling and sleeping. I slept a fair portion of yesterday and Saturday, waking up at one point to wonder why Ransom was in Africa, once my eyes focused enough to make out his face. Disorientation isn't necessarily all that fun; it makes me glad I never got into hallucinogens.

Today, I'm fairly well readjusted to place, if not time. My head is once again aswim with plans for gardening and home repair projects. I've caught up on reading work emails, so I have a rough idea of what I'll fall into when I return to work on Thursday. Right now, though, I'm off in hunt of a persimmon tree. Who knew it would be so hard to find a hachiya persimmon tree? Portland seems to be all about the fuyu variety, and those don't work as well for my grandma's super special cookie recipe. Silly Portland.

Quick update

rebecca — 2008-04-03T12:35:48-08:00

I'm afraid my tummy's a little off at the moment and it's past my bedtime, so this is just a brief update to say we had another great day and are on our way home tomorrow. We still have to pick up the kids' visas at the German Embassy, which is a gigantic pain in the rear. Hopefully, all our paperwork is in order and we will have no further problems with that!

It's difficult to believe that our time here is up, although there are certain things about home I'm really looking forward to. Brushing my teeth with tap water sounds so fancy and exotic right about now. But there is much beauty here in Ethiopia and I truly hope I have a chance to come back some day.

OK, ciao for now. I'm off to get a good night's sleep... I have to rest up for something like 22 hours of travel tomorrow.

Whirlwind Wednesday

rebecca — 2008-04-02T13:38:07-08:00

We finally found a decent restaurant

So many activities today! We started the day by going back to CWA and dropping off gifts. The kids are all so extremely generous, they gave most of the toys and fruit snacks and things that Brooke and Ben gave them. It was very impressive and a true mark of their character that they are so giving. They had wanted to go back today because some of the nannies work different shifts and wouldn't have been there until today. We took photos of the kids with their nannies, but unfortunately weren't able to take photos of other kids in the orphanage, as it's strictly against the rules. It's too bad because I had a couple of buddies there and they were awfully cute.

After that, we headed to the German Embassy to sort out transit visas. This is a very stupid thing. It's only Germany (not all of Europe as I thought yesterday) that requires a visa for Ethiopians who are changing planes in Germany. The thought is that they are taking advantage of the surge of Ethiopian adoptions that has happened in recent years and are viewing it as a way to make money. Whatever the cause, we have to return to the German Embassy tomorrow with copies of passports, US visas, plane tickets, birth certificates in English and Amharic, court papers in English and Amharic, six live chickens, and a stein of beer. Seriously, it's ridiculous. They won't even be leaving the airport. This law went into effect April 1 and there's a chance we could skip doing all this and just hope for the best in Frankfurt, but it's definitely not worth the risk. So we will grumble and comply.

After the German Embassy, we went to lunch at another Italian restaurant. The two main signs of the Italian occupation that I've seen are Italian restaurants and the use of the word, "Ciao!" The restaurant we ate at was called Blue Top and definitely caters to us ferenge. Marta and Addisu were laughing at my ferenge sunburn today. "Habesha no sunburn," they said.

An injera basket is a must for a family of eight with three Ethiopian children... Luckily, the kids know how to make it!

Then we went shopping. We got some new threads, which are awesome, and baskets, "church umbrellas," toys, games, trinkets, googaws, etc. The shopping areas of the city are somewhat spread out, and our driver, Dawit, does not think it's a good idea to go to the mercato. I think with three kids and three white people, it would cause a certain amount of mayhem. We still want to go and look, but he said we definitely don't want to buy anything there. "Listen to your driver" is a rule that was stated again and again and we all have to agree that he knows better than us, so we might get out and look a bit, but will not be buying much of anything at the mercato. Ben did a great job haggling with some of the shopkeepers today, and Dawit helped us with the rest. At times, he seemed to have fun helping with the haggling; at other times, he seemed like it was kind of a pain. He's a wonderful guide, and has made our trip far more fun and easy than it would be without him. We love Dawit.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Fastika with several of the other families who are here picking up their adopted kids this week. The kids very much prefer Ethiopian food to western food, although Esrael is still digging the french fries. Fanta, Coke, Pepsi, and Sprite are all well liked, as well. The food was excellent, although Brooke and I ordered way too much food and had to share with the rest of the group and Marta. I'm afraid we were rather a more boisterous bunch than the rest of the families there. But I sort of liked that, too.

The kids continue to be wonderful, funny, and charming. Addisu is very smart and studious, but quick to laugh and smile and make fun of his younger siblings. Brooke taught the kids to flap their hands and say "blah blah blah," and that's been a source of much amusement. Addisu frequently says, "Marta, blah blah blah," and doubles over with laughter. Marta is very affectionate and sweet. She laughs when her brother makes fun of her... most of the time. She sings a lot, with her lovely voice. It's wonderful to hear. Esrael is quite the little dude. He has many of the mannerisms of an older boy, but the silliness and cuteness of a boy his age. Like the other two, he is quick to smile and can probably charm the socks off of just about anyone. Today, when he called me on the phone, he got my name right, but apparently had the mouth piece in the wrong place. I bet he'll have it down by tomorrow.

Embassy. Check.

rebecca — 2008-04-01T12:11:54-08:00

Everyone had fun reading emails from Danny and Lilly

Today, we went to the American Embassy. It was my first time in an embassy and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. I expected it to be a little more grand, I think; a little more like a really nice bank at home with marble or some kind of attention to the details of the architecture. It was more like a 1950's institutional building; all function, no form. We were screened quite heavily on the way in and anything computerized or unrecognizable was confiscated until later. For instance, Esrael's Etch-a-Sketch was held until we left. Weird. The paperwork is all done, though, and there were no hang ups at all. Hurrah! We will go pick up the kids' American visas tomorrow. We will still have to get transit visas from the German Embassy -- as of April 1, Ethiopian citizens have to have a visa just to change planes at European airports, and the kids won't become American citizens until we're back in the states. What a crock.

This morning, before the Embassy, we went to the Ethnological Museum, which is in Haile Selassie's old palace. It was great for the kids to see some of the history of their country, although a lot of the things in the museum seem to be currently in use. I'm not sure they'd ever been to a museum before. One of the docents there was very kind and took us around and explained the exhibits in both English and Amharic. Addisu seemed to really appreciate it; the younger two didn't necessarily seem as certain, although Marta was quite excited about injera baskets. Injera is a bread that is eaten here with most meals. It's essentially used in place of forks; you use the bread to pick up food and then put it all in your mouth. It's quite tasty and it turns out that Marta and Addisu both know how to make it, which is not easy. Brooke is quite relieved that she's off the hook for learning how to make it straight away. Aunt Rebecca is also relieved that she's off the hook; the original plan was for me to ship some off from one of Portland's Ethiopian restaurants on a regular basis.

This afternoon, while I rested in my room, the kids went through all the stuff Brooke and Ben brought to donate to the orphanage where the kids stayed. They grew very excited at the thought of giving things to the nannies and the kids there, and even threw in the blankets that Brooke and Ben brought for them. Esrael wanted to call Danny on the phone, but since Danny was still sleeping, he called my room instead. "Hello, Danny!" he said into the phone and I could hear his big smile. "I love you, Danny!" he said, while Marta and Addisu laughed in the background.

For dinner, we decided to go to the Crown Hotel to watch the dancers and hear the music. Unfortunately, this wasn't to Marta's liking. Soon after the dancing started (but luckily after we'd finished eating), Marta wadded up some paper napkin and put it in her ears to block out the music. We asked Addisu if it was bad music and he said, "Yes." Unsure as to exactly how it was bad, we decided we'd better pack it in for the evening and asked for our check. Brooke went out first with Addisu and Marta and asked Dawit, our driver, what was wrong with the music. She said the answer was that it wasn't church music; the kids were apparently raised to be very devout Protestants. There was a very surreal moment on the way back to the hotel where the kids were all singing in Amharic as we sped past the tin walls of various compounds, shacks, people sleeping on the street, ultra modern clothing stores, banana stands, etc. It was poignant background music for the scenery out the window, as I wondered what will happen when the kids find out that I do not believe in God and even live with my boyfriend without being married. I think we won't tell them that until they've adjusted to some of the other changes that are about to come crashing down upon them.

There were many funny and fun moments from today. One that I quite enjoyed was showing the kids a photo of my cat on his tiny couch. They doubled over with laughter at that. Here, animals might be kept, but they are not regularly fed, bathed, petted, or given names. I think they're mostly kept around to keep rodents away from the house. They most certainly not given tiny couches upon which to lounge in front of a heater vent. To be sure, my cat is given better care and treatment and more regular feedings than a good portion of the people here. What a world.

Another thing the kids enjoyed today was reading emails from Danny and Lilly, their new brother and sister. Danny, I'm not sure if Esrael understood about you giving him a giraffe, but he will definitely understand when you give it to him! Lilly, Marta is very much looking forward to meeting you!

Ah, the internet

rebecca — 2008-03-31T14:28:09-08:00

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.