I miss Ethiopia.

Videos like this one make me want to do more. 

http://www.vimeo.com/13948413

Seeing someone like the lady in the video who has given up her life in the United States to move to Ethiopia moves me.  What can we do to continue to make a difference?  We won't be moving to Ethiopia anytime soon (although if we could move there for a year or so, we would), so we have been left to ponder how we can help those that need it most. 

I will never forget driving through Addis Ababa on our way to Addy's orphanage on our first day there during this past trip.  The rain was coming down in droves and we were along side a garbage truck that two young boys had jumped onto the back of.  Our driver said that kids often do that in hopes that when the truck stops they can find food or anything of value amidst the trash.  The boys couldn't have been much older than Parker.  It was heart breaking. 

I miss Ethiopia.  I would go back tomorrow if I could.  I want to be able to spend a week or two there doing whatever we can to help.  As I have said many times, my favorite part of our trips to Ethiopia has been the time we were fortunate enough to spend in orphanages.  Seeing the smile that results from giving the kids a sucker or showing them their picture on a camera is awesome. 

I find it interesting that I can always seem to come up with what I deem the right words to describe the escapades that happen with our little ones, but when it comes to topics like my feelings for Ethiopia, I get writers block.  I can't seem to put together sentences that adequately convey my feelings for the people of the Ethiopia.

If you ever get a chance to go experience it for yourself, do it.

Looking back at our trip to ET.

Our trip to pick up Addis was one that I met with great anticipation and a fair bit of apprehension.  Not unlike our other Ethiopian adoption experience, I was concerned about how our little girl would react to her new surroundings, how she would adjust after leaving the only home she has ever known, and what she would think of Sara and I. 

After our well documented and very enjoyable trip to Dubai, we were off to meet Addis.  We were greeted with poor weather in Ethiopia, which was the theme for the week as during the winter months it rains every day.  Not a light shower, a very heavy downpour that doesn't like to let up.

Shortly after arriving and getting settled into our hotel, we were picked up along with two other families who were also off to meet their new children.  Our first stop was at an orphanage we visited last year as well.  For me, there is nothing more enjoyable and at the same time heart wrenching than visiting with the very sweet children living at El Olam.  The kids are incredible.  They are so sweet, so beautiful, so innocent, and so much fun to spend time with.  One little girl and one older boy who we met last year stole our hearts again.  It was bittersweet to see them.  On one hand we were glad to get to know them all over again, and on the other hand it deeply saddened me to know that another year had gone by and they had not been one of the lucky ones that had been adopted.  I just love all of the kids there and had such a fantastic time interacting with each of them.  I miss each of them already.

After that visit, we made one other stop at our agency's transition house, the house that children stay at while waiting for their families to come pick them up, and then we were off to Miskaye.  The drive to meet Addis seemed like it was taking forever, which was only amplified by the fact that we were involved in a minor traffic accident on the way there.  We were warmly greeted by the older children at the orphanage who sang us songs before we made our way in to meet our beautiful baby.  Once in the baby room the workers played a little game with us where we had to pick which one was Addy.  We were searching for the big hair that we had seem from the pictures and neither of us was able to locate it.  Low and behold, they had recently shaved her head because of an illness.  I would be lying if I said that didn't really disappoint me.  But she was beautiful nonetheless. 

The rest of the week was honestly a bit of a blur.  Addy was not a big fan of me.  Presumably, she had never been around many men, so the sight of me, the sound of my voice, the mere fact that I was in the same room as her caused her to cry for the first few days.  It was rough.  She was comfortable with Sara, although she never wanted to be put down.  Sara pretty much had to hold her at all times.  It was taxing on both of us, but we made our way through it. 

In my dreams, I pictured this fantastic moment when we met each of our children.  The moment where Parker jumps into our arms, where Lleyton and Addy smiled and laughed and cooed at the first sight of us.  That didn't really ever happen.  Each meeting was unique.  Lleyton was very sick when we first met him.  Parker seemed very scared when being introduced to us.  And Addy just seemed very apprehensive about me.  With all of that being true, each one of them blossomed into the child that we dreamed of.  Parker is crazy smart and adores his siblings.  Lleyton is the most entertaining kid we could have imagined, and Addy is simply irresistible.

I could write for days about our experiences.  I did my best to keep a journal from our trip, but it is a little long winded for the blog.  So here are some of my observations and memories from our trip to meet little Addy.

• Ethiopian coffee is very strong.  I am not a coffee drinker but gave it a shot while at dinner at some friends of ours parents house in Addis.  After two teaspoons of sugar and some Coffeemate, I liked the taste.
• We love Ethiopian food, but ate mostly Italian food while in country.  Out of the fear of getting sick, we stuck to a pretty simple menu of pizza and spaghetti.
• Ethiopians are incredibly hospitable.
• The poverty that exists in Ethiopia is gut wrenching.
• Fly Emirates.  It is the best airline in the world.
• Dubai's international airport is the nicest we have ever traveled through.
• Addis is probably confused about what her name is.  At any moment I may call her any of the following names:
• Addis
• Lidya
• Addis Lidya
• Addy
• Lidy
• Addy Lids
• Liddy Lou
• Baby Sister 
• Traffic in Ethiopia is insane.  I consider myself a good driver and would not be willing to get behind the wheel over there.
• I find it hard to say no to people begging for money in Ethiopia. 
• Ethiopians can dance.
• I wish I had a smaller camera at times, because I found myself not wanting to lug around our big camera on this trip.  Hence, we didn't get alot of pictures during our time in Ethiopia. 
• Having an infant again is rather daunting.  I kind of liked being past the diaper changing and bottle feeding. 
• I like lentils.
• I don't enjoy being away from my boys for extended periods of time.  I missed the heck out of them.
• Riding in the back seat of a late model van through the streets of Ethiopia is not good for one's stomach.  The roads are in dire need of some tender loving care, which accompanied by a very uncomfortable van leads to some touchy moments.  Add in the constant barrage of deisel fumes and it is a lethal combo.
• The Internet in Ethiopia in pretty much nonexistent, hence no posts while we were there.
• I love my kiddos to no end.

We're back!

After a very long day (or days, I have lost track of time) of travel, we made it back to the States with Addis Lidya in tow.  I am running on fumes at this point, so details of the trip will follow, but I am happy to report that even though it doesn't look like it in the following picture that was taken as the boys first me their Baby Sister, Addis loves the boys and the feeling is certainly mutual.

In case you think it looks like Addis' head was shaved, you are correct.  We arrived at the orphanage on Monday evening to find our baby girl had been shaved bald.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't very disappointed that had happened.  We have continually been telling each other that it will grow back (hopefully quickly).

___________________________________________________________________

Here was the crew that joined us at the airport (all of my family). 

By the looks of this picture, Lleyton is going to be tough to pull out of the pool this week.

Notes from Dubai

As much as we wanted today to go quickly, we are now wishing someone could just bring Addis to us here.  This place is incredible. 

No stone went unturned when building this city.  We spent a good part of the afternoon relaxing by the pool.  Then we made our way over to the Dubai Mall, which was very impressive.  I am not typically a mall walker, but today I was.  What was our first stop when we finally figured out how to get into the mall?  You would be right if you said the Gap.  We flew 8,000 miles to shop at the Gap. 

We strolled through the mall before heading to the top of the Burj Khalifa.  I am glad to report that I was able to navigate the outdoor viewing area on my own two feet.  I am not a big fan of heights, but I conquered the world's tallest building. 

You might get two different answers if you ask Sara and I what the coolest part of the mall was. 

I would say the huge fish tank in the middle of the mall.

Sara would say the huge candy store across the way from the huge fish tank in the middle of the mall. 

Can you see the shear joy on her face as she is attempting to shift my attention from the fish to the candy?

Before I saw the sign saying that you couldn't take pictures in the store, I snapped a quick shot of a little slice of heaven.

Our only strategic error of the day was our choice for dinner.  TGI Fridays.  Why did we eat at TGIF when there were 30 other options?  I am wondering the same thing.  But if that is the only error we made all day, I can live with that.  Speaking of Fridays, one of the servers asked us where we were from and we said the United States.  He then asked where so we told him we lived in Kentucky.  He thought for a minute and said, "Oh, KFC!"  The Colonel is well known even in the middle east.

After our trip to the mall and to the top of the Burj we took in the fountain show right outside of both buidlings.  I caught it on video but my battery is running too low to upload it right now.  Hopefully later.  Picture the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas, only better.

Here is the building that we scaled today.

Our alarm is set for 4:30am tomorrow, we arrive at the airport around 6:00 and hope that we don't get charged for having too much luggage.  The issue on the way here was that in New York, the airline told Sara her carryone was too big, so we are going to do our best to get it on the plane without paying the stiff fee.  Cross your fingers.

Addis, here we come.

When in Arabia...

We can now adding visiting the desert in the Middle East to the list of places we have been lucky enough to see on this adventure that we call the last few years.

Dune bashing was awesome.  I took lots of pictures, but they really don't do any justice to the magnificance of the desert. 

Now we are off to relax by the pool for couple of hours (or minutes due to the extreme heat).  Then we will be off to the Dubai Mall (world's largest mall adjacent to the world's largest building) to try to find another carryone piece of luggage.   We are concerned about being charged for too much luggage tomorrow, which could cost us $175 and I can think of alot of other ways to spend that kind of money.

One step closer to Addis Lidya.

We have arrived in Dubai.  We were greeted by sweltering heat, but it was equalized by very efficient air conditioning.

As cold as Russia is in the dead of winter, it promiseses to be equally hot here tomorrow as we venture out into the desert in the morning and checking out the sights and sounds of Dubai in the afternoon. 

Our hotel is about a driver and an 8 iron from the Burj Khalifa, so that was quite impressive to see as we drove by this evening. 

Tomorrow promises to be very enjoyable but we can't help but want it to go by quickly as we are very anxious to get back on an Emirates flight bound for Ethiopia.  The long leg of the trip is now behind us and knowing that she is only a 4 hour flight away feels very good. 

If you are making a trip to Dubai, I highly recommend the Qamardeen Hotel except for the fact that I am unable to watch the Americans take on Ghana.  Maybe that is a blessing in disguise and I really should retire for the evening.

If you happen to see our boys, tell them we miss them greatly and can't wait to bring their sister home.

By the way, forgive me if there are alot of misspellings in this post, the spell check told me every word was misspelled because I am typing in English and it is looking for misspelled Arabic words.

Leaving tomorrow

We leave tomorrow to go get Addis.  That is a bit hard to believe. 

We are busy making our final preparations for the next two weeks away from home, so I don't have a ton of time to write about all of things we are feeling, but let me tell we are excited to get back to Ethiopia.  We are excited to meet Addis and create memories that we will never forget.  With that being true, we are also not looking forward to leaving our boys for an entire week.  It's going to be tough to say goodbye to them (I am sure it will be more difficult for Sara and I than them because they are so excited to get to spend the week with their Grammy and Pop).

How could I not miss these two fellas...

I mentioned creating memories.  Sara and I feel very fortunate to have the priceless memories of our first meetings with Lleyton and Parker, and the same will be true for Addis.  I am looking forward to writing an email not unlike the following one that I sent to our families and close friends during our last trip to Russia. 

I will be doing my best to update the blog during our trip.  That being said, the Internet in Ethiopia if far from reliable, so my fingers are crossed.

Hello again from Russia,

Sara and I arrived in one piece on Sunday night after


crossing the Atlantic Ocean and then traversing the


English countryside via bus. Our flight got into


Moscow at around 8pm and, lucky for us, two other


flights arrived right around the same time (one from


Seoul and one from Warsaw). So the small baggage


claim area at Sheremetyevo 2 became even smaller. We


made it through that and my luggage even came with us.






We spent Sunday night in Moscow and Monday morning we


rendezvoused with the Colles for a day on the town.


It was quite enjoyable actually, Red Square is very


impressive. We did a few of the touristy things like


going into St. Basil's Cathedral and walked through


the Gum, which is an incredibly nice shopping mall


right on Red Square. We scouted out areas for family


pictures on Thursday and of course had a meal of food


at McDonalds on Red Square. The arches are


everywhere.






Last night, Monday night, we flew from Moscow to


Samara on the 9:30 flight which put us into Samara at


around midnight local time. We finally arrived at the


hotel, our home away from home, at approx. 1:30am


local, 4:30pm EST.






After a brief sleep we were up for what we thought was


going to be a day of sitting and traffic and filling


out paperwork. To our surprise, the paperwork was


very minimal and we were able to pick our little buddy


up this afternoon. Thus, I am now the proud father of


a beautiful little boy. He is absolutely perfect. If


Sara and I could have drawn up a blueprint of the


perfect little guy, he would have fit that description


wonderfully.






We arrived at the orphanage around 1pm maybe. We


spent about an hour there playing with him and picking


up up some paperwork. The orphanage doctor even took


us into the new children's room that they are about to


open so that we could see the curtains that our


donation on the last trip paid for. She was very


thankful that the Colles and Sara and I made such a


generous donation. So that was very nice to see.






The exit from the orphanage was a bit sad actually.


All of the caretakers came and said their goodbyes to


the little guys. It is because of these hardworking


women helped to make our Lleyton who he is to this


point. So to see them as sad and happy at the same


time while watching the boys leave, was a bit surreal.










Lleyton was enamored at first with the car ride back


to the hotel (I am not sure that he ever left that


orphanage other than the two trips he made to the


hospital). But very soon after we left the orphanage


he fell right asleep into his mother's arms.






He has been so playful all day and he has not even


thought about crying once. We ate dinner with the


Colles and he just had a ball playing with a couple of


the toys that we brought for him. The one difficulty


we have run into in the brief time that we have had


him is that he is not too sure he likes formula. But


I just hung up with our doctor in Cincinnati and she


said that was normal, and just try to give him whole


milk or anything else and she will assess the


situation next week when we go to see her.






The gist of this email is that we couldn't be happier


right now. We have the child that we have always


wanted and our journey back home will begin very soon.


We are leaving here tomorrow to head back to Moscow.


We will have a doctor from the US Embassy come by our


hotel tomorrow to examine Lleyton. Thursday is an off


day, so we are really looking forward to getting him


out on the town and taking a bunch of family pictures


in his homeland. Friday we visit the US Embassy so he


can get his visa and then Saturday we are on our way


home.






We can't wait to get back home and begin our lives


with this little guy and we certainly look forward to


being able to introduce him to everyone. Thanks so


much for all of the help and support that each of your


has given us over the last year.






I am going to head back upstairs now to start learning


the words to more Raffi songs and hopefully nail down


some of those more difficult Wiggles dance moves.






Hope all is well back home, see you soon.






Matt, Sara, and Lleyton

Recap of our trip to Ethiopia (better late than never)

Before I forget all of the details about our trip, I figure I need to write about it. It's a long post...

Our trip began on Saturday morning, May 30th, with a quick flight to Washington DC. We hung around the airport there so we could meet the other family we were traveling to Ethiopia with. After getting to know them briefly, Sara and I set off towards downtown DC, as we had a 10 hour layover and thought we should at least head down and take in a few sights. I had read and heard about how down to Earth the Obama family was, so we were a bit surprised not to see them walking the streets, grabbing some ice cream, or playing catch in the in the National Mall.

After our time had expired in DC, we boarded the Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Addis Ababa, with a quick stop for fuel in Rome. The total duration of that flight was about 15 hours.

Upon arriving in Addis, we joined about 6 other families who were staying at the same guest house as us and headed towards our accommodations. That is our 8 pieces of luggage in the foreground of this picture. The 5 big suitcases were full to the brim of orphanage donations. Thank you again to all of you that helped make all of those donations possible.



We stayed the first night in the Ethiopian Guest Home. Guest houses in Ethiopia are homes that people have built or remodeled that serve as sort of a bed and breakfast for adoptive families. Most adoptive families stay in one of the many guest houses throughout Addis. After trying to get settled in and sorting through all of our donations to the orphanages, we laid down for for our last night of sleep before meeting Parker Lelesa. Upon waking up the next morning, we were greeted by a beautiful day and a very cold shower.

As we found out right away, the power supply to the city goes out very often in Addis, thus leaving no way to heat the water. Needless to say, we took quick showers. We then did our best to contact our adoption coordinator, as we were to meet her that morning to visit an orphanage and ultimately meet Parker. Along with the power going out very often, so too do the phones. So we battled through that for about an hour or so before finally getting ahold of her and receiving our instructions as to where to proceed to.

This was the view from our balcony at the guest house.



Our first stop, and arguably the most enjoyable stop of the trip, was to an orphanage in Addis. We had such a nice time meeting and playing with all of the children. They are such great kids, and almost all of them are still in need of a loving home. I reflect on all of the life changing experiences we have had over the last two years during our trips to Russia and Ethiopia. This visit to the orphanage in Addis ranks right at the top. These kids are so happy and well behaved and yearning to be one of the lucky ones who have parents coming to pick them up and take them to America. The need throughout the world for adoptive parents is almost too great to comprehend, but when you get to spend quality time with a few of those in need, and you get to see them smile and just act like any other kid, it becomes much more clear.

After our time at the orphanage we took a short ride through the outskirts of city to the house that Parker was living in with his other friends that were also waiting for their new parents to arrive.

This was a very common sight when driving through Addis.



Parker was taking a nap when we arrived, so he was a bit tired when they brought him out to meet us. We spent a few minutes with him outside before following him inside to meet all of the others that lived there with him.

Upon seeing how much Parker and the other family's daughter enjoy being together, and seeing how comfortable their hotel was, I began to try to work my magic and switch our accommodations from our guest house to their hotel. Thank goodness the owner of the guest house was very understanding, and allowed us out of our commitment.

Quick note: The Ethiopian Guest House, the house we were staying in, is very nice, and the staff is second to none. If you are interested in staying in a guest house, I highly recommend it. (www.ethiopiaguesthome.com)

It was just that after getting to Ethiopia and meeting Parker and starting to get to know him, we decided it was in everyone's best interest to try to stay in the same place as the other family, and stay in the most comfortable setting we could. Frankly, the process of adjusting and getting to know an older child that you have just met, and you are now trying to parent, is difficult under any circumstances. So, with that being true, we didn't want to add to the difficulty by taking him away from his friend for the week or by having to worry about hot water for showers, or the internet or phones being down.

The next couple days of our visit included lots of pool time, plenty of shopping, and the all important Embassy visit. As in Russia, the Embassy visit was a breeze. You jump through so many hoops in the world of international adoption, I think it is only right that the US Embassy tries to make the final step in the process relatively painless.

The sights and sounds of Ethiopia are something I will not soon forget. The conditions in which people live, and by many accounts, live happily, are far from conditions that I have ever seen before. The poverty is mind boggling. The love Ethiopians have for each other and openly share is eye opening (it is not uncommon to see two men walking down the street hand in hand). The pride Ethiopians take in their culture is something unfamiliar to me, as we were stopped numerous times by locals that would come up to Parker and hug and kiss him and wish us well, all while asking us to keep his culture strong. The intrigue in children's eyes when they see a white person is unforgettable. On more than one occasion, a small child walked up to Sara and just gently touched her arm, almost seemingly wondering what a white person felt like.

On our last night in Ethiopia, a group including us, the other family we were traveling with, our adoption coordinator and her daughter, and a couple of others made our way to a restaurant for an authentic meal and a performance by some very entertaining and talented Ethiopian dancers. It was a very enjoyable meal. I was also quite pleased to be able to enjoy a couple Ethiopian beers at dinner.





Our last afternoon consisted of lounging by the pool and having a nice meal before heading to the airport. Parker and his friend enjoyed a large plate of injera, and enjoy it they did. The devoured it. It was alot of fun to watch.







Parker definitely wanted to make sure that Daddy tried some of his Ethiopian food as well. I, of course, obliged.



The flight home, although extremely long (16 hours from ET to Washington, DC), was fairly uneventful. Parker slept a bit, we read some books, and Parker realized how loud an airplane toilet is (he is not a big fan of that noise).

In summation, I really enjoyed the relatively short period of time we spent in Parker's homeland. I am excited about one day, hopefully soon, venturing back there and experiencing it all again.

Hotel vs. Guest House

We experienced both during our trip and would recommend Hotel

In preparing for our trip to Ethiopia we had been told many times that adoptive families should stay in a guest house in Addis and refrain from visiting the two big hotels. We were told that it was frowned upon for Americans traveling to Ethiopia to adopt to stay at those hotels. So, with that, we took that advice and booked a room at one of the guest houses for our stay in Ethiopia.

We did stay in the guest house for our first night. Let me say the guest house we booked was nice and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. It just wasn’t as comfortable as we might have envisioned. In Addis, it is commonplace for the power to go out almost daily, thus there are many occasions of not having hot water for showers. That happened to us the first morning. The internet connection at the guest house was virtually non-existent, which made it very difficult to communicate with family back home.

A guest house is similar to a bed and breakfast. The one we stayed in had about 6 rooms, each occupied by an American family staying in Addis for an adoption. Each of the other families staying at the guest house were from the same agency (not the agency we used). Their agency told them that they were not to take their children outside of the guest house at any point during the week other than for the embassy appointment. I cannot imagine traveling all the way to Ethiopia to pick up Parker and not being able to leave the confines of the place we were staying to experience Ethiopia with him. Some of the most memorable times we had in Ethiopia were when we were walking around the city experiencing the culture and enjoying some of the restaurants and shops.

After our first night, we went and met Parker and picked up him from the transition house. From there we went with the other family we were traveling with to their hotel, the Sheraton. The hotel was fantastic. After seeing the hotel and noticing how well Parker and the other family’s girl knew each other and enjoyed playing together, we pulled a few strings and moved into the Sheraton. This was the best decision we made while in Ethiopia.

The transition of just getting Parker and getting to know him was difficult even in Addis, but being in a place that we were comfortable made such a big difference. Having the staff at the Sheraton, who were incredibly nice and loved talking with Parker, was such a valuable commodity. Not only was the hotel perfect, the staff was second to none, the pool area was invaluable, as we learned how much Parker enjoyed the water, and the restaurant was reasonably priced and the food was above average.

I would recommend that any family traveling to Addis to adopt look into their options for lodging. The Sheraton is very expensive, but if you can find someone to offer you a friends and family discount, as were lucky enough to have, the price becomes much more reasonable. The extra money we ended up paying to move to the Sheraton was money very well spent, as having a comfortable place to stay was very important for us. It allowed us to focus solely on Parker and getting to know him.

Welcome home Parker Lelesa

After a whirlwind trip to Ethiopia, we are now home with Parker Lelesa. We are doing our best to get things settled down a bit, but I am guessing it is going to take awhile. One of these days I will post all about our trip to Africa, but I don't feel I have the time to write the never ending post about our trip. The trip was nothing short of life changing.

The kid eats everything (except chocolate, cheese, and ice cream). He was asked at lunch the other day, in his native tongue, what food he likes to eat. He answered with "whatever they put in front of me." We can certainly attest to that. He would stuff his mouth with food until he almost gagged. We quickly learned how to say small bites, tinnish.


On a previous post I deemed him strikingly handsome. I am sticking by that.


One of the images I will never allow myself to forget. These women hike to the top of a mountain in search of wood and other things, and then back down with it on their backs.


He doesn't mind being the center of attention every once in awhile.


Traditional Ethiopian food, injera. It has the consistency and feel of a wet shammy.


Don't worry about Parker Lelesa being afraid of flying, as this was him shortly after takeoff jumping around acting silly.

We're off!

As hard as it is to leave Lleyton behind, we know he is in good hands. We are excited to get to the airport and begin this 36 hour trip to Ethiopia. Wish us luck!

WE'RE OFF TO AFRICA

I JUST GOT THE CALL. TB TEST WAS NEGATIVE, OUR EMBASSY DATE IS JUNE 2ND! WE FLY OUT MAY 30TH. THAT IS JUST OVER ONE WEEK. WOW!