Rick's Ramblings - Day 9 - Thu, 04/04/2013

Emily at the Clinic

Not a lot to blog about today and most of the photos I took are of the children in the care center and our daughter.  So I can't post any of those yet.  It was a nice relaxing day.  We needed one of those.  We realized that we've been going non-stop since we got here.  

We took our time getting ready in the morning and went up for breakfast.  They had Fir Fir, eggs, french toast, pancakes and cereal.  During breakfast we met some of Connie's friends from Facebook (The Coates' Family) who are here for court to adopt the little girl that has become one of Emily's favorite friends at the Care Center.  We are so happy for them and for their precious little girl.

After breakfast we gathered our things and headed to the Care Center.  We stopped along the way and bought some oranges (they're green on the outside and orange inside) and bananas for the children.  When we got there we just loved up baby sister and all the other children.  

We have gotten to know some of the older girls as well as the the toddlers and babies.  They are all on the same floor.  We have come to truly value our time at the Care Center with all of them.  

Emily is still taking over as nanny to all the children.  If one cries, she's there to help comfort.  If one grabs a toy, she goes over and tries to play.  If one spits up she gets a wet wipe or toilet paper.  She really has a loving and sweet spirit.

From the Care Center we took baby girl down to the medical clinic for an evaluation.  She did great and so did Connie.  They gave Connie a couple of prescription to help her out with her rash.  The doctor thinks she's having a slight allergic reaction to something.  Could be from fleas, bed bugs, something in the water or food, etc...  Hopefully the prescriptions will help her be more comfortable and clear it all up.

Fir Fir wrapped in Injera

After the clinic we had Brook drop us off at a little art gallery/restaurant near our hotel.  Emily had a cheese sandwich (mozzarella cheese melted between panini bread and toasted).  Pop pop and Connie had fried egg sandwiches.  And I had some traditional fit fit.  It was so delicious!!  

Then we went back to the hotel room and just relaxed for the rest of the day.  Just enjoying each others company and editing photos.  lol  :)

I'm really enjoying the traditional foods here in Ethiopia.  I've actually lost weight even though I'm eating a lot.  They don't have all the preservatives and processed foods here.  Every thing is naturally grown and nothing is genetically altered.  I can stuff myself on a traditional dish all day long and my body digests it so easily.  Not to mention all the walking we do here.  

Tomorrow is court and we're excited to pass court and then show you all the photos we have of baby sister.  As I type this it's just after 10p in Boise and 7a in Addis Ababa.  Our appt is in 6.5 hours.  So if you're up around 4/4:30a be thinking of us and say a few prayers.

I should have pictures posted by early afternoon tomorrow.  :)  Sleep tight and have a great night's sleep!

Outside the care center waiting for Brook

Motion tracking just for fun.

Rick's Ramblings - Day 8 - Wed, 04/03/2013

What do you think would be the best birthday you could ever have.  Well, today was my birthday and I can't imagine spending it any other way.  I was fortunate enough to be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  It's a 3rd world country and Addis Ababa is very much 2nd world.  There are approx 25 million people in Addis Ababa with another 2 million moving into Addis Ababa every year.  Yet today I felt like it was all about me.

Great Optometrist!

I woke up a little bit earlier today to get ready to meet Joel.  We went and finished my eye appt at the eye clinic.  It cost another 15 birr ($.75 USD).  I received a script and then we went looking for contact lenses.  We found one place in a mall but they didn't have any for my Rx in stock and said it'd be 3 weeks to order them.  We found another place called Vision Express near the Edna Mall.  They squeezed me in for a contact fitting and had contacts in stock.  The doctor spoke excellent English and was very well educated.  I would recommend him to anyone needing an optometrist.  All of his equipment was the latest and it was quick, maybe 20 minutes, in and out.  He did everything that I typically have done in the states.  The contact fitting, contact script, and one month supply was 470 birr ($70 USD).  In the states without insurance all of this would've cost me approx $300.  I told Joel that God used him to give me the gift of sight for my birthday.  It's been so long since I've had contacts and I've been wearing some really old glasses that are all scratched up from the camera.  :)  It's great to see clearly again.

Locals outside Care Center

After that we met up with the rest of the family at the Care Center.  Joel didn't know how to get there so I had to try to direct him.  If you aren't familiar with the streets of Addis Ababa, pull up Google Maps and take a look.  Not only are they every which way, there are very few road signs and most of roads look very similar.  Joel knew where the All-Mart was so we started from there.  I know what you're thinking, why not call the care center?  We actually did think of that and did try it but the calls weren't going through.  So we started driving.  I was able to remember the entire way from All-Mart and we saw the IAN sign from the street and found the care center.  Just as we were knocking on the door of the care center Joel's phone started ringing.  It was Pop Pop calling to give us directions to the center and see where we were.  :)

Pop pop, Connie and Emily had a challenge getting to the care center as well.  Our driver from IAN had a mechanical problem with his van and wasn't able to pick them up.  So the hotel provided a driver but they weren't sure were the care center was for sure.  Between Pop pop, Connie and the driver, they were able to figure it out and all made it there safely as well.

All of us with Betty

We had an amazing time with baby sister.  Connie laid down on the floor on her back and let baby girl lay on her tummy.  They had great eye contact time and baby girl just snuggled in to Connie.  When I got there Connie had me do the same.  So I laid down on the floor and had baby on my chest.  She snuggled in and grabbed my hand with hers.  Within a couple of minutes her eyes started drooping and she fell asleep on my chest.  It was very sweet.  After several minutes I picked her up and put her in her crib.  

Pop pop has made a great connection with one of the three year old girls.  She insists on crawling into his lap everyday and she doesn't want to get down.  Today after she sat down in his lap she grabbed his hand and wrapped his arm around her body.  It was very sweet and captured all of our hearts.  If there was any way for us to bring her home with us, we would.

Emily has been such a big helper to all of the nannies.  She loves helping with the children and mothering them all, especially baby sister.  She is going to be the best big sister ever!

After that we said our good byes to all the children in the care center.  One of the older girls is always so sweet to all of us and gives us all such wonderful hugs.  I'm so happy that her and her sister have a wonderful family that they'll soon be going home with.  All of the children have been so sweet.  We went downstairs and found an older wooden chair and had a fun little mini photo shoot with all of the children.  Unfortunately I won't be able to share those photos online.  But the families who are adopting those wonderful children will be able to have the photos of their children.  So it's a great blessing to them.

On their way home from school

We were all hungry by now so we headed out to lunch.  We had to make a quick stop at All-mart on the way, I was suppose to stay in the car.  Hmmm, I wonder what they're doing.  lol  I had to use the Shint Bet (bathroom, translated as Pee House).  So I wondered off on my own and found one and then waited outside of the All-Mart while they did their secret surprise birthday stuff.  I bought myself a treat while waiting and sat on the front step eating my chocolate creme cookies and drinking some water.  

I had a great time sitting there watching people interact with each other and seeing them go about their days.  A van pulled up with 4 women and a driver.  One of the ladies got out and went into the store and within a couple minutes came back out.  One of the store workers brought out two shopping carts of groceries and he loaded it into the van, then they left.  It probably only took about 4-5 minutes for them.  I thought that would be a great way to do your grocery shopping.  Call it in and pick it up.  Kind of a drive-through grocery shopping experience.

Birthday at Avanti's

Everyone finally finished up and we loaded into the car.  Next stop, lunch.  We decided on Avanti which is an amazing Italian Restaurant.  It's the best Italian food I've ever had and the restaurant was as classy and beautiful as most of our upper end restaurants.  We all shared each others dishes and I'd have to say, they were all equally amazing.  And it only cost about $42 USD.  A meal like that in the states would've easily been $80-$100.  After our meal they turned on a birthday song on the radio and brought our the small cakes that we'd bought at the store.  They put the cakes on long rectangle plates and drizzled strawberry sauce on it to make it a beautiful presentation.  Everyone was clapping and having fun.  It was a great birthday lunch.

Edna Mall

Then we decided to head downtown to the new Edna Mall area and do some walking around.  We walked through the mall and Joel took me to a shoe shop that he likes.  I like a lot of the styles of the shoes but when I tried them on, they didn't have a lot of arch support and weren't comfortable to walk in.  So I decided not to get any shoes.  Instead, Joel both some for himself.  :)  Then we ventured out and stopped for some coffee which was a coffee/cupcake shop right next to the Vision place I'd gone to earlier today.  We sat and had macchiatos and Emily had a strawberry smoothie.  It was nice and relaxing and helped wake us up a bit.

As we were leaving, some heavy dark clouds rolled in.  Just as we got to the car some heavy winds started and it began to rain.  It was similar to an Idaho down pour.  But here they said it was more of a spring shower for them.  The rain drops were huge and the streets quickly filled with moving water.  As heavy as the rain was it was hard to even see out the windshield.  There isn't a lot of grass here and the ground is so dry that the ground doesn't absorb the water and it just runs off.  They have a lot of problems with erosion here when it rains.  Because of the lack of absorption from the ground, enough water will build up quick enough to move rocks and create rock slides.

Macchiato

We came back to the hotel and it was starting to clear up.  A beautiful full rainbow appeared.  You could see both ends of it and it was gorgeous.  I couldn't find an angle to capture it with my camera without getting my camera wet.  So it'll have to remain in our heads at this time.  Maybe we'll get another opportunity.

We all ended up going to bed early and getting a great night's sleep.  Today was such a gift from God and I feel so blessed to have spent my 41st birthday in Ethiopia with my family and Joel.

Some of the care givers watching the children

Avanti's Mushroom Gravy Chicken

Avanti's Baked Tortelini

Avanti's Smoked Salmon & Cheese Ravioli

Avanti's Sampler Platter

Getting ready to enjoy lunch at Avanti's

Avanti's

Avanti's

A Rum Kahlua cake.

Birthday Cake

School Children.  Love the blue uniforms.

Greek Orthodox Church

I see UN & Unicef vehicles all around Ethiopia

I like the colors in this one.

Near Edna Mall

Avanti's

Fun Architecture

New Construction everywhere

I really like this angle

Leaving the care center.

Rick's Ramblings - Day 7 - Tue, 04/02/2003

Another fabulous day.  We woke up and hurried and got ready to go see baby sister.  All of us were excited to get there and love her up some more.  We went up stairs and had a great breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, fresh squeezed juice and macchiatos.  

Then we had Brook pick us up and take us to the Care Center.  We stopped at All-Mart (yes, Walmart with out the 'W') to get Emily a pair of shoes.  We also bought gum and balloons for all of the children at the care center.  Then we headed over there and spent a few hours with baby girl.

Mom & Baby

When we arrived at the care center, all of the babies were sleeping except ours.  She was ready to get up.  Connie was the first to hold her and she did great with Connie today.  Yesterday she cried a lot but today she was mostly content.  Emily, Pop Pop and I all played with the other children and with our sweet little baby girl.  It was a great time and ended even better.  It ended with me holding her and then Emily getting to hold her.  It was the first time for both of us.  Yesterday it was overwhelming for her to be held by Connie, so the rest of us had to wait until she was more comfortable.  Today was Emily and I got to hold and love her up.  It was so sweet watching Emily love up her little sister.

Connie was allowed to feed her and she did a good job too.  Baby ate almost every last bite.  Such a good eater.  It looked like some sort of cream of wheat cereal.  After eating we were all able to interact with baby sister.  She would reach out to my hands (Emily's too) and hold on.  She grabbed Connie's cross necklace and wouldn't let go.  It was very sweet and melted Connie's heart.  Baby sister was so content just being with mom today.

Mom & Baby

Two of the older girls who are waiting for their forever family (that Connie knows) drew us pictures today.  We told them yesterday that we knew their adoptive parents and the girls were so excited, they gave us big hugs.  Today they gave us artwork that they drew.  The did a great job.  They are such sweet girls.  I'm so happy to know that they will soon have a home to go to.

On the way out of the care center we gave all of the children balloons and gum.  They were all so thankful and appreciative.  We got hugs from each of the girls and some of the boys.  Tomorrow I'm going to try to spend more time with the boys and get some photos of them as well.  I already have some photos of the girls, but would like to get more of them as well.

Traditional Ethiopian Cuisine

Then we went back to the hotel and caught up with Joel.  He took us to a great little place were we had authentic Ethiopian food.  We had a sample platter with all sorts of great foods.  There was lamb, raw beef, more lamb, minced meat (kind of like ground beef), kit foo, shiro, and more.  Some of it is a bit spicy but I personally like that.  I tried the raw beef and thought it was really good.  I like all of it actually.  Something about eating with your hands that is just fun as well.  It was a great dinner and the best part was that it only cost about $12 to feed all 5 of us.

Next we went to the eye doctor for a new vision Rx for me.  I'm going to try to get some glasses and/or contacts.  The visit for the physician was only 50 birr (approx $2.75 USD).  I'm hoping contacts and glasses will be that way as well.  :)  If nothing else, I can bring the script back to the states and have a new script for this next year.  The third testing station was closed by the time we got there so Joel is picking me up in the morning to take me back when they open.

Kaldi's Coffee

After that we drove down to one of the Kaldi's Coffee houses.  There is one on every corner and is similar to Starbucks, even their branding.  The coffee was good and the ice cream was great!  We enjoyed ourselves sipping our coffee and enjoying our Gelato.  Again price was good.  We had 6 scoops of ice cream and 4 carmel macchiatos for about $10.

Joel at the Art Gallery

After coffee we made it to a little art gallery that also sells coffee and has a restaurant.  Connie found a couple of pieces of art that she loves.  We're hoping that we'll be able to bring one back for our wall.  She has a couple picked out that remind her of our journey, so maybe we will pick one.  :)

I'm off to bed and can't wait to get back to the Care Center to see baby girl again.  Only two more sleeps until court.  :)  We can't wait to get her home.

Thank-you all for following along and praying for us.  We're not home yet, so please continue your prayers and following our blog.

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Emily's Photo Journal

I started looking through Emily's photos today.  She is an up and coming photographer.  Enjoy her photo journey.

Dad's shadow

Emily positioned us then asked us to smile

Emily & Dad's shadows

Self Portrait

Self Portrait

Tri-Ominoes

This car costs approx $30k USD

Self Portrait

Self Portrait with gum

Funny faces with Joel

Funny Faces with mom

More funny faces with Joel

Funny faces with dad

Funny Faces with Pop Pop