Day 4 (Tuesday)

Tuesday morning was an excellent morning for one reason: the first smile at me! Junie woke up laying next to me (the crib in the hotel room made me nervous!), so she opened her eyes, looked at me, and gave me a crooked “uh, so that wasn’t all a dream?” smile. She got pretty serious afterwards, but was in a good mood. She spent the morning being hesitant about everything…picking up toys slowly, watching me as if to say “is this ok?”


We had a lazy morning and then got her in a cute outfit (which were sorted ahead of time by Jana, paired with things that match!) to head to our Embassy appointment.


We met the rest of our group downstairs and got ready to go. I was a little intimidated…like I’ve said before, Jana is the brains around here, so I went through the diaper bag about a bazillion times to make sure I had the essentials: bottle, diapers, wipes, change of clothes, passport, paperwork, etc. I don’t know what I was worried about; 9 other families surrounded me, 8 of which I believe had kids in diapers! I could have freeloaded the whole week if I planned right! Just kidding…Junie rode in the Ergo baby carrier (which was the easier to put on of the two we brought, but less comfortable in my opinion than the Moby wrap) and did really well.

We climbed aboard a bus and were off. No carseats or seatbelts (which explains the absolute loathing with which she viewed them once home!) It was neat to see the city again as we had during the shopping trip the day before, but this time I was WAY more self conscious. Whenever we’d stop in traffic, I wondered what the general population on the street and in other buses thought of our bus full of Americans and Ethiopian babies. Some sources say that it causes problems to be out in public because the citizens don’t want their children taken out of their native culture, which is completely understandable. On the other hand, there are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. The Ethiopian culture is very focused on family; as a nation, they were once able to care for all the children who needed homes. Kids lived with aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc., but since famine and war have torn the country apart, there aren’t enough resources for all the kids to be provided for and the orphan rate has skyrocketed. I didn’t see any negative reactions about adoption, but we did get some strange looks just because we were American.

The Embassy is on the other side of Addis, so it was quite a drive. We waited outside on long benches, covered by an awning which was nice to have because there was a thunderstorm getting closer and closer. We went into the Embassy in groups and were led to a separate building that had a large waiting room and a TV in the corner. It cracked me up…Jana and I get hooked on Big Brother almost every summer, and on this TV there was a commercial for the show. I didn’t want to watch because I had been gone and didn’t know who had made the finals this season, until I realized the season they were advertising was about 3 years ago! I think they had some show like Extra or Entertainment Tonight on after that, which, given the condition of the city we were in, seemed absolutely ridiculous! Jon and Kate getting a divorce, blah blah blah….we’re surrounded by poverty, orphans, and an AIDS crisis people! No wonder Americans get a bad rap in other countries!

While waiting for our name to be called, Junie and I had some playtime. It was fun because she was trusting me more and starting to show a little of her personality. I put a blanket over Junie’s head and when I pulled it off, I received the biggest, most beautiful smile from her.

Our name was called and we went up a flight of stairs to a room with several windows. It was like a movie theater ticket window…you had to lean wayyyyy over to hear the questions they were asking through the little microphone, and even then I caught every 3rd word. The lady was very nice about it and was very patient. Everything was in order and we got her birth certificate and some other paperwork to take with us; that was it! We went downstairs where the rest of the group had taken to cheering when someone came back down. I wasn’t sure what the cheers were for; I realize now it was celebrating another step closer to being “official”, but at the time I thought, “Did they think I wouldn’t pass!? Do I look shady!? Do they think I’m on the border of unfit to parent!!!!????” Funny how your mind works in stressful situations…

That night, we had more time hanging out at the hotel and enjoying the other families and their new little kids. It was so great to be surrounded by such caring people who were going through the same experience.


The next day was a lazy day and the cultural dinner at night. More on that to come! Thanks for hanging with me!