Well, after 27 hours we made it home! The last 3 hours were difficult for me again...I was having some intestinal issues (likely from the malaria medicine) and let's just say that having the bathroom 20 rows back was not a pleasant thing! :-)
We arrived home at 1ish and were so excited to see the girls (and my parents) at the airport! We came home for about an hour, then drove to a lawyer's to get our updated undertaking notarized, then we couriered it off...there goes another $350 for lawyer, courier and embassy!
We managed to stay awake until 7, then fell asleep the second our eyes closed. I woke up at 3, but managed to fall asleep again until 6:15. I am happy to be home and to have slept so long - we were getting used to sleeping with so many sounds (dogs, cars, cats, Muslim call to worship, etc.) that it is so nice to have silence again!
Anyway, we are so glad to be home and so thankful for your support over this time. I will be editing posts to include pictures and provide more info on our travels up north. I will also update it when we get info on our court dates...so check back again sometime! :-)
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Addis, Thur
Well, we flew back to Addis today. We had to be at the airport at 7:30, wait for 2 hours and then go on a plane for 40 minutes. The flights have been great and punctual, but the huge wait beforehand seems a bit excessive.
Anyway, we managed to get some last minute donations and use up all of our money while in Addis today. KVI no longer accepts VISA so we will have to wire money over to them later. We only had 51 birr left at the end ($3?).
We are leaving in 2 hours for the airport, and then it will be another 27 hours until we're home. I'd appreciate prayers during this time. I don't do well traveling that long - on our way here I felt trapped/panicky the last hour of the flight and was miserable when we first got here. I am soooo looking forward to being home, though. I miss the girls so much. Looking forward to catching up with everyone soon!
Anyway, we managed to get some last minute donations and use up all of our money while in Addis today. KVI no longer accepts VISA so we will have to wire money over to them later. We only had 51 birr left at the end ($3?).
We are leaving in 2 hours for the airport, and then it will be another 27 hours until we're home. I'd appreciate prayers during this time. I don't do well traveling that long - on our way here I felt trapped/panicky the last hour of the flight and was miserable when we first got here. I am soooo looking forward to being home, though. I miss the girls so much. Looking forward to catching up with everyone soon!
Bahir Dar, Wed
Hi all. We got up at 6 and left by 7 to drive to Bahir Dar from Gondor. Surprisingly, the road was great, smooth pavement and even some guard rails. 2 bridges had broken so we had to go around those, but it was no problem. Bahir Dar was great - we stayed in a fantastic lodge. Oddly, even though it is a large town of ~300,000 the internet was slower than the dial-up at the Guesthouse...so again I'll update later.
Gonder - Tue
Hi all. Internet was out in Gonder so we didn't have a chance to post. We had a great time looking at the royal enclosure, Fasilades' bath, and an old church. I'll post more when we're home and will attach pictures.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Lalibela
Hi everyone - we are in Lalibela right now. We left the guesthouse at 5:00 am (I'm seeing way too much of 4 and 5 am on this trip, I remember before we left I thought 6:00 am was bad!) in order to catch our flight to Lalibela. The plane was surprisingly big (a Canadian made Bombardier) and the flight itself only took about 40 minutes. The weather here is really hot and sunny. Once we checked into our hotel (Jerusalem Guesthouse) we looked at the rock-hewn churches. They are truly amazing - words can't do it justice so I will try to attach pictures when we get home. We had a lunch break and rest, then went to see the second set of churches. There is such a rich biblical history in each of the churches - pictures depicting so many stories from the bible, and the design of the buildings also reflect stories.
We finished our tour around 4, and after doing our email we will watch the sunset from our balcony (the views here are so beautiful, we are up on a mountain overlooking the valley below), have a quick supper at our hotel and then have an early night.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Gonder and will look at the ancient castles there. Even though the flight is about 30 minutes and we're not checking bags, they want us at the airport 2 hours early. I think we'll be tired of airports by the end of this trip!
Although we are SOOO sad we didn't pass court (my eyes filled with tears just as I thought of it again) we are happy to be able to see more of the country and learn of the rich history. At home, 100 years seems old...the churches we saw today have been estimated at being constructed in 1100 AD, and some of them possibly even 800.
Anyway, the sun is going down...we will have a fun Valentine's Day celebration sunset!
We finished our tour around 4, and after doing our email we will watch the sunset from our balcony (the views here are so beautiful, we are up on a mountain overlooking the valley below), have a quick supper at our hotel and then have an early night.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Gonder and will look at the ancient castles there. Even though the flight is about 30 minutes and we're not checking bags, they want us at the airport 2 hours early. I think we'll be tired of airports by the end of this trip!
Although we are SOOO sad we didn't pass court (my eyes filled with tears just as I thought of it again) we are happy to be able to see more of the country and learn of the rich history. At home, 100 years seems old...the churches we saw today have been estimated at being constructed in 1100 AD, and some of them possibly even 800.
Anyway, the sun is going down...we will have a fun Valentine's Day celebration sunset!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Next few days
Hi all. Well, the news is starting to sink in. I went from anger to frustration to despair to depression to sadness and back again more times than I can count. The implications of not passing court: we don't get to see Mebira again until we pick her up, we aren't able to give her our gifts (although we can leave them here for when we do pass), we can't tell her who we are or who the girls are, the process is delayed for at least 6 weeks or more, and it seems that once it gets in the cycle of not passing court they keep finding new things to be picky about.
I'm trying to not be too much of a spoiled brat about this. Members of the birth family were in the same room as us yesterday, and when I think of them and what led them to this point I realize that things could be so much worse. Also, the support of friends here and the many emails from you and the fact that there are 4 families who are going through this together helps as well.
We're just about to head off to book our tour. We leave on Monday and fly to Bahir Dar on Lake Tana and will visit lots of churches there. The next day we go to the Blue Nile Falls, hopefully see some hippos and then drive to Gondor where there is an ancient castle. After that we fly to Lalibela where there are ancient, rock hewn churches that each have a replica of the ark of the covenant. On Thursday we fly back to Addis, and then fly back home again late that night.
I'm a bit nervous about this trip - we're not exactly adventurous travelers and the idea of an all-inclusive is more our style, but it will be great to learn more about Ethiopia and the amazing culture and history here. There is a rich history - Ethiopians claim that when the Queen of Sheba went to visit King Solomon that she came back pregnant and thus the royal line of Ethiopia was started. (Or so I remember reading)
Today we'll do more shopping (coffee and spices), go to church tomorrow and then we're off...
I'm trying to not be too much of a spoiled brat about this. Members of the birth family were in the same room as us yesterday, and when I think of them and what led them to this point I realize that things could be so much worse. Also, the support of friends here and the many emails from you and the fact that there are 4 families who are going through this together helps as well.
We're just about to head off to book our tour. We leave on Monday and fly to Bahir Dar on Lake Tana and will visit lots of churches there. The next day we go to the Blue Nile Falls, hopefully see some hippos and then drive to Gondor where there is an ancient castle. After that we fly to Lalibela where there are ancient, rock hewn churches that each have a replica of the ark of the covenant. On Thursday we fly back to Addis, and then fly back home again late that night.
I'm a bit nervous about this trip - we're not exactly adventurous travelers and the idea of an all-inclusive is more our style, but it will be great to learn more about Ethiopia and the amazing culture and history here. There is a rich history - Ethiopians claim that when the Queen of Sheba went to visit King Solomon that she came back pregnant and thus the royal line of Ethiopia was started. (Or so I remember reading)
Today we'll do more shopping (coffee and spices), go to church tomorrow and then we're off...
Failed Court
Well, it is with a very heavy heart that I write that we did not pass court today. A document (our undertaking) that has been used by Imagine for years now, and was approved and passed for another family 2 days ago, was suddenly deemed unacceptable this morning.
We now need to get the letter redone, resign it, redo our statutory declaration for $400 and then hope and pray it makes it for our next court date on March 21.
I am very frustrated and sad right now...it is hard to understand how things work down here.
On another note, some people have said they can't post to my blog. I've set it so that I need to approve all comments before they show up on the blog and as I can't access my blog from here (I only post via email) they aren't showing up yet. Don't let it stop you - I look forward to reading all comments when I have access again.
We are looking at booking a tour and getting out of here. We may be offline for a while, depending on when we leave.
We arrive home Friday afternoon. Thanks again for your support and prayers...we still trust that God can make the best out of this, even though it's hard to see it right now. But in the darkest days of my miscarriages I didn't see it either, and it is because of that that we were open to adoption in the first place. Until next time....
We now need to get the letter redone, resign it, redo our statutory declaration for $400 and then hope and pray it makes it for our next court date on March 21.
I am very frustrated and sad right now...it is hard to understand how things work down here.
On another note, some people have said they can't post to my blog. I've set it so that I need to approve all comments before they show up on the blog and as I can't access my blog from here (I only post via email) they aren't showing up yet. Don't let it stop you - I look forward to reading all comments when I have access again.
We are looking at booking a tour and getting out of here. We may be offline for a while, depending on when we leave.
We arrive home Friday afternoon. Thanks again for your support and prayers...we still trust that God can make the best out of this, even though it's hard to see it right now. But in the darkest days of my miscarriages I didn't see it either, and it is because of that that we were open to adoption in the first place. Until next time....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)