Ethiopian Adventure #2, Day 5

Day 5

We were up early to catch a taxi to Wolliso this morning.  Breakfast at the guest house and then on the road.  Kevin, “T”, our friend/social worker and I were the only ones making the trip.  The drive there was around 2 hours.  It took a while to reach the edge of the Addis Ababa.  It is a HUGE city.  Once we reached the countryside the scenery changed dramatically.  We left the bustling city with vehicles going every which way, people walking and the constant noise.  We were in the countryside with green fields, small huts and fresh air.  We drove through several small towns along the way. Life seemed much different there verses the big city.  

We finally arrived in Wolliso and drove to the orphanage where Miss “M^” lives.  It was a small orphanage that seemed to have a capacity of around 20-30 children.  We walked through the gate and were met by the orphanage director.  A family had sent a wheelchair for a child who was in desperate need of an adequate chair.  I was so busy looking at the reaction of the orphanage director that I didn’t see “M^” coming around the corner.  Suddenly she was 5 feet in front of me and I couldn’t get my arms around her fast enough.  Even though we had met her before, this was the first time we saw her as our daughter.  Seeing her this time was just as magical as meeting “T” for the first time.  One of those silent crying shaking moments.  I just couldn’t let “M^” go!  We were invited into the office space.  They had prepared a coffee ceremony for us.  We, of course, were very honored.  Good thing Kevin and I REALLY like our coffee.  I think we have coffee 3 times a day.  That might explain why I’m not able to sleep at night . . . and the new nervous twitch I’ve developed (JK).  Anyway, we were served coffee and talked with the orphanage director.  We discussed “M^”s health and her life at the orphanage.  We talked about other children that might possibly be referred through the agency we’re with.  Our social worker and the director got down to business.  That meant that we needed to go hang out with the kiddos.  Yeah!

 The Kitchen

 Play Area

 School Room

 TV Room

 Outside the Orphanage

 Dinning Room

Kevin and "M^"

A dear friend had sent bracelets for the children.  Another friend some candy.  We had purchased some little toys to bring as well.  We let “M^” pass them out to the other children.  All of the kids were very excited to receive these gifts.  “M^” was even more proud to be passing them out.  She had a look of pure joy and pride on her face.  This was HER family visiting HER and letting HER bring gifts to the others.  It was awesome!  Kevin was very popular as he had his smart phone.  He took pictures and let the kids see.  I think every kid no matter where they are from is fascinated by a smart phone.  That was all so much fun.  However, the coolest part about all of this was watching “M^” with the photo album we brought her.  We looked at it twice with her and named all of her sisters and the rooms in the house.  Then she took it to show the others.  She already had her sisters names memorized and was telling the others.  She was so excited to show off her new family through that album.  We could tell that she is already VERY excited to be a part of our family and to be our daughter.  We are equally excited!!!

It was time to head back to Addis.  We were taking another boy from the orphanage back to the transition house as well as the orphanage director.  We set out again, but first we needed to have some dinner.  We stopped at the Negash Lodge in Wolliso.  It is a lodge with a restaurant attached.  Each hut that people can rent is a different style house from a different area of Ethiopia.  We ordered our food and then went and wandered around looking at the different houses.  Our food came and we went back and ate.  We found out that “M^” really likes orange soda.  Good to know!

 

 The School that "M^" attends

After dinner we saw some wildlife in the area next to the restaurant.  There was a goat-like animal and MONKEYS!!!  Our friend/social worker was almost attacked by the monkeys and there is some great video to back that up!  (Okay, maybe attacked is a little strong, but they were definitely out to get her/scare her!)  The day was getting late so we needed to get on the road.  I guess our driver was in a bit of a hurry and as we’re driving through Wolliso he ran through a crosswalk.  We were pulled over.  Nothing like getting pulled over in a foreign country when you do not speak the language.  The officer was going to confiscate the driver’s license, but the orphanage director struck a deal with the police officer.  We would take three hitchhikers in return for the driver not having his license taken away.  So . . . in come three men we didn’t know into our taxi.  That was a little unnerving.  But we’re still alive to tell the tale.  Anyway, if driving through the countryside of Ethiopia in the dark with three strange men in the back of the taxi isn’t exciting enough . . . we very barely missed hitting a cow.  A large cow.  With large horns.  Like had to swerve almost completely off the road to avoid it.  I know . . . living on the edge!

We dropped off our hitchhikers and made it safely back to the guest house.  It was an amazing day for so many reasons.  That night I couldn’t sleep.  Maybe it was the coffee.  Or maybe it was just the beautiful sound of listening to BOTH of my Ethiopian daughters sleep.