Arriving in Ethiopia

We arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday morning. Before departing Cairo, we were pretty well adjusted to the time change (10 hours), but since we had a flight in the middle of the night (3:30am-7:30am), we left our hotel around midnight and hoped to sleep on the plane. Unfortunately we weren’t able to. We departed late, then had to make a stop in Khartoum which we didn’t know about, and they also served us two meals on the flight, which means more interruptions. Who serves a full roast beef meal at 4:30am? Ethiopian Airlines I learned!
We arrived at the airport, got our visas, exchanged money, got our passports checked, got our bags and cleared through security without much hassle. We were exhausted after not really sleeping at all the night before. Our driver arrived after a short wait, but the man arrived in an older Toyota Tercel hatch-back which clearly wasn’t going to hold all four of us, our five suitcases and our carry-ons. So we had to split up. Mom & I went in the first ride. The hatch on the car wouldn't open so he had to put our suitcases into the back through the front door and over the back-seat, and they of course then got stuck. Then the car almost didn’t start. It was almost comical. But all was good. Our destination was only about 15-20 minutes away, but Mom and I saw a lot in our short journey. I was shocked. I was told of the exact things I would see, but nothing could have ever prepared me for actually seeing it with my own eyes. We arrived at the guesthouse and the driver and the guards unloaded our suitcases –again through the front door. Mom and I were taken to our room, which wasn't quite what we thought. We had requested a room with two beds, and our room only had one bed. There was enough room to walk around the bed, but not enough room for our suitcases to be opened. Did I mention there was only one bed... for four adults and later a baby too? The room wasn't in the best condition and the toilet wouldn’t flush. Well we were able to get it to flush, but then it wouldn't stop running, so we finally turned the water off completely. We were a bit surprised. Mom laid down on the bed to rest while I went back to explain we really needed two beds. They were so nice and found some rooms for us at the hotel just down the street, which is owned by the same family. Unfortunately the rooms weren't available until 7pm, but that was OK.
Shortly after Sean and Dave arriving, we were told someone would be arriving in a few minutes to take us and some other families in our travel group to meet our kids, which was wonderful, as we weren't SCHEDULED to meet them until the following day, although I was secretly hoping they would fit us in the schedule a day early.
When we arrived, some of the other two families' kids came out right away and greeted them (2,3,4 yearolds). Then one of the nannies came out holding a baby, which we assumed was Olivia. There was some talk in Amharic, and then the nanny took her back in. They wanted to be sure which child was ours and came back out with her again a minute later. As soon as we saw her face we knew it was her! Of course it was pretty intense moment, but we got to see her up close, touch her and then we got to hold her. It was amazing. It was a bit strange to think that the child we were holding was really ours, chosen by God for our family, since we just met her, but it was a wonderful moment. We spent a couple hours there holding Olivia and playing with the other toddlers.
After we left the WACAP house we were taken to an Italian restaurant for a late lunch. This was one of the hardest times of our trip for me. I was exhausted, emotionally spent, shocked at seeing what I was seeing in the city which was so different from anything I am used to with the falling down buildings, the shacks, the poor people, the beggars, the horrid roads, the alley ways, etc. It was amazing. I thought I was prepared for what we were going to see, but I really wasn’t. I was afraid to eat any food for fear of getting sick and wasn't sure how I could live on bottled water for ten days (we were told what not to eat, but what COULD we eat? Turns out we could eat a lot!), unsure I would be able to handle our accommodations, unimpressed by the restrooms everywhere we had been so far (some which didn't flush, many without TP, lots without running water, soap, paper towels, etc). I was weak and broken. I wasn't sure I could do this, but I KNEW God wanted me right there, right where I was. I knew He had bigger plans for me, and that He had a daughter waiting for me. After lunch we headed outside to wait for our driver to pick us up. We waited and waited and waited. Ooops. He got busy at the office and lost track of time. He arrived over an hour later than he quoted. We were all a bit irritated and exhausted. Several of us fell asleep waiting. We finally got back to the guesthouse, but our rooms at the hotel still weren’t ready so the four of us laid sideways on the bed next to each other to take a MUCH NEEDED nap, but as soon as we laid down we got the giggles. It seemed a bit unreal that we were there and everything seemed so overwhelming and impossible, but yet it was very real. After our naps we were able to check into our new rooms at the hotel, which were in much better condition and MUCH larger than our original one-bed room!