We were picked up in the a.m. by a driver to take us to the CWAE compound to talk to the counselor about Addis & Mulu. She affirmed that Steve & I need to be there for the girls as Addis especially was quite attached with her father. We need to fill that hole for her as much as we can.
While we were there the counselor asked if we wanted to see the girl's compound and we said, "Yes!" She walked over there with us and as soon as we entered the gates the other girls flocked around our girls. Hugs and kisses abounded. We were taken in and shown where the girls slept. They slept in different rooms from each other because of age. Kind of sad that they weren't kept together, but that's my perspective.
When we were done touring the compound the staff came around us and prayed for the girls and for our strength as parents. They laid hands on us and they prayed. It was very powerful and emotional to hear even though we didn't understand a thing they were saying. It was from their lips to God's ears.
We walked back to the boy's compound and told our driver we were ready to go. He took us to Churchhill Rd. to buy some dresses and then to the Kaffa House to buy some coffee. Steve loves the strong Ethiopian coffee and says it's "high octane."
We went back to the hotel when we were done so we could rest and get ready for the embassy appt. Our embassy was successful. We were questioned as to a death certficate for the mother. We don't know how, when, where or what she died from, so there was no way we could have produced a death certificate.
We found out that the passports/visas would be delivered on Thursday morning so we headed to the Hilton where the Ethiopian Airlines ticket office was able to chang our flight from Friday to Thursday with a $100 fee each for me & Steve. We just had a longer layover in D.C., but at least we would be back in the states.
When we got back to the Sheraton we went to dinner at Breezes. We had pizza, of which I scraped off the cheese because it was gross. I didn't realize I had such a picky palate, but I've figured out my mouth doesn't like international travel. It's American born and raised.
Lights were out at 8pm. We would wake up about 3am and stay quiet so the girls could sleep.
Tomorrow: Swimming & visiting the KVI orphanage
Thanks for the details....waiting for tomorrow. I've been going to youtube they have videos that teach the Amharic language SALAMTA > means Greetings, they even have the Our Father Prayer in Amharic, the only thing you almost have to be a good artist to write out their alphabet three dimensionally.
ReplyDeletewell take care, God bless you all ,I'm envious of the weather your heaving, it was nice a few days last week now it's got chili again.