Our Trip to Ethiopia

Well, as many of you know, you cannot "blog" in Ethiopia. So here are all of our emails from Ethiopia with some pictures from our trip. We will also try to update our blog a couple days a week with some progress reports on little Elijah. It has sure been a joy getting to know him and be his parents.

Ethiopian Journal

GETTING THERE

Well, we are off to Ethiopia! Our flight was right on time, leaving at exactly 3:20 pm for Amsterdam. The flight went quite well. There were movies to watch, games to play, and they fed you every couple hours. We were able to connect with Scott and Amy Emch. They are from Bloomer, WI, and adopting a two year old boy. We already know Amy will be a blessing on this trip as she is a natural health doctor. She said that she has a ton of stuff for Elijah if he needs it.

We got into Amsterdam about 6:30 am their time. Our bodies were saying sleep (11:30 pm), but we had to be awake. We walked around Amsterdam until we started going through security and boarding about 9:30 am. We got off the ground a little late and had to make a stop in Sudan to let passengers of and some others on. About 9 pm (Ethiopian time) we were on the ground in Addis. We then had to go through and get our visas. Then the long wait began.

We stood in line for over an hour to get our passports double checked and then off to baggage claim. All of our luggage made it! Our Panorama Hotel driver was waiting and took us to our home for the week. We got everything in the room, Hannah showered, I emailed everyone, and then we crashed! It had been a long day, but we are in Ethiopia to our son! Thank you God for leading us on this journey!

SUNDAY IN ADDIS

Last night we got to the hotel around 11 pm, organized the room and crashed for the night. NO problems sleeping at all. We awoke to a beutiful view out our window of the city of Addis. We went down the hotel restaurant with Amy and Scott (a couple from Bloomer, WI) and ate some breakfast. Made to order omlets, fresh orange and mago juice hit the spot!

After that I tried to call Hope (the orphanage) and got now answer, so I called Endris, a friend of Arise for Children adoption agency. He set us up with a driver for the week. Melke (Mel-a-key) picked us up about 11 am. He let us know that he was a celebrity in the United States as many Americans request him for the week. We felt very blessed and he is excellent! He knows his way around Addis, where all the "safe" places are and helped us negotiate for some market items later.

What we did not know was what was in store when we turned the corner out of the hotel. Straight into the black market district - streets crowded with people trying to buy different items and beggers coming to the cars for money, food, or water. Melke was good at deflecting them. We decided to head to the National Museum. On the way we passed the President's house, the Prime Minister's house, and the American Embassy. All were very impressive and highly guarded.

The National Museum was fun to look around in. It included uniforms from past military people and leaders and of coarse Lucy, the remains of the world's oldest hominid. We found out towards the end of looking around that Lucy was a replica because the original is in America. Ethiopian guide, "Not sure why, but that is where she is."

After the National Museum we went to the Weaver's Market - all beautiful hand made stuff. We negotiated and bought some items, but it was a very difficult scene. Several poor and dirty children begging for money and grabbing at our water bottles. It was hard, but we had to deny all of them anything to avoid being bombarded by more.

From there we went to the local super market to get some bottled water for the week. It was a very nice market and we will probably head back there for baby formula and more water later in the week. From there we headed back to the Panorama Hotel for lunch (french fries and shish-ka-bobs) and much needed nap.

At 6:30 pm Melke arrived back to take us to dinner for some traditional Ethiopian cuisine. The place was called Yod Aybissa. We got the sampiler plater to try everything. Hannah, Scott, and I enjoyed it all except the goat intenstines. Amy didn't care for it it much at all. The best part of the place was all the local traditions - dancing, music, hand washing, and only eating with your right hand. Your left hand is called your hygene hand, you can figure that one out.

After dinner we headed back to home base to pack up a back pack for Elijah and organize the room for him today. Can't believe I am going to meet my son!!! I will try to get some pictures to Facebook or on email later today or tomorrow. Off to breakfast and then the orphange.

At the National Museum in Addis

CRAZY MONDAY IN ADDIS

Monday morning was filled with crazy anticipation. After breakfast we were headed to HOPE to finalize our paperwork for the embassy. I called HOPE about 8:45 and they said to call back an hour later. Our driver then called and said that he knows the boss, so we will leave at 9:30 am and get to HOPE by 10 am for paperwork. He also told me it would take about 10 minutes and then we would be off to get Elijah Rabera! NOT!

There were three families there when we got to HOPE...the Emchs from Bloomer, a family from Oklahoma City, and us. The Emchs went first and it literally took 10 mintues. Then Brown's law kicked in (very similar to Murphy's Law). I didn't have much of the paperwork filled out in hopes that they would help us at the office. He helped with a couple pages and then instructed me to finish. I had no idea what to do and could not understand what he wanted or was saying. After about 30-40 minutes of panic the paperwork was done and the fun does not stop there. As the Oklahoma family was doing their paperwork they prepared the coffee ceremony. Just about the time they are starting to pass out the popcorn, coffee, and tea, Hannah tells me she has to puke. She runs into a bathroom, does what she needs to do, and then realizes it is not a working toilet. Good impression #2! The HOPE staff was excellent and helped her clean up. We learned some background information on Rabera's mom from the HOPE staff. After the coffee ceremony we headed to the Baby House across town to meet Elijah Rabera.

I had always pictured this moment in my head as Hannah and I walking into the room with the red carpet square and several cribs. Them handing Rabera to us and us playing with him for awhile to get acquanted. Well, the fun beginning at a different location. We get to the Baby House at HOPE after a crazy drive through half paved streets, tons of vendors, and steel houses. Let's say the ride shook Hannah up. You can see where this is going. We go into the office and they tell us to go up the baby room and we can get Rabera. We take off our shoes and socks as is custom and walk in. The nanny points out Rabera and immediately I head over and he begins to smile at me. My heart is melted. I pick him up and turn to show Hannah and she is running out of the room with two nannies with her hand over her mouth. I grab Elijah Rabera our two backpacks and head after her. She proceeds to throw up two more times while we are there before the fun on the other end begins. Simply put...she is miserable. Meanwhile Elijah Rabera and I are getting really acquanted. He loves my beard and mimicing motions and sounds. He is so beautiful and wonderful. Why should I be surprised...God has been so faithful up until this point and he continues to be every minute we are here.

So the HOPE staff at the Baby House informs us of his eating and sleeping schedule, conducts the coffee cermony again and head home. I shuffle Elijah Rabera and Hannah to the car and journey begins. We head straight back to the Panorama and Elijah stays asleep in my arms the entire way (he fell asleep in Hannah's before we left). When he get back he contines to sleep for like 4 hours and Hannah catches some rest too while the internal fun continues. Amy (our natural doctor) believes she has caught a native "bug" and needs some medicine. She has what we need and Hannah gets started on that. I head out to Super Market with Melke (our driver) once Elijah wakes up. We get some basics for Elijah and head back for the night.

The next four hours were wonderful! I sat on the floor and played with my son most of the night on top of changing his FOUR BLOWOUTS. We are going to need more diapers by the end of the trip and thank the Good Lord that they do laundry for you here. The good news is that Hannah gets nautious every time she bend down to change a diaper, so papa bear learned real quick the art of diaper and blow out changing. By the end of the night we had him mimicing Hannah and I saying ma-ma and da-da while hanging out as a family on our bed. It is truly incredible. We have wanted to be parents for a long time. I never imagined it was this fabulous! Praise God!

Well, Hannah gave Elijah a bottle and I gave Hannah some tonic water and both passed out about 30 minutes ago. So, I had some free time to come email. Unfortunetely we have not figured out how to get a picture off our camera and onto the comupter to email. Hopefully our first family phote will be coming some time Tuesday or Wednesday.

Meeting Elijah for the first time!

NEW DISCOVERIES

Well, Tuesday is our first full day as a family. How wonderful!! We were all awake about 6 am and enjoy some play time together before the crabbiness started.

Discovery #1: Elijah has a couple skin rashes which Dr. Amy believes are hives or scabies. We are treating them with a natural topical liquid. Many are healing up already, but because they are healing he is busy itching a lot.

Discovery #2: Elijah has some intestinal stuff and respitory infections going on. The natural oinment can also be swallowed and help with this, so this is now a side dish with feeding time. His raspy cough, running nosey, and liquified diapers are all getting better. Only 2 blowouts today and only 3 outfits.

Discovery #3: Coilotal Silver (topic oinment) also helps with adult sickness, so Hannah has been taking that all day and her condition is improving. She is on bottled water and crackers.

That seems to be going well. Thanks again for the prayers.

Discovery #4: Who Needs Toys!! Elijah favorite toys are the top of his sippy copy, a piece of paper, and books. He loves turning pages...Grandma Bobbi and Great Grandma Miles will love that! We also discovered that he is quite the crawler and loves standing up on the edge of the bed and coffee table. Watch out - he may be walking soon!

Discovery #5: Elijah loves his mommy. It took less than 24 hours for Elijah to realize who mom is (no surpise to me...she is outstanding!). When ever times get tough with

a diaper or with dad, the arms go up and in swoops mommy. Off they go to the chair or bed and he is satisfied in moments. I usually just sit, watch, smile, and wipe the tears away!

Discovery #6: Blogspot does not work in Ethiopia unless you set it up to email you posts there ahead of time. Oh well, continue to enjoy the emails.

Well, tomorrow we are off to visit HOPE again with donations, see KVI orphanage with some donations from Northstar Middle School, and hopefully visit a market or two to do some shopping. It will all depend on our little man and his mommy. Please continue to pray for both of them to heal.

I am fine...God is with me every moment and I can't wait to see what He does next.

More tomorrow after our adventerous day! Off to play for a couple hours, give the final bottle, and get some rest ourselves.

First Family Photo

LOW KEY WEDNESDAY IN ADDIS

Well, the word of the day in jinx. I guess I jinxed myself yesterday saying that I am fine. I caught the Ethiopian "bug" in the middle of the night last night. Man...nasty stuff. I had a bad fever and the chills really bad this morning. That just broke about an hour ago, I am down confirming our flights and sending this email.

Elijah's new favorite thing to do is put all of his toys in a box. We got a box from the super market yesterday and he unpacked it put in all his toys, and then unpacked it again. Taking after both mom and dad on this one. Hannah loved boxes as a child and I love to organize. He contines to improve each day. He is really itchy, but that is because of all the sores healing. He is much happier today than he was yesterday.

Hannah's health is doing much better. Praise God for that one as she has had double duty today. She said I was being really weird with my fever. Apparently I thought I was in a igloo this morning and asked her have management turn up the heat several times. There is no air conditioning or heat in Ethiopia. I don't believe her though (wink).

We were supposed to go the orphanages today to deliver donations and play with the kids, but opted not too. Tomorrow is the big American Embassy day, but we will probably go back to the orphanges Friday.

Tonight we will just continue to be the low key family which is fine. Lots of bonding and napping going on, which is alright by us.

Thanks for the continued prayers and messages. See some of you in 4 days! We can't wait to be home, sweet home!

CITIZENSHIP THURSDAY

Well the BIG news first. As of 1:52 pm Ethiopian time Elijah is a US citizen!! Our US Embassy appointment was at 1:30 and at 1:45 they called our name, ask us a few questions, has us sign a few papers and declared him a US citizen. It was very exciting. Tomorrow we go back to Hope to get our brown sealed envelope that cannot be opened until we get to immigration in Minneapolis.

The whole family is feeling better. We are all starting to come around. Elijah's infections are clearing up and Hannah and my Ethiopia "blah" is clearing up too. The elevation is still getting to us a bit, but that is going okay. We all layed around until the Embassy appointment and that helped.

After the embassy appointment we took Elijah and mom back to the hotel to hang out while I went out of a few things. I wanted to shop for some Ethiopian decorations and an Ethiopian soccer jersey. We also need more bottled water. When I arrived everyone was in a panic and told me to go see Hannah right away. She thought I told her I was going for water and then coming right back. 4 and half hours to get water is a lot! Oops!!

The trip around Addis was great with our new driver. Yeah, that's right, there was a mistake earlier in the week, so we have a new driver...Eleye. He is great! He speaks great English and has been driving for Hope for 3 years. I saw many parts of Addis including the National Futbol Stadium which was cool for a sports fan. I also saw where many people live...very saddening. Most live in a steel shacked covered with sod or bamboo.

The funny quote of the day was more a poor little boy looking for some money for food. He comes up to me and says, "Ah...American. I love Obama, you give me money for food?" Our driver just laughed at him and said, "Very smart boy!"

Well, off to bed with our smart little US citizen. We find more and more each day how he loves to explore and problem solve. He contines to amaze us and bond with us more each day. He had a rough night last night battling his chest cold, but made up for it with a spectacularly fun day today.

Off to Hope and KVI tomorrow and maybe a Ethiopian pizza joint for dinner. See you all soon!!

Some of Elijah's nannies at Hope

FREAKY FRIDAY

Yes, it's me writing, so do you know what that means? Any guesses? Andy has been in bed ALL DAY with "the bug". Actually, I laughed when I saw he called it a "bug" because I'm pretty sure it is more like a ravenous dragon inside our intestines! :) So mommy was in charge of all the business today, good thing I took care of my dragon!

Rabera is not sleeping well at night, but I think I am starting to get a rhythm down with him, so what could be better than a 22 hour plane trip to mess things up? He is definitely getting lots of teeth causing jaw and ear pain with runny nose. He also has incredibly bad cradle cap all over his head that he scratches at when tired and/or upset. Somehow I had the presence of mind to pack the infant nail clippers, which helps a little. He also has many lesions on his body, which the orphanage said was from allergies to different foods. I am super interested to see what our pediatrician says they are! He scratches at them a lot too.

Now, today he was a very happy, playful boy (when he wasn't passed out and drooling on me). Shorter naps and more play I think are the key to sleeping more at night! (Ya think?) We have definitely bonded! He reaches for me, even when a friendly/familiar Ethiopian is holding him and wanting to play. He often crawls to me and holds up his arms to be picked up and does a lot of back and forth play with me, smiling and laughing. I love it! There honestly is nothing better in the world (yes, Karen, even better than chocolate!)

Today our (new) driver picked me and Rabera up to go to the Hope office and get his passport, visa, and immigration paperwork. All the families were there and I had the uncomfortable opportunity to apologize for yakking all over their bathroom. I don't think even my sweet grandma could have been more gracious as they. I will say, though, the paying of drivers and tipping is very confusing and I am still not sure I was on target there. They also told me that the birth mother agreed to meet us in the lobby of our hotel! I was surprised, excited, and scared all at the same time. We decided that 3pm would be a good time.

Then I had donations to drop off at Hope and KVI orphanages. We went to Hope first where, again, I got to apologize for destroying their facilities. One of the office workers took Rabera right away and played while another gave me a tour of the orphanage, including Rabera's room. I was allowed to take pictures and video, which surprised me very much. I also passed out candies to the older children in the play yard. Very humbling.

From there we drove back across town (I think) to KVI. Again, someone grabbed Rabera to play while I delivered donations and a gift for another adopting family to their daughter. KVI only allowed 2 pictures of this occasion and non others of the children there. I was only allowed to take pictures of the facilities to show Susan back at Arise (adoption agency in US). These facilities blew me away! Parts were better than our hotel! They were very proud to show me their store room where they keep their supplies, the children's rooms, and offices. They even have a grass play yard with swings for the kids! It was the first grass I have seen since leaving!

After finding my son who was flirting with a nanny, we went back to our hotel. I still had not showered or eaten because Andy was not able to help with Rabera, so I tried to clean Rabera up to meet his mother! Of course his inner dragon came alive with green shooting flames of stinkiness. Why not, right? Ten minutes and two outfits later, we made it down to the lobby and waited, and waited. Other families were also in the lobby socializing and offered to film and take pictures when she came. However, she did not come. We waited until 4:30 and then went upstairs. I found Andy to be even more sick. Amy suggested that we get help from our driver to go to a pharmacy and get local diarrhea meds. So, of course his phone number was not working! We called the first driver, Melke, we had earlier this week and he came immediatly. He is fantastic. He said that Andy should come with him to the pharmacy. I told him there was no way that was going to work (10 foot bathroom perimeter). So one of the adopting fathers in the lobby was sent (now that I think of it, I don't think I really even asked) to pretend he was sick, explain Andy's symptoms and get the medicine. They were back in 15 minutes with $2 worth of Ethiopian medicine. Amy and I made Andy take it and he started feeling better within a couple hours. I was then able to go to supper in the hotel and EAT! Weird spaghetti with mystery chunks never tasted so good! Glass bottled Pepsi was also a treat.

Back up to the room to find Andy ready for a break. His fever eventually came back, so I am hounding him to keep up with the meds, not just take them when the symptoms show up again. (Bobbi, did you have these issues?) Stubborn. Melke called and told me that our driver did not have his phone on because HE IS SICK and will no longer be able to be our driver. Yikes, what is going on?! So tomorrow Melke will be ours again (I am very glad) and we, well me for sure, will go to the market before heading out for the airport! We have a large suitcase to fill!

So after putting Rabera down at 10:30 I was able to start packing up a little and clean myself up~ heaven! So Andy and the little stinker are upstairs passed out. Which is were I am going to head now, plus Andy is due for meds in 4 minutes! :)

I am unsure if we will be able to email again before going to the airport, it all depends on how Andy is feeling and our progress speed in getting packed. We have never been so excited to come home! I want to brush my teeth and wash my face without juggling a giant purified water bottle! Thank you so much for the continued prayers~ keep them coming for the incredibly long and overwhelming journey across the pond!

The best driver in Ethiopia - Melke!

THE NEVERENDING JOURNEY
Well, our driver Melke took us to the airport around 6 pm for our 10 pm flight. I know that sounds like a long time, but thank God he did. We ran into troubles right off the bat. We had to wait in a very long line to check in. When we got to the counter they asked where the ticket was for our baby. Uh...what? Apparently our travel agent switched the reservations and we had a baby ticket for the way out and NOT for the way back. They did some investigating, but were very hard to understand. In the end we had to repay for our tickets, so we could get on the flight. Not sure if we just got "punked" in Ethiopia or what, but we were on the flight. In the meantime while I was negotiating with the Ethiopian representatives Elijah was screaming. A theme that would continue through this journey home.

We head up to the gate and they make you go through 3 different safety and passport check lines. One guys told us that he travels all over the world for business and he has never seen anything this slow or that many checkpoints. We were told no water bottles were allowed past a certain checkpoint, so we didn't, but when we got in there several Ethiopians had water bottles and were using them to help feed babies. Elijah was starving and screaming (see a pattern) at this point and because of the gazillion checkpoints boarding was delayed 40 minutes. We rushed onto the plane and at this point both Elijah and Hannah are balling, and the flight attendants came rushing with water, towels...anything. It was very helpful and we got him calmed down and to sleep.

Elijah slept for the first 5 hours of the flight from Ethiopia to Amsterdam, which was really nice. However, we both don't sleep really well on planes, so that was tough. When he awoke we introduced him to Baby Einstein on the small TV monitors in front of us. He loved it! Although he kept looking behind the screen to figure out where the color train was going when it left the screen. Very cute. It was finally time to land and Elijah began to scream again (did I mention this was a theme). We finally got on the ground and off the plane to relax for our 4 hour lay over in Amsterdam. He was excellent while on the ground playing with mom and dad, and now time for flight #2.

Now the flight from...well you know where. We boarded the flight after there being more problems with our tickets. We finally got seated and relaxed and I should have known this was a bad sign. I started to ask the flight attendant for water to make a bottle by us and she continued to tell me to hold on while I watched her fixing her hair and applying lipstick and eye liner. I finally went to the back of the plane to the kitchen area and that lady couldn't help either because she had lost her searching for her lost eyeliner. Let's just say (through gritted teeth) that we got very beautiful, but poor service our entire flight. They the fun began. Seated next to us was an Ethiopian lady in her full dress and sash with a really cranky 2 year old. We figured she would settle down, but she did not for the entire 8 hours and 33 minutes. The interesting part came when Hannah asked the women to do something about the screaming, hitting of Elijah, and taking our food and the mom replied that it was cultural that she was not to discipline her child. So, for the remaining flight we and others listened to a screaming 2 year old while mom watched two different movies and played blackjack on the TV screens. That of coarse caused Elijah to scream (did I mention this) all the way home until landing when he fell asleep with about 10 minutes to go. Oh well, we made it right?

Well after working our way through immigration and customs it was time to greet our welcome party. What a breath of fresh air. I was too tired to cry I just slumped into several arms while Hannah was absolute mess and Elijah slept through the entire thing. After greeting, hugging, and story telling we loaded up the car and headed for EC. Elijah wasn't sure about his car seat at first, but liked it after a few miles and loves observing out the window. He is such a little thinker and observer. We got home, got unpacked to nicely decorated house, and then played with grandparents, aunts, and uncles until everyone crashed around 5:30 pm.

We just want to take a minute to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! We feel so blessed to call you family and friends. It has been such a blessing to have you with us on this journey. Also, thank God tonight for everything you have. After being home for just 24 hours, you have no idea how very blessed you are!!

Our Journey

Wow! What a journey it has been so far! Our adoption process started on June 12, 2009 when we walked through the door of Catholic Charities to fill out our initial paperwork. Throughout the next 6 months we filled out tons of paperwork and meet several times with Cynthia. She was awesome and eventually approved our home study in August.

As it got closer to the end of the home study we contacted Arise for Children as we decided to adopt from the country of Ethiopia. We debated this for awhile because we had been exposed to Ethiopian adoption at our church and were not sure we wanted to also do that. Matt and Nikki Ness had started Kingdom Vision International orphanage in obedience to God's calling. We prayed about it for a while and finally attended a meeting at church about by a group who just got back from Ethiopia and we were sold.

We then started the hours and hours of more paperwork - our Ethiopian dossier. The dossier was completed and processed in December. Now the waiting began for a referral.

FIRST GLIMPSE OF RABERA
I will never forget the phone call from Susan at Arise for Children on January 7, 2010 at 10:18 am. She said they had found a little boy for Hannah and I. His name was Rabera and is was about 8 months old. She sent us his files and a few pictures (see below). I raced over to North High School to share the news with Hannah. Both of our hearts were melted instantly as tears streamed down our cheeks. We prayed about it that night and let both Nikki and Susan know that we accepted the referral.
PATIENTLY WAITING
One of the hardest parts of the adoption process is the wait from referral until you pass court. At one point were told we may have to travel to Ethiopia twice - once for the court date and then again 4-6 weeks later for the U.S. Embassy date. We were going to be informed when our court date was, and then the policy changed and we would only be called once we passed court. We continued to pray and trust God's plan for this process even when the wait got long and stressful.

OFFICIALLY PARENTS
The second phone call I will never forget came mid-morning on April 22, 2010. Susan from Arise called. I figured it was one of two things...we had to travel to Ethiopia twice or we had passed court. Wonderful words that morning from Susan - "I am calling to make your day much better, YOU PASSED COURT, you're a dad!" Rabera was officially our son! I called Hannah to let her know and we both cried over the phone. I then went into our staff lounge and when the conversation lulled I announced the news. They were upset I patiently waited that long to say something. It was such a proud and exciting moment. Praise God!

PREPARING TO TRAVEL
After April 22 we just waited to hear of our embassy date in Ethiopia. In the meantime we met with Leslie from Arise to start talking about travel plans and get everything in order. Wow! There is a lot to think about when preparing for a major trip like this. We slowly started to prepare ourselves.

TRAVEL DATES
We eventually got word from Leslie at Arise that our U.S. Embassy appointment in Ethiopia was scheduled for Thursday, June 3rd. Let the ciaos begin!! Friends and family scrambled to put together baby showers and give us Ethiopian travel advice from previous trips. We are very blessed with awesome family and friends. Thank you for your love and support in this process! We love all of you!!

ELIJAH RABERA BROWN
We have always liked the name Elijah and decided that it would fit with his Ethiopian name. It is pretty common to use their Ethiopian name as their middle name and to select another name for their first name. That is how Elijah Rabera Brown came to be.

We are now 4 days away from flying out to get our little guy. We are running errands all over town and packing food, clothing, and toys for a 1 year old (his birthday was May 4th) we have never met. A lot of it is guessing, but we have confidence that God will take care of everything. He has so far in every step of this process! We are so humbled and grateful!

We will be posting things on our blog from Ethiopia as well as emailing when there is time. Stay tuned next week as we prepare to bring Elijah Rabera home to Eau Claire!!