Sunday, May 31, 2009

2 weeks home


well we've been home 2 weeks. Twins are harder than you think. I think Ann and I are just lucky we didn't have the first few months when the feedings happen all the time. It does seem that we are either changing a diaper or feeding all the time. They are a blast though. We really are loving it. We met with the Doctor yesterday he was impressed with them and thought they looked real good. They have been gaining a lot of weight since they have been home which is great. Our doctor was also impressed with the reports/test he was able to review. Apparently a lot of countries you are only given a very limited amount of info. We also met with our social worker who said they seem to be doing well and dont appear to have any attatchment issues she'll be back in another month to check on them. We took the m to Max's school for sharing this week, They loved him. The kids sit in a circle and Max tells about them and then the kids ask questions. It was fun. Alot of the kids would tell about their siblings or just raise their hands and say "I think they are cute" well got to go they are up from their nap. wow that wasn't much time.

Monday, May 25, 2009

getting caught up

I am going to try and finish some of the stories of the trip in no particular order and edit the order after i get it done. this post will stay on top until the trip is complete. thanks

HIV orphanage in Ethiopia


We spent today touring the CHSFS(which is our adoption agency) projects around Addis. The First place we stopped was a Orphanage called Ahope it is not part of our agency but is next to it and they work together somewhat. This is a orphanage for kids that were HIV positive. Some donations were brought to this orphanage mostly medical gloves which they were in desperate need. The nannies were proud to help out these kids. They said we our risking our lives every day to care for these children and these gloves will help protect us. The facility wasn't near as nice as our orphanage. it was dimly lit. There were probably 12-15 kids per room in bunk beds ranging from 1 to mayber 10. It broke my heart to see these kids. In fact its been 2 weeks since we were there and my allergies are acting up as I am thinking and writ ting about them. A lot of the kids had sores on there face. they were about twice as large a giant zit. Ethiopians as you have seen have large beautiful eyes which just adds to these kids beauty. It is hard for me to think of these kids suffering from this disease. I was so proud Max is my boy the whole trip but particular here. He went into this place and was in one of his sillier moods and made these kids laugh like crazy. Seeing a red head boy their age and having fun with them. They just loved him. I am a very lucky parent to have him. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child from this orphanage or learning of ahope click on here Ahope

Friday, May 22, 2009

Some pictures

Hope this works I'm a rookie. It has been great beginning to get these precious babies.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

We're home!!! our phones are not

Have you ever had to sit next to a screaming baby on a flight. Well we were that couple. The flight was long and painful. 5 hours from Ethiopia to Dubai 7 hour layover and 17 hours to lax. Either Ann or I was up rocking(sometimes both) the entire flight. It was rough. The twins and us are adjusting to the time zones. Also are phones are still in Ethiopia somewhere, so we no longer have any ones contact info. We ordered new ones and should have them this weekend so please call as we may not have your info. I'll try and finish the blog shortly and get pictures up soon as well. Thanks again for every ones love and support. It was a awesome adventure. I cant say enough good things about Ethiopia and the people

Friday, May 15, 2009

Under Construction

I received a lot of post entries through email last night so I will try to put them in chronological order for congruent reading. However, you may need to scroll back to catch some entries that happened previously that I just posted. When Ty and Ann get back maybe they can add pictures to each entry to complete the journey. - Angel

Do Nothing Day

Today has been almost agonizing. Its a good thing we sent Kathi and Brian home with Max because they would have been bored stiff. There is nothing planned for today, just a hair braiding class, which I did not go to. All the parents here are ready to be in their own environments and get to their American... (this is all I received from the last post due to computer outage)

Bahir Dar by Ann and Max

Max's contribution to the Big Barlow Blog:
"we saw hippos in the nile river.
we saw donkeys."

Bahir Dar was such a cool city. It is kind of like a tropical resort town except that it is by a brown water lake called Tana. After checking into our hotel room, we went on a boat ride across the lake to a monastery. Max got to drive the boat, he was in heaven! Everyone is so good to him over here. He is such a novelty, with his red hair, freckles and blue eyes, everyone wants to touch his hair. Since Max is so friendly, they call him an "African Boy" mostly because here in Africa, the people are very affectionate. They hold hands, walk with their arm around each other regardless of their sex. It is so different than the American culture where the men, especially, keep their distance from each other. Here, in Africa, the men will hold hands with each other, just friendly like. They say that American children are usually more reserved, but we know that Max is anything but. The guides all enjoy walking with Max.

When we got across the water, we were taken to the monastery which was like a walk in the jungle. We saw some monkeys swinging in the trees but they were too quick for us to get a picture. The monestary looked like a huge round straw hut. Inside there were these four walls that had pictures painted of Bible stories and stories of legend. The people couldn't read, so they painted all these pictures so they could teach using the pictures.

I wore a scarf to be covered in the church, it is the culture to wear it either over the head or around the shoulders to show respect in the church. Some of the locals who were following along with us wrapped it around my shoulders. The Holy water they put on our faces was a lot of water. Our faces were really wet after that. I didn't know whether to leave it there or let it drip down my face. We both opted for the drip. There was a lot of chanting (Ge-ez) and a lot of translating through our guide. The Priest blessed our rings and blessed these black strings they tied around our necks that were in place of the cross necklaces we were supposed to have brought with us, but didn't know about.

After the ceremony, the Priest asked to take our photo with his cell phone, which was kind of funny to see that he even had one since he lived in a hut. He was so kind to us. He invited us to eat with him in his house (hut) where we had some ingera with some lentil wot, pretty spicy and cold (I have only had it served hot). I was a little nervous to eat it, because some of the advice we got before coming over here was to only eat food that you can see the steam coming off of to avoid getting sick. I think Kathi was the most nervous. We all sat in his one one room hut to eat. It was such an honor, but we were all nervous. They had a pitcher with water and a bowl with which they poured water for us, one at a time, to wash our hands. When it came to Max's hands, he stood up as they poured for him. The Priests sort of reacted with sounds and soft chuckles. Our guide explained to us that it is Ethiopian custom for children to stand when being served the cleaning water by an adult to show respect for their Elders so Max was "righting" (doing the right thing).

After our walk back to the boat, and a quick lunch of peanutbutter and tortillas in the hotel room, we went to the Blue Nile Falls.

part 2- Blue Nile Falls

After a quick lunch we went to the blue Nile falls. The ride is very interesting with lots of people in the street walking. People walk everywhere. Donkeys carrying big loads. people carrying big loads on their heads and backs. carts being pulled by carts. very old world. Our guide Fish told us about all the things the U.S. is doing for Ethiopia. The government and the church charities and the regular charities. By far the USA is doing a lot and he was very grateful to our country. He also told us that Americans are a happy people and that is some thing they like no matter how bad things are you can still smile. That was the thing that has gotten to me is how friendly and how happy they are. The US is helping them build some power plants that will be up and running soon so there are no longer the blackouts for extended time. Education is huge here everyone wants to be a Doctor. Fish told us that the US is no longer giving money to the government that is trying to teach the people through education. He and his fellow guides like to take Americans on tours because we are impressed with there country. His least favorite are the french and the Israelis, he says they are hard to make happy. When we got to the Blue Nile Falls we hiked for a little while and through a very small village where people tried to sell us stuff. they were well spoken little girls about 4 to 6 years old and very nice but it got a little overwhelming a few times. they had this speach memorized that they each picked one of us to give it to so it was hard to say no if we didnt want it. the guides helped us out quite a bit in this regard. We went over a old bridge built over 400 years ago. the falls were impressive although they were flowing at just 10 to 15% the rainy season is almost here which is when they become big. Also they are building power plants that are taking 60% of the water until they are done with them. it was still pretty neat. On our way back we stopped by the village and max played kick ball with the kids from the village. there was one kid running around with a long sleeved sweatshirt and no pants. thats how they potty train the kids, just let them run around nude. max has been fun and is making friends here. We bought a few things from the kids and headed back to the hotel. fish said that it is better to give the older kids money 12 year old than the young kids as they will spend it wisely on their family and not to teach the younger kids not to value education. pretty neat insight

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Gondor



Our flight to gondor was full, but our guide said the drive was nice with a nice roads, so rather than wait at the airport we decided to go by taxi and see the countryside.  It was 185 km to Gondor and turned out to be a great decision.  As everywhere else we had been we saw people were walking everywhere. We saw men carry huge piles of wood on there backs or plows to use in the field, kids carrying babies on their back, women carrying huge water jugs on there back. It was pretty amazing. During the drive we crossed the Nile river and saw 2 hippos wading in it. Our driver told us that it was a sacred river and we could not take a photo of it so you will just have to visualize that one.   The drive was incredible! We were so excited to see the countryside, the people going about their business as a typical day entails, the circle homes busy with activity. Come to find out the animals sleep in the home with the family or the man sleeps outside with the animals. 

It was about a 3 hour drive and paved the whole way. I rode shotgun as i was able to communicate with the driver the best.  I was lovin' every bit of it and wanted to soak it all in.  About half way through the drive I was noticing how they were plowing the fields.  The farmer has two very skinny cows attached with rope to a "plow" that consists of wood logs or sticks.  One sticking into the ground and one crossed to keep it square.  The farmer circles his whip in a lasso style to signal the cows to move while balancing the plow for depth and direction.  I asked the driver if it was possible to try to plow behind the 2 cows. Our driver became very excited and said "do you want to try" so we drove a little and found a farmer close to the road and our driver asked if we could try. I went first with a whip in one hand and the plow in the other i got the cows moving. It was cool to experience what I was seeing first hand. I think i could have gotten the hang of it with a little more practice. My dad did it next. He was a little awkward with his long legs.  The plow was set up for a much shorter man so he had to crouch down to dig in the plow.  We all thought it was pretty funny.  We must have been quite a spectacle because we gathered quite a group of people and they were all laughing at/with us. We also played one of their musical instruments. This experience turned out to be one of our highlights so far. I am so glad our flight was full. 

The Gondor Guide (aka: Groom) met us and we had a 2 hr break at the hotel which overlooked Gondor neat hotel. After lunch our guide met us for our excursion to see some castles. Gondor was the capitol after the fall of the Axumite empire around the 10th century. They reminded me of some of the castles in Scotland but not quite as elaborate.  There were 10 castles on one property basically when one took over as king he would build a new castle. We then went to a church that was built in the shape of an ark. This church had stories all over. On the ceiling there were faces with the big eyes looking at you no matter were you stood.  Max loved the staffs and the noise makers.  One interesting thing about this place was a fence surrounding the church with about 20 round pillars about 6 ft in diameter. Monks lived in these tiny places. The next place we went to was a secone home to one of the rulers. This house was built in the center of a swimming pool twice the size of a Olympic size pool.  It was filled with water by diverting part of the river.  Gondor has a university so there are lots of students. We then went to the center of town. There was a fair amount of Italian influence as they occupied it during the late 1930's. We went to the open market to try our skills at negotiating. Which turned out to be quite poor but we are fine with it. There was a naked man walking down the street and my mom and Ann made the driver turn around for another drive-by. How embarrassing for the rest of us. The market was busy lots of people.  We're starting to get adjusted to the time zones.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

(received May 12th from Kathi) 
Brian, Max and I are coming home tonight, Tuesday, on Ethiopia Air.   The schedule looks fine for us to make it.  Max is still sick, but is getting better and now Ann and Brian are sick too.  Several others in the group have the same stomach bug.   I am looking forward to coming home.  Ann and Ty are anxious to get the twins home too but they have to wait until the visa come.  They are soo... cute.  

Farwell Party at Orphanage

Today was the farewell party at the Care Center for the twins. It was not at all what I had expected. I thought it would be sort of like, kids running around, maybe some cake, and after some small talk with the other parents and care takers, we'd be on our way. What actually happened was, we arrived and they asked all the parents to go downstairs and wait for the children. When I say downstairs, this place is marble floor, huge chandelier, beautiful. They had chairs all lined up on one section and chairs all around the outside for the parents. Then, all of the other children who are there waiting for their parents came downstairs, removed their shoes (without being told) before walking on the carpet, and sat down in the chairs. One really cute little boy came around to all the parents and gave us all hugs.

Then, the social workers came downstairs and started things off. She told us how much all of our children meant to them there at the orphanage and the they believe that children are a gift from God and they hope we will feel that way too as we care for them in their new country and honor Ethiopia as well. Then all the care takers came downstairs, dressed in these beautiful white dresses with Ethiopian embroidry on them. They were each holding one of our children who were also dressed in traditonal Ethiopian dress. It was so moving and beautiful.
They had us all stand in a circle and then a prayer was said by a local minister and asked if anyone wanted to say anything. One of the parents said a prayer and then we all took a seat.

They made a book of all the children's hands who were leaving so they had each child come up, one by one, to put paint on their hands. They had all of the children who were sitting in the seats to chant each child's name when it was their turn.
Then they served soft drinks and cake. We were all emotional throughout the whole thing. At the end, Kathi broke down crying and said, "They are ours! We get to take them home now!" And she and Ty both broke down. I was already crying. Oh, I forgot, Ty had alergies, not crying.

Then this afternoon, we took them to the Embassy. We were nervous about it, but it was really painless. We waited our turn, they looked at the papers, had us sign our names a couple of times, asked us a few simple questions and we were done! It went really easy and we had been all nervous about it. The babies are so easy, we felt we could manage ourselves on the flight home. We'll see if we are right.

Max had gotten pretty ill a couple of days ago. We think he ate something that his body did not like or had something that was prepared with the drinking water, we aren't sure, but he had one really bad night. Then he felt ok the next day but everyone else ended up getting sick. Ty was ok, Kathi was ok, but Brian and I both got pretty sick. Today we are all starting to feel better but I just think max had enough of this trip, so we sent him with Kathi and Brian. He has been really great this whole trip. He had a great time, ate the ingera and all the rest of the Ethiopian food and loved it. He even ordered it for breakfast a couple of times when there were other things he could have ordered. He has loved this trip, we are so glad we brought him and that is all thanks to kathi and Brian, we wouldn't have done it without them.

Tomorrow we are have a free day to basically do whatever we want to do, and then hopefully on Thursday, we will get to come home! We are so ready to be home. this has been the trip of a lifetime. We will definitely come back. I can't say enough how wonderful this place is, what rich culture they have here. I will never forget this place.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Emails

(Received Sat May 9th from Kathi) We are having a great time.  However, the internet is very, very unreliable.  Actually it mostly won't work.  I type a letter and go to send it and I am off the internet by then.  So I am typing fast and hoping...  Everything is really super and the twins are the best.  
We will catch you up when we get there.  -


(Received Sun May 10th from Kathi)
Happy Mothers Day from Ethiopia!!
I will see if I can get this off before I am kicked off.  It is Sunday morning and Ty and Ann traveled down south on a 3 1/2 hour bus ride with the other parents to meet the family of the adoptive children. This is only a chance meeting if they are able to show up.  We are staying in Addis Ababa for the day.  However, Max threw up all night and so he is sick with a little diarrhea.  He did wake up feeling fine but I am afraid of what to feed him.  It is very different that I can't go to the cupboard or the corner store or even order something in a restaurant that would settle an unset stomach.  He is wanting something to eat and Ann told me to keep him on clear liquids but that is going to be the challenge of the day.  He is hungry so hopefully that is a sign he's feeling better.  We are anxious to get home because Fatana is not feeling well either.  Ann thinks that is where Max may have gotten it.  
 
The guest houe that we are staying in with the other families is a nice house but the electricity goes out in the city often and we are without power.  Also there is no water most of the time.  So... no flushing or showers.  I have had to sponge bath myself for three nights. e have seen things that I never would have thought I would see.  Can't wait to tell you all about them.   
  I am sure grateful for what we have.  Life is good.  
 
I Hope that all is going well at home.  I love all of you so much and am thinking of you tons.  Love and Misses,  MOM


(Received May 10th from Ty)
Angel- computers are terrible and we don't have much time.  Babies are beautiful. Happy Mother's Day
We were able to meet a member of the birth family today. Our social worker has counciled us to save the twins' story for them, as it is theirs, not ours, to tell. It is difficult for us not to share it with those we love, especially since, in our eyes, the story has no shame and is a very sweet story full of love. So what we will share with you now will be in fairly vague terms, but we did want to share a bit of what happened.

Really, all I can say, is that we were very nervous and excited about this meeting. We were told that the birth families don't always show up so we should be ready for that. The day before the meeting were told that our family member would be there at the meeting, but we were still trying to be prepared because anything can happen up to the last minute.

One of the couples here was told that their birth family member would not be there, but they went on the trip down south to Hosanna with us anyway, just to see more of the area where their child grew up and to see the child center where their child was taken. It was good that they did, because they showed a photo of their child to some of the nannies there and they recognized their child and kissed the photo and were quite emotional. Ty saw that they were looking at the photo so he went back to the bus and got ours out and showed it to the nannies. He got some of the reactions on video which were quite emotoinal and so great to have. Another nanny came just after we finished filming and she probably had the best reaction of all so we were sad to miss that one.

After stopping at the orphanage, we went to the place where we would meet the birth family members. All the parents waited

Friday, May 8, 2009

Meeting the Twins

(Note: The CHSFS staff calls the twins by their Ethiopian names so in order to keep things straight here, we are calling them by their Ethiopian names as well untill we arrive home)
Yea!!!! We finally met the twins!!!! We got in late last night after an eight hour, bumpy, dusty drive from Lalibela to Bahir Dar and then a late flight from Barhir Dar to Addis Ababa, we finally arrived at the Guest House. We found out when we arrived that we would be the first group of parents to stay in the new guest house. Apparently the landlord of the old guest house raised the rent so they got a new place, which is the building of the old child care center. Kathi and Brian get to stay here in a room next to ours.

This morning, we were tired, but so excited we didn't care. We aren't jet lagged like the rest of the couples are, so we feel fortunate about that. We met at 8am for breakfast, the staff made us some pancakes, and then went to the CHSFS office to have a bit of a prep meeting for the visit to meet our children. Max was bursting. He said, "Mom, when I get there, right as soon as I see them, I am going to be a big brother!" We were all so excited. It just felt surreal.

We first went to a meeting at the office, the purpose of which was to prepare us for meeting the babies and also to help us know what to expect while here. I was so nervous and excited and emotional, I think we all were. I don't even know how to put into words what we were feeling.

When we got there, we were struck by how nice the care center is. They had us all go into a room on the bottom floor and one by one they called us in to come and get our babies. This is partly to keep us organized and partly because they had a professional photographer there to capture our experiences for each of our kids' DVDs. They called one set of parents, then another, and another...and I was beginning to get the idea that we were last since we were the only set of parents to adopt twins. Finally, they called us upstairs. We had Max, and kathi and Brian all come up with us to see them for the first time. When we walked in, it was so surreal. We were seeing them, but it seemed like I couldn't really believe I was seeing them. One parent explained it well. Its kind of like when you see a celebrity in person. Not the famous part, but its like you only know them from pictures so when you see them in person, its like - 'is it really you?'

I just lost it. I think we all did. They were laying in their beds in a room with about seven babies. We walked over to them and they were just haning out, looking around. We walked over and the nannies handed Fetene to Ty and I went and picked up Wasagn. It was so wonderful to hold them. They were so much smaller than I thought they would be. And even more adorable than their pictures. Max was so happy. I was in such a zone, I really don't know what kathi and Brian were doing, except that when Ty and I wanted to trade babies, we had Kathi hold one so we could trade easier.

Then they told us we could take them downstairs with the rest of the parents and their babies. It was such fun to show them off. I think all the parents felt that way. All the kids are soooo cute! They are so adorable. The people here are so beautiful, its no wonder.

They are such sweet babies. They are so mellow and seemingly easy. We got to spend time with them talking to the other parents and looking at the other babies. Then it was time to feed the babies so they brought these bowls of cereal out. The nanny fed Wasagn while Ty and max helped and I fed Fetene. He was having a hard time eating. Its like it was difficult for him. He seemed to have a hard time swallowing it, or even getting it to stay in his mouth. It wasn't as easy as it was to feed max at that age. He was kind of fussy during the whole feeding and he only ate half. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the doctor, the social worker and their nanny so I plan to ask about that. He is smaller than his brother, so we want to find out what they know about that.

Shortly after they ate, they both fell asleep for a little while. I rocked Wasagn to sleep, there is nothing sweeter. Ty held Fetene and he went to sleep, that is until Max woke him up because he was so excited.

Then it was time to get the babies back to their beds for nap time and we went back to the guest house for lunch. Later in the day we got to go back and hold them.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Lalibela

Our trip to Lalibela was pretty smooth. flew over some pretty big mountains to get there. I sat next to a guy about 25 to 30 who was a nurse in a health center. He was going to school to become a doctor. They study for a go to school for a little while then they work to pay for school. He wanted to become a doctor for the rural areas surrounding Lalibela. He got great joy from helping the people. As a nurse he made 700 bir per month. Right now the exchange rate is 11.5 birr per US dollar. so he lived on about $65 per month. He said when he became a doctor they make 1600 birr per month. That is about $150 per month. Our guide met us at the Airport and we checked in at the Hotel Jerusalem. Nice hotel quickly unpacked and headed off to the churches. These churches were amazing, built by around the time of king Lalibela in the 13th century, he spent a significant amount of time in Jerusalem, he layed out the churches to resemble Jerusalem including the Jordan river. King Lalibela wanted to provide a safer alternative to the pilgraming Christians. At the time these churches were built there was a lot of fighting between the Muslims and the Christians and the Muslims won most of the time. Ethiopia was fairly safe at the time. But the cool thing about these churches is they were built below ground. Basically the building was dug out then the building was hollowed out. A lot of them were interlocking through tunnels. We went in one of them. It was wild going through them in the dark. My dad was a crack up trying to go through. Max liked it so much he and the guide went through again. The best church was Saint George it was built in the shape of + sign or a cross. There were no pillars on the inside. There were also some dead bodies that were fairly well preserved supposedly because they were washed in the holy water. They were amazing. Later on that night Max and I walked around the hotel and met some new friends. had a nice meal with a nice staff. Our guide's father and grandfather was the priest of one of the churches. So he had a lot of insight.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Bahar Dar part 1

This was a incredible day. We were met at the airport by our guide nick named Fish. He was great. He actually helped guide the people that filmed the Imax movie Blue Nile Mystery. He guides for eight months then goes to Gondor for school to become a Veterinarian. The guides here are professionally trained and must pass an exam. Fish told us when he went to take the exam 5,000 people took it and only 120 passed.
He took us to our hotel which was beautiful and right on Lake Tana, the lake that feeds into the Blue Nile. Unfortunately we had to change our plans and we are only going to in Bahar Dar for one day as we didn't arrive in Ethiopia until a day later than planned. The city is very green and beautiful with a lot of colorful birds. For those of you in Phoenix the love birds that are in Phoenix are native to Ethiopia. The weather actually reminds me of the dry air back home. Shortly after our arrival, we loaded on a boat and went to the monastery. On the lake, there are roughly 27 monasteries. I think there are 14 islands some of which are men only. We arrived to the other side of the lake and walked a short distance to the monastery. It was a small....

(to be continued...Sorry folks, this is all the email included so I guess you will have to tune in next time for the rest of the story. I'm also emailing any comments left (only Meghan so far) to them in Ethiopia so if you have any thoughts like just add them to the comments and they will send them to them while they are there.- from Ty's sister)

Four Stars

Ty wanted me to blog, but it looks like he pretty much covered the journey to get here. At the airport in DC just in the boarding area for our flight, we already started to stand out (our social worker told us we would stand out over here), and so it wasn't hard to spot other couples who were going over to adopt. I saw this other couple with a baby carrier with no baby inside, so I told Kathi who promptly went over to start a conversation. Then I came over and started talking to them. They were actually a "Pioneer Couple" for the Rowanda program. They were super cute and really a nice couple from Pennslyvania. They have two bio children and this will be their first adoption. Then, while we were talking, another lady came up and joned in the conversation. She and her husband have three or four (can't remember) children and are adpoting a sibling group of three. wow! She home schools her children so she is going to have her hands full! Ty covered our flight, pretty uneventful, nice staff. Once we finally got on the last leg of the flight from Rome to Addis, Max and I were watching a movie and when it finished, I turned to the channel that has the map of where we were and I saw that we were over Africa and I just started to tear up. It's these unexpected things that get to me. Flying into Addis, I noticed that there were a lot of farms in the brown landscape but they were much smaller than we see in the US and shaped in different shapes rather than all rectangle and organized. Each farm had a house on it and they all were pretty much the same size. About a two bedroom house, I would guess. Then, when we got to the outskirts of the city, there were all these tiny houses, or roofs at least, that looked like little lean-to's and they were all crammed together with the edges of the roof touching the next one.

Our first day here went well. The guide was there at the airport holding a sign that said "Ty Barlow" so that made it easy. After loading all the monster bags he took us to the hotel which is in a nicer part of town, which for the US would be an area sort of like, well it looked more like Mexico with the little shops crammed together.The hotel was one of the nicest in the area. It was a "four star" hotel. I know this because it actually had four stars above the entrance. I took some photos which we will try to get on the blog. The staff was really nice, they really liked Max, with his red hair. Everyone over here is very quiet and soft spoken. I wonder if they think we are loud. Max is very excited to get the twins. He keeps asking when we will be able to go get them and wondering where we will have them sleep in the hotel, things like that. We are on a short flight and are landing, more later.

What time is it?

Alright we've been jam packed on our adventure and we are still adjusting to the time zone.

Our day in Addis was spent seeing the city on the way to the hotel. We went for Pizza at Metro Pizza and enjoyed it thoroughly. Half way around the world for pizza but it's kind of authentic. Let me explain... the Italians occupied Ethiopia for about 5 years around WW2 and that has a big influence on the food. Spaghetti is actually served quite a bit so it counts right?. During lunch Max fell asleep and we took him to the room. Ann stayed with him and my mom and I went for a walk around the Hotel. We saw a lot of goats and cows sharing the road with the many cars and people walking everywhere. Some roads were dirt and some were not. Shortly into our walk, my mom nearly stepped on some goat guts in the road and screamed causing the drivers to laugh. The hotel and the orphanage grounds, where we will be staying during the "adoption week", is where a lot of embassy people live so therefore we saw a lot of nicer homes. The rest of the night was spent repacking/ separating the donations to be stored at this hotel and the stuff we are taking on the trip to see the country. Max woke up at 11:30pm which is 9:30am in Phoenix and was done sleeping ready to go. Ann stayed up playing tic tac toe for an hour then I relieved her and played with him until 4:15am when we all got up for the day. We have a driver taking us to the airport at 5am for our standby flight to Barar Dar. ---Ty

Continued...

(see post below for the beginning of the story) ...It was a small circular building. Inside there were paintings that looked almost cartoonish that told Bible stories. The monastery is 600 years old and the paintings were 400. The paintings were very vivid images colored in blueand black tones stained over many years out of flowers.  Our guide told us many stories about these paintings.  Next the Priest came out and did a special ceremony. It was a trip! They were four people performing the ceremony in their traditional dress. The priest blessed us, our rings, our family, and threw some holy water on our faces.  He gave us biblical names Mine is Trinity and Ann's is Mary.  The whole time he kept praying. It was really special.  They said they had been praying since 8:30 am and would continue the rest of the day.  After the ceremony was over we looked around, thanked him for the ceremony and took some pictures. He also took some pictures with us from on his cell phone.  I was a little surprised he had a cell phone but I guess everyone's got one now.
We bought a couple souvenirs, then as we were leaving the priest invited us in his home for some injerra. It was cool and Max loved it. My folks were a little so-so on if they liked it or not as my dad has a "sensitive stomach".
We then took the boat back to the hotel Max drove it for a little while. Can you believe this is only part one of our first day adventure?

Saturday, May 2, 2009

We're Here

The Flight here to Ethiopia worked out great. It wasn't very crowded so we were able to spread out on the airplane a little which was really nice. We had several comments on the amount of bags (donations) we had with us . 10 bags (2 bags each) all pretty much at a max weight of 50 pounds each= 500 lbs. On the flight, Max and I watched the movie "Mall Cop" then Ann was nice enough to let me sleep most of the rest of the way. I by far got the most sleep and everyone else is exhausted. We were a little nervous with the long travel plans with a 5 year old, but Max did great.
Today our guide met us and took us to the hotel. Addis has about 4.5 million people in it and the driving is pretty crazy with an "every man for himself" mentality. There are no traffic lights due to sporadic power outages and the roads are in rough shape as well. The begging has already started to get to us a little, as they come right up to the taxi with there big beautiful eyes sometimes carrying a baby. The people are absolutely gorgeous, their eyes are stunning and they have all been extremely kind. We feel very safe here which is a big relief to my parents. Max has been a big hit with his large personality and red hair. Tomorrow we are off to Bahar Dar to see the Blue Nile falls and renew our wedding vows. I can't wait.
The rumor is true that blogspot does not work here so my sister Angel will have to update it through email. I can't see it until i get back so hopefully it works.