Arrival to Addis

Monday, June 20, 2011

This arrival to Addis was so much different than our first arrival, and so much better!  We knew just where to go to get the visas, money exchanged, which line to stand in and all of that.  AND our driver and guide were there to meet us!  Bonus!  Our wonderful guide and friend whom we met on our last trip, Bizzy, greeted us by name and warmly hugged us immediately taking our bags and heading for the car.

Our first stop was to see Kate!  We headed straight to Toukoul orphanage.  We showed up without an appointment (there should have been one, but there wasn’t…don’t get me started on that…) and they graciously agreed to let us have a visit.  No problem!  We waited about 20 minutes which was no big deal.  I could see into an open window in her building and there was a nurse doing someones’ hair.  I could only see the very top of this child’s head, but I knew it was Kate.  The nurse lifted her up and I saw her face.  It was Kate!  In light brown and teal.  Could recognize her anywhere.  About 10 minutes later they brought out a baby.  But it wasn’t Kate.  I didn’t even hesitate or question myself; I knew that was not Kate!  They were puzzled but took the child away, and then talked amongst themselves, and then asked me again for Kate’s name.  I supplied that, along with her ID number and a reminder that we didn’t have an appointment so we weren’t on that list they kept poring over.  Okay, no problem, they said.    Soon enough, her nurse (I have a photo of she and Kate from our last trip which I was able to show to her) brought out Kate who was wearing light brown and teal, of course!  And her hair had just been done up!

Kate was a little reserved for about, oh, 45 seconds.  She warmed up to me first and then to Eric about 5 minutes later.  She’s just not used to men, but who can resist the charms of Eric Baesel?!?  Not this Daddy’s Girl!  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit noticing how much she’s grown.  She looks just about identical as the last time we saw her 3 months ago, only she now has a bit more hair, babbles a little, and is more active.  She likes to bounce in your lap and is a great crawler.  She barely walks when holding on to your hand, so I believe we’ll have a full-fledged walker very soon after we get home.  After playing and cuddling, we begrudgingly gave her back to a nurse about 2 hours later.

Next, we did some shopping for an outfit and blanket.  These will be used to exchange when we check Kate out tomorrow.  Essentially, Kate comes to us with nothing.  No possessions of any kind, not even a diaper, or the clothes on her back.  We are required to supply the outfit, the diaper, the shoes, the blanket – anything she leaves the orphanage with must be supplied by us.  And it stands to reason; they need those items for the next baby who comes in.  However, if you purchase a new outfit and blanket and shoes, they will let you take what she’s wearing and exchange it.  Basically, we take the used items and they get the new items.  That’s a fair trade to me considering that these will be special mementoes for Kate to have as she grows older.

We quickly checked in to our Guest Home and even got our same room as last time, so everything is very, very familiar!  Also, our friends, Sam and Christina Skinner are here as well (they live in MN and are adopting virtual twins.  Their daughter, Hayley, is from the same region as Kate.  They have a lot of connection points in their little lives that we’ve enjoyed discovering.  We met them on our first trip here and have remained friends through the process of waiting for this return trip.  And the Lord saw fit to have us come back at the exact same time, so we are very grateful about that!).    

The orphanage was gracious enough to let us come back for a second visit (again, unscheduled, because apparently there is no one scheduling for us, so we’re just working directly with the orphanage and it’s working out quite well) this afternoon.  Kate had already had her afternoon nap so was ready for more playing and cuddling.  And we did just that….lots of it!  During this visit, the office administrator came to us and said there was a problem; she needed our help.  Apparently, the parents of the child of the baby that was mistakenly brought to us this morning were here and they didn’t think that was their baby either.  They thought that our Kate was their baby.  And that’s because, get ready for this, the nurse mistakenly introduced them to Kate as their baby on their last 2 visits (they are here for their first trip).  They spent several hours with Kate, took hundreds of pictures and videos and sent them back home to loved ones and everything.  Gasp!  So you can imagine their chagrin when they come for their third and final visit and the child brought to them is not the same one they had been visiting with.  Double gasp!  We immediately took Kate with us to speak to them, at the request of the orphanage.  I guess they wanted us to prove that she was really our baby.  Cringe and double cringe.    The mother was now holding their correct baby (has the same African name as Kate and they live in the same room), the one they had tried to give to us earlier.  She turned and could not look at us.  I spoke with the father who was visibly shaken and heartbroken and he told me their story.  It was very, very awkward and we kept running into them around the grounds for the next hour only to have them turn away from us, but mostly from Kate.  We felt so terrible for this family who fell in love with Kate only to find out she wasn’t their baby.  We are thankful that God had orchestrated our arrival for this exact day so that it was discovered before they left for home, but oh my…terrible, terrible. 

We do feel like we’re bonding with Kate quite well and she already seemed familiar with us on this second visit.  She preferred to come to me over one of the nannies, so that’s good progress!  Our final thoughts on leaving her were that she seems super healthy (a rattle is in her chest, but no coughing or other symptoms…we see our pediatrician on Monday!), happy, and well adjusted.  We’ll know better about her skin and any diaper rash, lice or scabies (fun!) when we get her back to the hotel with us.  She’s been growing at the right rates and looks well nourished (from all that we can tell).  She laughs, she cries, she giggles, she does all normal 1 year old stuff. 

All in all, we are so thankful and relaxed….it’s been great!  But we are exhausted.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open through the afternoon and even took a nap before we visited Kate for a second time (that says a lot if I actually take a nap).  Eric is taking a pre-dinner nap now.  We head with the Skinners, and her mom Beth, to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant called Yod Abbysina (the ancient name for Ethiopia).  More injeera (their crepe like bread served with every meal) and some cultural singing and dancing.  Luckily I wasn’t pulled up out of the audience this time!

We’re VERY excited to sleep in an actual bed tonight!  Tomorrow morning is CHECK OUT for ‘Lil Miss Kate.  A big change in her life is here and we’ll all feel that full on when we take her outside that famous blue Toukoul gate to the world beyond.