Ethiopia

My first meeting with Meretech

We're home now, but I thought I'd take you through my week in Ethiopia over the next few days. I was limited in my internet use all week so I used my few precious minutes on the net to stay connected to Maya back in the states instead of blogging.

Saturday July 14 - After a 15 hour flight Eva, Adam and I arrived in Addis Ababa around 9am. We were driven to the office of Children's Home Society with the other families picking up their children. We were given a packet of info about our children's stay in the orphanange then it was off to meet our children for the first time. Suddenly I was no longer tired and the rain didn't concern me I was going to meet my children! First we drove to the care center where the toddlers and babies stayed. We were shuffled into a room an taken one by one to meet our children so they could capture it on video. I met Meretech first, a quiet, tiny and shy little girl who wouldn't look at me. Then I was driven to the school and met Elias while he was eating lunch. He was all smiles and seemed excited to see me. We left Elias at the school, went back to the toddler center and returned Meretech to her nannies. Then we went to the guest house to unload our bags, find our rooms and eat lunch.
After lunch a couple of us returned to the care center. Upon entering my Meretech came over to me with a smile on her face, then sat in my lap to play with the doll I had brought. She was pretty defensive about her spot in my lap with all the other toddlers and I was happy that she would interact with me at all.
After playing for awhile we returned to the guest house for dinner and then a quiet evening before bed. We were all exhausted so sleep came easily.