Two Years Later

Two years ago, I was in Ethiopia meeting my son for the first time.  Everyday, my Mom and I would walk to a local mall to get on the internet to update our family and friends back home.  I still have those emails my mom wrote two years ago.

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Oct 10, 2010

This place is amazing - we woke up to the prayer call near our hotel this morning.  Toured the countryside all day - that was an experience.  We went inside a hut where 6 children live - one bed, a stove, dirt and dung floor - thatch roof - and get this the animals sleep inside with them.  Their parents were gone working so they let us in.  They take the manure every morning and spread it up the walls to keep the bugs out.  Wow. Last night when we got here they had dinner waiting for us - lasagna and soup - it was 10 pm and we could hear dogs barking, a cool breeze and we had been awake 24 hours - we were exhausted.  The weather is pleasant - we are very tired.  The other families are all from AZ - nice people. Leah cries once a day for TT. Tomorrow is the big day - we will let you know.

 

Love you all.

Su/mom

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Oct 11, 2010

We are having a wonderful time here.  It is Tuesday - 2:00 p.m. - 8 hours ahead of MN.  Leah misses her TT and T terrribly and I only wish we could pull them out of my suitcase.  Nur is an amazing child.  He sat up for Leah yesterday and wimpered when she set him down.  He loves to be held and watch what is happening around him.  He is darling and very cute - all the staff at the orphanage loves Nur (his Ethiopia name) and say he is a happy child .  He is of course a little overwhelmed with Leah and I and will take time to acclimate.

 

Our time here is spent drinvinng from one place to another. 

Addis is very poor and traffic is terrible - lots of diesel fule in the air.  We are staying at a hotel near the airport and it is nice - marble floors, high ceilings great food and the staff is wonderful.  We spent our first day here touring the countryside as we could not go to the orphanage on that day.  The poverty is amazing - people live in huts with dirt floors, the animals sleep indoors at night so the hyenia do not eat them, the children all sleep in one bed that consists of a hard pile of dung and dirt covered iwth blankets and their clorthes that they wear.  They are barefoot and smile all the time.  One of the couples on our trip brought ink pens and the children loved them.  Education is very valued here and there are schools int he countryside - if a child does well in school they may have an opportunity to go to university.  We handed out pens and quickly were mobbed by all around us.  Monday we went to the orphanage and met our wonderful grandson/son Nur and he was kind enough to let us hold him and Leah gave him one of her famous masages and he fell asleep.

 

One of the families with us brought dresses from a church group that are made out of old pillow cases.  These were to be given away.  We went with our Ethiopian tour guide and driver to go to churches and give away these dresses - well guess what the poor went crazy and actually hit us and got angry.  They have all the clothes they need and do not want to drag around more 'stuff' what they need is food.  We got out of there fast and our guide said she would never do that again. 

 

We went to an Ethipian restaurant last night and had a wonderful meal and listened to good music and saw a great stag show of dancing and singing. 

 

Today we met with the lawyer who is helping to arrange all the paper work and visas that are needed to leave the country.  We will go to the US embassy on Thursday and get Nur's passport.  We then drove out to the orphamage for older cildren 2-7, special needs and HIV positive children.  There were 189 and they all smiled.  I spent a lot of time touching the children especially the special needs children - I kissed them all sang them a song and stroked their faces - they all smiled.  We gave the orphanage all the dresses we had left, pens and one guy brough Keen shoes for the children.  This was a wonderful experience and it is good to know that there are people who take such good care of these needy children.

 

I love Ethiopia and hope that someday I can take my grandchildren on a trip here.  The dollar is strong here and I am constantly reminded of how much I have been blessed.

Love you all,

We are on our way to see Nur and tomorrow we take physical custody!!

 

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Oct 13, 2010

Good morning - today we pick up Nur!  3:30 p.m. This is a great day.  I think Leah and T are trying to decide between K or Nur as a first name - they can change it once back in US.  The way I hear the people at the orphanage talk about Nur makes me realize how much they love him and how much his name (light) fits him.  He is soooooo cute and has such a sweet personality.  We laugh about how his cousin will chase him and want him to play - he should be ready by the time he gets home.

  

Here are my key words for stories I need to tell when I get home - hut (sleep with animals), cannot give away clothes, passing on the road (cars can pass anytime from anyside), a big fat rat, happy children in orphanage, monkey loose in the neighborhood, fighting dogs that need to die, vodka on the roof, missing home.

 

Leah has been amazing on this trip - all my children are amazing but what she has gone through is tough, missing TT and T, meeting Nur, pumping, no sleep, constant decisions to make and just really wanting to be home to have her family together.  As grandpa Bob would say - Bravo Leah!

 

Love you ALL & miss you terribly

mom

 

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I tried to journal as much as possible while in Ethiopia, but I didn't do as well as I would have liked, so I treasure these email updates my mom wrote while there.  It brings me back in an instant.  I can't believe it's been two years.  I can't remember what life was like before the light of Nur entered my life.  So much life has happened in the past 2 years. 

 

Feeling very grateful that this human being has accepted me in his life so willingly and openly.  I love my little man.