Tuesday in Ethiopia

On Tuesday we were starting to feel a bit anxious because our documents from Rome (our approval notice) had not arrived to Addis Ababa.  Since we were cleared on Thursday, and I knew that it should only take a couple of days to get to Addis Ababa, I started wondering when exactly the documents got sent off from Rome.  They should have sent it off on Thursday, but we were not sure and Friday was a holiday over there, so that could have caused some delay.  Anyway, it is a game..... so after our breakfast at Weygoss a different driver (he knew very little English which complicated some things)  picked us up and took us to the Embassy so we could make sure for ourselves that the documents were not there and to make sure they knew we were serious and there in Addis Ababa waiting....  Like I predicted, the trip to the Embassy was pretty much a waste of time, but time was all we had then!

Then we went back to the office and chatted with Tsedey and got our day lined out for us.  Tsedey had to tell our driver what to do because we sure couldn't get it across to him!  It was a little unnerving thinking that we couldn't communicate with him, but he surprised us sometimes with what we could get across to him.  Anyway, went to the the Lime Tree for lunch.  I decided to order a caramelized chicken sandwich and was surprised at the outcome!!  There was no chicken in it, but raw celery, caramelized onion, and some other chewy things in it with tomato and lettuce.  We are advised before going to Ethiopia to only eat cooked food, not raw veggies or dairy, so I was a little bit leery of the sandwhich, not to mention that I couldn't identify all the food.  I did take some bites but just decided I didn't want to chance it, besides it wasn't that tasty anyway!  I shared Bereket's lentil soup instead.  When the waiter came since we motioned him for our bill, he saw my sandwich on my plate and asked if I was done.  I said, "Yes."  He asked, "You no like?"  I couldn't lie and had to answer plainly so I just said, "No thanks!"  He felt bad and wanted to know if I wanted more soup.  It is so interesting there, because in the public, the Ethiopians are very respectful of Americans and want very much to please or help us!  Most of all, they want to sell us something, though!
  
After lunch we had to go back to the Illien office for our arranged meeting with Eden's aunt (she raised Eden and gave her up).  Eden calls her Mother.  I was a bit apprehensive about the meeting because Tsedey had told us that for some reason the family has not been easy to work with and she said that Eden's aunt was bringing an attorney with her!!  Needless to say, I was nervous but felt it was needful that we meet!  I will not go into detail about the meeting, but it was amazing, beneficial, and very emotional!  Eden's aunt had her scarf wrapped around her head and kept brushing her tears off on it!  We brought pictures of Eden in our home to give and also we had talked with Eden about meeting her, so Eden wrote a letter to her.  The attorney ended up being Eden's uncle (her father's brother) whom was adopted himself!  He said in clear English, "What more could we ask for than Eden to be with a very nice American family!"  He did not speak fluent English, though, and our conversation was through an interpreter (Illien rep.).  I gave Eden's aunt a scarf at the end of the meeting and she asked if it was a gift.  When I nodded my head, then she took her old one off and replaced it with ours!  

After the emotional meeting, I was drained and I knew that Bereket was tired even though he was happy.  We had our afternoon siesta (don't know what they call naps in ET though) and a very chilled evening, where we ordered dinner in at the guest house and chatted with two other families that are also in the adoption process.