Tuesday, August 28, 2012

It's my party and i'll cry if i want to...

...you would cry too if this happened to you =) ...
Today was our "gotcha day".  We headed to the orphanage around 9am and after we arrived we waited in a room as they prepared "Birtukan's" farewell party.  Finally they were ready and they escorted us to a small room I believe they may use as a school room as it had numbers and letters on the wall.  We sat in two of the four chairs in the front of the room while we awaited the arrival of the guest of honor.  There was popcorn, a bakery cake, injera, and soda pop.  This was all being video taped by our agency  as we are not permitted to take pictures in the orphanage.  Suddenly Tim and I glance out the door to our right and a heavenly sight appears, more beautiful than any earthly sight we have seen.  Makeda was dressed in a traditional Ethiopian dress and her hair was done just so and she was being escorted to the party over the dirt ground by one of her caretakers.  It was impossible when taking in that sight not to just be overwhelmed with emotion.  Four years of wondering, waiting and hoping and now this beautiful princess of ours was being brought into our care.  We will never forget that moment.
Well, Makeda was fine as long as we did not approach her.  They tried to hand her to our care, which upset her so we asked they hold onto her for her party, as it was HER party and she should at least be able to enjoy some of it =) .  So, they did hold onto her and we enjoyed a few songs sung to us by the other orphanage kids, they brought Makeda pictures they made for her and kissed her farewell.  The orphanage staff said a prayer over her and the other kids joined in and then we prayed over her together as well.  It was a beautiful farewell ceremony full of love and rich emotion.  Then it was time to go.  They handed Makeda to me and the tears and protest kicked in.  She cried for awhile and then once again surrendered to this new life that she has been called to.  We returned to our guest home.
Once back at the guest home we changed Makeda into one of her new dresses and went to the dining room to eat lunch.  Though she does not have a big appetite, she does eat well enough and we have also been successful in communicating about the potty.  I will say "shintabait" (potty?) and she will nod  her head yes or shake it no.  She still hasn't said a word, but we were assured at the orphanage she DOES talk and I am sure we will be privy to that side of her in due time :) .
After lunch it was off to our Embassy appointment.  Makeda took a nap on our way to Embassy as it was a long ride, made much longer by the mourners (many, many, many Ethiopian mourners) lined up along the streets slowly making their way to the palace to show their respects for the late Prime Minister.  It was quite a sight.  Embassy went well and they are doing the final preparations for her visa which we will get on Thursday.  
On a side note, Tim decided we should take a picture of me holding Makeda outside of the Embassy to mark the moment.  I said "Are you sure we are allowed?" to which he replied, "Hey, it's our embassy" and snapped the picture.  Well not two seconds later he was called over to a security guard who explained it WAS NOT acceptable to take any photos of the embassy building and had Tim delete the photo.  Making memories indeed, but not photographic ones if you are outside the US Embassy :)
When we finally made it back to the guest house we watched Zoie play with some of the guest house workers and kids that the family that i mentioned in our first blog brought back to the guest house to hang out for awhile.  Tim tossed a football in the street with them and they had a fun game of "hit the target" (it being a water bottle sitting upright on a wooden stool).  Makeda loves to be outside.  The above photo shows some of the neighborhood children that came by to watch.  We brought some inflatable balls and little stuffed animals to share with the kids at Mission Ethiopia and Tim shared a few with them to their delight.  It was a full and fun day.  Makeda is asleep now and we will see what great adventures tomorrow holds for us come morning.  Blessings to all!




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