Ethiopia Trip: Day 3: Sunday Morning in Addis

(NOTE: See below for days 1-2, travel. 2 posts in one day-- read that one first!)

December 27, 2009, 9:00am

The day we meet our princess girl! It it about 9am now. A is sleeping-- was awake and fell back to sleep. Outside, Addis is up and moving. Two men change a tire on a blue and white van. My back kills from the bed. The building across the street is still under construction but is nearly finished. A child sings. A few blocks away, I know my daughter is up, in the routine of HH, which will not be her way of life for much longer. The poverty is already heart-breaking. Children, again, begging for money at the van window as we drove from the airport around midnight last night, one not much older than M's daughter T. (We learned later that it is now punishable with a fine to give money to beggars from a car/van, as about 30 to 40 people are killed each month that way in Addis. That explains why the begging was SO much less than it was the first time here.) The beauty is here. Even under a grey sky, the mountains are stunning. The kindness of the people again, evident immediately. D and J.

[See below for the journal entry about the travel. It was right here.]

It is nice this time that the newness and culture shock are not too much. This will indeed be a difference experience in so many ways. I am so happy to be here. The culmination of yet another long wait.

And my E. I cannot wait to meet her in just a few short hours. To walk the path to HH, to go through the gate yet again to meet my daughter...