Baby Got Braids! And Arriving in Addis 2 Years Ago...

I tried to do some braids in R's hair today. It has been a long time since I've tried to style it-- like months-- and I've never been very good at making the parts straight and clean. But R has been talking about braids since we had our ET fund raiser dinner a few weeks ago and was around ET woman again... She remembered that she had her hair done by one of them at culture camp in Sept. So, I thought it was worth a try. I wasn't planning to do the whole head, but she wanted me to, so I did. I did the part on the side on the top of head not planning to do the rest so I wasn't really sure what to do with the back because I didn't want it to look like the braids on her whole head were off center... So here is how it turned out! What do you think?

Also, two years go, A and I arrived in Addis, along with the other 2 families in our travel group. It was amazing to finally be in Ethiopia, but it was overwhelming. We were tired, and the process to get our visas and to go through customs and immigration were confusing. Finally, we managed to get out of the airport, and there were J and D, holding signs that said "{Our family Name}." It was unreal.

We drove through Addis on a Sunday night, late. There were tons of people on the streets, and one person in our group asked why. I knew already-- they were homeless. At each stop of the van, children and adults swarmed our van. White people driving through the city caught every one's attention. (The begging was MUCH less our 2nd time in ET.) We got a copy of the schedule for the week and found out that we would have the chance to meet R's birthmom on Wed. We were so happy to get this news!!

We got to the hotel, checked in, and collapsed into bed. A few blocks away, our sweet R spent her last night at HH, not knowing her parents would meet her in the morning...

Above: A picture of R on our first night as a family. This one always cracks me up!