Sunday, May 2, 2010
Durame part 4 - Shinschico Hospital
I don’t think I can do this part of our visit justice but I’ll give it a shot. The hospital is a few miles outside of Durame. If I remember correctly, it’s the only hospital for miles and miles. People travel long distances to reach the hospital. As part of Holt’s agreement to work in Ethiopia, Holt does more than adoptions. In this case, Holt has financed some improvements at the hospital and will be doing much more work there. From the American perspective, the facilities were less than desirable. However considering where we were, it was an amazing place. This hospital may have played a role in our adoption, we don’t really know. Perhaps Judah’s mom visited the hospital and received prenatal care, etc. Thinking that the service the hospital was providing to the nearby communities which have been the home to our children so far really changed my perspective. It was great to have an American Holt staff with us that day to give us a better idea of Holt’s involvement there. Part of our fees as well as lots of donations supports Holt’s work at the hospital and I’m thankful to be a teency-tiny part of it.
Durame part 3 - Hotel and Food Service
Part 3 – Hotel Durame and Food Service
Well, let’s just say that the Holt explanations are right. We are in a 3rd world country and being at the Union Hotel in Addis has been like a Marriott. As we went upstairs in Durame, workers were trying to open the doors by sticking a broom through the opening above the door. Fun. We walked into our room which was full of mosquitos. I’m so glad I got a malaria meds. I would have been freaked out with the four or five bites otherwise. After spraying down our room with deet, swatting a few skeeters and rubbing ourselves down with deet, we headed back out the door. We were greeted by the hotel staff who’d decided with the help of the Holt staff that we needed to move from the room with two single beds to another room so the ladies who were friends travelling together could have separate beds. Okay. Then they started to kick another couple out of their room for us. Does that make sense? We asked for that couple to be left and us to be given a new room. Know which one we got? The room that no longer has a key. They have one key per room and no extras (which wasn’t new – the same applied to our hotel in Amsterdam and in Addis where we were required to leave our key at the front desk). We had to leave our room open while not in there. I took a quick visit to the rustic bathroom that had a toilet and sink with no running water. You had to dip into the bucket next to the toilet and pour it in the toilet bowl to get your business to flush. Of course there was no running water in the sink either so I made good use of some wet wipes we brought along. We left our stuff in other rooms and went down to the dining room area to meet up with other parents.
We ordered off the menu which was a sheet of paper with approximately 10 meal choices written on it in English. The paper was passed around and each of us put a hash mark next to the meal we wanted. In typical Ethiopian fashion, it was a long time before everyone got their food. Fortunately the meal options really catered to us Americans. After lunch we headed to the Durame care center for our much anticipated birth parent meeting.
After the birth parent meeting we returned to the hotel emotionally exhausted. It was almost 5 and dinner was scheduled for 7pm. We decided as a group to meet right back down in the lobby/bar area to socialize and talk through what we’d just experienced. For lack of space, the hotel staff let us socialize at the table we’d be eating at. When asked if we could order supper earlier they said no and told us it was scheduled for 7pm. Alrighty then. Finally they decided we could at least send the order sheet (aka menu) around but told us supper still wouldn’t be till 7pm. I saw that there was French fries on the menu so I asked if we could order it as an appetizer. By this time Tesfaw, one of the local Holt staff, was at the table with us. He said that would be fine and so I asked for 3 orders of French fries to be shared down the table. About an hour later, our appetizer showed up. Only it wasn’t French fries, it was French TOAST. Nice. At this point I just laid my head down on the table in surrender. The French toast was served with jam, not syrup and it was actually pretty good (especially compared to the French toast I had the day before that had some extra protein fried in with the batter). At 7pm we still didn’t have our food but 3 orders of French fries finally showed up. Weird. Finally the food began coming out of the kitchen. Someone is always way late on getting their food. Way late. This time it was Shonda and Jamey who got their food just before 830. When their order, the Special (which was like a combination platter), did come out one o f the servings was of raw meat. You should have seen Tesfaw get all freaked out about the raw meat. It’s culturally appropriate to serve but he knew that Shonda and Jamey shouldn’t be eating it. The wait staff offered to scrape it off the plate and cook it. After an almost tug-of-war over the plates, the wait-staff ended up scraping it off the plate but it didn’t matter because they didn’t like the food anyway. Waited forever, dealt with raw food and didn’t eat more than 3 bites. Nice. We went back to our room where we didn’t sleep well and were eager to get up and get out of Durame. Thank you Lord for caring about our children, for putting them in families who can love and care for them.
Well, let’s just say that the Holt explanations are right. We are in a 3rd world country and being at the Union Hotel in Addis has been like a Marriott. As we went upstairs in Durame, workers were trying to open the doors by sticking a broom through the opening above the door. Fun. We walked into our room which was full of mosquitos. I’m so glad I got a malaria meds. I would have been freaked out with the four or five bites otherwise. After spraying down our room with deet, swatting a few skeeters and rubbing ourselves down with deet, we headed back out the door. We were greeted by the hotel staff who’d decided with the help of the Holt staff that we needed to move from the room with two single beds to another room so the ladies who were friends travelling together could have separate beds. Okay. Then they started to kick another couple out of their room for us. Does that make sense? We asked for that couple to be left and us to be given a new room. Know which one we got? The room that no longer has a key. They have one key per room and no extras (which wasn’t new – the same applied to our hotel in Amsterdam and in Addis where we were required to leave our key at the front desk). We had to leave our room open while not in there. I took a quick visit to the rustic bathroom that had a toilet and sink with no running water. You had to dip into the bucket next to the toilet and pour it in the toilet bowl to get your business to flush. Of course there was no running water in the sink either so I made good use of some wet wipes we brought along. We left our stuff in other rooms and went down to the dining room area to meet up with other parents.
We ordered off the menu which was a sheet of paper with approximately 10 meal choices written on it in English. The paper was passed around and each of us put a hash mark next to the meal we wanted. In typical Ethiopian fashion, it was a long time before everyone got their food. Fortunately the meal options really catered to us Americans. After lunch we headed to the Durame care center for our much anticipated birth parent meeting.
After the birth parent meeting we returned to the hotel emotionally exhausted. It was almost 5 and dinner was scheduled for 7pm. We decided as a group to meet right back down in the lobby/bar area to socialize and talk through what we’d just experienced. For lack of space, the hotel staff let us socialize at the table we’d be eating at. When asked if we could order supper earlier they said no and told us it was scheduled for 7pm. Alrighty then. Finally they decided we could at least send the order sheet (aka menu) around but told us supper still wouldn’t be till 7pm. I saw that there was French fries on the menu so I asked if we could order it as an appetizer. By this time Tesfaw, one of the local Holt staff, was at the table with us. He said that would be fine and so I asked for 3 orders of French fries to be shared down the table. About an hour later, our appetizer showed up. Only it wasn’t French fries, it was French TOAST. Nice. At this point I just laid my head down on the table in surrender. The French toast was served with jam, not syrup and it was actually pretty good (especially compared to the French toast I had the day before that had some extra protein fried in with the batter). At 7pm we still didn’t have our food but 3 orders of French fries finally showed up. Weird. Finally the food began coming out of the kitchen. Someone is always way late on getting their food. Way late. This time it was Shonda and Jamey who got their food just before 830. When their order, the Special (which was like a combination platter), did come out one o f the servings was of raw meat. You should have seen Tesfaw get all freaked out about the raw meat. It’s culturally appropriate to serve but he knew that Shonda and Jamey shouldn’t be eating it. The wait staff offered to scrape it off the plate and cook it. After an almost tug-of-war over the plates, the wait-staff ended up scraping it off the plate but it didn’t matter because they didn’t like the food anyway. Waited forever, dealt with raw food and didn’t eat more than 3 bites. Nice. We went back to our room where we didn’t sleep well and were eager to get up and get out of Durame. Thank you Lord for caring about our children, for putting them in families who can love and care for them.
Durame part 1 - The Countryside
It blows my mind how people operate around here. Yet at the same time, I really like it. The drive time to Durame was just over 5 hours. We stopped about half way in Butajira for a potty break and a drink. As we left the city of Addis, the landscape was lowlands with little vegetation. As we got down the road a bit, it changed to a more rolling landscape and eventually to a lush green. The soils were a clay type of soil and I wondered how fertile they were for people that depend on them to grow crops. As we travelled the blacktop road, it seemed like every few miles was another little town. As we entered and left each town, there were many people walking along or down the middle of the road. Many donkeys, cows, and goats travelled as well. Sometimes the animals were being herded and sometimes they weren’t. Often times the animals were hearded by young children (from 3 up) or women. As we got into town, it was city meets country. Think New York City taxi cabs combined with the local country market. It was chaos as cars veered in and out, stopped where they wanted, waited for animals and people to cross and amazingly didn’t collide with anyone or anything. Town had various markets and lots of people.
In the country side we saw oxen plowing fields. On Sunday, the men plowing the field were said to be Muslim because the Orthodox Christians don’t work on Sunday. The plowed with equipment that we might see hanging in a building as antique. People here know that they can grow multiple crops but they seemingly have little to no idea about conservation. The erosion we saw was both beautiful and terribly sad at the same time. It made me want to come back to work alongside them in conservation and agriculture in general. I saw lots of plants that I recognized which was fun but so many more that I didn’t. I learned that there’s a banana tree grown for its roots. The roots are then used to make a bread which is the staple food for the diet of the people in that region. This tree does not produce fruit and is much shorter than the other type of banana tree. The fruit producing banana tree also exists and it was very cool to see them with green bananas hanging. The leaves of the tree are massive and are used as a wrap in cooking in which they protect and steam the food. Tsegaw, our driver, said that many people leave the leaves on and eat the food. We also saw coffee trees, avocado trees, mango trees, and olive trees. Of course the acacia trees were all over the place as were the eucalyptus trees.
The people were beautiful to see. From what I saw, it seems as though the women and children were doing all the labor and the men were standing around conversing. That may or may not be an accurate picture of the culture. In some villages, kids were thrilled to see our fair skin and say hello and wave to us and we saw their beautiful smiles. Others kept their stern faces and could care less. Yet others in the towns we stopped in are very aware of the white people and had no shame coming right up and asking us for money. I don’t feel inclined to give to (and by beggars I mean the kids who wouldn’t take the small bills and would try to negotiate for me).
In the country side we saw oxen plowing fields. On Sunday, the men plowing the field were said to be Muslim because the Orthodox Christians don’t work on Sunday. The plowed with equipment that we might see hanging in a building as antique. People here know that they can grow multiple crops but they seemingly have little to no idea about conservation. The erosion we saw was both beautiful and terribly sad at the same time. It made me want to come back to work alongside them in conservation and agriculture in general. I saw lots of plants that I recognized which was fun but so many more that I didn’t. I learned that there’s a banana tree grown for its roots. The roots are then used to make a bread which is the staple food for the diet of the people in that region. This tree does not produce fruit and is much shorter than the other type of banana tree. The fruit producing banana tree also exists and it was very cool to see them with green bananas hanging. The leaves of the tree are massive and are used as a wrap in cooking in which they protect and steam the food. Tsegaw, our driver, said that many people leave the leaves on and eat the food. We also saw coffee trees, avocado trees, mango trees, and olive trees. Of course the acacia trees were all over the place as were the eucalyptus trees.
The people were beautiful to see. From what I saw, it seems as though the women and children were doing all the labor and the men were standing around conversing. That may or may not be an accurate picture of the culture. In some villages, kids were thrilled to see our fair skin and say hello and wave to us and we saw their beautiful smiles. Others kept their stern faces and could care less. Yet others in the towns we stopped in are very aware of the white people and had no shame coming right up and asking us for money. I don’t feel inclined to give to (and by beggars I mean the kids who wouldn’t take the small bills and would try to negotiate for me).
Trip to Durame
Okay, so this whole trip has been a little emotional. In a good way. Today and tomorrow will be no different. We will be leaving the city of Addis Ababa (top picture) and heading through the country side (bottom picture) to Durame.
I'm looking forward to the scenery, praying that the dramamine works wonders on my car-sickness, 
and hoping the time passes quickly for the sake of my tailbone. That's the easy stuff to deal with.
The hard stuff will come when we arrive in Durame. We have the opportunity to meet Judah's birthmom. Will she take the opportunity to meet us? Will something prevent her from making the trip even if she desires to meet us? I've been praying that all things fall into place perfectly so that we can meet her and have the wisdom to love and comfort her. Will you join me in praying for that?
(special thanks to Bethany Hutchinson for sharing her pictures, of which I posted here today.)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Journal Excerpt : Day 2 with Judah; Culture Day
5/1 Day (who knows) Second Day Meeting Judah
It’s good to be with Holt who desires for us to learn about the culture and see the city. Today was a cultural day for sure. We spent the morning going to the University Museum where it is a general history of Ethiopia. It’s a holiday here (May Day) which means things are closed. Fortunately Holt called ahead to make sure the museum would be open. Unfortunately they were given the wrong information and the University Museum wasn’t open. Though we asked, multiple times, if we could go shopping instead, Tsegaw informed as the schedule said “city tour” and that’s what we were going to do. Bummer. We ended up at the National Museum which holds “Lucy” bones – the supposed oldest human remains that walked upright. This theory of millions of years ago completely goes against our biblical world view and the museum was not a place we desired to go. In fact, this “Lucy”
is nowhere near the full skeleton they refer to. We had 90 minutes to walk through the museum and were done in 30 so we enjoyed a seat in the shade on the steps of the building. Some of the students inside the museum were on a field trip. Someone in our group chatted with the adult leader an
d found out that he was the head of Compassion International in Ethiopia and all the students we saw were Compassion students. That was pretty exciting for me to see considering we’ve been sponsoring a Compassion child for quite a few years. Insert Compassion kids pic From there we enjoyed lunch at Lucy’s Café where we also had a coffee ceremony. Wanting to truly experience the culture, I jumped right in and tried to fan the coals while the woman roasted coffee beans. More than once she took the fan from me because I didn’t fan it right and it wasn’t warm enough coals. I tried. I even enjoyed the coffee I tasted (thankfully they are small cups).
Eventually we made it to our choice place – the care center. It felt super wonderful that I without a doubt recognized our son when he was carried through the room. Praise God. We played a little and he was the same quiet little boy who was happy to be in our laps. Until I brought out the plastic easter egg designed like a school bus. He loved it and laughed and smiled a bunch with that toy. He finally began to get comfortable around us. We were thrilled with the chance to see a little bit of his personality shining throug
h. He easily went to both of us and 
wrapped his arms around us. Our little Asfaw-Judah is recognizing us too.
We had our few minutes visiting with the nurse who didn’t have much to say except that he’s healthy and didn’t have past records of vaccinations so they started him on where he currently should be on vaccinations. Hmm, sounds like we’ll be getting titers checked when we get home. The nurse also informed us of a bacterial infection on his scalp that was cleared up. I’d noticed the bumps and wondered about them so I was glad he addressed that. He also said that he had no signs (diaharhea, sore tummy) and doesn’t seem to have an issue with giardia. One of the helpers in the room speaks Wylotinga (Judah’s native tongue) and he taught us how to say “I love you”. Judah looked up right away as we tried to correctly enunciate the phrase. Back upstairs to play.
We played some more and laughed and chased toys around. Eventually he needed his diaper changed (Shoot, I was hoping he’d be potty trained) and I took him upstairs for a change. It was such a great experience upstairs. He quickly became his normal little self as he called out to other kids, climbed under a crib and up the side of a crib. It was so good to see. Of course, I played with lots of other little ones too. I hugged and loved on Bethlehem, Chrissy’s little girl, as she told me several times what her name was. Four other young girls quickly attached themselves to me when I allowed them to play with my hair. It was precious. They braided and twisted and the oldest of the girls was quite possessive of my hair. Precious moments and I’m so glad I was up there. I felt bad for leaving Ryan downstairs but I was so enjoying the moment. I’m looking forward to Asfaw’s next wet diaper so I can sneak upstairs!!! By time I went downstairs, it was time to leave. We got back to the hotel with enough time to borrow Shonda’s phone and call the kids. My sweet in-laws were curious about how things were going and I tried to politely tell them it cost $3 per minute to talk and needed to get off the phone. We chatted long enough to say hi to the kids, tell them about Judah and ask them to call my mom and Ignacio.
Tonight was the cultural dinner. And culture it was. It was buffet style and I’m glad. I had injera which has a lemony taste to it, tibs which I didn’t like, a banana cake topped with hamburger meat and Et cheese which I didn’t like and several other things I enjoyed. Then we enjoye_compress.JPG)
d several cultural dances representing the different tribal groups or regions of Ethiopia. Very cool. I even danced with one of the guys – of course it was totally white girl dancing but I was experiencing Et. During the dancing, we also had another coffee ceremony. I drank another bit of coffee and was shaky! I think the recent coke (not diet caffeine free like I’m used to at home) and the coffee have me wired even though my body is physically exhausted.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for Durame. This trip will allow us to see some country side and hopefully allow us the opportunity to meet Asfaw’s birth mother. Oh Lord, would you grant peace to all the families involved as everybody wants what’s best for their child.
It’s good to be with Holt who desires for us to learn about the culture and see the city. Today was a cultural day for sure. We spent the morning going to the University Museum where it is a general history of Ethiopia. It’s a holiday here (May Day) which means things are closed. Fortunately Holt called ahead to make sure the museum would be open. Unfortunately they were given the wrong information and the University Museum wasn’t open. Though we asked, multiple times, if we could go shopping instead, Tsegaw informed as the schedule said “city tour” and that’s what we were going to do. Bummer. We ended up at the National Museum which holds “Lucy” bones – the supposed oldest human remains that walked upright. This theory of millions of years ago completely goes against our biblical world view and the museum was not a place we desired to go. In fact, this “Lucy”
is nowhere near the full skeleton they refer to. We had 90 minutes to walk through the museum and were done in 30 so we enjoyed a seat in the shade on the steps of the building. Some of the students inside the museum were on a field trip. Someone in our group chatted with the adult leader an
d found out that he was the head of Compassion International in Ethiopia and all the students we saw were Compassion students. That was pretty exciting for me to see considering we’ve been sponsoring a Compassion child for quite a few years. Insert Compassion kids pic From there we enjoyed lunch at Lucy’s Café where we also had a coffee ceremony. Wanting to truly experience the culture, I jumped right in and tried to fan the coals while the woman roasted coffee beans. More than once she took the fan from me because I didn’t fan it right and it wasn’t warm enough coals. I tried. I even enjoyed the coffee I tasted (thankfully they are small cups).
Eventually we made it to our choice place – the care center. It felt super wonderful that I without a doubt recognized our son when he was carried through the room. Praise God. We played a little and he was the same quiet little boy who was happy to be in our laps. Until I brought out the plastic easter egg designed like a school bus. He loved it and laughed and smiled a bunch with that toy. He finally began to get comfortable around us. We were thrilled with the chance to see a little bit of his personality shining throug
h. He easily went to both of us and 
wrapped his arms around us. Our little Asfaw-Judah is recognizing us too.We had our few minutes visiting with the nurse who didn’t have much to say except that he’s healthy and didn’t have past records of vaccinations so they started him on where he currently should be on vaccinations. Hmm, sounds like we’ll be getting titers checked when we get home. The nurse also informed us of a bacterial infection on his scalp that was cleared up. I’d noticed the bumps and wondered about them so I was glad he addressed that. He also said that he had no signs (diaharhea, sore tummy) and doesn’t seem to have an issue with giardia. One of the helpers in the room speaks Wylotinga (Judah’s native tongue) and he taught us how to say “I love you”. Judah looked up right away as we tried to correctly enunciate the phrase. Back upstairs to play.
We played some more and laughed and chased toys around. Eventually he needed his diaper changed (Shoot, I was hoping he’d be potty trained) and I took him upstairs for a change. It was such a great experience upstairs. He quickly became his normal little self as he called out to other kids, climbed under a crib and up the side of a crib. It was so good to see. Of course, I played with lots of other little ones too. I hugged and loved on Bethlehem, Chrissy’s little girl, as she told me several times what her name was. Four other young girls quickly attached themselves to me when I allowed them to play with my hair. It was precious. They braided and twisted and the oldest of the girls was quite possessive of my hair. Precious moments and I’m so glad I was up there. I felt bad for leaving Ryan downstairs but I was so enjoying the moment. I’m looking forward to Asfaw’s next wet diaper so I can sneak upstairs!!! By time I went downstairs, it was time to leave. We got back to the hotel with enough time to borrow Shonda’s phone and call the kids. My sweet in-laws were curious about how things were going and I tried to politely tell them it cost $3 per minute to talk and needed to get off the phone. We chatted long enough to say hi to the kids, tell them about Judah and ask them to call my mom and Ignacio.
Tonight was the cultural dinner. And culture it was. It was buffet style and I’m glad. I had injera which has a lemony taste to it, tibs which I didn’t like, a banana cake topped with hamburger meat and Et cheese which I didn’t like and several other things I enjoyed. Then we enjoye
_compress.JPG)
d several cultural dances representing the different tribal groups or regions of Ethiopia. Very cool. I even danced with one of the guys – of course it was totally white girl dancing but I was experiencing Et. During the dancing, we also had another coffee ceremony. I drank another bit of coffee and was shaky! I think the recent coke (not diet caffeine free like I’m used to at home) and the coffee have me wired even though my body is physically exhausted.Tomorrow morning we leave early for Durame. This trip will allow us to see some country side and hopefully allow us the opportunity to meet Asfaw’s birth mother. Oh Lord, would you grant peace to all the families involved as everybody wants what’s best for their child.
Saturday
I can't believe it's May (and I don't even have my garden planted). I can't believe I'm in Ethiopia. I can't believe I got to meet our son!
Today's schedule is similar to yesterday's. We get to spend a few hours with Judah in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Scott and Bethany, we can't wait to bring your brother home to you!
Thanks to all those who are praying for us. It's much needed and appreciated for sure!
Today's schedule is similar to yesterday's. We get to spend a few hours with Judah in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Scott and Bethany, we can't wait to bring your brother home to you!
Thanks to all those who are praying for us. It's much needed and appreciated for sure!
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