Amharic lessons and Freezer Food

Okay...so call me a nerd. I openly admit that I tend to be an over-achiever in some aspects of my life. When I started seriously looking at adoption, I first picked the agency I wanted to work with and then decided on the country. Needless to say, I knew nothing about Ethiopia before I started this journey. As I started to learn more, I bought an Ethiopian Amharic phrasebook, determined to learn a little of the language before I went. Amharic is a very difficult language...it has over 200 characters (and by characters I really do mean characters...they are not letters, more like some of the Asian/Arabic languages). It is also very hard to learn to speak a language that you have never heard a spoken word of--how do you learn cadence and intonation if you've never heard it? So I gave up, figuring that between my agency's workers and the fact that Ethiopia does speak some English...I would be okay.

Well, I have changed my mind. I really want to be able to converse a tiny bit. I want to know my numbers so I can barter in the markets, I want to be able to say thank you to Amari's mom if the opportunity arises. So I pulled the phrase book out (thanks Maria for helping with the pronunciations somewhat--Maria went to Ethiopia this past spring so she was able to help with a couple basics). I was very excited to find that I could quickly count to 10 but then I disappointed myself when I realized that I could not think of an individual number without counting up to it. Like if you asked me what 7 was, I would have to count 1-6 to get there. So I decided to make flashcards (that's where the nerd in me came out!!). So I made up 30 flashcards (used business card paper in my printer) and over the weekend, my co-workers quizzed me. I am very excited to say that I know my numbers 1-10 (all individually), I can say hi and goodbye and how are you and mother and father and grandmother and grandfather and daughter and baby and "Where's the bathroom???" (that's the most important!), and sorry and thank you. So it is on to more flashcards...bigger numbers (luckily they do 10+1, 10+2, etc.), some foods, etc. I am very excited about this. And now I have something new to do on the airplane--Dad get ready to throw away your Swahili words and learn a new language!!
In other baby prep areas, I made some wildberry muffins and some pumpkin-walnut bread tonight to freeze for after I come home. Here are pix of my casseroles I did last week and then vacuum-sealed (the BEST gadget in the world--I even vacuum-seal marshmallows, they are so fun to open and watch pop back up!).




Nothing new on the adoption yet...just waiting. Everyone at work is as antsy as I am...at least I understand the process, it is hard for those who have not been exposed to adoption processes to know what all is involved. One of the doctors sat down with me last night and was very interested in my trip and all about Ethiopia (I impressed myself by how much I actually knew!!--I've come a long way in a few months)...he asked me if I would take a lot of pix and develop a slide show to present after I get home! Too cool! So I want to try to keep that in mind while I'm over there (along with the 500 million other things I need to remember while I'm over there--would it be too nerdy to make a list of what I need to THINK while I'm in Ethiopia?????).

Happy New Millenium!!

It is now officially the year 2000 in Ethiopia (as of about 45 minutes ago). Kinda of weird to think about the fact that the whole world is not on the same calendar as us. Hmmm...

Happy New Year

Happy New Century

Happy New Millenium

Read it and Weep!

So I was reading through some other blogs and I always come across entries that move me or make me cry. This one really touched me so I thought I'd share it. Click here to cry.

Update from Ethiopia

CHI's Ethiopia Director, Sharon, is currently in Ethiopia assisting the first families take flight--so to speak. If you click on CHI's link to the right you can read more but I thought I would post an excerpt of her update here for you to read. Very encouraging.

We currently have sixteen staff working at Children's Hope/Ethiopia. All of them have felt led by the Lord to enter into this work with Children's Hope, House of Hope. They are some of the most gracious, hardworking, dedicated people that I've ever met. We currently have four nannies (in title), however, it's amazing to see that everyone takes part in taking care of the children with Jesus' joy…from the guards to the cleaners. It's amazing to see. So now when I'm asked how many nannies we have I will say sixteen (with an explanation, of course!).

We have ten children now at the House of Hope. One arrived just a couple of days ago and two arrived today (Monday). Four of those children will be traveling home to their American families over the next three weeks. The first will arrive in St. Louis on August 11. All of the children are absolutely adorable and loved very much by our staff.

Today, I visited one of the orphanages from which we have been receiving referrals. I was so impressed with this orphanage. The director of the orphanage was so welcoming and inviting. Nothing was off limits in visiting her or the orphanage.The orphanage was bright and colorful and clean and has been established for only three years. Children's Hope is the only US agency that this orphanage places children with. The director spoke very highly our agency and the integrity of our Ethiopia representative (Tsegay). She is a Christian and I could see and hear the passion in her face and voice as she talked about her work and the children. She places children 1-day-old to 7-years-old. She has several babies who were abandoned in the streets at birth, (still with the afterbirth attached) and the police often call her when they find newborns abandoned on the streets. She cares for twenty children at a time. I will be visiting other orphanages in the coming days.

What I've witnessed and experienced here in Ethiopia will change me forever. I know that I will leave this country having received far more than I can ever give. Nevertheless, I am humbled to be doing this work for the Lord.

Forward Movement!!

Paperwork

Finally, a break in the waiting!!!! The home study is done!!!!!!! Well, not 100%--it still has to be reviewed by Lindsay at CHI and my social worker Beth is still waiting on 2 references letters to arrive (I've been told they are in the mail) but it is written and ready to go. Hopefully I'll have that in my hands by the end of next week. Then I can send one on to the Immigration people. After they receive that, they can do my immigration clearance and issue me my magic 171H form. That will be that last piece of paper I need. I still have some things to get notarized and a couple more things to come to me (like my State Police clearance) but those are easy and quick things. So at least things are happening again! Still looking at a couple months to finish the dossier because the Immigration clearance will take a couple months (hopefully not that long but I'm being realistic). That is the paperwork update.

Culture Update

Today, my friend Maria and I went to the Ethiopian restaurant in Harrisonburg. Interesting...very interesting. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one...we went during the last 45 minutes of the lunch buffet and they are closing on Sunday for the entire summer (they are moving to a bigger, more central location). I have a feeling that the food wasn't up to their usual quality...everyone says it is really good, including my sister-in-law Diana (although she has a much more experienced palate than I do). So........it wasn't great. There were a lot of spices I'm not used to (of course, most people do use more than salt and pepper in their food!) and I found it very different. A lot of the food is just things that I'm not used to and need to try a few times to develop a taste for them. I really liked the rice mixture they had and the chicken was very good. Doro tibs is basically cubed chicken breast mixed with some other veggies...really good and tender. The doro wat is a chicken stew that had full drumsticks in it...this was also very good but very spicy. Not a hot spicy, but a make-you-drink-a-lot-of-Dr.Pepper spicy. I was really looking forward to the himbasha bread (honey and sweet spices) but there wasn't any on the buffet.

I have to discuss the injera. If anyone out there has tried this and would like to comment--please do. Injera is a bread-like pancake thing that you are actually supposed to use to eat everything with instead of utensils (although they did have silverware)...I found it pretty inedible. I have texture issues and soggy flat bread just didn't do it. Maria said that she didn't like it either. Maria went to Ethiopia this spring (her brother is a missionary there) and she felt like the food today was a pretty good representation of what I'll find in-country although she actually found it quite a bit more flavorful today. This might be a good thing because I found the spices a little overpowering...I actually prefer bland foods. It's all what you get used to and are exposed to. So hopefully, when they reopen, I'll try again and find a few more things I like (but I have never gone wrong with chicken!).

After eating, I spent time with Maria looking at all her pix of Ethiopia and some of the "curiosities" she brought home. Very beautiful country, beautiful people. Her brother is coming home in a few months and hopefully I'll get to meet him and be able to learn more before we go.

So, back to more waiting. I'll keep everyone posted.

Transition Home

This is a picture of the transition home that CHI has obtained in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The children chosen for adoption will be taken out of the orphanages and brought to this tansition home until we travel to pick them up. In some cases, we may actually be able to stay here with them instead of being at a hotel.

Here are some of the stats that accompanied the photo:
1. 22 rooms + 7 bathrooms
2. The kitchen is the green building
3. Located in the center of the city, very close to the MOWA(Ministry of Women's Affairs) and the High Courts that finalize adoptions.
4. There are rooms large enough where some adoptive families would be able to stay (in lieu of a hotel) if they'd like to.
5. Each 2 rooms are connected. One big room connects to a smaller room; so the caretakers can stay in the smaller room while the infants and the other children can stay in the larger connecting rooms.
6. The number of children for each room will range from 4 to 8 (depending on the size of the room)
7. There is telephone hook up, running water, and electricity.
8. The home will consist of our office space, laundry room, classroom, a room for children to stay who might get sick (to try to keep all of the other children from becoming ill), lounge area, play area, sleeping quarter for the caretakers, etc. etc.
9. The home is freshly painted.
10. Once the home is ready for the children, they will be brought to the transition home from their different situations,(orphanage or community) and stay under our care until the adoptive parents travelto pick them up.

Sounds like a good plan over all. This will cut down on the chance of the children catching stuff being brought in by new children to the orphanages. It will also help that this home is run by my adoption agency--that means more info will be available about their health, daily routine, development, etc.

Where is Ethiopia?

Here is a map of Ethiopia. When it is time to go, I will be told what date to be in the capital Addis Ababa. I will be met there and then taken to wherever my child is located. Once I hit the airport, everything is arranged by Children's Hope until the time I go back to the airport to leave.