We woke up on African soil on Wednesday, March 16 and got our first daytime glimpse of Addis since we had gotten in the night before. Below is a little clip of what our view looked like from the balcony on fourth floor where we stayed. It was a cool and rainy day. Love hearing that rooster crow -- I don't think I noticed it that morning because I was definitely too nervous to think straight. We were going to leave to meet Lillian at 9:30 am!
After we got ready (and I discovered that my hair straightener wouldn't work, hence the all-natural curly hair the entire week long :)), we headed downstairs to the lobby for breakfast. We met a few other AWAA families who were traveling for their Embassy appointment and also got to meet the super sweet guest house staff. The breakfast was great, and the coffee was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. That whole morning was kind of a blur though because all we could think about was meeting Lillian. We kept asking what time it was: 30 minutes to go. 20 minutes to go. 10 minutes ago. Then Yonas our wonderful guide approached us with a smile and told us about a change of plans: the babies were getting their vaccinations in the morning, so we wouldn't be able to meet her until the afternoon.
Bummer. It was definitely a letdown, but looking back we think it was better that way. We were still reeling from getting in late the night before and didn't feel quite settled in yet. So we did the typical tourist thing for the morning and were able to process everything a little better and calm ourselves down. A little bit anyway. :)
Our first stop was at the Holy Trinity Cathedral (a beautiful cathedral that was built in the 1900's to commemorate Ethiopia's liberation from the Italian occupation). It just so happened that the day we visited was a holiday, and the cathedral was filled with people wearing white. It was gorgeous. Yonas our guide told us he had never taken any families here on a day like this and that normally it is empty. If we hadn't visited there in the morning we wouldn't have been able to see it filled like that. It was definitely a cool experience.
After we left the cathedral, we met another couple from our agency for lunch at an Italian pizza place. It was great hanging out with new friends, and it really neat when we discovered that our babies came from the same region of Ethiopia (Wolayta), lived in the same orphanage, and came to the transition home on the exact same day. They are about one month apart in age. Neither of us had heard of any other families with children from that region, so it was really cool to have that connection!
Right next door to the restaurant was a Kaldi's coffee, which is basically the Ethiopian (and waaaay better) version of Starbucks.
So fiinnnnallly after what felt like the longest morning in history, it was time to head to the transition home to meet Lillian. Or as we called her the entire week, Yado. We were finally going to meet Yado.........
After we got ready (and I discovered that my hair straightener wouldn't work, hence the all-natural curly hair the entire week long :)), we headed downstairs to the lobby for breakfast. We met a few other AWAA families who were traveling for their Embassy appointment and also got to meet the super sweet guest house staff. The breakfast was great, and the coffee was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. That whole morning was kind of a blur though because all we could think about was meeting Lillian. We kept asking what time it was: 30 minutes to go. 20 minutes to go. 10 minutes ago. Then Yonas our wonderful guide approached us with a smile and told us about a change of plans: the babies were getting their vaccinations in the morning, so we wouldn't be able to meet her until the afternoon.
Bummer. It was definitely a letdown, but looking back we think it was better that way. We were still reeling from getting in late the night before and didn't feel quite settled in yet. So we did the typical tourist thing for the morning and were able to process everything a little better and calm ourselves down. A little bit anyway. :)
Our first stop was at the Holy Trinity Cathedral (a beautiful cathedral that was built in the 1900's to commemorate Ethiopia's liberation from the Italian occupation). It just so happened that the day we visited was a holiday, and the cathedral was filled with people wearing white. It was gorgeous. Yonas our guide told us he had never taken any families here on a day like this and that normally it is empty. If we hadn't visited there in the morning we wouldn't have been able to see it filled like that. It was definitely a cool experience.
When we went inside we had to take off our shoes.
The crowds of people entering the cathedral to pray.
The tombs for Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife are located in the back corner of the cathedral. That was really amazing to see, especially for Josh who had been doing a lot of reading about Ethiopian history.
After we left the cathedral, we met another couple from our agency for lunch at an Italian pizza place. It was great hanging out with new friends, and it really neat when we discovered that our babies came from the same region of Ethiopia (Wolayta), lived in the same orphanage, and came to the transition home on the exact same day. They are about one month apart in age. Neither of us had heard of any other families with children from that region, so it was really cool to have that connection!
Right next door to the restaurant was a Kaldi's coffee, which is basically the Ethiopian (and waaaay better) version of Starbucks.
I had the most amazing caramel macchiato that ever existed on the face of the planet.
Here we are in Kaldi's with our wonderful AWAA guide, Yonas. LOVE HIM! And we appreciate his love for history -- he was like a walking textbook!
So fiinnnnallly after what felt like the longest morning in history, it was time to head to the transition home to meet Lillian. Or as we called her the entire week, Yado. We were finally going to meet Yado.........
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