No longer stuck in Amsterdam(I think)

We just got into the KLM lounge at Schipol airport.  What a contrast from where we have been over the last 8 days!  We are currently enjoying all the comforts of KLM hospitality.  We can have almost anything we want in here without any cost (would love to take pictures but don't want to appear completely out of place). We slept well in a soft, quiet and dark room.   We enjoyed a morning out on the town in Amsterdam.  Thought I would share some pictures.

 A great big cheese store.  The cheese was delicious! 

 Lots and lots of house boats.

Rows and rows of houses. 

We decided it was a nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live here.  

Our plane is set to leave in 3 hours.  Our boarding passes have cleared so God willing we will land this evening at 7:30pm in Toronto.  It has been a great trip. .. 

but we are ready to be home.

Where to start

As so much has happened over the last week(it feels like a month) the questions is where do we start?  We will start where the pictures begin.  Some of the first pictures taken were of the wonderful guesthouse we stayed at.  We felt safe at all times and the staff at KVI guesthouse went above and beyond our expectations.  Keeping in mind that this is Ethiopia here are the pictures of the place we spent our week. Views from our balcony: 

 Yes, people live in the house in the middle.  More then one family actually!

 Entoto Mountain is the large hill in the back.

The bags are piles of charcoil.  This is sold to cook with and as a primary heat source for most people in Addis.  It is said to be very expensive. About 130birr a bag($8.00).

 This last one is of the gate out front.  The entire house is fenced in, barbed wire and all.  There is a man who runs the gate 24/7.  If anyone wants in they would need to knock and be let in.  If they were in a vehicle they would simply honk their horn until the gate would be open.

Outside this gate was a constant stream of people walking.  Children from the house complex(the metal structure) in the previous picture were always outside singing and playing. 

REALLY stranded in Amsterdam!

After checking multiple times at the British Airways transfer desk all day(which was never open)we were left with no other option then to do what we were told and print our boarding passes for our changed flight at the gate.  This is normal procedure we are told.  The only flaw with printing you boarding pass at the gate is that if there is a problem with the booking the airline has no time to fix it before the flight leaves.
Yes, that is what really happened.  We arrived at Gate D16 scanned our bags, walked up to the desk, asked to have our boarding passes printed and handed over our paperwork from KLM.  That is when British Airlines realized that KLM only booked one ticket for both of us on the flight! After waiting in the airport for over 7 hours we find out 30 minutes before we leave that KLM made a huge error and I had no ticket! They did not have room for both of us! All I could do was cry.
KLM then sent us to 2 different transfer stations. Finally got a nice man to figure things out for us. "This mistake should never happen" he told us.  Unfortunately due to our cancelled flight from the morning, 300 people had to be dispersed over multiple flights.  The earliest KLM could get us to Toronto is tomorrow leaving at 5:30pm.
Once the reality had set in that we will be hear for abother 30 hours. We have opted to see the postitive in the situation.
1.We will be flying top deck,first class on a 747 Jumbo Jet.
2.We will be treated to Drinks, Dinner, Breakfast and lunch courtesy of KLM.    
3.We are in a lovely hotel with the softest bed we have slept in in over a week.
4.We have always wanted to see Amsterdam.

So although the last 24 hours has been extremely frustrating for us we remind ourselves that we are so wonderfully blessed.  So we will be taking the train into Amsterdam tomorrow morning and taking in some sights.  Any suggestions on things we should see in a quick 5 hour tour of the city?:)

Stranded in Amsterdam

Not really but that is what it feels like.  Upon our 6:55am arrival in Amsterdam this morning we were informed that our 9:50am flight was cancelled.  We are now stuck in Amsterdam until 3:00pm at which point we will take an airbus to London have only ONE HOUR to switch flights and then take a 747(one of the big ones!) to Toronto.  So instead of our anticipated noon arrival in Toronto we will not be landing until 6:50pm this evening.   We are currently trying to print our boarding passes.  We have stood in over 3 lines already and each time we are told to go somewhere else.  The latest info is that they will print them at the gate before we get on the plane.   We have officially walked the entire airport at this point.  The Euros given to us will certainly come in handy today(Thanks Uncle Gene and Tanta Corry!)
Since we have time and we are on the topic of airports I'll describe the return trip until this point.
Arrival at Ethiopian airport. 
Line up for all bags and individuals need to be scanned on entry into the airport.
Line up for check in(Passport check #1).  Luggage belt breaks. Stand in line for 1 1/2hours as they manually transport all luggage from check in to the airplane thus drastically slowing down check in.
Line up for immigration(Passport check #2).  We get to fast track through this one as our plane is to take off in about an hour(otherwise it was at least a 2 hour wait).  Find our gate(there are NO signs in this airport).  Line up for another x-ray screening before our gate.  Found our gate.
Line up to get on plane. Try to get on the plane but apparently we missed a check in?!
Line up for last ticket check(Passport check #3). This last ticket check is directly to the right, again no sign, no line marking and no flow of traffic.
Line up to get on the plane again(Passport check #4).  Finally make it to our seats and airplane miraculously only leaves  45 minutes late.
Fly for 1 1/2hours to Khartoom. First attempt to land we had to pull up right before strip as there was too much crosswind.   Circle around and try again. This time successful.  At this point we have had at least two vomitting incidents in our section of the airplane.  Rest of the flight to Amsterdam fairly quiet as almost everyone slept.

An addition to things I never knew I didn't know:  If an airplane seat gets vomitted on they pull the whole seat cushion off and replace it with a new one they have on board.   Smart.    
 

Things I Never Knew I Didn't Know

As we prepare to leave here in the next 2 hours we thought we would leave you with things we learned while we were here.
1.  Toilet seats do not really serve a purpose.  The toilet works perfectly fine without one.
2. 4:00am is prayer call for Muslims.  They announce it with a special song over a city wide loud speaker(scares the poop out of you when you are sleeping!).
3. It is important to always carry toilet paper.  Not all cultures value its importance.
4. A macchiato must be accompanied with at least 3 beers(it is rude to say no).  You must drink all 4 drinks in 45 minutes and then go for a 2 hour car drive to get the full experience.
5. Roads were created for donkeys, dogs, goats and cattle.  Vehicles are strictly secondary.
6. Donkey traffic can seriously slow down ones journey.
7. Shower curtains do not serve a purpose either.  When removed, showers serve double duty as a full washroom cleaning while you shower.  Brilliant!
8. The easiest way to transport chickens is to simply hang them off the back of your car by their legs.
9. When locked inside your hotel room because your door handle falls off, simply knock, and someone from the outside will know to let you out.
10. Drain plugs not only work to keep the water in the sink but to also keep the smell down the drain.
MOSTLY - Ones happiness is not based on what you own, where you live or how much you make.  The poorest often have the biggest smiles!

Our Last Day Here

It is 3:20 on July 20,2003.  Very confusing but that is truly the time and date here right now.  The Ethiopians run of a 12 hour clock that starts when the sun comes up(it is really 9:20am right now).  They didn't hear about Christ birth until 7 years after us therefore it is only 2003AD here.  They also run on a 13 months calendar thus making it only July 20 today. 
Today marks our last day here.  This morning we will visit Entoto Mountain and then do some shopping at the market for items to take home.  This afternoon we will use the rest of our donation money to buy teff flour for the Adama orphanage and then take food supplies to the Addis orphanage.  We fly out at 10:55 tonight so will need to be at the airport at about 8:30.  
I will try to post daily in the next week with details, as some of the stories need pictures to really get the full effect!

We are back in Addis!

We arrived back at our guesthouse at 4:30pm.  What a great trip! So many great experiences!  I have realized that I will need to post past our trip as there are many pictures to share and we don't know how to load them on the guesthouse computer. 
Will post more later when I have more energy!

Buying Donations

It is 7:30am here and we are just waiting for breakfast.  We leave for Soddo at 8:00.  We are told it is a 5 hour drive through nice country side.  When we get there we will be giving all of the generous gifts that we brought to this orphanage.  This is the orphanage that "D" spent the first couple months of her life with her sister so we felt it was important to see and meet the people there.  
Due to the generousity of friends and family at home we were also able to bring funds with us to spend on food supplies.  We will be splitting the $1000 US (17000birr) among the 3 KVI orphanages with a majority of it going to supplies for Soddo.  
The Ethiopian government recently did a review of all 104 orphanages in the country.  Through this review they closed down many of them for various reasons(misappropriation of funds, unclean conditions).  When this happened the children from the closing orphanages needed to be moved to the remaining open ones.  KVI Soddo alone went from about 25 children to about 40 or 50 children almost overnight.  This has caused a huge problem in an area that is already dealing with a food crisis.
We will be spending the night in a hotel in Soddo.  We are told it may or may not have water or electricity.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
As we are not officially through court due to the missing MOWA letter we will unfortunately not be given another opportunity to see "D" again.

No Mowa Letter

We have passed court . .. .except as we were told to expect today we had no MOWA letter to finalize our adoption.  The Ministry of Women Affairs(MOWA) is comparable to our Children's Aid.  In order for all adoptions to be finalized we need to have a letter of support from this agency.  We were told before court that MOWA is 22 days behind in writing their letters.  Some days they write 5, some days they write 30.  There is no way to know.  What this means is that until that letter is received by the court "D"s immigration process may not be started.  As soon as the letter is issued and a judge signs off(we do not need to be there) immigration will begin.  We are unsure if this will happen if the letter is issued during the court closure.  We have received many different answers to this question.  Please pray that we receive our MOWA letter before Aug 5(as this is when court closes).  If this does not happen we are unsure if immigration will begin before Sept 26 when court reopens. 
We inquired about "D"s health today and the nurse says she is doing well!! Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow morning we leave to visit the orphanage that "D" was from.  We will need to travel 5 hours out of Addis and will stay in a hotel there over night.  Please continue to hold us in prayer for good health and safe travels.  We will be taking the donations with us as this area is in great need.

Being a Minority!

For the first time in my life I know what it feels like to be a minority.
This morning we had the privilege of going to church here.  Solomon who runs the guesthouse we are staying at invited us and we took advantage of the opportunity.  We were originally going to the 9am service but it rained and rained overnight so the driver could not make it out(it really rains that much!).   At 10:30 we were picked up in a cab as the guesthouse driver could still not make it out around a huge puddle at his place.  The church was lead by a pastor from Dallas, Texas.  The worship team was a mixture of cultures.  The large church was filled with mostly Ethiopians.   This church offered services in English, Chinese, Amharic and one other I can't remember.  We went to the English service.  Very similar to what we are used to at home.
Addis is a very intimidating city for those of us that don't travel much but this afternoon we ventured out on our own for dinner.  We had a cab driver(he came highly recommended) who dropped us off at our location and then picked us up later.  It is said that Addis is a very safe city and we would have to agree!  Once out we felt comfortable.  We even did a little shopping. Mind you we were in a shopping mall with guards posted outside who were screening(with a real metal wand like at the airport!) people on the way in. Our cab driver was waiting right outside the door when we left also but not bad for our first time out.  Again we were definitely the minority!  It gives us a little more awareness for others when they may be in the same position.
We are having a hard time sleeping here as the dogs bark constantly.  Dogs are not pets here.  They just wander around at free will, get hit by cars(that's what we were told) and bark all night long.  We realized we forgot the earplugs.
We are being picked up at 9:30 (that would be 2:30am for Ontarians) for court tomorrow!

We are so blessed!

Just wanted to recap our Saturday now that I have time.  Currently at our guesthouse there are 2 Italian families picking up their children.  The Italian agency deals with different orphanages, one of them being the a government funded orphanage here in Addis.  We had the opportunity to accompany them while they dropped of medical supplies. We were warned before going that the conditions of this orphanage were not great.  Slight understatement.
To get there we had a long drive through Addis.  Many houses in Addis are just constructed from metal roofing. We had to drive down a beaten rode to get to the orphanage.  Both sides of the roads were just beaten down houses.
At arrival we entered a large room.  Over 50 children between ages about 18 months and 7 years old were sitting watching TV.  When they saw us we were swarmed by children looking for attention.  A couple of things stood out to me.  1.  The children were not wearing diapers.  Many were wet.  They would simply mop up the wet floor and continue on.  I am guessing this was the most economical way.  2. Some just sat on the floor and cried.  All wanted to be picked up.  3. The only toys in the room were broken balloons.  The young children (1-2yr olds) were chewing on them.  4. In the room with the 50 children was only one nanny.
Next we visited the infant nursery.  All children appeared to be under 3 months.  A couple looked to have just been born.   There were 10 infants and one nanny.  Many of them were crying.
The last room we visited was the baby room.  The room was lined with cribs about 30-40 of them.  Almost every crib held 2 babies.  The babies in this room would be between 3 months-18 months.  The only sound was crying babies.  The first baby we saw when entering the room was a little boy who just sat, smiled and waved.  He was very malnourished.  As we went around the room we did the best we could to entertain the crying children.  We tried to gently rock the little ones to sleep so they would stop crying(we weren't allowed to pick them up).  In this room were 2 nannies doing the best they could to keep up with feeding and changing.  They were not succeeding..
Many of these babies were abandoned which makes them unadoptable.  Some were matched to families from different countries. (How thankful we are that D is not there)  When children in this orphanage reach the age of 14 they will be taught a trade and sent back out into the world to make a living on there own.
How blessed we are to live in Canada!

We Finally Meet our Daughter!

At 2:45pm today we finally got to meet "D".  Her feet are about the length of my index finger.  Her hair is very dark and in tiny, tiny ringlet curls.  Her eyes are huge and brown.  Her legs were very long.  She was to be napping when we first arrived but we were aloud to peek at her and she wasn't sleeping.  She was just lying there sucking her 2 middle fingers(which she did a lot during our HOUR LONG VISIT!).  The nurse says she currently ways 5kg.  I peeked at her clothing and her top was a 3-6month but her pants were 12 months.  It didn't take her long to warm up to us.  We were allowed to touch and play with her just not pick her up.  I gave her a kiss  from everyone at home.  She was soon laughing and talking(she even sings).  She says "Dada". She knows her name well as she always looked when someone spoke it.   At the beginning of the visit she was in her crib but after nap time all the infants (7 of them) had play time on the floor.  Tell Natalie she does pull hair!  She would reach for things put in front of her and she even rolled over for us.   Apparently she takes after her mother because the first noise we heard out of her was a HUGE fart.  She is in very good care.  The orphanage has many nannies and is very clean.  In the infant room we were not aloud to even wear our shoes.       
We were able to speak to the nurse after our long visit.  The nurse said that "D" is currently suffering from a common illness.  She is dehydrated (we noticed they tried to feed her twice and she did drink some).  She started antibiotic injections at the hospital yesterday and will continue for 7 days.  The nurse said not to worry and she seems content in the care of her doting nannies.   As hard as it was to leave we are comforted in the fact that God has placed her in such loving care. 

A humbling Experience

Friday we spent catching up on sleep.  We didn't wander out at all, but this morning we had tagged along with two Italian families as they visited a government funded orphanage in Addis.  This orphanage house 150 abandoned children under the age of 7.  What we saw there is almost unexplainable.  I don't have much time as we leave in 10 minutes to visit D. Our ride actually just arrived so I will post more later!

WE MADE IT!!

We officially landed in Addis Ababa at 7:30pm.   We had a long flight from Amsterdam.  5 1/2 hours to Khartoom, Sudan(1 hour wait in airplane) and then another 1 1/2 to Ethiopia.  At arrival in Ethiopia we needed to wait a long time in the Visa line and then pick up our baggage.  Most bizarre airport experience ever!   They scan all bags before you leave the airport.  Not in an orderly fashion!  All people line up but then when you get to the bag scan it is most aggressive goes first.  One of us put the bags through while the other ran around to the other end to be sure no one else picked them up!  Elbows up!
After scanning we were randomly directed to have our hockey bags full of donations searched(I say randomly with sarcasm because it appeared then anyone with an over sized bag was being searched)  We waited a long time while the person before us in line was hand written a ticket to let them know how much tax they had to pay for what they were bringing in to Ethiopia.  Finally we were next.  The man opened our bag and asked what it was all for. "Donations for orphanages we are visiting" we replied.  "Do you have receipts for it all?" he asked.  "No" we stated "It holds no value to us as it was given to us". (Throughout the entire exchange he kept smelling the clothing, we think to tell if it was new our used)  "Is it new or salvage?" he asked.  "Salvage" we replied.  Eventually he called his supervisor over, they spoke for a minute and then he told us to pack up and leave.  We did!   No taxes paid!  Yeh!  God is good!  
Not sure yet what our plans are today as we are still a little jet lagged.  We may get to go visit "D" but hasn't been confirmed yet.  Just enjoyed a delicious breakfast at our guesthouse.  
 

We are almost half way there!

We officially landed in Schiphol Amsterdam at 6:25am.  So far fairly smooth travelling other then missing our cutoff for the airport.  I realize this sounds almost impossible but somehow we managed to be distracted enough to not watch the signs.  Good thing there are about 4 different ways to get there!

After watching 2 movies(had to take some gravel for some major bumps) we both managed to nap for about 2 hours on the airplane so are not feeling too tired yet considering it is now morning here and we missed are nights sleep.  We landed at gate D47 and are taking off from gate D47 so don't even have too move anywhere.  We are almost ready for another 8 hours of flying.

D's Bear

Today we went to Build-A-Bear.  

We picked out a beautiful, soft, cuddly teddy bear.  We have named him Buddy.  I don't know if any of you have ever been to a Build-A-Bear before but I'm pretty sure their general population is not adults.  There enthusiasm for their jobs must be commended though!

We started by recording our message to D.  They took us into their "recording studio" AKA the washroom at the back of the store.  We quickly recorded what we needed.  We then assisted with stuffing, giving the bear a heart beat and a birth certificate.  

Here it is:  

When D pushes/bumps the left leg this is what she hears her parent say:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

Love go with me through the night

Wake me with the morning light

Amen

Donations, donations!

This is our dining room table on Saturday.  There is still more to come!

Also toys for the children to enjoy.

 Wow, in a short amount of time we have been bombarded with many toys, medications, clothing, shoes (over 30 pairs!), blankets and so much more.  Our plan is to take two hockey bags full of donations. While in Ethiopia we will divide the donations up between different orphanages we visit according to what they may need.  When we return to Ethiopia to pick D up we will take anything that did not fit on this trip.   We are blessed to have so many caring friends and family.  All the donations will be greatly appreciated!  

The 2 Ways our Trip Can Go

 After arrival in Addis Ababa we will get to see D from afar once. This will happen at any time between Friday and Sunday. I have heard this has been done in different ways.  Some people have been able to interact (make faces, noises, make the child smile from up close), but not touch.  Others have simple viewed from afar just catching a glance but not interacting in any way. The days before court(other then to see D) are ours to tour around as we please.
Then on Monday between 9am-12am(that would be 2am-5am Ontario time) we will need to appear before a judge in court. The outcome of this will determine what the rest of our trip looks like.
Scenerio 1 - We pass court - If all documentation is in place the judge stamps our file as passed.  We can then go ahead with our two day trip to Soddo to see the region where D was born, visit with birth mom(if she is willing), find out where D's twin sister is buried and visit the orphanage where D spent the first months of her life.  We will also be given the opportunity to have a long visit with D.  We can at this point hold her and take lots of pictures!
Scenerio 2 - We do NOT pass court - If there is a piece of paperwork missing we will NOT pass court and the judge can not stamp our file until all document are there.  What this means is from Monday-Thursday following court we are again free to tour around as we please but are unable to have any interaction with D or her birth mother.
We covet your prayers as the sooner we pass court the sooner we can start immigration the sooner we can bring her home.

Things for "D"

So here are some things that we will be leaving for "D" in Addis Ababa.
There is a picture album(the thing with the caterpillar on it) with pictures of mom and dad in it so she will know who we are.
There is a story book that we have recorded with our voices so she will know what we sound like.
There is a cute little blanket (Thanks Heather D!) that will smell like us so she knows what we smell like. Kind of.
We still need to pick up a bear that will speak our recorded message when she hugs it. We think Build-A-Bear may have one.
She is allowed our care package once we have officially passed court. So hopefully we can give it to her before we come home!

Not sure this is my style but..

I thought since I don't know how much time I'll have to e-mail everyone when we are in Ethiopia this may be the easiest way to communicate.  (I might even let Adam write a thing or two as well)