Andrew and Christina (currently of Guelph), who came along with us, to meet
their new baby. Ebba CRIED when she saw Allison (none of the other babies
did, tho, this time), but allowed Allison to pick her up and take her to
what I am calling "the visiting room". Andrew and Christina joined us there
with their new, very hefty, and very alert new son. We stayed for a few
hours, I think - participated in another Ethiopian coffee ceremony (they
fresh roast the beans over a small fire, grind them and brew them in a clay
coffee pot - very different flavour, and VERY strong - and serve it with a
raw sugar, along with roasted barley + peanuts, which I didn't have, but the
others said it was good). Ebba has this very "deer in the headlights" look
of general shock - those HUGE eyes often downcast or turned away, as she
gets used to the idea of these strangers - but she warmed up a little during
the visit. Allison got a chance to speak with the nurse, and got the low
down on all the foods Ebba got, the specific brands, the feeding schedule,
nap schedule, etc.
On the drive back to the guest house, she fell asleep in Allison's arms, and
I was deputized to run out with Solomon to do baby grocery shopping. We
would pull over to the side of the road, run across the road thru traffic,
and into these tiny grocery stores, with stuff piled so high, someone had to
climb a ladder to get specific items. Three kinds of baby cereal (and 2-3
flavours of each kind), six cans of formula, 3 tins of tuna, 4 packages of
ramen-type noodles, and a package of extra large Pampers later, we rolled
back into the guest house. Ebba warmed up some to Allison in the afternoon,
then it was pack her up in the Ergo (seems like the current version of a
baby backpack that goes on the front) to seek out tiny baby hair elastics,
baby bottles (as the bottle/sippy cup combo seemed to require too much
effort to suck from) and bananas. Managed to get bottles in a pharmacy 200'
down Bole Road, and across the street (eek!), but were otherwise
unsuccessful.
Dinner with the other couple at a local restaurant (on the 5th floor of a
shopping centre) - was reassured to see the young and fit Christina puffing
and gasping after climbing 5 flights of stairs (Allison, Ebba and I took the
very teeny, European-sized elevator with 3 Ethiopians) - I agree, Pia, it's
probably a combination of the altitude and the pollution. Dinner was
fine...a bit odd (I ordered filet mignon, and i have to say, I've never seen
it look, or had it taste, quite like that), and then we headed back. Found
appropriate elastics on the way, too. Ebba was much more playful, and is
responding to Allison very well, I think. I'm sure tomorrow will be even
better.
I must say, I am very impressed with the level of care these kids receive at
the transition houses. They are a good weight, clear skinned, and well
adjusted. We did have an opportunity to spend some time with the toddlers
this morning - they teach them English, train them all to respond to people
(all adults or just foreigners, I don't know) with Mama and Dada or Daddy,
which was a little weird, but the little ones piled out of the school room
and grabbed us, and made us draw pictures for them. The older ones answered
questions for us, and showed us their schoolwork, and had us write sentences
in their work books. A few of the kids had a white cream on their scalps -
probably a fungus, which Allison tells me is hard to get rid of - but
otherwise they looked great.
And now, I plan to head upstairs, have a hot trickle of a shower in a cold
bathroom (invigorating, to say the least) to scrub the filth of day off,
rinse my burning eyes out with more artificial tears (not sure how much
irritation is from the dry eye, the pollution, the cigarette smoke, or a
combination of all three), then baby sit if Ebba is asleep, so Allison can
update her blog. And then CRASH. Again.
A
It's just wonderful to follow along with you!!!!
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