Andrea's last two msgs pretty much sum up the ordeal of heading home ... I have never been so tired in my life.
Since our landing in Mtl on the 24th, we are struggling to establish the New Normal around here ... not easy, I admit. Ebba is doing pretty well, but I am feeling pretty overwhelmed with the jetlag, time change, new baby adjustment, and big sister adjustment.
As I keep saying, adoption is not for the faint of heart. Would welcome any thoughts on how to survive this transition with sanity intact ...
Haven't had a minute nor an ounce of extra energy to download pics yet - hopefully in the next few days.
I want to thank all of you who sent encouraging comments via this blog while we were in ETH. The slow dial-up connection prevented me from accessing other than a few while there, but I have since re- read them all, and really appreciate that people were interested in our journey.
More soon,
Allison
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Baby Update Post Removed
Folks - Just so you know (in case you were looking for it), I have removed the post containing updates about other people's babies - at the agency's request. I guess I had unknowingly crossed a line of privacy for the as-yet unadopted children.
Apologies all 'round.
Apologies all 'round.
Andrea's POV - Home at Last
And I am BAGGED, despite having at least twice the amount of sleep Allison had last nite, as Ebba has conveniently remained on Addis time, which is 8 h earlier than here. Which means she slept on the plane from Heathrow to Montreal, then NAPPED for 3 h upon return to the homestead (which was sometime after, what, 8 pm local time?). Allison, I think, will have had a brutal first Christmas Day with Ebba...
The flight home was....well....interesting. No bulkhead seats for the 12 mo and her travelling companions, no siree Bob. That would go to the 8 mo and her travelling companions, tho someone please explain to me why a non-walking infant needs more space than a toddler that strongly resents being restrained.
The flight from Addis to Heathrow was via Damascus, where we went from being 2 adults plus one toddler (plus all the required paraphenalia required to appease said toddler and, to a lesser extent, the adults) squashed into a row with 3 seats to the same squashed into a row with 3 seats plus another adult, as PASSENGERS were picked up in Damascus, and we went from being a non-full airplane to being a full one.
OH, that leg of the journey was not pleasant - Ebba did NOT want to be confined, and proceeded to kick the seat back of the man in front of her, throw all manner of things into the aisle, and throw regular tantrums. With the stress of travel on top of the stress of everything else, she also refused everything but bottles, which was tricky, as if you gave her a fullish bottle (180 mL) at intervals strategically designed to keep her from screaming, she'd overflow all over herself, Allison, and whatever Allison happened to be sitting on (having now scrubbed dried baby milk formula vomit out of fabrics, I can tell you the stuff is like glue, and stinks to boot).
We then rejigged the strategic plan to include bottles pretty much on the hour, with half the amount of milk. No more spewage, and it at least appeased Ebba for short periods of time (tho removing the emptied half-filled bottle resulted in outrage at not having the "I'm so full, I need to vomit all over Mommy" feeling in her tummy, which wasn't very pleasant). Allison spent most of that leg of the journey standing in the aisle, trying to keep Ebba from driving the entire plane crazy. I became a master at mixing up a bottle of formula (OK, milk powder) in record time.
The changeover in Heathrow went smoothly, and with no wait, we changed terminals, went thru security again, and proceeded directly to the gate. This plane was bigger, with 2-4-2 across (and at the back, 2-3-2). This time, we were slated for 2 seats on the right side of the plane - having had a less than pleasant experience sharing 2 seats with 2 adults + Ebba and all her stuff, Allison made a plea to one of the flight attendants as we boarded, that if 3 seats were possible, we'd be eternally grateful. Well, bless their little French Canadian hearts, they pulled it off, and a couple with an adjacent empty seat agreed to switch seats with us.
It was AWESOME - Allison and I sat on the aisles, we had oodles of space, some kid was sitting in front of Ebba (kids tend to mind less that their seat back is being swatted and kicked and climbed and used as a propulsion mechanism), we had seat back on-demand video screens, and after some initial histrionics (most likely caused by tired + teething + travel + restraint), Ebba SLEPT. We ate an undisturbed dinner, watched movies (finally saw and heard Wall-E, the Pixar film, which had been running on the previous leg of the journey, but there was too much Ebba stuff to actually WATCH it except in pieces), and rested (no sleep, tho, for me, and I doubt for Allison, either).
Upon arrival, Customs and Immigration were a breeze, luggage took a little longer, and then Allison got pulled over for a spot check. But, finally, we rolled out of the baggage claim area, and Ebba met the rest of the family. Honestly, someone should have taken pix - Ian was in tears, he was so overwhelmed by meeting Ebba. As for Ebba, back to the deer in the headlights look for a while, tho she seemed back to normal by 5 am today.
Ian's sister and brother-in-law both brought me from the Montreal airport last nite, and picked me up this morning to deliver me back there, for my flight home this morning. They were wonderful - they brought me a coffee, a card, and a gift (tho I left the gift of local artisanal cheese with them, for I know the cheese is VERY good, and it would have been a shame to have the USDA throw it out when I passed thru customs).
The day (as viewed from the MTL airport) dawned clear and bright, I managed to get a cup of coffee and a raspberry scone from the Second Cup in the airport, and the flight left almost on time - last minute snow meant a delay for de-icing. Arrived in Philly in plenty of time to get lunch (a real actual salad, which wasn't half bad tho some of the veg had been previously frozen, and I had to pick out all the onions and black olives, and a non-dairy smoothie - vitamins! and fibre! real food!), and board the plane to GSO, which also left and arrived on time.
So, on this Christmas Day, I got to see an old friend, had smooth sailing home, got home in time to pick up my dog (who is a STAR at daycare/overnite camp, apparently), and even had snow. Despite being dog tired, does it get any better than this?
And now, I think I have drawn out the day long enuf to enable a relatively smooth transition to local time. It is 8:45 pm here in GSO, so, what...plus 8 h...4:45 am in Addis. Yup, time for bed.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all.
A
The flight home was....well....interesting. No bulkhead seats for the 12 mo and her travelling companions, no siree Bob. That would go to the 8 mo and her travelling companions, tho someone please explain to me why a non-walking infant needs more space than a toddler that strongly resents being restrained.
The flight from Addis to Heathrow was via Damascus, where we went from being 2 adults plus one toddler (plus all the required paraphenalia required to appease said toddler and, to a lesser extent, the adults) squashed into a row with 3 seats to the same squashed into a row with 3 seats plus another adult, as PASSENGERS were picked up in Damascus, and we went from being a non-full airplane to being a full one.
OH, that leg of the journey was not pleasant - Ebba did NOT want to be confined, and proceeded to kick the seat back of the man in front of her, throw all manner of things into the aisle, and throw regular tantrums. With the stress of travel on top of the stress of everything else, she also refused everything but bottles, which was tricky, as if you gave her a fullish bottle (180 mL) at intervals strategically designed to keep her from screaming, she'd overflow all over herself, Allison, and whatever Allison happened to be sitting on (having now scrubbed dried baby milk formula vomit out of fabrics, I can tell you the stuff is like glue, and stinks to boot).
We then rejigged the strategic plan to include bottles pretty much on the hour, with half the amount of milk. No more spewage, and it at least appeased Ebba for short periods of time (tho removing the emptied half-filled bottle resulted in outrage at not having the "I'm so full, I need to vomit all over Mommy" feeling in her tummy, which wasn't very pleasant). Allison spent most of that leg of the journey standing in the aisle, trying to keep Ebba from driving the entire plane crazy. I became a master at mixing up a bottle of formula (OK, milk powder) in record time.
The changeover in Heathrow went smoothly, and with no wait, we changed terminals, went thru security again, and proceeded directly to the gate. This plane was bigger, with 2-4-2 across (and at the back, 2-3-2). This time, we were slated for 2 seats on the right side of the plane - having had a less than pleasant experience sharing 2 seats with 2 adults + Ebba and all her stuff, Allison made a plea to one of the flight attendants as we boarded, that if 3 seats were possible, we'd be eternally grateful. Well, bless their little French Canadian hearts, they pulled it off, and a couple with an adjacent empty seat agreed to switch seats with us.
It was AWESOME - Allison and I sat on the aisles, we had oodles of space, some kid was sitting in front of Ebba (kids tend to mind less that their seat back is being swatted and kicked and climbed and used as a propulsion mechanism), we had seat back on-demand video screens, and after some initial histrionics (most likely caused by tired + teething + travel + restraint), Ebba SLEPT. We ate an undisturbed dinner, watched movies (finally saw and heard Wall-E, the Pixar film, which had been running on the previous leg of the journey, but there was too much Ebba stuff to actually WATCH it except in pieces), and rested (no sleep, tho, for me, and I doubt for Allison, either).
Upon arrival, Customs and Immigration were a breeze, luggage took a little longer, and then Allison got pulled over for a spot check. But, finally, we rolled out of the baggage claim area, and Ebba met the rest of the family. Honestly, someone should have taken pix - Ian was in tears, he was so overwhelmed by meeting Ebba. As for Ebba, back to the deer in the headlights look for a while, tho she seemed back to normal by 5 am today.
Ian's sister and brother-in-law both brought me from the Montreal airport last nite, and picked me up this morning to deliver me back there, for my flight home this morning. They were wonderful - they brought me a coffee, a card, and a gift (tho I left the gift of local artisanal cheese with them, for I know the cheese is VERY good, and it would have been a shame to have the USDA throw it out when I passed thru customs).
The day (as viewed from the MTL airport) dawned clear and bright, I managed to get a cup of coffee and a raspberry scone from the Second Cup in the airport, and the flight left almost on time - last minute snow meant a delay for de-icing. Arrived in Philly in plenty of time to get lunch (a real actual salad, which wasn't half bad tho some of the veg had been previously frozen, and I had to pick out all the onions and black olives, and a non-dairy smoothie - vitamins! and fibre! real food!), and board the plane to GSO, which also left and arrived on time.
So, on this Christmas Day, I got to see an old friend, had smooth sailing home, got home in time to pick up my dog (who is a STAR at daycare/overnite camp, apparently), and even had snow. Despite being dog tired, does it get any better than this?
And now, I think I have drawn out the day long enuf to enable a relatively smooth transition to local time. It is 8:45 pm here in GSO, so, what...plus 8 h...4:45 am in Addis. Yup, time for bed.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all.
A
Andrea's POV - Tuesday Dec 23 (last day) in Addis
Whew.
It's 2:20 pm (or 8ish am, Ethiopian time, long story) on the LAST day before we travel home. After a brief excursion this morning around 11, we are back, Ebba is sleeping (thank God), we are packing, and preparing to leave for the airport at 3:35 am tomorrow (ugh). It's been a LONG week, to say the least, after a whirlwind 5 days before that, and I think we will all be grateful to be in our own homes, withour own stuff and food and routines, and our families around us.
After a particularly dramatic day yesterday (from Ebba's perspective), Allison opted out of the cultural evening, - it didn't start til 7:30,and once Ebba passed out just as she finished her dinner around 6:30, there was no way on God's green earth either of us were going to risk waking her by dragging her out of her crib, strapping her into the Ergo, and schlepping her off to watch us eat Ethiopian food and listento very nice (but loud for sleeping young ears) Ethiopian music (tho if she wasn't screaming her head off, she might have enjoyed the dancing). It was very interesting. The tables are very small and circular, with smaller regular wooden tables to supplement them.
We started the evening with a beverage, and most of us wanted to try tej, a wine made from honey, water, and hops. It came in flasks (think chemistry sets, and the round bottomed flasks, not the triangular bottomed Eherlenmyer [sp?} flasks). I asked if there were glasses coming, and I was told, no, you drink out of the flask. Solomon gave us a demonstration of how to told it, and we all gave it a try (and I don't think anyonespilled, tho my fingers did end up kind of sticky). It has a veryinteresting odour and flavour - I can't quite describe the initial flavour, but it has a very nutty aftertaste (so much so that I asked exactly WHAT the ingredients were). I think I managed to drink about 1" of the flask contents before I decided I did not like the first taste at all.
Then, a man came with what looked like a silver teapot (a large one) and a silver basin with a perforated silver screen on top - this was to wash our hands prior to eating. At this point, they transferred the beverages off the round tables to the smaller rectangular ones, and brought out dinner - large round platters (that JUST fit into thetable tops) with giant injera lining them, and baskets of rolls oflarge sliced injera [injera is the bread they make which is used inplace of utensils - it is flat, spongy and kind of sour] to eat with. Then they brought out charcoal "braziers" (for lack of a better word) with tibs (cubes of cooked meat), a bowl of cooked ground meat (which apparently is usually uncooked, but they cooked it for us faranji), a bowl of some kind of bean/chick pea/lentil paste, some spicy chicken stew, some tangy cheese (sort of like a crem cheese consistency) and a meat with spinach dish. These were all placed in spoonfuls on the giant injera - the spicy chicken stew in the centre, with "spokes" ofeverything else around the edges.And then, we ate. You tear off some injera from a roll and, using your right hand only, grab/scoop/dab up various combinations of the various stuff. I avoided the poorly defined paste, but the rest of it was very good (tho apart from the chicken, I have no idea what species the other ingredients came from).
As there were no other vegetables available, I ate rather a lot of the spinach. Solomon (our contact for the adoption agency) went 'round feeding us mouthfulls of injera and everything else. After stuffing ourselves, we relaxed and listened to the Ethiopian music that was being played, with intermittent singing, and enjoyed the dancing. Solomon tells me the music/songs/dancing were primarily Amharic, but also from other local ethnicities (sp?), like the Oromo. The dancing is very different - some very fast, short, choppy movements.
And, once the babies started to become restive, a few of us had coffee (espresso-like, very strong, and in tiny cups with sugar), and a smallbrazier with chunks of incense was brought. It was nice.
Ah, Ebba is awake, and she and Allison have joined me in the "business centre" here in the lobby. We should settle our bill, and get back to organizing for departure. Assuming we have no delays, and all runs well, we should be back at Allison's tomorrow evening, and I should be home a day later.
Once I've recovered from the trip/flight/timechange, I'll post the pix to Picasa (a Google feature), and send you all an invitation to view. Until then, I wish you all the very best of the holidays.
A
It's 2:20 pm (or 8ish am, Ethiopian time, long story) on the LAST day before we travel home. After a brief excursion this morning around 11, we are back, Ebba is sleeping (thank God), we are packing, and preparing to leave for the airport at 3:35 am tomorrow (ugh). It's been a LONG week, to say the least, after a whirlwind 5 days before that, and I think we will all be grateful to be in our own homes, withour own stuff and food and routines, and our families around us.
After a particularly dramatic day yesterday (from Ebba's perspective), Allison opted out of the cultural evening, - it didn't start til 7:30,and once Ebba passed out just as she finished her dinner around 6:30, there was no way on God's green earth either of us were going to risk waking her by dragging her out of her crib, strapping her into the Ergo, and schlepping her off to watch us eat Ethiopian food and listento very nice (but loud for sleeping young ears) Ethiopian music (tho if she wasn't screaming her head off, she might have enjoyed the dancing). It was very interesting. The tables are very small and circular, with smaller regular wooden tables to supplement them.
We started the evening with a beverage, and most of us wanted to try tej, a wine made from honey, water, and hops. It came in flasks (think chemistry sets, and the round bottomed flasks, not the triangular bottomed Eherlenmyer [sp?} flasks). I asked if there were glasses coming, and I was told, no, you drink out of the flask. Solomon gave us a demonstration of how to told it, and we all gave it a try (and I don't think anyonespilled, tho my fingers did end up kind of sticky). It has a veryinteresting odour and flavour - I can't quite describe the initial flavour, but it has a very nutty aftertaste (so much so that I asked exactly WHAT the ingredients were). I think I managed to drink about 1" of the flask contents before I decided I did not like the first taste at all.
Then, a man came with what looked like a silver teapot (a large one) and a silver basin with a perforated silver screen on top - this was to wash our hands prior to eating. At this point, they transferred the beverages off the round tables to the smaller rectangular ones, and brought out dinner - large round platters (that JUST fit into thetable tops) with giant injera lining them, and baskets of rolls oflarge sliced injera [injera is the bread they make which is used inplace of utensils - it is flat, spongy and kind of sour] to eat with. Then they brought out charcoal "braziers" (for lack of a better word) with tibs (cubes of cooked meat), a bowl of cooked ground meat (which apparently is usually uncooked, but they cooked it for us faranji), a bowl of some kind of bean/chick pea/lentil paste, some spicy chicken stew, some tangy cheese (sort of like a crem cheese consistency) and a meat with spinach dish. These were all placed in spoonfuls on the giant injera - the spicy chicken stew in the centre, with "spokes" ofeverything else around the edges.And then, we ate. You tear off some injera from a roll and, using your right hand only, grab/scoop/dab up various combinations of the various stuff. I avoided the poorly defined paste, but the rest of it was very good (tho apart from the chicken, I have no idea what species the other ingredients came from).
As there were no other vegetables available, I ate rather a lot of the spinach. Solomon (our contact for the adoption agency) went 'round feeding us mouthfulls of injera and everything else. After stuffing ourselves, we relaxed and listened to the Ethiopian music that was being played, with intermittent singing, and enjoyed the dancing. Solomon tells me the music/songs/dancing were primarily Amharic, but also from other local ethnicities (sp?), like the Oromo. The dancing is very different - some very fast, short, choppy movements.
And, once the babies started to become restive, a few of us had coffee (espresso-like, very strong, and in tiny cups with sugar), and a smallbrazier with chunks of incense was brought. It was nice.
Ah, Ebba is awake, and she and Allison have joined me in the "business centre" here in the lobby. We should settle our bill, and get back to organizing for departure. Assuming we have no delays, and all runs well, we should be back at Allison's tomorrow evening, and I should be home a day later.
Once I've recovered from the trip/flight/timechange, I'll post the pix to Picasa (a Google feature), and send you all an invitation to view. Until then, I wish you all the very best of the holidays.
A
Monday, December 22, 2008
Andrea's POV: Sunday
Oh, yeah, it's Sunday. And I only remember that because we went to
the International Evangelical Church this morning, as they were doing
a Christmas service, prior to the Big Day itself. There were
Christmas carols (mostly sing along, which I generally enjoy), some
sort of King-type story acted out, which was pretty difficult to hear,
and the standard evangelical exhortations to take Jesus into one's
heart. The 2 guys (pastors??) leading the service were frighteningly
smily.
the International Evangelical Church this morning, as they were doing
a Christmas service, prior to the Big Day itself. There were
Christmas carols (mostly sing along, which I generally enjoy), some
sort of King-type story acted out, which was pretty difficult to hear,
and the standard evangelical exhortations to take Jesus into one's
heart. The 2 guys (pastors??) leading the service were frighteningly
smily.
I've had the question if we were able to find all the foods we could
get back here, and the answe is NO. It seems standard to go to
several places just trying to get a single specific item - all shops,
pharmacies, etc, are VERY SMALL, and tho they are stocked from the
floor to ceiling, and out the front of the shop, if you are looking
for something specific (like, say, size 3 diapers, plastic bowls, or
half decent bananas), you may need a car to take you several places
before you locate your item(s) (we never did find the bowls). It took
one of the other Canadians here 2 days and visits to several
pharmacies in order to find metoclopramide, an antinauseant his wife
desperately needed (she's feeling much better now).
Breakfast is provided with the room, and we've stuck to scrambled eggs
(with bits of onion, tomato and "green pepper" - it's green, alright,
and a pepper, but it's small and thin-skinned and not rounded but
pointy, and HOT) with "toast" (must be toasted slowly, as it's more
like dried bread than toasted bread) and butter with "jam" (seems to
be a runny peel-less version of orange marmalade) - it's good. I have
"coffee with milk" - the wicked strong coffee cut half with hot milk -
and Allison has some hybrid juice (we can't identify the flavour).
Ebba has what we THOUGHT was formula, but upon reading the tin, turns
out to be full cream powdered milk, and some very milky oatmeal.
Somehow, we keep missing LUNCH. We usually bundle into the van, and
get driven all over Addis, and don't get back til early afternoon, at
which point I am hungry and trembly and feeling slightly sick (am
hoping this is an altitude thing, and maybe the result of inhaled
petrol fumes - Pia, care to weigh in?). We usually then order from
Ice Blue, which HAS to be within spitting distance, as they deliver so
quickly. From the Ice Blue menu we have tried Basmati rice with sauce
(way too much rice), various pizzas (a nice, very flat crust pizza
seems ubiquitous here in Addis), the cheese sandwich, and I tried the
buger, and fries. The fries are excellent, the pizzas are good, but
are we sensing a theme here? Yes, CARBOHYDRATE central here in Addis.
I'm going to have to go on a juice fast when I get home - ugh, I feel
HUGE, and the heartburn is killing me. Thank god for Pepcid.
For dinner, I have tried 2 different kinds of beef - these, and the
hamburger, were all sort of weird - and the dishes only ONCE came with
a vegetable, and they were token veggies at that. I switched last
nite to chicken, and had chicken in beer sauce and a caprese salad
(tomato and mozzarella) - and THIS came with slightly MORE than token
veg, with about half a carrot and a handful of string beans! And they
were good, too.
I have introduced Allison to papaya (she seems less than impressed,
how is that POSSIBLE?), and we still have a couple of oranges left.
Allison is on a hunt for bananas today, along with....damn, can't
remember...and more bottled water. Ah, she's just returned with Ebba
- I should go see how things went.
Tomorrow is more shopping (we missed the scarves and fabrics of the
Former Fuelcarriers something or other, long story), back to the BMI
office to make sure we do, in fact, have seats, and a visit to the
orphanage that Ebba came from in the morning, another trip up the
mountain (I probably didn't tell you about that, and I'm planning on
skipping this second trip - I can tell you tomorrow), and then an
Ethiopian cultural supper. No idea what's happening Tuesday, apart
from getting ready to travel (flight leaves Wed at 06:30, and we need
to be at the airport by 04:00!), and trying to tire Ebba out so she'll
not run everyone ragged on the varied flights home.
Hope all is well back home, and do keep me posted on the weather in
Montreal for Christmas Day - internet is WAY too slow here to get the
Environment Canada weather site to load...
A
Monday in Addis - counting down
I am officially running out of gas.
Today we were supposed to go to the airline to confirm our flights, shop for
some textiles, and come back to the GH. Then, in the aft, those that had not
yet, would go to up Entoto (we already did that, so I was looking fwd to a
quet aft). Instead, we did it all at once. Planning for the shorter trip, I
took one bottle which, predictably, wasn't enough. Ebba seems to be
teething (chewing her fingers, a little feverish, crabby), so being hungry
was not a nice addition to the mix. Plus, she has added biting to her
arsenal of protest behaviours. Yay. I had prepared myself for baby issues
- not toddler issues, so am having to re-jig my mindset.
This am I gave her some infant Advil, which seemed to help ... and again
Andrea is doing amazing auntie duty while I write this (3 pm). We are
supposed to be going out for a "cultural evening" tonight - traditional ETH
food, dancing, etc - but I think I will beg off - I am not feeling that
energetic.
On the up-side, Ebba is def attaching to me - she now pretty much refuses to
got anyone else, except Andrea (sometimes), and will come running to me if
she gets scared or wants a cuddle. But boy, does she have a temper!
Am thinking tomorrow is pretty clear - will allow me to get my last little
bits done, and start packing for the Long Trip Home. We asked for bulkhead
seats to give us a little more room ... hopefully we will manage.
Hope the weather is calming down in Mtl area ...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sat & Sun in Addis
Sorry I didn't write yesterday - it was a fairly busy day, and by the end of it, Ebba was tired & difficult, I was frazzled, and it wasn't pretty.
Yesterday am we went to Entoto, which is a big hill overlooking Addis (half-hour drive?). There is a big church up there and a museum. Lovely view. Many donkeys and people carrying loads of hay and fuel (cow dung & wood) on their backs. Looks brutal whether they were going up or down!.
Actually, I have to admit that the donkeys and sheep/goats here all look pretty good. Good flesh, no obvious sores from packs etc - so am relieved by that.
Then we did some more shopping, drove around the grounds of the Sheraton (after having the bottom of our van checked for explosives; truly another world.) Bought: traditional music CDs, a wall hanging, few more gifts. Things are pretty cheap here: CDs - 35 Birr ea - which is roughly 3.50.
Ebba is very good in the carrier - she sleeps in it, or just snuggles, and seems not to mind it at all. The bumpy Addis roads help put all the babies to sleep.
At the end of all that, we went back to the hotel, gave Ebba a bottle (she's sneering at cereal - but loves the bottle), which she promptly spit up ALL OVER me. Then, we tried going around the corner for supper with Andrew and the feeling-much-better Cristina (thank goodness for modern pharmaceuticals!), thinking I had enough time before the next bottle was due to squeeze in my own meal. Mistake. Ebba threw things from the table, banged spoons (loudly) on the metal ashtray, and when I tried to walk her about, fussed, whined, and was generally miserable. When she is frustrated/tired/hungry, she sometimes hits me in the face - which I don't appreciate - so I took my food to go, and went bach to the GH to give her a
bottle and put her to sleep. She was out in a matter of minutes, thankfully. And, also thankfully, she is sleeping through the night. So, I was pretty freaked out by it all ... in retrospect it was my own bad planning, but nonetheless it was a rough night for me, wondering what I had gotten myself into.
This morning (Sunday), I tried to approach things with a fresh outlook, but was feeling pretty homesick (still am). Ebba is doing better - I suspect she simply wears down through the day; this is a big adjustment all 'round. She seems to be learning not to YANK on my earrings, and the word "gentle". I have also learned the Amharic words for "no" and "come" - with good results.
This am we went to the International Evangelical Church (!) for their
Christmas service .. carols, mostly, and a play - I left nr the end to
diaper and bottle. Then we tried (again) to confirm our flights/seats for the trip home, but the airline office was closed. Tomorrow.
Back at the GH, I finally had time to contact Sandra's friend, Mesfin, to go and visit a little girl she helps with school. She wasn't home - so maybe tomorrow aft. In the am, we are scheduled to visit the orphanage that Ebba lived at before going to the KidsLink facility, confirm our flights, and make a last shopping stop for textiles (scarves, trad clothes, etc).
Right now it is about 5 pm - Auntie Andrea is watching Ebba so I can do this now instead of after she goes to bed. I am feeling a little unwell today, and hope it is just tired/stress/altitude/jetlag/whatever, and nothing more.
Getting eager to get home and get back to normal. OK - the New Normal.
TTYL,
A.
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