Days Three & Four in Ethiopia

I’m wiped.  We’ve had an absolutely exhausting 48 hours.  The last couple days have been the most unforgettable experience of my life thus far.  We are both completely emotionally and physically spent.  I would go so far as to say this experience has been life-altering.  It’s going to take me a while to process all that we saw and experienced.

We left early Sunday morning for the drive to the town where Liremet spent the first 3 months of her life.  The distance we covered was only about 125 miles, but it took us about 6.5 hours.  Driving through the Ethiopian countryside almost felt like we were watching a movie out the window of the van as we sped by.  Our driver was constantly having to avoid donkeys and cows and goats that were wandering across the road.  There were young children herding cows.  The farmers use some of the most primitive equipment I’ve ever seen.  It’s like the land is frozen in time.  Most of the people live in small round houses made of mud and sticks and straw that look very much like something you would see in National Geographic.  But then next to a mud hut, there is a cell phone tower.  This country is absolutely gorgeous, particularly in the area where Liremet was born.  In that area it is  very lush and mountainous. But in addition to the beauty, we saw so many haunting images of the extreme poverty in this area.  I also know that there is something for me to learn from these people.  They have nothing by our standards, but the people that I saw seemed happy.  As I said, I still have a lot to process.  All I know is that this experience will undoubtedly change the way that I view this world.

We are so grateful that we were given the opportunity to learn more of Liremet’s story and visit the town where she was born.  It was one of the most difficult and emotional things I have ever experienced but I am so, so glad that we we did it.  We also had the chance to visit Holt’s care center in Durame as well as their health center in Shinshicho.  After seeing the work the humanitarian work that Holt does in these communities and visiting with Dr. Fikru, the director of Holt’s work in Ethiopia, I am so proud to be affiliated with them.  And the care that they provide to these children, even in this area where their resources are so limited, is outstanding.

I have so much more to say, but it’s all jumbled up in my brain and I’m way too tired to think about it right now.  On top of the exhausting trip and emotional experiences, we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.  Our hotel in Durame was nice enough, especially considering it was in rural Africa, but I’m pretty sure that the mattress was just a bunch of 2×4’s laid on a platform. So I’m going to sign off and try to get as much sleep as possible on this, our last baby-free night.

I mentioned in my last post that we were supposed to take custody of Liremet today.  Our travel group decided to delay bringing the children to the hotel with us until tomorrow.  We would have had to take them back to the care center this evening while we went to an Ethiopian dinner and traditional dance show and then pick them up quite late.  It just didn’t make sense.  So we’re going to pick them up on the way to the U.S. Embassy for the visa appointments tomorrow.  This is the very last hoop that we have to jump through before we have to do before we are free to bring Liremet home with us!  Sorry for the pictureless post.  Matt has taken a ton of pictures and hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to post some if Liremet and our wi-fi connection allow.  Goodnight!