Day Three -Tour of the City

I got to dress her in some of her super girly outfits. After getting dressed we went down for breakfast. She looked so cute. Addie loved all kinds of food. I couldn’t feed her fast enough. (Although, we were all worried because of the previous night.) We gave her the formula the HOH had given us. Although she continued to have diarrhea, she was smiley and happy. We went to the HOH after breakfast. We told Tsegay about the diarrhea and he brought us some electrolyte liquids to keep her hydrated. (NOTE: For anyone that is reading this blog and in the process of adopting: All of the babies are sick. It seemed they all took two or three days to get better. For Addie, she had problems until we got back but she still seemed to sleep better after the first couple of days. And, I would also take a ridiculous amount of supplies. I was the only one to do so and I was able to help several other families.) Okay moving on . . . shortly after we arrived at HOH, another set of parents came into the room ready to meet their baby. Lisa and Jason asked us to take pictures and film them meeting their son. I cannot explain to you how amazing it was to see it from the outside. I think it really made me appreciate what we had just been given. Later that afternoon we went on a tour of the city. The city and the buildings all had the same feel as areas like Mexico and the Caymans. But something major stood out. There were three lanes to any road and whoever got to the middle lane was the one who got to use the lane! There were very few lights and/or stop signs. Anytime you did come to a stop, you were immediately surrounded by beggars. They could spot white people pretty quickly. Most of them were children or mothers carrying babies. They were so skinny. It broke your heart. The children called me, “Mother, Please, Mother.” It is so strange and disturbing to see an international airport, skyscrapers, and droves of homeless and starving people. The Ethiopians seem to accept this as part of how their city is. One man told my mother that homeless and starving Ethiopians come to the capitol looking for work. However, there are not enough jobs. The whole experience is surreal. You have to distance yourself from it. There is a definite sense of a much harsher way of life. Amidst all of this, there is a lot of new construction. The new buildings were surrounded by scaffolding made of sticks. Specifically the sticks were Eucalyptus trees! It all looked so flimsy but I guess it worked. I have included several of the photos we took. We also noted that Ethiopians dress like it is 50 degrees outside. It was not unusual to see someone in a long sleeved shirt, sweater and toboggan. The other thing we noticed were Ethiopian males holding hands. Apparently it is a sign of friendship and nothing more. However, it definitely caught our attention. Ethiopia is definitely a strange and beautiful land. I hope to learn more and teach Addie a great appreciation of her birth country. . . Later that afternoon, Daddy got a little quality time with his girl. Enjoy the photos!