Visa Appointment
After breakfast, we started the day at HoH 1 giving Tsegey some of the donations we brought, and taking pictures of the kids whose parents sent their consent forms to us. We had 6 kids from infant to toddler. One was a sibling group. So cute!! Overwhelming cuteness turned to tears when we found out that when Aman left the last time, all the kids and most of the staff cried. Apparently he was the “leader of the pack” and helped the staff keep all the kids in line. That really explains his demeanor. He is SO easy going and does go out of his way to make everyone smile, including the babies. Tears turned back to cuteness when we found out that today was a school day and Aman and Serawit sat with the rest of the kids in the classroom. We couldn’t film any of it, but Adam set the video recorder on the window sill set to just record the sound of the kids singing and the teacher teaching. She would say things and they would repeat. It was all the cutest thing we heard. However, you can’t record sound with the video screen shut, so we only got about 7 minutes of the half hour – 45 minute lesson. What we got was still incredibly cute.
Also got to talk more with the nurse regarding some concerns. While it wasn’t anything close to what we thought, we did get a bit of a crash course in the culture of the region of where the kids came from, and that some things they do to their children as infants would get the parents imprisoned here. This falls into the category of “their story” so I’m not going to go any further into it, except that we have more to add to the list of what to tell their doctors when we get back. At the same time, except for some allergy issues (the pollution is HORRIBLE here – on a clear day we don’t see a blue sky there is so much gray haze), they are perfectly healthy – Yippee. The nurse was concerned that Serawit still had a little sleep in her eye, so she gave us some antibiotic eye drops.
We also got pictures of the bunks they slept in when they stayed there, and of Jeremiah 29:11, which was painted on the wall of the Toddler dorm (tissue alert if you don’t know the verse and want to look it up). Also thanked ALL of the staff AGAIN for everything they have done for the kids and us.
The visa appointment was interesting. The US Embassy is up on a big hill. We got out of our van and had to run across the street. It started raining and some street kids came out with umbrellas to hold over us as we were rushed across the street by the staff. In the confusion, I wasn’t able to get out any candy to give them. We hadn’t mentioned beggars yet. They have been there, but not nearly as often as I thought. It had been suggested to give the children candy because they are usually pulled out of school to beg because they make more money than their parents doing it, and as a result they get no education. The idea is that by giving candy instead the cycle is broken. The unintended consequence is that all the white people are now called “chocolate.”
We had a very, very long wait, but there was a play area for the kids, which of course our kids took full advantage of. Of all the older kids, Aman is the oldest and the only boy – he made the girls laugh so hard antagonizing him. I was concerned the kids were making too much noise because it really was a crowded room we were waiting in, but at the same time, not concerned because they were really, really happy noises.
After a few hours (not kidding) they finally called us. What were the chances our consular official would be from the St. Louis area? Yep, he’s from University City. So after a short chat on St. Louis stuff, we got down to business which took a whole 10 minutes. He gave us original birth certificates, paperwork, and some instructions concerning some more paperwork we get tomorrow to bring back, and sent us on our way. We went downstairs and our translator asked us for our receipt. We didn’t get a receipt. Still, Adam and I dug through our bags, and there was no receipt. He went back to the official and he swore he gave us one. Apparently it’s not needed for anything except for our file with Children’s Hope so they told us not to worry about it. I took it to mean we can’t return our kids now – not that we would ever want to. 
We came back, and the twin 4 year olds who are bestest friends with Aman and Serawit (one was Serawit’s bunk mate at HOH) again came to play in our suite. Nothing like a potty party with 4 preschoolers with another set of parents you only met a few days ago also looking on. It’s even funnier when yet another little 4 year old girl (another bestest friend) is also with the group, but she was with her mommy and daddy at that time.
They are still testing boundaries. I had to say no to Serawit more than anything else. Daddy had to earlier today. I cried afterwards. Adam just shook his head and I think he laughed.
Tomorrow morning is the meeting with the birth relative(s) and what should be the most emotional experience next to meeting our kids for the first time. We’ve been told to not even shed a tear during the meeting because it is looked at as a sign of weakness as a parent. Ashleigh, our social worker, is trying to get us a tour of the Bright Hope School for the afternoon. Tomorrow night, we are supposed to be going out to a restaurant to have a “traditional Ethiopian meal.” Does that mean what we have been eating all week isn’t traditional Ethiopian food? Interesting, because we’ve been eating food we don’t typically eat at home. It’s all been very good – we all want to bring the cook home with us. Still, it will be nice to go out to eat for a bit of a change of scenery.