Our Big Step – Continued

I couldn’t sleep – I kept having the urge to check on them, but I was also afraid of waking them up.  Funny, they didn’t get up until we went in to get them up.  LOL!  With very little prompting, they marched into the bathroom, went potty, brushed their teeth and patiently waited for me to put their clothes on (all of the above one at a time of course).  Then an amazing thing happened.  The bathroom is attached to Adam and my bedroom.  I keep their clothes and stuff in there.  After I got them dressed, they neatly folded up their pajamas and put them on top of one of the suitcases.  Then they made our bed.  I’m not kidding.  They did ask for help with the comforter (not in English, but we can still understand them).  Then they went into their room and made their bed.  I’m not making that up.

After breakfast, we went out in the van to the Lion Zoo.  We picked up other families along the way and took them to HoH to be united with their kids.  At the zoo, it seemed like Serawit was a little scared (she clung to me and eventually I picked her up and carried her) and Aman was simply fascinated.  There was a couple of cages with monkeys and they were both pretty excited about that.  It was kind of sad because the Lions are in literal cages with concrete floors.

After lunch, we went to the Hilton to use the internet, so Facebook and e-mail got checked.  Then we went to National Museum.  The kids were both very good, but as fascinated as Aman was, Serawit was bored.  I carried her for most of the time.  The main room on the first floor had bigscreen TVs talking about some of the early human excavations and both kids just stared transfixed at the TV – guessing they don’t watch it much – just wait until they see ours (and theirs)!  We also got to see Lucy.  I remembered studying her in school.

After dinner (where Tseguy and his wife Almaz came in to see us), I gave the kids baths and washed their hair for the first time.  I also put Sera’s hair in “pom poms” for the first time.  I hope they came out ok.

We didn’t call Tsegay to pick us up until closer to 9:00 than 8:00.  No problem, the driver had other families to pick us up so we were able to take our time and relax in the lobby for a bit.  The Hilton is one of the nicest hotels (and you have to go through a metal detector to get inside).  The main translator came to pick us up.  Before going to our guest house, we had to go to another guest house to pick up Kevin and Stacie.  Kevin and Stacie are minor celebrities in the local Ethiopian adoption circuit as they were the first to adopt through CHI.  They were here to adopt their second, a little girl.  We then had a choice to go to HOH II to get settled in before meeting our kids, or meet our kids right away – but that Kevin and Stacie were going to meet theirs right away.  We chose to go ahead and meet our kids right away – lucky for us, I had their backpacks packed on top of one of the carry ons, so it wasn’t a big deal to pull them out.

They took us all up, and then Ashley, our social workers at CHI in St. Louis who is also here with us came in, and before we could finish saying hi, our children came running in.  They ran in yelling “Mommy, Daddy!!” and first saw Ashley and ran to her.  She pointed them to us and they stopped for a minute, their eyes grew wide, and Aman ran into Adam’s arms and Serawit ran into mine.  Their eyes grew wider when they saw their backpacks and immediately started taking the stuff out – we didn’t pack a whole lot, but a small toy, an inexpensive digital camera and some candy.

The rest is a blur, but next thing we knew we were walking around to the rest of the complex while they ran to every staff member to tell them that their mommy and daddy were there.

Just like we were told ahead of time, Aman is kind of the leader of the group, and all the other kids kind of look up to him.  Serawit is just a sweetie.  Actually they are both very sweet.  Kind of a blur after that but eventually we ended up back to our guest house eating lunch.  The cooks have a little table set up just for the kids next to our table.  The food is buffet style.  The kids say prayers (in later days when there are more kids, they all do it together and it’s the coolest thing – we will definitely keep that habit when we get home) and we got to play for a little bit before gong on our first trip, a city tour, which was very interesting until Serawit threw up.  Yep, projectile vomit, and being the inexperienced mother I am, I had NOTHING with which to clean her up.  LOL.  With some help from Stacie and Kevin (we owe them wet wipes big time) and the driver and the translator, I managed to clean her up ok.  Bless her little heart, she was mortified.  We figured it was the shock, plus the pollution plus the very bumpy roads.  I kept kissing her head and told her it was ok and she didn’t do anything wrong.  I think she eventually understood.  After that, I always carry a backpack with wet wipes a big plastic bag, and a change of clothes.  Also, we started giving them anti-nausea medicine before going anywhere by van.

Fast forward to dinner, one of the other families who have twin 4 year old daughters had come for dinner.  Apparently they are all friends.  J  That was fun, seriously.  They were all soooo cute!  Before dinner they all played together, either in our suite or in the common outside area.

After dinner, I decided to try our first bath time.  Would you believe they love baths???  Even though we had to turn on the hot water heater ourselves and it hadn’t warmed up enough they still loved it.  After their baths, they got into their jammies which they thought was so cool (they had to show them off to each other), brushed their teeth with almost no prompting and we put them into bed with even less prompting.  Wow – hope this keeps up after we get home.  After putting them in bed, we forgot we were going to give them a Benadryl because they had some congestion. I went to give it to them, and while Serawit was barely awake enough to take it, Aman was already asleep so I didn’t wake him up.

To fill in some of the blanks above, no, they don’t know English, but they know some words.  They can sing the Alphabet Song, and can count in English to 10.  In that 24 hours they picked up more words.  We introduced them to pictures of the rest of the family and got them saying their names, and we think they understand who they are.  Most of all, it was amazing that they were already bonding and attaching themselves to us on the first day though it seems more Serawit to me and Aman to Adam.  That’s ok, it’s normal for a kid to bond to one parent before the other.

A funny aside.  I managed to break the rocking chair and Adam broke the coffee table.  Both funny stories we can tell our grandkids one day.  Even with those embarrassing things, it was an absolutely wonderful first day – better than we could have dreamed.  One of the best days of our lives.

This was a flying day.  The cab driver was supposed to pick us up at 8:00 a.m. to take us to the airport and he was 15 minutes early, which was good because we were actually ready for a change (yea us!).  We realized we needed to call the Hilton in Addis to give our flight information, but I couldn’t call internationally from my cell, even in putting in the correct numbers.  We asked.  However, we could call the states easy peasy, and my sister happens to work for an international shipping company.  So Adam left a voice mail message desperately asking her to call for us.  Then I texted her and asked her to check her work voicemail.  Just one problem – it was Sunday.  We were already so screwed up we thought it was Monday.  Oops.  Bless her heart, she actually went into work and called for us.  Yea Aunt Carissa!!  Oh yea, we had a choice of going through the regular metal detector or the body scanner, and we both picked the body scanner.  Warning, personal opinion:  we don’t see the big deal and don’t feel like our privacy is being violated.  IF it prevents terrorism it’s worth it.

The flight to Nairobi was very pleasant.  We were seated in a row of 3 with an American from Catholic Charities who was on her way to Burundi.  She had done a lot of work in Ethiopia with disadvantaged children.  She gave us some suggested questions for the birth relative meetings for information that we can give the kids’ doctors so they can get a better idea if they suffered any severe malnutrition.  Right before the flight was to take off, a flight attendant came by and said there was enough room in the plane to split up if we wanted.  So, Adam and I had 3 seats between us.  Wonderful flight.   Then we landed in Nairobi.  Had to exit of the plane onto the tarmac, and walked into the stuffiest, hottest, airport ever.  On top of that, security was at the gates and we had to go through it again, and we couldn’t take water with us.  Also, our flight was late.  However, in our 90 minute flight, we got fed a full dinner.

We got to Addis Ababa at 12:00 a.m., went through customs – easier than we thought, but not as easy as Schlipol – and got to the Hilton by 2:00 a.m., and finally to bed and asleep by 3:00 a.m.

Flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi.  I played tetris, soduko, and solitaire (all the inflight entertainment system).  I had a soda and nuts, then ate meal,  then ate another meal, then ate another snack (I guess the Dutch really want to make sure their passengers not hungry when they get there).  It was only a 7.5 hour flight.

Arriving in Nairobi was an experience. It was sort of like our 1^st trip to Jamaica 11.5 years ago (but the airport wasn’t as nice or modern).  Welcome to a movie from the 1950’s.  Air-stairs, walk across the tarmac, enter the terminal building…..  you get the idea.  The most memorable thought I had at this airport was that it was HOT and STICKY.  When we were called to board the flight on Ethiopian Air, and again had to walk across the tarmac, it was BEAUTIFUL outside…..I wish someone inside had had the foresight to open a window.

Arrived at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ~ 12:00am. 6/7  We did have to go down and air-stair to the tarmac,  but they had a bus waiting to take us to the terminal,  The terminal building was nice enough, seemed much more modern, and was not unbearably hot.  Going thru immigration, then getting an on-site VISA, then going through passport control, then getting our baggage, and finally going through customs was much more convoluted than entering The Netherlands.  It reminded me more of visiting Jamaica or Aruba.  The Hilton hotel in Addis has a 24hour manned desk at the airport.  We did not have any trouble arranging transport for our one night at the Hilton.

This Hilton was nice enough,  but the rooms haven’t been updated in a LONG time.  The bed was comfortable,  the room and bathroom were clean, the staff friendly and helpful and there was water and soda in the mini-bar (expensive of course)  so we were happy enough.

We were up and out the door at 10:00.  We first went to a pancake house on one of the canals (don’t remember the name) and had bacon and cheese pancakes.  The pancakes are more like crepes.  Really yummy.  Afterwards we went to the Rijksmuseum.  It was smaller than we thought – when you look outside it looks like a sprawling 16^th Century castle.  Inside it’s just 2 floors with 4 or 5 small galleries on each floor.  The St. Louis Art Museum is bigger.  However, what it made up for in little space was an incredible collection including original Rembrandts that took up a whole wall and the colors so bright and bold they were lifelike.  Our favorite was De stallmeesters (The syndics of the drapers’ guild).

After the museum we went back to Albert Heijn to find Adam painkillers as he had a horrible headache.  Apparently you have to go to a pharmacy to get painkillers.  We also got some laundry detergent, and had to ask a fellow shopper if what we were getting was laundry detergent and not bleach as our grasp of Dutch is non-existent, LOL!

We next went to the Diamonte Museum and the Coster Diamond Factory and got to learn how diamonds are fashioned.  Later on we found an “apotheek” (pharmacy) where of course we spent a half hour marveling what we can get over the counter verses prescription compared to the States.

In our wonderings we somehow found a whole row of antique stores, and eventually made it to an Indonesian Restaurant.  We had never had Indonesian food.  Apparently it’s a bunch of small dishes that you dish into a bowl with rice.  When I say a bunch, we counted no less than 17.  It was yummy.  Some of it was incredibly spicy (I think my lips went numb for a while) and some was just flavorful.  We had beef chicken pork, tofu, veggies, peppers, etc.

Made it an early night and came back to the room by 7:00.  We did laundry, packed and drank wine and ate the last of the aged gouda.  Nighty Night.

Had our first funny smell experience at the pancake house.  Someone on both sides of us was having a morning smoke with breakfast.  We would have expected the afternoon before when the Leidseplein was packed solid, and not in the morning.  Who knew?  The funny thing about the boat ride was that it was the one and only time we ran into someone who didn’t speak English.  The boat captain.  Yep the tour was done via recording.  There was someone on the boat who was from Oregon who sat by us.  She didn’t complain about him, but she gave the impression that everyone should speak English.  I know English is the universal language, but it seems really selfish to make that assumption.  On the other hand, we must have blended enough with the locals because we did run into a few people who started speaking to us in Dutch and once they realized we don’t speak it, actually apologized and said they thought we were Dutch.

The Van Gogh museum was absolutely fascinating.  All most of us know off-hand is the work he did when he started going insane – that was marked with the bright colors and broad brushstrokes.  That was only the last couple years before he committed suicide.  The work he did before that period is vastly different.  He went through a still live phase, and other phases that was nowhere near impressionistic (is that a word?).  Other work featured where from many of his contemporaries, and those who studied under him.  After seeing the bigger picture of Van Gogh’s work, you can see his influence on other artists of that time period.  One that stuck out was “Skull of a skeleton with burning cigarette” painted between 1885-1886 before he really started going mad.  You could buy postcards of many of the paintings, including that one.  I could think of a few people I would want to send that postcard to. 

Regarding our dinner, we are the type who don’t really want to hit the touristy restaurants when we go anywhere different.  “Bar American” just didn’t appeal to us, and neither did Burger King or McDonalds (though I did peek through the windows and the menu wasn’t as different as I expected – just that mayonnaise is a bigger condiment than ketchup, but we already know that).  It’s just that even in the areas we went to that seemed less touristy had either an Indonesian or Argentine restaurant on every corner.  I can understand Argentine – Gaucho chefs are masters in steak preparation and the Dutch love their steak.  It was good, and the malbec (which was their house wine – funny) was very good (and freeeeeeee).

We feel nearly human again.

Off to explore Amsterdam.

~10:00 am we are at the Satellite Sports Bar and Pancake corner at the Leidseplein.

Interesting, had grilled sandwiches and “A” pancake with apples and cheese (Huge and yummy).

Walked about 2 blocks to the BlueBoat Company for a boat tour of the canals (about 75 minutes).  What a fun time and very informative.  Got to see all kinds of places.

We decided to visit the Anne Frank house. Please take note, it is NOT located on Anne Frankstraat (Anne Frank Street),  but is actually located across town on Prinzengracht Straat??  Huh?  Who da thought.

We walked past the Westerkierche (sp??) one of the oldest/largest protestant churches in the city.  Considered taking a tour of the bell tower, but apparently it has a limit to the number of tourists that can go through it, and it was full for the day.

Had lunch at corner pub, (HUGE meatball with peanut sauce cut in half on a bun – knife and fork necessary, even though they called it a sandwich).  Wow, Yum.

More adventures on the trams, Took the #12 across town (after a few missteps trying to locate the correct stop) back to the Museumplein stop.

Walked across the Museumplein “Museum square” to the Rijksmuseum, but we were approaching closing time,  so we decided to wait until tomorrow,  and instead walked back ~1 block to the Van Gogh Museum (open until 10:00pm)

Fascinating, Great, Wonderful, Exciting, New (well old stuff).  Most fun was the happy hour in the lobby, complete with a DJ spinning Euro Techno.

Back to Leidseplein for dinner (Gauchos Argentinian Steakhouse).  Food was good, a mix-up in the kitchen led to a long wait,  but the manager comp’ed our wine. (We weren’t too upset, and sitting down felt really good, so we weren’t throwing a fit anyway).

Back “home” to bed.

Well its ~10:00am, and we are REALLY in EUROPE.  We have arrived at Schipohl  International Airport in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Customs was the easiest thing ever.  Find the Passport Control Desk (Very Well Marked). Enter the line labeled “All Other Passport Holders”, not the one labeled “European Passport Holders”.  There was no one in line. We presented our passports, got stamped, and walked through the doorway into Amsterdam.

Found the storage area for baggage, put 3 of our 4 checked bags (The Kid’s bags and both of the Donation bags) into the storage locker, and paid with a CC.

Then we located the IAmsterdam booth and picked up our pre-ordered and pre-paid IAmsterdam cards. (These were great, what a bargain, each one included 2 cards, 1 was a 72 hour public transit card (good for GVB Busses, Trams and Underground), entrance to about 40 Museums and tours (including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum), a Canal tour of Amsterdam with 1 of 2 different companies, and discounts at a variety of restaurants..

We took a taxi to the Nova Hotel to store baggage until check-in,  were informed that our apartment at the Nova Apartments (part of the hotel, but located off-site) was clean and ready for us to check into early. The very nice lady at the check-in desk gave us directions by tram from the hotel to the apartments, A short walk to the tram-stop, then a 15 minute ride on the #5 tram to the Museum Plein stop, a 2 block walk, turn right, continue ½ block to the apartments on Nicholas Maesstraat, and we were at our temporary home for the next three nights.

Love the apartment, it is not very large (2 rooms, a small bedroom with closet and a main room with sitting area, dining table, and kitchenette (complete with Fridge, Dishwasher,  Stove top, combo oven and microwave, and dishwasher), and then a modern private bathroom.

After getting settled, We hopped the #5 tram (with our GVB passes) back in the direction we had come for 3 stops (Vanbaerlestraat, Hobbemanstraat, then Leidseplein)  the last is an entertainment district,  we were hungry,  but as is typical,  could not decide what we wanted to eat.

We walked around for another couple of hours trying to decide on food, then finally wound up back where we started near the tram stop at a pub called “The Three Sisters”.  My sandwich, grilled Salami and Cheese (Gouda of course), never tasted so good.  We also tried a local appetizer “Bitterballen” (small croquetes filled with warm meat and a sauce or something that I have still not been able to identify, but was super yummy).

Then back toward the apartment (we are both very tired – time difference is + 7 hours from St. Louis DST).

We asked a passing local where we could find a supermarket (after a little confusion she finally figured out that we meant “Grocery”) and to our delight, it was right across the street from the Museumplein tram stop under a sloped green roof with grass on top, (part of the park “Museumplein”= “Museum Square” is a large open green space) and down the escalators.

We purchased soda, cheese, red wine, crackers, and juice for the morning.  All of the products, except for the soda Pepsi and 7-up were labeled in Dutch but we were able to muddle through.

Back to the hotel with intentions of wine, cheese (48 month aged Gouda) and crackers.

Instead, we both fell asleep before 7:00pm and slept straight through until 7:30am the next morning.

Sleep, who needs sleep?  The flights might have been long, but they were pleasant.  We might have been delayed a bit, but it was nothing compared to the nice Indian couple sitting next to us who missed their flight to Mumbai because the flight to Amsterdam was late.  Also, surprisingly, the airplane food was pretty good and KLM likes to feed you, even in Economy class.  We got fed 3 times for the 7 hour flight.

We finally got to bed about 4:00 this morning, Alarm clock is set for 8:00am.

At 8:30am, Felicia continued packing (and repacking to comply with baggage weight rules) while I completed some last minute shopping.

Tien came by at 11:00am to pick us up for the ride to the airport (Thanks Tien, Leann, and Tien’s parents).

Thanks to the wonders of the internet and early check-in through the website, baggage check was completed easily at curbside with no difficulties. (easy-peasy)

After a 40 minute delay, we were airborne for Detroit, MI.

Arrived in Detroit approximately 1 hour late, still plenty of time to catch our flight to Amsterdam, NL. (This flight was also running late, but since it was our current destination, NO PROBLEMS).

This was a really long flight, longest that either of us have ever been on.