Rwanda Rewind: Ethiopia

(yay! Ethiopia!)

We arrived in Ethiopia half-asleep early Saturday morning. We loaded all the families' stuff on the tops of several vans and headed to the guest house. There we happily discovered that we had been assigned to room with our dear friends the Stengels. Laina and Addy spent happy hours rolling on the floor together,

and Adrienne, Dillion, Jeremy and I hung out and talked most evenings after the girls were asleep. What a blessing they were to us during the last, long days away from home.

(the Stengels being stalked by a lion at the Lion Zoo--our last day in ET)

After dropping off our stuff, we all went to the kids' medical appointments, where we sat outside in the African sun (it was surprisingly pleasant out!) and tried not to fall asleep while waiting for our babies' names to be called. The doctors weighed and measured Laina (15 lbs! A whole pound gained since the hospital!), and asked us a few questions about her development. They checked her vaccination record. Done. They would deliver the report to the Embassy later on in the week, and we'd proceed to get the visa and go home.

We went to lunch at a place called Amsterdam. It was pretty good, and the restaurant was very interesting (inside, outside, tents, roofs, second story dining, patio dining). Then we tried to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime could be had.

(every time I tried to get a picture of Addy, Laina tried to steal the spotlight)

Sunday morning, we went to church. Although I missed most of the message (out in the lobby with a fussy baby, along with at least one parent/baby set from most of the families traveling with us), I did get to sing "Might to Save" and "The Stand" while holding my baby girl. Those two songs were special to me throughout the waiting time. So many times I sang them and thought about my daughter, and now, I was standing in Africa singing them with her in my arms. Thank You Jesus for that special gift.

After church, we went to a restaurant called Lucy something-or-other, which is connected to the museum that houses the Lucy remains. Laina choked during lunch, making my heart stop, and right when I finally got the tiny pieces of bread out of her mouth and she breathed again, a man in a suit who had apparently been making his way over to us when he saw what was happening, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "in Jesus name!" And then he picked up her bottle and stuck it in her mouth, telling me to give her a drink.

When lunch was done, we headed to the Lucy museum. My nerdy anthropological self was delighted.

We saw all the archaeological stuff (Ethiopia is home to a lot!), and then some historical artifacts, and some beautiful artwork (a lot of which was political in nature. So interesting!) I loved it. Especially because our contact in ET was incredibly knowledgeable about ET history and culture, and how it as a country fits into the world today, and where it is possibly heading in the future. Did I mention I love this stuff? One of the most interesting facts we learned is that Ethiopia uses a different calendar than much of the world. So while we were in Ethiopia, we were in the year 2003. Time-telling is different too, but I can't remember exactly how, except that it makes a lot more sense than our way. We also talked about communism, conservation, culture, and the Nile River.

(there she is: Lucy)

(isn't that beautiful? Thanks to the Stengels for these pictures!)

Much of our time in Ethiopia is mixed up to me. We went to the Embassy a few times. We prayed that a certain item of paperwork that they were giving us trouble about would be accepted. It was. We took visa photos of the kids in a really hot room (all of us in there at one time, plopping babies down assembly-line style with the photographer snapping away). We encountered much more visible poverty than we had seen in Rwanda, and we had our hearts broken. But there was a strength in Ethiopia, too. And there was beauty.

We planned and celebrated a surprise second birthday party for Avivah McLennan (Adrienne and I were proud of ourselves for finding presents, a banner, and a party hat!).

We wandered up to the rooftop of our building and watched the Father paint the sky.

We took in the sights and smells of Ethiopia as well as we could in such a short time. It got under my skin, that's for sure. I was fascinated by this country and her proud people. And by the mannequins that were held in place by nooses around their necks. They were all looking in the same direction off to the side and I knew that any moment they were all going to simultaneously turn their heads and look the other direction. With their nooses. Creepy. But I digress. Here are some cows!

And we took a group picture.

On Wednesday morning, we had our visa appointments. We heard that there was a strong possibility that we'd be getting our visa that day. After some discussion and prayers, we and one other family decided to try to leave that night. Yes, we booked our tickets home before we had the visas in hand. After some more drama and craziness, it appeared that it just might work.

We were going home! We had to get back to the hotel and pack, but we had wanted to see the Lion Zoo before we left. With only a few hours before our flight, we decided to throw caution to the wind.

We went to the Lion Zoo.

(look at this one closely. That baboon is yawning and you can see his fierce teeth!)

It was small and the animals were in small cages. They were up close and personal though! People were feeding candy to the baboon. And the flowers were gorgeous!

After the zoo, we headed back to the guest house. We packed and took quick showers. Laina and Avivah got their pictures taken in their matching dresses (Alison and I got them independently of each other).

(do I see a best friendship in the making?)

We were really going home! I couldn't believe it. We missed the boys so much, and we were going to see them soon. I think if we had had them with us in Africa, I would have been happy to stay much longer, but as it was, I was anxious to see my people. But amid the joy, there was sorrow too. We had to say our goodbyes to the people who walked this road with us. The two families leaving that night were the first two to go. It was the beginning of us all going our different ways, after having shared some of the most difficult and wonderful moments of the adoption journey with each other. I was sad to leave them, and sad to leave Africa. But it was time, after over three weeks, to go.

Happy First Birthday, Laina Belle!

Today our sweet baby girl turns one. She is a beautiful, delightful, funny, animated, wacky, opinionated little thing. In the past eight weeks since we have been home with Laina, she has learned to sit, scoot, crawl, pull up, sign "more" and "all done" and today, she said her first two words! Two words! On her birthday! She's brilliant! :) She says "off" (we were playing with the light switch) and "uh-oh," which is the cutest thing ever. (I've called her Laina Belle since we named her--not sure why, but apparently I do it too much because Iain told the UPS guy that Belle was her middle name.)

We had Laina's birthday party on Saturday (pictures to come!), so today we had a low-key, sweet day with the birthday girl. The kiddos wrestled on pillows and played silly games all morning.

Isaiah came over after lunch and all four played with Laina's new water table (a gift from Nona). Look at that little girl stand! (She's rockin' her "1" onesie and floweredy jeans, too!)

(tut-tut! Looks like rain!)

This evening, we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner and the boys and Laina played in the play place. Then it was home and to bed for all people in this house ages four, three, and one. It was a nice birthday: family-full and fun.

We lit a candle in honor of Laina's birth family, too. I couldn't get them off my mind today, especially her birth mother. I wonder if she spent the day thinking of her baby girl?

Laina, you are so loved. We loved you not only before we met you, but even before you were born. We started getting ready to adopt you over a year before you took your first breath of Rwandan air. This time last year, when you were born, we were planning one of our many garage sales to bring you home--fighting for you from across the sea.

You are a blessing to us, Laina. We are proud of you, and so glad you are ours. Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Rwanda Rewind: The Second (whole) Week

May 9-13

By the time the second Monday rolled around, we were ready to hit it. We applied for Laina's passport early, and spent the rest of the day trying to get the To Whom letter, the one that would let us keep Laina with us all the time, and travel out of the country with her. It was a long day of waiting. Laina didn't seem to mind.

Tuesday we waited some more, and then we got the To Whom and rejoiced!

We took one last visit to the orphanage to say goodbye. That was good and sad too. Adoption is a beautiful but painful answer to a broken world. Laina was loved and cared for by the people at her orphanage, and they had to say goodbye to her and she to them. She was gaining a family who loves her dearly, but she was losing something too. And the dear, faithful people who care for her and the other orphans under their watch, they say goodbye to these little ones so often. They are happy to see them being united with their families, but it's got to be hard to say goodbye.

(Laina in the arms of one of the sisters who cared for her)

But we were joyous too. We were taking Laina out of those blue gates for the last time. We were closer to being home and back with our boys. We had made a huge step in the paperwork process.

(Laina and I, and our dear friends Alison and Avivah)

(one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip!)

Wednesday through Friday we spent waiting for Laina's passport, getting her visa, etc. We took a trip to the place she was born. That part of the story is hers; I won't be posting details of it. We got to know our little girl better, and we spent time with the other families on our trip.

(Laina on the bus the day we heard the kids' stories)

(Jeb and Laina playing on the bed)

On Friday, we went to the Embassy to try to get Laina's visa. God moved mountains, and miraculously every single child in our group, plus a few others (other families who were adopting) got their visa. Our flight out to Ethiopia left that night (well, really the next morning at 1am), so we had to leave Chez Lando at 10-ish. We packed furiously (actually, we had started packing by faith before we actually had the visas in hand!), and tried to get our paperwork in order.

(Jeremy and Laina went to go get one last round of water bottles at the Joint Supermarket--yes, that's its real name--while I finished up the packing)

We walked to Sole Luna one last time for pizza for dinner (along with Dillon and Jeff). While the men waited for the pizza, I carried Laina to the big open part of the restaurant that overlooks the city of Kigali. We watched night fall on Rwanda, and I whispered to her to say goodbye to her homeland. More heaviness in the midst of joy. It was a sweet moment to share with my daughter in the twilight of our last night in Rwanda. I treasure it.

(the courtyard of Chez Lando, right before we left)

We said goodbye to our home in Rwanda, where we had stayed for 17 incredible days. We woke Laina up from her brief sleep, packed onto the bus one last time, and drove to the airport. Tearful goodbyes to our two POAs (whom we love and miss, and who did such an amazing job getting us through, whom we are so thankful for). Waiting endlessly to get through ticket counters, customs, security. Climbing the steps to the plane, with Laina in the ergo, in the balmy night. Breathing deeply of Rwanda's air one last time.

We were tired and sad and happy and excited. Laina cried and fussed until the plane engines got loud and then she stopped to listen to them, and fell immediately asleep and slept, albeit fitfully, through the whole flight. We landed in Ethiopia early the next morning. A chapter of the trip closed. Another opened.

Seventeen days in Rwanda.

Note: Thanks to Stephan Sharp and Alison McLennan for some of the pictures on this post.

Fourth of July--Laina's First!

We celebrated the Fourth of July this year by going to the Marietta Parade. As parades go, it was kind of lame. Mostly it was businesses who rode in cars and waved out their windows. Not many floats or marching bands. Our favorite part was the Cobb County librarians who pushed decorated library carts in front of them and spun them in unison. They were funny. And yes, we are nerds.

Iain LOVED the parade. Jeremy said that that boy belongs in parades, and he's right. Iain waved his flag, yelled, "Happy Fourth of July!" and jumped around to his heart's content.

Cory watched and wilted in the heat.

Laina was very interested in the goings-on. She didn't mind the loud music or sirens, but she hated it when the motorcycles revved their engines. She dove into me and hid every time.

My cousin Cassie was staying with us for a few days and came too--she and I hit up the QT for the 59 cent sodas before hand, so we were good. :)

We tried to get some good family pictures. We got some family pictures:

Then we headed home to cool off and make some pinwheels, and build with blocks.

sweetest smile ever!

Iain drew a soldier fighting for our country. Then he made his pirate face for the photo.

He drew Superman too, which I loved. Look at his cape and his S! :)

Cory was very proud of his tower.

The Burtons came over for dinner and Jeremy cooked out. We didn't do fireworks (they didn't start until 9pm), but we were treated to quite a storm and lightning show. All in all, it was a fun day, and made sweeter by the fact that our youngest is a new American citizen and that this was our first holiday to celebrate with her.

July 4th is also Rwanda's Liberation Day, the day the Rwandan Patriotic Front entered Kigali and brought the 1994 genocide to an end. So it's a doubly important day around our house.

Happy Independence Day, America! Happy Liberation Day, Rwanda!

Book Review - Uncle Sam's Plantation by Star Parker

From the title alone, you could surmise that this book has some incendiary ideas and opinions, and you would be right. Uncle Sam's Plantation is a no-nonsense, very conservative look at poverty in America and how the government has responded and is currently responding. The author, Star Parker, pulls no punches in dissecting the welfare system, the reasons for poverty, and how much of the government's actions designed to help the poor are actually hurting them. She tackles issues such as minimum wage, abortion, welfare, and education. Phew! While Parker comes down hard on politicians who don't use common sense, and on those people who work the welfare system because they don't want to get jobs (especially men who mooch off women), her tone changes when she speaks of the poor who need help. She is compassionate and concerned. And she has a great deal of common sense and economic smarts that make her ideas seem doable. Parker talks a lot about personal responsibility, which is a refreshing topic in an age where victim mentality reigns. She has faith that, given the proper tools (including education, religious training and the knowledge of right, wrong and consequences) most people will become decent, productive people.

Star Parker is a black woman who worked her way off welfare after being challenged to do so by her pastor. As a young girl, she was told that she couldn't do certain things (have a good job, make money, etc) because the whites would always keep her down. She proved the naysayers (including her former self) wrong. She is an American success story, and now she is a spokesperson for issues of race and poverty. Her story is inspiring.

I enjoyed the first half of the book most. The chapters where she delves into the history of America (in regards to race and poverty) are fascinating. I would use those parts of the book to round out a course in American History for high schoolers. Eventually, though, when I had read past Parker's personal story, the historical accounts, and the parts where she talks about the different kinds of "poor," reading the book felt like listening to a LOT of conservative talk radio: you know they're right on a lot of stuff, but there's only so long you can listen. I was relived to find myself at the end of the book.

Also, it seemed like Parker spent all her time laying out the problems facing America, and no time offering solutions. Maybe the solution lies in getting her message out to many people? But it seems to me that giving specific actions that everyday people can do to help the poor, to fight Big Government, to make our voices heard on issues of abortion, education, etc, would have strengthened the book a good deal.

There was also the weird part where she repeated, word for word, two and a half pages of text a few chapters later. Was that intentional? :)

Overall, this was a good but exhausting read. I think I would have liked it better if it were shorter. But maybe that's because, as a mother of three small children, I hear a good deal of fussing as it is. Even when the fussing is completely legitimate, it does where on you after a while. Parker's personal story, and the history sections make it worthwhile though. For those sections, I will keep this book around.

Note: Booksneeze has provided me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.