This morning we went to the embassy. Derero and I slept well….Trevis not so much. We got ready, had breakfast downstairs, and then headed to the lobby. There were so many couples there. Some of us were going to the embassy and other couples…it was their first trip so they were headed to court or to Hannah’s Hope. Wass (our driver) and Almaz (the transition home director) came with us to the embassy. It was a long drive so I took a lot of pictures. On our first trip, I didn’t take enough pictures of the city and the shops and all the scenery so I wanted to make sure to do that. Derero sat on my lap the whole ride there. He was fascinated by all the traffic and people and I don’t think he said a word (very rare ;) ) We waited outside for a little while. They had grass there and flowers. It smelled “earthy” like springtime. There was also a bulldozer and backhoe so Justus “D” was totally entertained. We went into the embassy and we had a ticket number….You know you are at a US place when you get a number. They didn’t call them in order though. We were the first family from our groups to be called. The man asked us several questions and there were witnesses in the background. He looked at our passports and gave us his Ethiopian Birth Certificate and original paperwork….
After we were finished and he was officially declared a US citizen, one little girl that is in our group came up to Justus and showed him the slide. They had one of those plastic slides and a plastic playhouse. They were really nice and looked new. I am certain that was Justus “D”’s first time down the slide. His eyes got as big as saucers…He kept saying, “Mama ew” which means, “Mama, LOOK”! He went down over and over and couldn’t get enough….Great entertainment and free to boot!!
It was also Justus “D”’s first exposure to an automatic flushing toilet. Trevis said he almost flew off that thing when it flushed. ;) He did love the hand dryer though and now thinks we need to blow dry his hands in the hotel instead of using a towel.
We left and went back to the hotel. Justus “D” ate lunch and we went up to try to put him down for a nap….He did all the stalling tactics again (like any normal 4 year old). I think he was overstimulated so we didn’t push the envelope….We had him lay in his bed for an hour and then we got up and went outside and played in the alley.
One of the couples in the first travel group asked me about the Italian restaurant. I told them the name and asked if they were going. They invited me, so I JUMPED at that opportunity b/c a calzone in Ethiopia is a party in my mouth after eating at the hotel all the time….
It is Temket here so there was a HUGE parade on the way to dinner. Temket is where they celebrate the baptism of Jesus. There is a lot of singing and chanting in the streets. It was neat to catch a glimpse of it.
I got back to the hotel 3 hours later. I brought Trevis a calzone to go…..He scarfed it in no time flat.
I gave Justus “D” a bath and we put him to bed. He’s beginning to repeat a lot more English. It was a good day.
UPDATE: I will post Day 4 a little later today b/c we fly out at 10:00 pm tonight, which is 1:00 pm central time....Keep praying...17 hours on a plane with a 4 year old....well, do I need to say more? ;)
With Much Love,
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