Trip Tidbits

Okay, so I have had a few days to recuperate. I love Ethiopia, but that flight...oy.
Anyway, the hardest part about the trip was leaving Brynly. We had a great team assembled stateside to take care of her. I am eternally grateful to all of these people for their willingness to help and their love for Brynly. She had a great time with all of them. The past few days have been marked by some uncharacteristic clinginess to me and some fairly characteristic (but amped up) not listening. We are getting back to normal now but, alas, we have to do it all over again in a month...

So, on to the trip. I won't try to relay all in one post. Let's see, let's start with the adorable Birke. I got to visit her everyday but one while I was there. Our first visit began with her tackling me with a hug. Okay, no issues with showing affection with this little girl. She is a sweet and lively little thing. She is also pretty smart. She liked to take my camera and get take pictures around the orphanage. She managed to figure out every button on the thing way faster than I did. She loved the bracelets, necklaces and other little things I brought for her. Her favs were probably the flip flops that lit up when she walked (thanks Diann) and the sunglasses I was wearing (that I had borrowed from Diann):) We got to spend some time just hanging out and talking via the orphanage director as a translator. She understands that I will be back and that she will then come to her new home in America.

I also gained a new appreciation for my adoption agency during this trip. This is because of the absolute nightmare Diann went through with her agency. My agency is Illien and I am absolutely pleased with thier handling of my adoption. I would recommend them enthusiastically to anyone looking for an agency with a relatively fast processing time, good communication and genuine concern for their clients and the children waiting in Ethiopia. Diann's agency is Hope and I would not recommend them to anyone ever.

She had had trouble with them pretty much since the start but what happened during the trip was just unacceptable and infuriating. First of all, despite multiple emails to her Hope, she received NO information or direction prior to the trip... NADA. I had been to Ethiopia before, so we were okay with getting there and getting settled in. Monday morning we went to the location where we thought Diann's daughter was to complete paperwork. At this point we noticed they had Diann's child listed as a different name than Diann had been told. She only received ONE piece of information (a lab report) on her child the whole entire time from referral on (no updates, no profiles, nothing). So, she went by this name and, thus,the child's name on the plane ticket did not match the passport. Diann had to change the ticket-not easy to do from Ethiopia and not inexpensive either. Did the agency care? Heck to the no.

After the paperwork, we learned Diann's daughter was not at that location, but 40 minutes away at another. They tried to tell Diann she couldn't take her daughter that day. We didn't stand for that and finally did get there and did take Jacinda Bizunesh out fo the transition center that day. Then came the embassy appointment...oy. Diann found out from the other traveling families (not form her agency) what time it was and my agency driver took her to the embassy. The agency rep was 30 minutes late. Then comes the time for Diann's interview. This is usually a simple and short thing. Not so this time. Basically, the agency had lied to the embassy and got called on it DURING Diann's interview. At one point the embassy guy said soemthing to the effect of, "this is not the first time we have had this problem with this agency." Not good. Not good for Diann. Not good for anyone in the process or anyone who cares about maintaining the ethics of Ethiopian adoption.

I could go on and on but it makes me too angry. I care about Diann and the unnecessary heartahce she has endured throughout this process. And, I care about Ethiopian adoption and it is this way of doing business that will hurt all involved in the long run.

Back

I am back from Ethiopia. I am happy to be home...being apart from Brynly was really hard. It was a great trip, but I am too tired to write too much tonight. However one of the many highlights was passing court on Thursday.:) Thus, I am happy to present my new daughter. Leaving her was made much easier by knowing I will be back to get her in a month.

Almost Outta Here

Tomorrow begins my BFF's and my Ethiopia adventure. It has been an uphill climb to get to this trip in so many ways. But, now I have care arranged for my kid and my dog, my grades have been submitted, and I am almost packed. So, send us some prayers or good vibes or a happy thought.

See yall on the flip side.

I will leave you with a pic of my super cutey who I will miss soooooo much.

Here and There

As I prepare for my upcoming trip to Ethiopia, my mind often creates this sort of "here and there" contrast. For example, today after I picked Brynly up from daycare, we stopped by the dance studio. Brynly loves it there. She loves the teachers (who are also good friends). She loves to watch the older kids dance and tries to mimic them. She loves the music... She just loves it. She will grow up dancing, wearing sparkly costumes, performing, etc. Then I think of my older daughter still living in an orphanage in Ethiopia. My last update said she liked to teach little songs and dances to the other kids at the orphanage. When she gets here and is one of these dancers here in the sparkly costumes...Will it be hard for her to mesh those two things in her mind? Her new life of tap shoes and sequins with her old life of absolutely nothing. Will she find the common denominator? I hope so. Then, I take it a step further and think of the orphans in Ethiopia that will never be adopted for whatever reason. They will never know dance recitals and baseball games and family vacations... They are not different from kids here. They would love those things.

I don't know. I don't really have a point, I guess. It is just something I think about.