Day eight of our journey to Seth Kidus

Well, I am finally at day eight, our last day in Ethiopia. It is hard to believe that we have been home for three weeks already!

Day eight was another whirlwind. After receiving requests from a few adoptive parents to get pictures of their newly adopted children, we decided to start the day with a special trip to Enetalem Orphanage. Most of the Hahn family had opted to spend a relaxing day at the hotel, so Gary was the only member that was joining us. And since we were visiting another orphanage, we thought that might be stressful on Seth and opted to leave him with the ladies at the house. This time was extremely hard, however. As we were leaving, Seth had a look on his face that said, "I can't believe you are leaving me." That was the last time we have left him to date.

First stop had to be at the US Embassy to pick up the babies' visas. Gary and James went in to pick them up, while Taylor and I waited in the car. I know it seems like nothing too exciting to report, but this meant that both children were going home!

The next stop was the Enetalem orphanage, where we were sure we would just be in and out. After explaining to the director that what we were there for, she lead us to an area to cover our feet with plastic bags! They did not want us tracking in anything for the babies. This was the cleanest orphanage I have ever visited. To make a point, this is what I wrote to one of the adoptive mothers:

The orphanage is really wonderful. There were always nannies with the babies and the center is clean and neat. The older children are doted on just as much as the babies. The director walks into a room and their eyes light up. . . If they were my children, I can honestly say that I would be perfectly comfortable with their care. It is run better than many American day care centers.

I stand by those words. This is an exceptionally nice orphanage. Of course, there is sadness at every orphanage, but none of this sadness was coming from the children. They are happy; Of course, they would all be happier with forever families. Knowing that is what brings the sadness.



After getting all the pictures we needed, the director invited us to a coffee ceremony. We were short on time, but you can't say no to a coffee ceremony, so off we went. We walked through a group of kids who began singing to us... About 20 minutes of singing. It was a lot of fun. Some songs were in English, some in Amharic.




After that, we went in for our coffee ceremony. We were served by a beautiful Ethiopian woman, whose name, unfortunately, escapes me:


We drank one cup (fairly quickly) and then we were off again. Did I mention that we had not even begun to pack for our flight home that night? Those of you that know me, know that inside I was in complete panic mode. It was about 12:00pm at this point and we were to be at the airport at 6pm. Oi Vey!

On the Norris' list of things still to do: track down two Amharic Bibles, tour the Merkato, and buy more diapers for the flight home.

Gary also had his own list to complete.

After leaving the orphanage, we were off to tour the Merkato, but only as a drive-by. We drove up and down each street of the largest open-air market in Africa. There are really no words to describe it other than CRAZY. It was so busy and there was only one lane. Did I mention that traffic went both ways? My heart rate increases just thinking about it :) There was really no good way to get pictures of it, but we got some good video, I believe. I will show it to you when we get around to sorting out all our video.

Once we escaped the craziness, we went to another area of Addis for the Amharic bibles. James wanted to buy one for him and one for Seth (when he gets older.) Apparently, there are no Bibles in print right now, so we had to go find an "alternative dealer" of sorts. Interesting, to say the least, when you are buying a Bible. We did get them, though.

At this point my insides are going into full panic mode because we were not packed yet and only had a few hours left. Since Beth was at the hotel packing for them, Sammy (the driver) dropped us off at the guest house and Gary continued on without us.

Lunch was waiting for us at the guesthouse and then we were on to our packing. It took us a couple hours, but we managed to get everything packed up and ready to go. Since we were planning on being at the airport by 6pm (to be sure we got that all important bassinet seat), we had planned to just get dinner at the airport. Of course, the wonderful ladies at the house made us an early dinner and you guessed it, a coffee ceremony (man, I miss those ladies!)

After all the rushing, all the worrying, all the fussing... it was finally time to leave. Alemu picked us up and took us to the airport. But not before many goodbyes.


At the airport, we learned two things that put us in less than pleasant moods:

• We learned that despite being told the contrary, the bank was closed and we would be stuck with well over $1,000.00 worth of Ethiopian Birr.

• We also learned that we would not be getting the bassinet seat after all. Although, we really weren't sure why...

Of course, that put us in a mood, but as we were filling out the exit visa cards, I was asked to help two ladies fill out their cards. The challenging part of this task was that neither spoke a word of English and neither could read. So, we fumbled through most the questions and apparently it worked out for them because I saw them on the other side later in the evening. That put things into perspective for me and gave me a chance to relax. God works in weird ways sometimes :)

The plane was delayed by about 45 minutes, but we were never sure why. African time, I guess. And when I say African time, I mean no disrespect what-so-ever. Actually, I am envious of the way that relationships take precedence over time. If we were all like that, the world would be a better place.

Here is the whole gang, getting ready for take-off:


Once we were checking into the flight at the gates, our spirits were considerably better. The gentleman at the gate made our spirits even better: he offered us a bassinet seat. The only catch was that we had to sit one row apart from each other. We weren't complaining, though... We were so happy. Seth enjoyed it as well:



Seth and I had really nice company on the flight, too. We were blessed enough to be seated by a wonderful gentlemen who was also a missionary to Rwanda. James and I had a great time chatting with him as we switched back and forth throughout the flight. He also never complained that due to the bassinet he was blocked from leaving when he wanted to and couldn't use his movie screen. He was a great guy!

I am going to fast forward you a little bit: we had a very uneventful flight (both to Washington DC and on to Detroit) and even arrived a little bit early into Detroit. As we were heading towards the luggage claim area, we heard people yelling our names. Down by the luggage claim area were many of our friends and family there to greet us:



And at home, we had even more people waiting for us. Through it all, Seth was amazing. He is obviously a people person and acted as if he knew he was home from the moment he stepped foot into our house. Here he is meeting his new friends and cousins. He is telling them all about Ethiopia, but of course it is in Amharic, so they can't understand him... They think it is just babble... What? He is really bright! ;-)



No one stayed too long and we all went to bed and slept like babies for a good 10 - 11 hours... Even the baby slept like a baby.

The end result of this amazing trip is our amazing little family. I thank God everyday for bringing us together. Today it feels as if we have always been together.

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
~Desmond Tutu

Now that the trip recitation is complete, I can use this blog for what God intended: to brag about my kids. :-) Believe me, I have got plenty of that to catch up on!

Day seven of our journey to Seth Kidus

Day seven was a whirlwind, so even as I begin this post, I know that it is going to take me a day or two to finish it...

Day seven started with a tour of the city. This means that we all piled in the car (all members of both families, even little Leila Hahn was able to join us for this trip). The whole tour took an hour or two and I feel pretty safe in saying that we went entirely through the city. What was most interesting was the highway: it looked like your standard interstate with exits and on ramps. I have never seen a road like that in Africa. Of course, Africa is a big place and comparatively, I have seen very little of it.

It was difficult to get pictures in a moving car, but we managed one or two. Believe it or not, this is the best one:


We did get awesome video that I hope to post on here soon, just not today...sorry!

After the tour of the city, we went back to visit a local zoo that had a big lion exhibit. The zoo was small, but the lion exhibit was awesome. The pictures say it all:



Where in the US can you get that close to a lion? Some sort of government agency would take issue with it. We enjoyed it quite a bit. The funny thing was that the lions were set apart in a different section of the zoo with a fence around them. Well, while we were inside that fence looking at the lions, the locals were outside the fence looking at us. We became the exhibit...That was an interesting feeling to say the least!

While we were at the zoo, we got a call from Gitachu telling us that we needed to be at the US Embassy for the kids' visa appointments within a couple hours. So, we rushed back to the Hilton to drop off the Hahn family, then rushed to the guest house to grab some lunch. When we arrived, we discovered that there was going to be a coffee ceremony in honor of it being the first day of the short month (AKA the 13th month). Every year they have a 13th month that only has five days in it, every four years that month has six days. This year was a six day year, so they were celebrating with a coffee ceremony and bread.


James cut the bread because we were honored guests. While we were getting ready to eat, Gitachu called again and said that Seth Kidus' uncle was in town and ready to meet us at the orphanage. We were to meet him before going to our embassy appointment. We did not have time to go all the way to the orphanage, so he waited for us in Addis. When we met him we asked if he could wait to talk to us after the embassy appointment and he was happy to wait.

We went to the embassy appointment with plenty of time to spare. Visiting a US Embassy is always an interesting experience, but the new liquid issues with security made it even more interesting. The security guard made us taste our water in front of him and at first we thought he wanted us to taste our bug spray as well. Come to find out he only wanted James to put it on his arm. We got off easy. Gary Hahn had to drink formula... What a trooper :) Unfortunately, you are not allowed to have cameras in the embassy, or I would have a great photo.

We met some really nice people while waiting. Proving it is a small world, we met an Ethiopian business owner who attend Western Michigan University (not too far from our house - Go Broncos!) for four years. It is a small world after all!

Of course, if you have been reading this blog regularly, you know that everything went smoothly at the embassy, we dropped the Hahn family off at their hotel and rushed back over to meet with Seth Kidus' uncle. It was an amazing experience that we were able to get all on tape for Seth someday. His uncle went out of his way to take care of Seth Kidus for as long as he could and then he once again went out of his way to keep in touch with him. Seth has many family members that we will be able to go back and meet when he is older. We are really looking forward to be able to do that for him. We learned that the timing of all our paperwork issues made it so that we were ready when Seth Kidus was ready. Seth did not become an eligible orphan until his mother had passed on, and she did not do so until March 16th. If our paperwork had went as smoothly as we prayed, we would not have our sweet little Seth Kidus... Thank God for unanswered prayers! And thank God for a watchful uncle who was looking out for his nephew.


We completed our evening by heading back to the guest house for a relaxing dinner and a nice, restful night sleep (one of the first since we had arrived in Ethiopia and ironically, our last night in Ethiopia).

There. I finished it in one sitting. I am sure there is already so much that I have forgotten, but one thing that will stick with me is the sheer weight of that day. It was the second most emotional day in Ethiopia, the first being the day we were able to hold Seth Kidus. This all seems like it was so long ago. Hard to believe we have only had him with us for 24 days...feels like he has always been here!

Day six of our journey to Seth Kidus

Day six was our day to tour churches. Ethiopian Orthodox churches are very beautiful and tell amazing stories with their art work. The first church we visited was The Trinity Church:


Behind The Trinity Church was a Hailee Selassie museum. We were unable to take pictures inside the museum, but the items inside were quite interesting.



Off to the side of this picture was a man mowing the lawn with a pair of hedge trimmers. If that does not make you grateful for that old push mower, I don't know what will!

The next church we visited was St. George. This was the church that our driver, Sammy, attended. It was being renovated for the new millennium, but they were close to being done. Normally, you have to remove your shoes when entering all Ethiopian Orthodox churches, but since it was a mess we were able to leave our shoes on. Our guide at this church was amazingly knowledgeable and interesting. He was obviously a scholar and was even able to read and write Ge'ez (our equivalent to Latin.)



Here is our guide standing with a statue of the Ethiopian eunuch that was mentioned in Acts 8:27. The eunuch is credited for introducing Christianity to Ethiopia. Pretty good legacy, if you ask me.



When we were all done visiting churches, we went to a local shop to purchase some of that amazing Ethiopian coffee:



Seth Kidus did wonderful. Of course, those churches echo and babies do love to hear themselves! The guides did not seem to mind, though. The rest of the day was uneventful... We just hung out the house and continued to practice being a family of four :)

Day five of our journey to Seth Kidus

I need to make sure I get these posts done soon because the memories are already fading! Hopefully I can find someplace to print this blog out and compile it for Seth.

Before I begin this post, I wanted to put a clarification out there for anyone reading this blog who is considering naming their son Seth (a great name, IMHO). The previous anonymous poster who claimed that Seth means "A woman" in Amharic was incorrect. Seth (aka Set) actually means "the appointed one." (http://www.myethiopianame.bravehost.com/ethiopianboysname.html)

Okay, now that I feel good and vindicated, I will began my post about day five :)

Day five also started at the wee hours of the morning with Seth Kidus and a terrible stomach ache. This was the night that he slept on top of me (stomach to stomach) for a good portion of the night. Once again, our plans to take him out with us were changed when he was sound asleep (finally) and not feeling well. So, he stayed with the ladies at the house while we headed out shopping. James gave a pretty good account of our day here.

The shopping was so much fun! I know I am woman and totally feeding that stereotype, but shopping was one of my favorite day trips that we took. If only shopping in the US was like it is in Ethiopia. Let me give you an idea of how pretty much every transaction took place:

Me: "I love it. How much?"
Salesperson: "100 Birr" (Birr is the currency there - approximatly 9 birr = $1.00 USD)
Me: "Hmmm... Will you take 70 Birr?"
Salesperson: "No. 100 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "Okay, 90 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "85 Birr."
Me: "No, that is ok. Thank you anyway." (Start to leave)
Salesperson: "Okay, I will give it to you for 70 Birr."

The funny thing was that they always laughed whenever I started to haggle with them. Every time I haggled and turned to leave I got the price I asked for. One thing we were careful about is that we always paid what we thought the item was worth. We were not there to scam anyone and we knew that even these salespeople could use the money, so we got some good deals, but never paid less than it was worth. Once I even paid the price that was asked. Only once though... They really do EXPECT you to haggle. And it really is a lot of fun. Later, Taylor used this same technique at the Washington DC airport and actually talked a vendor down $10.00 off a sweatshirt. I guess you never know unless you ask.


The shopping areas were obviously tourist attractions because we ran into other adoptive parents there as well. We were able to get some very nice items for Seth when he gets older and to decorate our house now. It is important for us that he feels a sense of Ethiopia in our home.



These children decided to use James for their game of Dare. James and I were standing beside the car, waiting to leave, when James felt someone touch his butt. We turned around and the little boy was running away while all the other children were laughing. I am sure that if we spoke Amharic we would have heard "No, you go touch the white guy." "No, you do it, I dare you!"

It was cute, though!



After shopping, we went home to spend time with Seth Kidus and prepare for a dinner out at a traditional restaurant...

(By the way, this is still his favorite outfit) :)

Due to African Time (which I mentioned in a previous post), Alemu arrived fairly late to take us to the restaurant. Since Seth Kidus was tired and I didn't want to leave him again, I stayed at the house. As James and Taylor were leaving, it started hailing very bad. Within 5 minutes of their departure, all the power went out. At that point, I was so happy that I had a flashlight. Once Seth had his dinner and went to bed, it was like I was back in Michigan, reading Harry Potter by candlelight.

Side Note: A week before we left for Ethiopia, the power went out at our house for three days. The first two night I spent reading book number six of the Harry Potter series to prepare me for book number seven which I was going to read on the plane. I have yet to finish it (I slept a lot on the plane and now I have Seth), so please do not tell me anything about it...yet.

While I was busy ruining my eyesight, James, Taylor, Alemu and the Hahn family had a really nice time at the restaurant. It was a buffet with traditional dance and music. From what I hear, Taylor and a few others even got up to dance on the stage. I am sorry to have missed it, but it was the start of some great bonding with Seth, so it was well worth it.

Here are some pictures from their adventure:


And here is the raw meat that James was going to try, but Alemu told him that he should not:



Aw well, would've made a good story!

The power returned about a half an hour before James and Taylor did. I felt perfectly safe during the entire outage, but I was a little worried for my family. I did not know if the power was out everywhere or just our neighborhood, so I really did not know what was going on outside the compound walls. I prayed often. Come to find out, our neighborhood was the only area out, so they were just having a good time, but I was relieved when they returned home!

Day four of our journey to Seth Kidus

Day four started in the wee hours of the morning (maybe even the night before). This was the night that Seth had a bad cough. No one got a lot of sleep, so when we were getting ready to leave and he was sound asleep, we decided to leave him with the ladies. I really did not want to go, but I did since he was sleeping and it was just a morning trip.

Our first stop was The National Museum, home of Lucy. As I mentioned in a previous post, Lucy was on holiday in the States, so we only got to see her replica. To be honest, if they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. It was a nice museum with a lot of interesting info. One of the funny things was that we were there surrounded by other adoptive parents. I think I even saw one or two that I recognized from their blogs. Small world :)

The next stop was a university science museum. This one was a little more fun for me because there were a lot of animals. Of course, James found some friends:



And here he is getting to know them a little better:



We finished both museums in record time because we were all looking forward to getting back to the babies. Seth was in good spirits when we returned, but that changed shortly after dinner. I am still not sure if it was some of the table food we gave him or the fact that we had to switch formulas, but he had horrible gas and a very bad stomach ache. I did bring infant gas relief, so that helped a little, but for the most part we were up all night with him. As difficult as it was, I think that this night really facilitated the bonding process a little more.

Here he is before the stomach ache... I love these pictures of him and his daddy:



Taylor spent a good part of the afternoon visiting with the ladies and learning a little Amharic:



It really is amazing the amount that Geezaish and Hewitt work. Sun up to sun down, they are cooking and cleaning. Here is Geezaish sorting through Barley to pick out the bad ones, then grinding the good ones for homemade beer:



Being in Ethiopia makes you truly grateful for all the conveniences we have in America - and how much we complain!

To the anonymous commentor...

I guess we kind of open ourselves up to all kinds when we put a blog out there. Either way, I would like to address my anonymous commenter who left a comment on the last post:

Seth means "set apart" in Hebrew. In the Bible, Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve. My son has two names, Seth and Kidus. Seth is the name we gave him and will call him by that until he is old enough to decide for himself if he would like to be referred to as Seth or Kidus. Kidus means "blessed one" in Amharic. You, anonymous poster, need to keep in mind that our son is an Ethiopian American now. That means that he is just as much one as he is the other. He will be raised to celebrate his Christian heritage, his Ethiopian culture, his American culture, and all other things that encompass him. God has blessed us with him and we believe God has "set him apart" for great things.

So, rather than delete your negative comment, I have chosen to educate you instead. I pray that you were able to learn how to be a little more open minded and a little less quick to judge.

Day three of our journey to Seth Kidus

(You can click on each picture for a closer look)

Day three was a Sunday morning in Ethiopia. We foolishly set our alarm, though we were awakened long before it was to go off. Today was the long day trip into the mountains. After a wonderful breakfast (cooked by Hewitt), we headed off. Our first stop was a little deli to pick up lunch (the best club sandwiches I have ever had), then we stopped for a bunch of bananas (Amharic: Moosh). This was the point where I was reminded that African time is in no way similar to American time: Alemu, James, Taylor, and I were scheduled to pick up the Hahn family at 9am, so we left the house at 9am. Then we stopped for coffee and had two cups. I think we finally got to the hotel at about 9:45am, where of course, the Hahn family was waiting out front.

Our babies were not with us for this trip. James and I decided to leave Seth with Geezashe and Hewitt because it was going to be such a long day, and Layla Hahn was still not feeling well. Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but later we realized this was such an non-family-friendly trip, that it was the best decision.











Ethiopian country side is beautiful this time of year. In terms of green, I think it rivals Ireland. We were headed north and up into some of the mountains that surround Addis Ababa. Along the way, we stopped often for pictures of the countryside.
Alemu said that all that is now green because of the rainy season turns brown in a few short months.










These carvings were carved into the side of the mountains. If I only had this much talent in my little pinky!









We even had the chance to stop at a small village market along the way. Of course, we were the entertainment there. That is one thing you should know before going to Africa: usually the white people draw a lot of attention. It isn't in a negative way, however. It is in a friendly, curious way. While we were in Ethiopia, we were continuously stared at and talked to, but I never once felt unsafe or uncomfortable because of the attention. If you can look at it for what it is, curiosity, than you can have the right attitude about it. Personally, I was a little disappointed that people weren't pointing, staring, and staying "ferengi" (white) when we got home. :)

Our final destination was an Ethiopian Orthodox church and monastery. We were given a tour of the church by a very soft spoken, very knowledgeable, monk. The whole feeling of the church was amazing. Although the churches are beautiful, the interesting thing I found is that they feel different the churches back home. There was more reverence. It felt holy. That is the only way I can describe it. Being in this church, feeling the presence of God... this is where my culture shock began. It lasted a couple days, but I know that I felt it the instant I left that church.

A few years ago, when we were in Kenya and Tanzania, I felt the culture shock upon return to the States, it was backwards this time. I was so sad and depressed for the first couple days that I was unsure if I would be able to pull myself out of it and enjoy my time there. I think there were many contributing factors to my mood, but the primary reason was the sheer magnitude of the begging. You could not stop at any stoplight, yield sign, or anything else without being asked for money. Now, there was a difference in the type of people that begged. Some desperately needed it and you could tell. Others would ask for money and when you said "no" (or eye-duh-lem in Amharic) they would give you a look as if to say "Well, I gave it my best shot." Either way, it was difficult because you really can't give to any of them. Because of the number of beggars, you will be mobbed if you try to help one or two. So, we choose not to hand money to the beggars. That was another difficult decision.

Anyway, I digressed. After leaving the monastery, we were headed south, towards home (but there were still many stops along the way).


First stop: Lunch at a local home (we brown bagged, they watched), then a very poor orphanage that also helped the elderly and the handicapped.












Next stop: Local resort that was near a bridge that was built in the fourth century (without any cement). The resort was definitely on its way to being a pretty nice place and had a fantastic view of the countryside.










Next stop: Local farmer and his family. This place was very muddy (since it was the rainy season) and a few of us had difficulty staying upright (I won't name names). The family was very nice!












Next stop: Dinner at a place called "Honeymoon Park." I know that this food does not look all that appetizing, but it was really very delicious. What wasn't very good was the drink they call "yellow drink." Apparently, in the past it was only available to the royal family, but now is available to everyone. It is a VERY strong drink and personally, I did not care for it. At least we can say we gave it a shot, right? Great place to eat. If you are ever in the mountains of Ethiopia, I highly recommend the Honeymoon Park.









After dinner, we were finally headed home after a long day. We were happy to see that Seth was still awake when we returned home, which gave us some time to play with him.

By the way, I have a side note. Many of you have noticed that our son has had a transition of names, so I thought I would explain. While in Ethiopia, we referred to him only as Kidus. Therefore, our posts reflected that. Once we were home, we began adding Seth to the beginning and calling him Seth Kidus, thus allowing him to learn his name with minimal adjustment difficulties. He is now answering to Seth, so we have started to call him only by Seth on the occasion. I am sure that with each post you will see a little bit more of this change. His final, legal name will be Seth Kidus Norris. He is doing great, by the way. We could not ask for a more happy, easy-going baby. He has even started sleeping through the night - but I am being my realistic self about this and not taking it for granted. :)