Day 1 - Ethiopia

We flew from Rome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia overnight, arriving in Addis at 7:45AM. Smooth trip aside for the 90+ minutes we waited for our luggage to be placed on the conveyor belt. And we thought our airport was quite slow! Oh well, all our luggage made it and for that we are grateful. We exited baggage claim to see someone waving a "Gladney" sign. It was Ryan (in country rep) and Tefessa, one of the driver's Gladney hires to tour us around. They took us straight to the Hilton where we raced through showers in anticipation of meeting Zane.


Driving to the Hilton the streets were jammed with cars and pedestrians. Donkeys and goats are a common site walking down the road. The poverty is everywhere and I know we have just seen the tip of the iceberg. The people we have met are very warm, soft spoken and gracious. We have felt quite welcome. Many of you asked about safety concerns. So far we have not felt uneasy at any time. We were told Addis Ababa is the safest capital throughout all of Africa. There is very little violent crime...mostly just petty crime like stealing car stereos.


The Gladney Foster Home is a special place south of Addis. They currently have about 20 babies there. Belay, Gladney's in country director lives on the same block and his mom lives next door to the foster home. The home is spotless and it's obvious the caretakers are in love with these babies. Evidently none of the babies sleep through the night because the caretakers insist on waking them to feed and change diapers.

When we arrived to the foster home, 3 other families were there. These families have already been in Addis a week and depart tomorrow. They were at the foster home to say goodbye to the caretakers and enjoy a traditional coffee ceremony. (They roast the beans right there, everyone enjoys the wafting aromas, and they crush the beans, add hot water and serve. VERY good coffee. Not the least bit bitter like we are used to.)


After a brief introduction it was time to meet Zane. I felt like my heart was in my throat from the moment we landed at the Bole Airport (Addis Ababa airport), and the intensity just grew walking up the stairs to the 2nd floor. A caretaker brought Zane out and placed him in my arms. Evidently they had interrupted his feeding so he came out with a grimace on his face. He sat there in my arms definitely checking us out, not sure what to think. But then the ice was broken when he proceeded to burp loudly and spit up all over me. He rewarded us with a smile and has been a champ ever since.



Zane seems very mellow and especially tender. Holding him, he just locks eyes with me and reaches up his little hand to hold it on my cheek. Every time we kiss him he smiles this lazy smile like he is just soaking it all in. It has been magical.


Right now we are back at our hotel, 10pm at night. Zane is fed and sleeping. We are about to crash ourselves. Tomorrow we will join a few other families and spend the afternoon at one of Gladney's homes for older orphans. We are very excited to meet these children.


It's surreal to be here. It's surreal to all of a sudden be holding this son of ours. We are richly blessed.