Day 6

(In front of the airport after arriving in Ethiopia)

(First sights while driving to the Guesthouse)

(Our view from the Guesthouse)(Captain enjoying his Coca Cola he LOVED the Amharic writing on it)
(Our first coffee ceremony- this one was at the Guesthouse)(Walking into the Transition House)
(First time meeting Sweet M*)
(He showed us the goodies from the gift bag we sent him- he is wearing the shirt we sent)
(Enjoying a ring pop with Captain)
(We also sent a card that played music and had our voices on it- he LOVED it)(Hanging out with the boys)
(One on one with mom)

Our first day in Ethiopia was surreal. I had seen all of the images on blogs and facebook and it was so strange to really finally be there. I tried to video and photograph everything bc I wanted to be able to look back at the memories someday. Our driver was very sweet and he got us to the Guesthouse safely. Driving is very interesting. There are almost no lights and everyone kind of just pulls out and drives when they want to. They use their horn to communicate. At first it was a little nerve wracking but by the end of the trip I was used to it.
The Guesthouse was very clean and much nicer than I had anticipated. The staff was so accommodating. We arrived on a holiday so we immediately were treated to the coffee ceremony we had heard so much about. There was also some injera and doro wat, which was delicious- YES we were really in Ethiopia!!!
We unpacked pretty quick bc we were told in just a few hours we were going to visit M*. We were hoping that we would be able to see him, but we weren't sure if we would be able to bc we were not scheduled to visit with him until Friday (it was a Tuesday).
The van pulled up and we hopped in. I loved just looking out the window. I was trying so hard to soak it all in. There were children walking in their uniforms home from school. Little markets and street vendors and open fields with goats. I recognized the green gates and when I saw them my heart sank. It is hard to describe the way I felt. I was excited, nervous, sad and happy. It had started to rain on our way over and the power was out at the WACAP House (Transition House). When we walked in to the tiny front room there sat 3 kiddos. Sweet M* was so much smaller than I had anticipated and the only reason I recognized him was bc he was wearing the shirt I had sent him in his welcome bag.
He immediately began to show us his items inside the bag. Then he started to play. He was excited... a kind of nervous excitement. He enjoyed playing with Captain and he LOVED opening and then re-opening the card we had sent. It played Michael Jackson's "I'll be there" and it had the 5 of us saying "We love you M*" and it was his favorite thing.
It was a VERY good day. It was so fun to be there with our son. I think I had a mile wide smile the rest of the day. And, I couldn't wait to get back to the internet cafe to post the news.