We toodled around on Friday, going to the Mercado, which was quite a sight. Solomon said it wasn't safe to get out of the car to stroll around the market, so we viewed it from the inside of the van. The Mercado is the largest outside market in all of Africa, and it is quite a sight! The Mercado caters to Ethiopians, selling everything from chickens to televisions to produce to clothing. Since we were there on a Friday, we saw many Muslims walking to the mosque, and once again, we marveled at the fact that Muslims and Christians live together so peacefully in Ethiopia.
We ate lunch at Island Breeze and saw many other Americans, presuming them to be fellow adoptive families, or missionaries. I still had a pit in my stomach, waiting for Arri's visa to arrive (it takes a day to process the visa). Again, nothing is final, 'til it's final.......and I wanted that visa in hand!
We got back to Bejoe and the visa wasn't there, so the staff called Belay, who did have the paperwork in hand. Solomon brought the package to us, and we started packing for our evening flight.
Saying goodbye to Genet and the girls at Bejoe was more emotional that I had expected. And I almost started to cry when we said goodbye to Solomon. The Bejoe girls and Solomon, and the other Gladney family at Bejoe, had been with us at such an important time in our lives, and leaving them was difficult! We are forever grateful to the Gladney staff and to the Bejoe staff for the love and care that they gave to us. God does indeed send the right people, at the right time.
We were prepared for a challenging flight home with Arri, since she had never been on an airplane. Our worries were all for nought. She was a superstar. 17 hours, and no problems at all. She only cried once, when it got really hot on the plane. Other than that, she was her usual delightful little self!
We took the direct flight on Ethiopian Air from Dulles-Addis. Ethiopian Air has introduced a new fleet of planes and ours was the inaugural flight on the Dreamliner. The staff shared a cake with us to celebrate the occasion! The plane was spacious and the service was wonderful, and I highly recommend flying direct!
We arrived at Dulles on Saturday morning and were greeted by John, Mary, and Jan. John drove our car to the airport, and we braced for our next round of "firsts"--first time in a car seat. Once again, Arri was a superstar. She fell asleep in the car seat and never made a peep.
Our home had been transformed into a "Welcome Home, Arri" site! Jan and Chris made awesome posters for Arri, and we left them up for about two weeks. It was no secret that we had a baby at home! We loved that our community shared in our joy!
Jan took some photos of our arrival, and here they are!
We ate lunch at Island Breeze and saw many other Americans, presuming them to be fellow adoptive families, or missionaries. I still had a pit in my stomach, waiting for Arri's visa to arrive (it takes a day to process the visa). Again, nothing is final, 'til it's final.......and I wanted that visa in hand!
We got back to Bejoe and the visa wasn't there, so the staff called Belay, who did have the paperwork in hand. Solomon brought the package to us, and we started packing for our evening flight.
Saying goodbye to Genet and the girls at Bejoe was more emotional that I had expected. And I almost started to cry when we said goodbye to Solomon. The Bejoe girls and Solomon, and the other Gladney family at Bejoe, had been with us at such an important time in our lives, and leaving them was difficult! We are forever grateful to the Gladney staff and to the Bejoe staff for the love and care that they gave to us. God does indeed send the right people, at the right time.
We were prepared for a challenging flight home with Arri, since she had never been on an airplane. Our worries were all for nought. She was a superstar. 17 hours, and no problems at all. She only cried once, when it got really hot on the plane. Other than that, she was her usual delightful little self!
We took the direct flight on Ethiopian Air from Dulles-Addis. Ethiopian Air has introduced a new fleet of planes and ours was the inaugural flight on the Dreamliner. The staff shared a cake with us to celebrate the occasion! The plane was spacious and the service was wonderful, and I highly recommend flying direct!
We arrived at Dulles on Saturday morning and were greeted by John, Mary, and Jan. John drove our car to the airport, and we braced for our next round of "firsts"--first time in a car seat. Once again, Arri was a superstar. She fell asleep in the car seat and never made a peep.
Our home had been transformed into a "Welcome Home, Arri" site! Jan and Chris made awesome posters for Arri, and we left them up for about two weeks. It was no secret that we had a baby at home! We loved that our community shared in our joy!
Jan took some photos of our arrival, and here they are!
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