Today we got up, ate breakfast and went to Toukoul to visit Josanna. She smiled really big when she saw Jim. She was wearing little jeans, a striped shirt, and a jean vest. After about 45 minutes she fell asleep while I was holding her. She slept on my chest for about 1/2 hour. she is so sweet! She seems like such a good baby and has yet to cry while we are there. After the orphanage we stopped at a store and bought formula, diapers, rice cereal and some onesies. We had thought we would check Josanna out of Toukoul on Saturday, but the nurse who is helping us, Tigist says we will check them out tomorrow afternoon. After the store we walked back to our guest house just a few blocks away. There were cows and dogs roaming the streets and a group of men chewing the plant that makes you get high. We ate lunch at YGF and then got ready for our trip to Ambo. On the way to Ambo, we stopped at our lawyers office to go over paperwork and questions the Embassy will ask us. It was a beautiful drive (about 2 hrs) to Ambo. Many farms and houses and mud huts. There were many donkeys and horses on the road. Our driver Ibrihim, we call a crazy driver. We also have a guide, Jon Michell. On the way we stopped in a little town.for a coke and bathroom break. Tiffany and I went to the bathroom and we had to walk down this dirt road for a ways then we came to this cement building with dark little cement rooms you can rent. At the end of this building there was the bathroom. It was really dark and the size of a tiny closet. There was a small hole in the floor to pee in and the floor was really slippery and it smelled horrible. Yikes! Once we arrived in Ambo we checked into our hotel and then walked down the street for a ways. People here do not see many white people. The kids would be shy and a few came up to shake our hands. We ate dinner at the hotel and are headed to bed. We are going to a crater lake in the morning.

Today is Tuesday. We went to the orphanage in the morning, then back to YGF for lunch, then traveled to Ambo in the afternoon. On the way to Ambo, Ibrahim and Jon Michelle stopped and bought some “chut”. I gues it is a stimulant plant that people chew here. None of us had any, but it was interesting seeing all the people on the street chewing it. On the way, we also stopped and had coffee and some had sprite. There were some kids there, and we took a few pictures. When we got to Ambo we went straight to the hotel. The room was OK. It did have a shower and warm water and a toilet that half worked (tp would go down). Before dinner, we walked up and down the streets of Ambo. A lot of people are out on the street – just walking or sometimes selling. Actually, it seems everywhere we’ve gone in Ethiopia has had a lot of people on the street. Most everything that people sell are to meet basic needs: food, clothing, shoes, for example. We seemed to be the only white people in Ambo, so we did draw some attention. They called us “tourists”. That night, we ate at the hotel’s restaurant. Right before dinner there was a power outage (one of several while we were there). I guess they can still cook using gas if the power goes out. Dinner was good – I had shishkabob with tomato soup. We made plans to get an early start and go to Winchi Lake (6:30am).

We met up with Tiffany and Todd Fieken this morning (friends of ours from the Beaverton area that are also adopting a baby girl). They flew in late last night. After breakfast we met a nurse named Tigist who works at Toukoul. She rode with us to the orphanage where we got to have a long visit with Josanna. We were given her schedule and what she eats. We also dropped off our donations to the orphanage. We were not allowed to tour Toukoul because they do not want the babies catching sickness from so many strangers. After we left the orphanage we came back to our guest house for lunch. At lunch we met a woman named Aster who helps to take care of the guests here and she was very funny. After lunch our driver and our guide (Jon Michell), took us to the Hilton to exchange money and then we went shopping and then stopped at a coffee shop (Kabu). Traffic was really crowded and driver was so crazy. I thought we were going to get hit several times or we were going to run over someone. It was a fun day though. Dinner is next, then a phone call from home. Then bed.

Today we met up with the Fiekens and we all went to the orphanage together to see our girls (their girls’ name is Eva). We had a nice visit at Toukoul orphanage. We were not able to tour the orphanage due to security and privacy concerns, so that was a little disappointing. We met a few new people today, and received a more structured itinerary/plan for our stay. in the afternoon, we went to the Hilton Hotel and exchanged $300.00 USD. Then we went shopping at a little store and spent $400.00 USD, or about 5,000 BUR. Luckily they took half USD and half BUR, since we didn’t have enough. Then we went and had coffee at a place called Kabu.

We slept well last night and feel much better today. Still a bit groggy though. After a much needed shower, we ate breakfast: eggs, toast, and coffee. Our driver Ephrium then drove us to Toukoul to see Josanna for the first time. It only took about 10 minutes by car. The driving is crazy–only a few stop signs and mostly just going fast and going in and out of other drivers. As we approached the blue gates of Toukoul, the driver honked and the gate keeper opened the gates. There were kids playing soccer and riding a scooter in the cement court yard. We were taken to a waiting room while the caregivers got Josanna. A woman brought her in and handed her to us. Josanna looked at us and smiled. She is so adorable and looked just like the photos that I have looked at every day for the last three months. She snuggled right in when I held her. She smiled a lot and looked around. Never cried. She thought that Jim was really funny and liked to grab his face and laughed when he played peak-a-boo with her. She seemed to love just being held. Josanna is really small and seemed quite weak, but overall seemed bright eyed and a happy baby. It was surreal being able to finally meet our daughter and hold her. Can’t wait to go tomorrow and see her again. We only got to visit with her for about 1/2 hour before the caregiver came back and took her and told her to say “bye-bye to momma and daddy”. She is so precious. I am so looking forward to bringing Josanna home and making her a part of our family.
We had a big thunder and lightening storm this evening. Jim said it was our 4th of July fireworks. 🙂

Today we saw/met Josanna for the first time. She is a cutie! We were surprised that Josanna didn’t cry at all: in fact, she laughed several times. She seems to like me and enjoyed being entertained by peak-aboo and some tickles. We had a nice 30 minute first visit with her. Breanne cried a little at first. The driving and traffic here is crazy! People walking everywhere – on the sides of streets, in front of cars. No stop lights and very little road rules. We made it back to YGF hotel in the afternoon and just spent the rest of the day relaxing.

We finally made it to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 22 hours of sitting on a plane, and my knees are aching. It took about an hour to get our visa and go through customs, then we got our luggage and Ephrium met us and drove us to our YGF guest house. Our room is really nice and has two beds, a crib, changing table and our own bathroom. There was a huge spider on the curtains, but Jim fought him and won. We also were going through our bags and cannot find the envelope with $500 in it. I am praying that God will find it for us. Here at the guest house they made dinner for us even though it was midnight. We are ready to go to bed and see what tomorrow brings.

On the flight from Portland to Amsterdam we swatched a lot of movies. Flight took 9 1/2 hrs, but didn’t seem that bad. Had a 2 hr layover. Exchanged 20 USD for about 12 Euros. Tried to buy us coffee in Amsterdam airport but lines were too long. Slept a little on the flight from Amsterdam to Addis. Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup, 4-0. They annouced it on the plane. At the Addis airport we waited a long time to get our VISA and passport stamped. They scanned our bags one last time through the machine. There were a lot of people waiting as we left the airport. Our driver, Efraim, had a sign that said “Smith KL543”. In the parking lot, there were many people waiting around (taxi drivers and such). We lost $500.00 out of Breanne’s backpack (not sure where) :-(.

Well, the day has finally arrived to go and get Josanna. 18 months since the time we first submitted our adoption application. I thought that this day would never come and was so far away, but it came rather quickly. It was so very hard to say goodbye to Mekiah and Abrielle, as I will miss them much. They will have fun with their Auntie Maria and cousins (Echo and Natasha). We are in the PDX airport waiting to board our plane. I am a bit nervous about flying but excited to be starting our adventure.