July 9, 2008

I was really looking forward to this morning. We went to the transition home for America World Adoption Agency. I loved it there! All the children there have been matched up with families and are just waiting for all the paperwork to be finalized so their parents can come pick them up. THe children are so loved and well cared for.

I was holding a baby boy just about the entire time we were there. He was so cute. I fed him and then he threw up on me. It wasn't really that big of a deal--things happen. I really didn't want to leave the transitional home. I could have stayed all day just holding that baby.

After we left, we drove to the study center in Kechene. After what happened yesterday, I really did not want to be there. We did the holiday day with them and honestly I couldn't wait to get out of there. We did our skit and taught them about Easter. I helped hide the eggs for the hunt. I was really drained by that whole thing, too. We then taught them about Valentine's Day. The kids made Valentines for someone they love. We then filled out the Valentines, that were made from a group of women as donations for the trip, in Amharic. We wrote: Happy Valentine's Day. Jesus Loves You. I'm sure most of them did not say that as Amharic is a very difficult language to write.

The staff then invited us to have coffee. This is an honor because in their culture the coffee is a long process. It's more of a ceremony. The smell of the beans roasting was amazing. The coffee was really good. After we finished with the coffee, we brought 2 of the children home. WE were invited into their homes. The first house was much like I expected. One room where everything is done. Everything from sleeping, to living, to working, to learning. The kitchen was outside, but had a tin roof over it and some type of siding. The next house we went to was nicer than I thought it would be. There was furniture, multiple rooms, and even a t.v. There were still problems with the house leaking and being too small for the 11 people who lived there.

It was hard to see these living conditions, but I think I was somewhat prepared for it. Through my research I learned what housing was like here. Even though I know all this, you still are not 100% prepared to experience it. By the time we were at the 2nd house the neighbors realized we were there. There were people everywhere asking for food and money. It was really overwhelming. There were too many people for me to handle. As we were walking out, children began following us and singing song to us in English. A man came near our group and yelled "get out!". Even though we are there with pure and nice intentions we are still not welcomed by some.

We only have 4 more days before we leave on Monday. This trip is going by so quickly. I am not ready to go home yet. I am really dreading going back to my old life. I don't really like anything about my life back home. There is nothing there that I want my life to be about. I'm not doing anything I'm passionate about at home. Tonight at dinner Geoffrey said do what you are passionate about. I'm passionate about Africa and children--particularly orphans. My passions are what I am doing here in Ethiopia.