Monday, March 22, 2010 Gotcha Day

Meeting Maura Genet for the first time!

Maura Genet and LiLi posing with some friends!

Maura Genet's bed at her orphanage

More friends!

Already playing games..even with language

barrier...they are having fun!

With Michael..that's the name he gives to Americans

so we can remember it. LOL

Traditional Coffee Ceremony

Popcorn is served during the coffee ceremony

I love that girl! She has been such a trooper!

Employees at Maura Genet's orphange

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Maura Genet writing in her notebook

Bathtime

Our flight arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on time. We made it through customs, Immigration and baggage claim in a little over an hour. This I'm sure wil not be the case when we go through JFK on the way home.:) The Sheraton shuttle took us to the hotel. The area outside of the airport is very pleasant with lots of beautiful flowers. It's not until you start driving that you see all of the hardships in Ethiopia.

The Sheraton is beautiful. It is surrounded by a gate with guards present at all times. The people were very friendly and seemed to adore LiLi. We checked into the hotel and then had some lunch. We then called the orphanage to arrange for a driver to pick us up to take us to pick up Maura Genet. They said that they didn't have a driver available..would it be possible for them to pick us up tomorrow morning. I said, "no, that I wanted to go today..could we arrange something else?" (I mean come on..I already had my necklace engraved with her Gotcha Day being today!)hee hee They said that they would find a driver. About 15 minutes later they were there to pick us up.

When we got to the orphanage, we were escorted to a room. I looked in the window and saw several adults. When I walked in, I saw Maura Genet sitting in a chair in the corner. I went to her and huged her. She knew exactly who I was and had a huge grin on her face. She was holding the bible and photo album that we had sent her. She also hugged LiLi. We spent about an hour at the orphange. I took lots of pictures of her with her friends. She also showed me her room and where she had slept. You can tell that she really had a tight bond with the friends that she had made during the last 7 months at the orphanage.

The staff at the orphanage was very friendly. They had a readitional coffee ceremony for us, complete with rge popcorn. It was so cute...Maura Genet was serving us the popcorn by walking around with the bowl and offering it to us. I think LiLi ate 3/4 of it! :)

We ended up getting back to the hotel at dinner time. After dinner, I gave Maura Genet a shower and after reading a couple of books and saying prayers she fell right asleep. This was a very emotional day but I am glad that I made the trip to see our daughter's birth country.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!