+-+Family+Posed.BMP)
My first day in Addis went well. We landed about an hour late. I was three rows back from the doors on this enormous plane, which I hadn’t realized was such a blessing. When I got downstairs to immigration the Visa line wasn’t long yet, so I was able to exchange my dollars for birr and still jump in line before it got too long. Within minutes the line snaked around back to the escalators and I thanked the Lord again for Row 14, Seat H!
The Visa process went well, but was WAY more disorganized than last time. The main hitch for me was that I watched them pass my Passport down the line, put someone else’s papers in it and hand them my Passport. I said, “Ummmm…”. Thankfully the girl they handed it to opened it up to check before she walked away and saw it before it got too awkward. The rest of the process went well and I was greeted with a big hug and great smile from my Brother in the Lord Jobe. Jobe is one of the America World Staff members in the country that take care of EVERYTHING for us. Jonas and T are the other two and they are all three simply amazing. I can’t even begin to express how awesome each one of them are, and how much more comfortable they make you feel during this process.
Jobe and I waited for the Millers and then headed out to meet David, our driver. David was mine and Kelly’s main driver on our first trip and I love that guy! We have a lot of fun together and he gets in done in the van. It took me about 2 minutes to readjust to the driving style here, but with David at the helm I am rarely worried when someone is barreling down on my side of the van or when David does a U-turn onto a 4 lane road that is bumper to bumper. Seriously, the style is a crazy, but David is the best! We loaded up our luggage and headed for the Guest House. They gave us an hour to settle in before lunch, so I unpacked and prepared my room for Phin’s arrival, took a shower and updated Facebook so Kelly knew I had landed.
I realized during lunch how sleep-deprived and loopy I was. I am not sure what other word to use than loopy. I remember at one point Scott Miller and I were talking. He made a statement and I just stared at him for 5 seconds or so, then I said “I heard you say words, but my brain wasn’t able to process them.” We laughed and realized that we were in for a long day...but a good day nonetheless.
2 comments:
My husband and I want to adopt internationally someday. Sounds like it can be quite an experience.
Hi, I happened upon your blog after reading another friend's blog. God keeps throwing people in my path who are adopting from Addis. Several years ago our friends and neighbors moved to Addis to serve on full-time staff with the Gladney Foundation there. They are Travis and Joanna Norwood. I was wondering if you had met them? Our own church is very involved in Addis, and several people have adopted there. We send a group of people to Ethiopia yearly for a mission trip and have established relationships there, though I myself have not yet gotten to go.
We live in Fort Worth Texas.
Lisa Redding
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