Gotcha Day - Day 7

We woke up anxious again. My life story on this trip. We went to the Bethany Corporate Office here to meet with social workers and the head of Bethany. He showed us how to fill out our Embassy forms that we do tomorrow. We then met with our social worker and his nurse to go over final details. Hagirsa is a happy, healthy boy.
We started with lunch at a golf club today! My favorite. We got to eat outside and loved the warm weather. Did you know that Malarone and Cirpro BOTH make you sensitive to light? Yep, got a nice sunburn at the beginning of February which I can say has never been done before. We were all so anxious, we just wanted to GO!
We had a few families on the bus getting children from other orphanages as well today. We went to the Mussie orphanage and got to see four children with their parents - so emotional! Kids sang songs and they cut a cake and everything (never mind the butcher knife they gave a five year old to do it with). Very sweet little ceremony. Now unto our day. We walked in and they had the children that were leaving dressed up in traditional Ethiopian clothing. Hagirsa looked so dang cute as ever. His nannies cried and cried. They tried to hide their faces but that didn't help. They kept asking for Hagirsa to hold - one more time. "He is such good boy, so happy, he so lucky to have you as family" one said. So, we all cried, hugged and had bittersweet feelings about the whole experience. These nannies have been his mom for half of his life. They know him way better than I do. I'm hoping the transition goes well. We took a great big group picture which was amazing. So many orphans now into good homes in the US. It broke my heart to leave the orphans there that weren't leaving yet. One was Samuel and he LOVED Hagirsa. We found out he will be in the Grand Rapids area when he comes home. He was crying too. So many tears this past week. Anyways, the bus ride was a bit stressful. My quiet kid whom I've never heard cry decided he was going to on the bus ride home and for about an hour after that. It is a sweet little cry. He is teething though, has really bad diaper rash, and left the only world he knew to come with us to a new place with more new faces. Poor thing. After feeding him I decided to bring him down to the common area where the kids were and he was TOTALLY fine. Kendal is going to be so helpful in this transition. We put him to bed okay, he was fussy for a bit but a little bottle and he was out. He put up a good fight though. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings after some sleep that we all will hopefully get.
Side note: I tried camel tonight. No, it doesn't taste like chicken, I though it tasted like beef. Weird! You can buy it on the street right around the corner from us at the butcher. Whatever dead head is outside the market, that's what dead meat is hanging inside the market.
Can't believe we are a family of four now! We go to embassy tomorrow to finish paperwork and file for his visa. His passport is so cute. Going to bed early tonight, when your kid sleeps, you sleep! Have a good week everyone.
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Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote