Days 10&11 - Preparing to Leave :(

Sunday (day 10) was the day we were scheduled to go to visit the Orphanage (Numan Center). We had arranged for a nanny to watch Elias at our guest house (I was nervous about this because previous families had some issues with this) and we had to leave at 6am because it was three hours south of Addis. To make a long sad story short, when we went to find the nanny that morning there wasn't one to be found. We were not allowed to take Elias with us, so I stayed back at the guest house. This was really hard for me. On one hand, I'm not sure I could have left Elias even if the nanny had shown, but it was hard to miss that visit. I was looking forward to getting out of the City and seeing where Elias was from.



Adam and the other families had a great trip. They were able to buy three months worth of food to donate to the Numan Center which was received very well. They also had toys to hand out to the children. Adam learned a lot more about Elias' story from the Orphanage director, we also got a picture of him with the woman who found him. He was around 7 months old at the time. This video pretty much sums up what we learned and shows his orphanage and our meeting...

Day 11 was our last day, but our plane was not due to leave until 10:45pm so we made the best of our time. After breakfast, we headed over to the school Adam had visited earlier so I could see it to. We took Elias with us as well. The kids were great, they loved to touch my hair and hold my hand. There were probably 50 kids and I swear I held each one of them (it's a miracle I didn't hurt my back, these were 1st-3rd graders). They also sang for us and asked questions. We have it all on video, but it needs edited, so that will be another post :).

The rest of the day was spent saying goodbyes at the guest house and packing. It was hard to leave. I was ready to get home to my three year old, but the magnitude of what Elias would be loosing was starting to wear on me. I was holding back tears most of the day as I thought of the sounds he wouldn't remember and the people he was too young to treasure. You cannot explain Ethiopia to someone who hasn't been there, how will we help him know his home? I really hope to be able to take him back someday.

In the van on the way to the airport I tried to drink in every last sight and smell. I never want to forget the sound of young kids playing soccer with a ball of trash bags and tape or the sight of goats and people walking down the road together. Driving in America will always seem boring to me now, but I think boring in that area is good. Ethiopia is a special place that will always hold a place in my heart.

The flight home was long and good for the most part. Elias did well most of the time except when he insisted on singing very loudly for several hours ;).