Addis Ababa

We had a relaxing evening with law-school friends in DC on Wednesday. The flight to Addis Ababa left at noon on Thursday. After 13 hours, we made it to Ethiopia! The flight and customs-process wen surprisingly well.

We brought 100 pairs of shoes donated by families at the elementary school Jonah and Abby attend. In addition, we packed many bags of medicine for children donated by one of our friends at Perrigo. We plan to donate these items to orphanages through our agency. We were told that bringing such large quantities of shoes and medicine could cause problems with customs in Ethiopia. Fortunately, there were no issues (they didn't even check our luggage). So 100 orphans will have new shoes this week! And others will have better access to essential medicine.

We were met at the airport by a Bethany Christian representative. His name is Abel. He drove us to the guest house we are staying at. Addis Ababa is an amazing place. The guest house is clean and comfortable. And the owner and staff are excellent hosts. As I write this, we just finished an excellent lunch and very strong coffee (I'm told she went easy on me and that the coffee gets much stronger. Don't know if I can hang).

We meet the kids this afternoon! In reality, we are joining other adoptive parents for a one-hour visit to the orphanage to play with all the kids. We are not allowed yet to tell the kids that we will be their parents. But it will still be great to meet them. We are excited and nervous. I'm trying to memorize some phrases in their language.

More to come. We appreciate everyone's prayers and support!