Caged Monkeys

After you have your adopted child with you in Ethiopia, you aren't supposed to be out in public too much. There have been some PR issues with adopting families in the past. Though most everyone we saw was supportive and kind, I'm sure that continually seeing adoptive families could be a painful reminder to the people of Ethiopia of the dire situation their country is in. One thing about Ethiopians is that they love their babies. This country would take care of their own children if they could. But so many of them can't.

So this meant that we spent A LOT of time at our hotel. I didn't mind so much about the lack of scenery because I thought we had the most scenic view at hand. And by that I mean the up close view of Luci May Rediet...
There was also a great view from our hotel of the mountains surrounding Addis, though the sky was rarely clear enough to see them...
Please notice the two cows grazing in the grass next to our hotel right in the middle of the city...
You don't see that everyday in the States.

We felt a bit like caged monkeys "locked up" as we were. We passed time hanging out at the hotel with our travel group. Each family was such a delight. We are all different and yet have this bond of Ethiopian adoption weaving our lives together. We laughed together. We cried together. We got to share in each others miracle. Here I am with Christine as we hold our babies...
Luci and Halina will be roommates someday at the University of Nebraska, definitely not the University of Oklahoma. Carl and Christine, you are stuck with us for life...and GO BIG RED!

We spent as much time as we could at the orphanage, Hannah's Hope...
It is an amazing place. I wish I could post the pictures of the children there, but I can't. Suffice it to say, they were precious children and we wanted to spend every minute we could with them. There is a warmth and joy at Hannah's Hope that is far more infectious than chicken pox.

On the way to and from the orphanage, we would interact with the people in the street. I fell in love with this little girl I met in front of the hotel...
It's amazing that you can have a connection with someone even though you can't really speak a word to each other.

Aaron and Erin took deflated soccer balls and an air pump and passed them out to the kids...
Needless to say, they were pretty popular. Kids would come running in a little pack when they would see them coming.

And finally, it was time for the caged monkeys to be freed to go back to their natural habitats. Though we were so excited to go home to our family, it was also hard to leave Ethiopia. That is our Lulu's "natural habitat". All the sights, sounds, and smells would be different for her. She would leave everything she has ever known. But in becoming family with us, God has given her a new natural habitat. And has given us a new love in our hearts for her birth country. We were leaving Ethiopia, but Ethiopia will not leave us. In fact, we took a little bit of it home with us to keep forever. That "little bit" is named Luci May Rediet Kollar...