July 22

Just as I was getting ready to get into bed last night, mom called from BC. It was so good to hear her voice. The connection was really clear on the phone and we chatted for a bit. I also talked very briefly to David and Christel.

The lawyer came by the guest house again this morning but couldn’t stay too long. He asked me to make the call to Nick Firlotte at the Canadian Embassy at 10:00 this morning. It was tricky to reach him as the phone just rang and rang. I did get an answering machine at one point so I left a message. As I was waiting around by the front desk to call him again, the man in the room beside mine came down. He said there was a phone call for me in his room and I should go take it. He said it’s my husband and that he was having a hard time getting a hold of me. I was really worried as I made my way upstairs wondering why Mike would be calling me – especially in the middle of the night in Canada. Anyway, I picked up the phone and it was Nick Firlotte. He had gotten my message but was having a hard time getting a hold of me. (On days when the power is out, we can call out from here but people have a hard time getting through to the front desk at the Weygoss. If they do get through, it’s often to another room). Anyway, he said he had the package there with the visas and if I could round up the families in the front lobby, I should call him back and we could just confirm whose are there in his hands. So that’s what I did. There were four families that wanted to pick up their visas today. I thanked him again (for about the hundredth time) and said we’d be there at some point today. He said we could just ask for the immigration assistant when we got there but not to come between 12:15 and 1:00 because that was her lunch break. We waited for one of the families (S & J) who had to go get their kids’ passport pictures done first so that we could go to the German Embassy right after we pick up our visas (they’re also traveling through Frankfurt on the way home).

When we arrived at the Canadian Embassy (around 1:30ish), we knocked on the door and asked to see the immigration assistant. We were told she wasn’t there. (I just about had a heart attack). I explained that we were there to pick up our visas for our children and that I had talked to Nick Firlotte and he said we could come at this time. He made a phone call and then let us in. You have to go through a lot of security to get into the Canadian Embassy but we got right through to the immigration assistant who had our packages. As we were signing for them, Nick came out to say hi and wish us all the best. I hugged him and thanked him – again. He was also very gracious to let us have our picture taken with him by the Canadian flag. You are not supposed to take pictures of or in any government buildings in Ethiopia so we made sure there were no buildings in the picture. We said our goodbyes and we were off to the German Embassy to get the transit visas for our kids.

This is me with the envelope that contains the long awaited visa:

When we arrived at the German Embassy they wouldn’t let us in. They said we had to come back the next morning between 9:00 and 12:00. We pleaded with them saying that we didn’t have much time to get this all done because our flight was leaving Friday night (we knew there was a 24 hour turn around to get the transit visas). They still wouldn’t let us in but they did give us the phone number and told us to call. When we got back to the taxi, the driver let us use his phone. It took us a few tries to get through but I finally ended up talking to a woman at the embassy. She explained to me again that we had to come back the next morning and gave me a huge list of everything we needed to bring with us. (I thought for sure I would have to call Mike and get him to email me some of the paperwork which would mean another frustrating visit to the internet café). I still tried to convince her to let us in and she finally said that if I gave her our names, we could come in and just get the paperwork to fill out. We would still have to bring it in the next day and then pick them up on Friday. It was so frustrating because we were leaving Friday night and the timing was way too tight. But anyway, J and I went back and knocked on the gate. When we told them our names they let us in. We met the woman that I had talked to on the phone and she gave us the forms. Then she asked us if we had everything with us so we started sorting through our stacks of paperwork. Miraculously J and I both found everything we needed except the Adoption Agreement. We both didn’t know what this was and couldn’t remember ever seeing it. The woman told us it would have come from our adoption agency and showed us a sample of what it should look like. I think at this point we both wanted to cry but after the week we had, I’m not sure we had any tears left. We explained to the woman that our agency had gone bankrupt and there was probably no way to get that paper anymore. As I was still frantically flipping through all my paperwork, I looked in the envelope we had just picked up from the Canadian Embassy and there it was! The Adoption Agreement had been in Nairobi and now we had it in our hands with the visa and other documents. Hooray!!! Even though we were supposed to bring copies of everything, we gave the woman our originals and she made the copies for us. She let us fill out the three page forms right then and there. I had Denver with me but J was supposed to have her kids with her as well but the woman let that one go too. We were there for at least an hour filling out forms and sorting through paperwork but we got it all done and submitted. (We also had a serious case of the giggles - I think we were nervous and relieved all at once and laughing was all we had left to do). Now we just have to go back tomorrow to pick it up at 3:00 in the afternoon. Thankfully these transit visas are free for minors.
When we got back to the guest house, the lawyer was there again. He knows that Mary Catherine is a friend of mine and so he wanted to tell me some good news about her file. The medical form came in today and so Samuel will have his medical done even before the court date. Also, the court date has been rescheduled for the beginning of August. I called Mike right away to tell him to email Mary Catherine this great news. It’s really neat to be able to be here and find some of these things out for friends back home. When I was talking to Mike he also told me that Steve and Tracy had emailed to say that the MP’s office can’t find a paper trail at all for them and their adoption process for their little girl here in the transition home. I told Mike I would look into it and call him right back. The lawyer was just packing up to head back to his hotel but I was able to ask him about their file. He said he has a note that everything is there in Nairobi and they’re just waiting for their visa to be issued. I told him what the MP found out and he said he would look into it. I called Mike back to let him know and hopefully tomorrow he will give me more good news about their file.

We were going to go shopping still this afternoon but everything took a lot longer than expected at the Embassies and I really didn’t feel like it anymore. I talked to Solomon who said he would take us shopping tomorrow morning. I still want to get some coffee to take home and some t-shirts for the kids. Solomon will also take J and I to the German Embassy again tomorrow afternoon to pick up the transit visas for our kids.

Denver had his first play date today. We went to another adoptive mom's room for cookies and tea. I sat on the floor with him while he played with the blocks. He had a great time and was talking and laughing the whole time. So cute.

We went out for dinner at the Makush again – with another mom and her kids. We said goodbye to another family and thier kids who are heading home to BC. Their flight leaves at 4:00 am. They’re such a great family and it’s been really good hanging out with them and getting to know them. I’m going to miss them.

Off to bed around 9:30.

I had a hard time finding pictures to post for this day. Most of the good ones have people in them that I don't have permission to put on this blog so I don't want to go there. So here are some pictures of a rainy day in Addis: