We checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the airport. After checking in we ate breakfast and then attempted to shop the duty free shops. Dubai has many great shops but it was so crowded with people that it quickly became frustrating and impossible to move through the maze of people that we gave up and headed to the gate.
Once we were at the gate Matt and I sat down. I looked around at the people and spotted Jennifer, who would be traveling with us. We walked over and introduced ourselves to Jennifer & Bryan and Brent & Amy. All of us were with Dove and would be going to Toukoul together.
Shortly after our introductions we loaded a bus to our 777. There were many other adoptive families on the flight with other agencies. I was surprised by how many on board were going to Ethiopia to adopt. The flight was an easy 3+ hour journey from Dubai, over Saudi Arabia and Yemen into Dubai. We got to see the palm islands of Dubai on take-off and it was an awesome sight from the air.
As we came into Addis Ababa from the air you could see the mountains. There were buildings and barren earth scratched out between the homes and apartments.
The airport looked relatively new. We were one of the first people to disembark the plane and we missed seeing the sign that noted the room to get your visa. We stood in the immigration line. When we arrived at the window the immigration officer redirected us to the visa room. Many of the people leaving the plane made the same mistake as the sign is on the side of room and is not apparently visible as we come down the escalator into the immigration area.
Four officers sat at tables lined up in a row in the visa room. We handed our passports and completed landing cards to the visa officer who then wrote on a white piece of paper information from our passport. You then step to the next officer who takes your $20 visa fee and completes a handwritten receipt. You then step back to the original officer who handwrites your visa and affixes it inside your passport. You then go back and get in line for immigration. No one was left in the immigration line and those that remained, including the other 2 families, were back in the visa line so we immediately went to a window. As we stood in front of the immigration officer’s window I could smell alcohol. It was then that immigration officer smiled at us and said, “Whiskey! Someone smash bottle on floor!”. I looked down to discover than there was a pool of whiskey on the floor that I and my carry-on bag were both in. Matt thought it was a fantastic way to go to the orphanage---smelling of alcohol!
We cleared immigration and exchanged $100 U.S. for birr and went to retrieve our luggage. We were assisted by a large man, despite our protests, who lifted two of our bags off the carousel and the demanded “tip!”. After getting our bags and shooing the man away we went through one more round of baggage screening before exiting.
A small crowd stood, waiting to meet people as they arrived. We scanned the group of people but couldn’t find anyone holding a sign for us. A gentleman approached us and introduced himself. He was from Gladney. He asked which agency we were with and told me he hadn’t seen Sintayehu and if we couldn’t find him to let him know and he would help us out. Matt spotted a drink stand and went to purchase water. I waited for the two other families to get their luggage and clear the screening. Matt returned with Sintayehu. I was relieved.
We loaded our suitcases and ourselves into two vehicles. We went directly to Sintayehu’s office to complete embassy paperwork. Sintayehu’s office is a short drive from the airport and sits on a busy street. We passed many people milling about on the road. Some were sleeping, others were walking from one place to another.
We arrived at Sintayehu’s office and each family went one at a time upstairs to meet with Sintayehu. We paid the $400 visa fee and discussed the three questions we would be asked at the embassy. The process took 15 minutes total for all three families and we loaded back into the cars when we were finished and drove 10 minutes to the YGF Guest Hotel. Sintayehu showed us to our rooms and to the dining room where the staff was waiting to serve us lunch. Sintayehu said we would be able to go and see our children at Toukoul around 4 p.m.
We all had lunch together. We met the cook and Aster, who runs the guest house. We discussed what we would like to do for the week. After lunch, we all went to our rooms and unpacked and prepared to go an meet our children. After I finished preparing our backpack with toys for Oliver, I sat on our balcony at the guest house and waited for Wendy our driver to come and pick us up. It was a beautiful, warm day.
Meeting Oliver--
The drive to Toukoul is not too far from the guest house. The orphanage sits off a busy road to the right down a dirt road. On the left side, men mill about outside a meat market and on the right side of the road men cut stone by hand for a building being erected. Toukoul sits past the meat market on the left side of the road. A blind man sat with his cane outside the entrance. Wendy honked the horn at the blue gates and they opened. We pulled in and we could hear children from inside the buildings. The nannies were changing shifts and people were coming and going. We exited the car and saw 5 small toddlers, dressed in footed pjs banging on the glass from inside the clinic building smiling at us. We were ushered to the family room where we waited for what seemed to be an eternity for our children.
We nervously unpacked our camera and recorder and waited. Time stretched. Then, Jennifer announced she could see them. By the time I made it to the door the nannies were in the doorway holding two small boys and one little girl. I spotted Oliver even though his back was to me. His nanny handed Abdulhakim to me as she announced him. He was so small and so beautiful. I couldn’t stop smiling. Wendy grabbed our recorder and started taping our first encounter with Oliver Henry Abdulhakim. Oliver looked at me and his Daddy with his big eyes and smiled.
For the next two hours we sat on the tan couches lining the room and played with our children. They all were so settled and laid back. We counted all of Oliver’s toes and changed his wet diaper. Oliver loved to chew his hand or ours and we got lots of smiles and giggles.
At 6 p.m. Wendy arrived and the nannies returned to collect the children. We kissed Oliver and watched his nanny carry him away.
We drove back to the guest house on cloud 9. We had dinner when we returned to the guest house and afterwards we were all spent so we called it a day. Matt and I loaded our photos on the laptop and we glanced through them until we could no longer keep our eyes open. We turned out the lights and called it a night.
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