Last Wednesday we received news that our court date is Tuesday, June 11th. We are departing Boston this Wednesday night at 10:10 P.M. We will be flying to Germany, where we will have a 10 hour layover on Thursday. Late Thursday night, we will depart Frankfurt and head to Addis, where we will arrive at 6:15 A.M. Friday morning. After Tuesday night, we will not be sleeping in a bed until Friday night. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
We do not have the exact details of our trip nailed down yet, but we have a basic idea. Another family from our agency is flying into Addis an hour after us and their kids are at the same orphanage as Alazar so we will have travel buddies, yay! It appears as though we will travel to Awassa on Friday where we will spend 3 nights/4 days. Alazar's orphanage is 15 minutes away from our hotel in a town called Shashemene. We will be able to visit him and spend time with him while we are there. On Monday, we will return to Addis and hopefully get some sight-seeing in. On Tuesday we will go before the Ethiopian judge, answer her questions, promise that we will raise Alazar well, and bring him up to be knowledgeable and proud of his Ethiopian heritage. After we pass court, Alazar will legally be our son in the eyes of the ET government. Unfortunately, we will not be bringing him home for another 6-8 weeks following court (mid-summer) because our case needs to be submitted and cleared by the U.S. Embassy before A's visa and passport can be issued.
We will be leaving ET on Thursday. Hopefully we will be participating in another special "adventure" on Wednesday, but it is not definite, so stay tuned!!
This whole thing has been a bit surreal. I have been dreaming about this upcoming day for a long time and it is hard to believe that is just about here. I will be loving on my baby boy in just 5 days!!
We do not have the exact details of our trip nailed down yet, but we have a basic idea. Another family from our agency is flying into Addis an hour after us and their kids are at the same orphanage as Alazar so we will have travel buddies, yay! It appears as though we will travel to Awassa on Friday where we will spend 3 nights/4 days. Alazar's orphanage is 15 minutes away from our hotel in a town called Shashemene. We will be able to visit him and spend time with him while we are there. On Monday, we will return to Addis and hopefully get some sight-seeing in. On Tuesday we will go before the Ethiopian judge, answer her questions, promise that we will raise Alazar well, and bring him up to be knowledgeable and proud of his Ethiopian heritage. After we pass court, Alazar will legally be our son in the eyes of the ET government. Unfortunately, we will not be bringing him home for another 6-8 weeks following court (mid-summer) because our case needs to be submitted and cleared by the U.S. Embassy before A's visa and passport can be issued.
We will be leaving ET on Thursday. Hopefully we will be participating in another special "adventure" on Wednesday, but it is not definite, so stay tuned!!
This whole thing has been a bit surreal. I have been dreaming about this upcoming day for a long time and it is hard to believe that is just about here. I will be loving on my baby boy in just 5 days!!
Woohoo - so so happy for you ! Can't wait to hear all about your adventure. Take care and know that so many of your friends and family will be with you in spirit.
ReplyDeleteHi, my husband and I are interested in adopting from Ethiopia and are searching for an agency. I would love to know about your agency and how it is going with them. Could you please email me at afresh126@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks,
April