Some of our 15 minutes (of fame, that is)?

I'll try to get you in some sort of blogspot infinite loop.  Go here to see a story about us in the local paper.  The story includes a link to this blog, so you can just keep circling around between the two!

Here's one photo from the story.  

I guess I should tell you that both boys are far better foosball players than Sandy and I.  It's a good and easy game to play with them, though.  Better than ping pong because it's logistically easier--you never have to chase the ball across the room.  Peter is quite good at ping pong, though.  Someday soon, I suspect Sandy and I will get soundly beaten at that, too.

We've had plenty of challenging moments, but we're working through them.  Two Sundays ago, Sandy had what we discovered was a miscommunication with Eliyas, and he got disappointed and upset about what transpired.  So, this past Sunday, Sandy navigated a similar situation very differently...and much more effectively.  

A lot of learning to do...for all of us.  Peter is hanging in there quite well.  As big a personality as he is, and as much as he always wants to explain everything from his perspective, he's been forbearing and self-denying a little more than he used to be.  

I get a little tired of talking about "growth mindset" at school--we speak of it so much that it's almost cliche, but there really are going to be a lot of growth opportunities for all of us in this.  If we keep ourselves open to it...which isn't always easy.

Several Weeks On

We've been back 2 1/2 weeks.  And while every moment hasn't been picture perfect, a lot of things and most of the time has gone really well.

We went to the snow one day...and that went very nicely.  We all enjoyed it!

Matching Oregon Duck jerseys, gifts from Jackson and Miranda.

And we've played some foosball (among other games).  

Most of us (those who don't surrender 8-2 leads) enjoy that!

Eliyas cheered on the Huskies against Alabama....

It was a quiet and understated cheering.

They both started back to school, and that has gone pretty well.  We've socialized with lots of families/kids, some from school, some not.  He's jumped right in with that.  

We also went to a party for Orthodox Christmas, where we met several other families with Ethiopian adoptees.  They reported some of their difficulties upon their return.  One father said their two daughters didn't speak at home for two weeks.  No words--except at school--for two weeks.  Eliyas has periods (up to an hour or two) like that....Maybe 3 or 4 in the 18 days we've been home.  So, pretty good, really.  He's spirited, expressive and fun...and he hangs in there with Peter.  If you know Peter, you know that's something!

First flight done

It's 10:45 PM in Dubai.  Exactly 12 hours later than in Tacoma.  We'll be departing Dubai at 3:50 in Tacoma's afternoon.  Morning here.  We're trying to get some rest, but it's pretty hard to do so.  Kind of bright, not the best chairs.  And a bit noisy.  Blue Oyster Cult--Don't Fear the Reaper--is playing just loud enough to be a bit annoying.  In fact, I found it amusing that Emirates was playing The Eagles and Van Morrison (all three flights so far) over the PA as we boarded the plane.

I think Elyas is already asleep, and Peter will make it soon, I hope.  I doubt much will happen for me...unless things settle down a little more.

Went to the McDonald's in the airport...next phase in Elyas' Americanization!

We made it!

Everything went like clockwork--TB test got read at 9 AM.  To the next hospital...and they were quick quick.  Arrived US embassy about 11:15.  Our local agent--the masterful and resourceful Mr. Wondo (wan-doo), he of the taking the money for the immigration applications while the attendant went and copied something we needed--did his work, and we had our "interview" about 12:30.

It wasn't much of an interview...and they were very accommodating, promising to have the visa ready at 2:00, at which time Mr. Wondo would pick it up and meet us back at the office at 4 to give us all the paperwork.

Like almost everything else, we had to endure one unexpected bump.  We arrived at the adoption agency office at 3:50, and Mr. Wondo wasn't there yet.  His phone was in an "unavailable" mode, so Yosef surmised that he must still be at the embassy--where you must turn off and check your phone.

So Yosef took us back to the hotel, then returned to the office to wait for Mr. Wondo to return.  Yosef collected the documents, then brought them to our hotel!

So, it is now 6:15, the documents are in hand, and Sandy is organizing our packing.  We are set to depart tomorrow afternoon!

If all goes as expected (and I'm more confident about that with what remains than I had been with the earlier stuff--because I'm more familiar with tomorrow's "stuff" than the other), we should be at the 4 PM Christmas Eve service at Faith!

Thanks for your interest, support, encouragement, prayer, etc.


And thanks for reading.

With love and gratitude,
Andrew (for all the Miltons)

The conflict I mentioned

And the reason that the State Department advises that we take caution in leaving the capital.

Detainees to be released--in custody for the state of emergency

Our new friend in whose class I spoke has an evacuation plan (well, her organization has one):

Drive to Kenya.

Not much of a plan, really, but about all they have, I guess.

It's calm here.  The only thing that might be connected to this problem is that we get searched on the way in to things--like the national museum and Kaldi's Coffee.  That and you do see army personnel [sorry, I was wrong...it's federal police] about...with substantial weapons.  Old AK 47s, it appears.

Ethiopian History

...is a curious thing.  They are undoubtedly proud of their history.  The National Museum features extensive displays of bones of early humans from the Great Rift Valley.  "Lucy"--the 3+ million year old early human being--was found in what is now Ethiopia, and her "bones" are on display--though not as featured as an American museum would do.  I say "bones" because, apparently, portions of the partial skeleton were found at some distance from each other.  In any case, Ethiopians are particularly proud of their status in the ancient history of humanity.

Lucy

They are also very proud of their ancient Solomonic heritage.  We visited Entoto yesterday.  That's the site of the palace of the king that established Addis Ababa...in the 1870s.  So, the last few Solomonic kings ruled from Addis, instead of the ancient Axum or Gondar.  I'm not sure why Menelek II moved the capital to the Entoto--a mountain just outside Addis, but he reputedly found evidence of a church hewn from the rocks, which showed Ethiopian presence there earlier.

This is that very church...if I understood our guide correcetly.

It is also the site of this 140-year-old church today.

Elyas, with Elyas (Elijah).

The church--and, as I gather, all Ethiopian Orthodox churches--is octagonal, for 7 archangels and Jesus.

The seven on the left--the archangels.  The four on the right--what our guide called 'the evangelists'--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The exterior 8 walls of the inside structure (which houses the holy of holies) are brightly painted with about as much bible story as you could imagine.  Adam and Eve, the birth of Jesus, the miracles, death and resurrection, the apostles, their deaths, judgment day, and more.

The apostles' deaths, including Peter, crucified upside down.

The last supper.  In traditional Ethiopian style, all bad characters are shown in profile--only one eye.  Judas, is on the far left, one eye, and the devil at his back, pulling him.

Doubting Thomas.

Petrus, Paulus and Petrus.

The devil.  Our guide says, "two eyes, because he didn't start out bad."  They keep a curtain over this.

So, the Solomonic heritage resides elsewhere, and the very young Addis Ababa--it's younger than Tacoma-- stands at the end of that legacy.  But still the Ethiopians are proud of this history, and the newness of Addis Ababa is transcended by its historical connection to the ancient Ethiopian church...another of the things of which Ethiopians are proud.  Their Orthodox church was originally administered by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the 4th century to 1959.  Apparently, Christianity was declared the state religion in 333.  And they are a non-Chalcedonian--they reject the Council of Chalceon's 451 claim of Christ having two natures, divine and human.  Instead, the Ethiopian church unites both natures into one.  And beyond that, I'm out of my theological realm.

The Ethiopian Orthodox church also adheres to Jewish dietary standards and a variety of other traditions.  They fast extensively, though that fasting takes various forms.  Sometimes, it's vegetables and no meat (until 3 PM).  Wednesdays, it's a complete fast until 3.  The numerous saints' days involve fasting, though I'm not sure which kind.  And they do some form of fasting for weeks before Christmas and Easter.  The fasting is so extensive (but can involve some eating) that restaurants have a fasting section on their menu.

They also believe that Menelek I--Solomon and Sheba's son--brought the Ark of the Covenant back with him after visiting his father in Jerusalem.  That ark is in Axum, Ethiopians will tell you.  And every Ethiopian Orthodox church has a replica, stored in that church's holy of holies, and brought out for special occasions.

It seems that about 40 % of the population is Orthodox, about 1/3 Muslim and 1/5th protestant (which they call pente--pen-tay, from pentecostal).   Yosef tells me that religious conflict is not a problem--at least, not now.  Conflict here seems based more on what we'd call ethnicity.  As I mentioned before, the Oromo and Amhara groups feel disenfranchised by the much less numerous but more politically powerful Tigray.

The Lion of Judah. 

Since Solomon was from the tribe of Judah, all the Ethiopian kings--through Haile Selassie--are also.  This figure is everywhere, and was even in the Ethiopian flag for a time.

Another--probably not the last--thing for which Ethiopians are proud is their coffee.  And, as they tell it--that they created (founded?, developed?) coffee first.

The "founding" of coffee.  A goat, whose shepherd was named Kaldi--thus the name of the Starbucks derivative, wandered off.  When Kaldi went to find it, he discovered coffee beans.  First, they tried to eat them, and then they tried something else (sorry...I can't remember what it was), then they ground them up and ran water over that...and you get coffee!

Sorting out good beans from bad.

Okay...that was a lot for tonight.  Tomorrow, we head to all those last details...hopefully to include the embassy and the final steps before departure.  

I'm hoping I can do one more post Thursday night or Friday morning...then I'll go dark.  That'll mean we're on our way.

Thanks for reading!

Drinks

 The Ethiopian coffee preparation, and some papaya smoothies...

which don't really have much of a flavor.

Several juices...and avocado.  

Can be mango, papaya, avocado and another fruit whose name I still can't figure out.

A strawberry shake.