A year ago today…

Was one heck of an emotional day.

I started off pretty homesick. We were in a nice little “groove” with Ben and he was still doing unbelievably well (we had adopted older kids before and were prepared for what things could be like, but he just was this easy-going, sweet and happy kid from almost the very beginning).

Since I was feeling homesick and missing my kids something awful, it was SO nice to get a phone call from my best friend that morning and hear her voice and hear how the kids were doing. It definitely helped me feel better.

Ben had fit right in with us and we were having so much fun getting to know him. We were comfortable and familiar with our surroundings and not feeling quite so “lost” as we were the first day or two. After I got off of the phone we went to the playground there at the Ghion and played soccer with Ben. Dan came out of his room and joined us in the cool shade of the most gorgeous trees that were covered with huge purple flowers. The sun was shining but it was not yet hot and a perfect breeze was blowing.

We met two boys in the park that day that really touched our hearts. Here is what I wrote about that experience in my journal,

“We were playing in the park and several boys came over and joined our soccer game. One introduced himself to me and started showing off his English skills. He was 10 years old and dressed very raggedly. His English was good enough that we had good conversations, and when we struggled to understand him, he worked until he could explain it to us in another way. He asked about Ben and our family and was touched that we were adopting him. He asked about America, and what we thought of Ethiopia. We were so impressed with his sweet spirit, his great sense of humor and how very smart he was. Finally after spending about an hour with him a security guard came over and starting yelling at him to leave. I asked where his parents were, and then he told us that they had died, and that he lived at the Mother Theresa orphanage. I felt like someone had pulled the rug out from underneath me. I had assumed he was at the park with his family like the other children that were playing with us. There are not many parents looking to adopt a 10 year-old boy and I knew his chances of finding a family were slim. Yet I knew this boy would make a wonderful son to someone. How could such a sweet and handsome and wonderful boy be alone in this world? He hadn’t asked us for a thing except our company for a small while, and when we gave him a pack of gum and a small momento it felt so meaningless that we were almost ashamed. He really affected all of us that met him.

After our experience at the park, we had to clean up and get over to the Sheraton for lunch with a missionary couple from our church. Now if you have never been to Ethiopia and you have never been to the Addis Sheraton, it is hard to describe. The Sheraton is the posh-est place in Addis, and it is truly out of place in a city full of poverty. Palm trees, immaculate pools, huge and perfect-looking air-conditioned buildings and manicured lawns abound. Uniformed guards stand at the gate, checking all cars over before allowing them in, even looking underneath the vehicles with little mirrors on sticks. And yet right across the road, bare-footed children in rags herd donkeys past the rows of scrap-metal leantoos. The poverty runs right up to the very edge of the Sheraton property, almost as if the white iron fence is somehow holding it out.

We strolled the grounds and commented that we could have been in the Caribbean or Europe or somewhere exotic, and that it definitely did not feel like we were still in Ethiopia. The company, the conversation, the food and the atmosphere were all extremely enjoyable, as was watching Ben experience his first ice cream cone. And yet I was feeling almost guilty for being there because I knew how people lived in Ethiopia, and I knew that what we spent on our meal for six people at the Sheraton was equal to a year’s salary for many people.

Our plan was to finish lunch, and then head on over to AHOPE to visit and photograph the children, and then we had an appointment back at Ben’s orphanage to visit with the center's doctor.

(Pics of Ben with first ice cream cone!)

Continued...