Fun, Food, and Fever

Good Evening!  I'm sitting looking out over the night lights of Addis Ababa as I type.
I was able to sleep until 7am this morning (and all God's children said, "Amen.").  We needed to be ready to go by 8am, so it was a bit more hectic than most mornings, but we were able to get going in time.  Mark woke up at 4am with some stomach troubles, but we both attributed it to a steak he had yesterday that came with gravy.  Rather than sending it back, he "scraped the gravy off" and for someone with serious gluten intolerance, that wasn't a good idea.  It caught up to him (due to the wheat in the gravy).  He was able to take 22 kinds  some medicine to try to feel better before Mengistu arrived at 8am.  I was pleasantly surprised to see him come downstairs a few minutes before 8 looking somewhat better.  The plan today was to go to cultural training at the Bethany office here in Addis.  So, we all piled into the van with one other family (love them so much.  Gonna miss you, Kim and Brian!).  We spent an hour and a half some quality time in the van getting there in the morning commute traffic.  We finally arrived around 9:30am.  We were escorted around the main building, up outdoor steps, and into a room on the second floor.  Inside we found many interesting things: wood carvings, clay pots, leather coasters, etc.  all unique to Ethiopian culture.  Waiting for us were plates of traditional Ethiopian snacks like cookies (they call biscuits), Kola (a roasted mix that reminds me of trail mix.  but it's not), and dabo (bread) that was baked to be crunchy, similar to a crouton.  There wasn't much I could eat, but it all looked delicious.
Soon enough we were able to get started into the cultural training, learning about the history of Ethiopia, the tribes (but not all 86!), regions, languages, climate, religion, government, holidays, customary greetings/etiquette, etc.  Then, after that part was over, in walked a beautiful, older Ethiopian woman carrying a tray for a coffee ceremony.  Before I knew it she had coffee beans roasting and she asked us if we wanted to roast them.  We took turns moving the beans across the hot plate in order to evenly roast them all.  While we were roasting coffee beans (let me just say... the smell was to die for), she started making lentil wat.  Wat is any kind of sauce you put on top of injera (the spongy bread that is traditional to Ethiopian cuisine).  Wat can be doro wat (chicken), beef, lamb, lentil, etc.  And, I took detailed notes (and pictures) on how to make it.  It seemed fairly simple and smelled divine really, really good.... lentils, oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and berbera (traditional spice made from ground red hot peppers and combined with many other spices.  Often berbera recipes differ from family to family, almost like a secret recipe, all depending on what spices are added to the peppers).  The lentil wat took about 30 minutes to make, which gave us plenty of time to roast the coffee beans.  After the beans were finished roasting, we had to set them aside and let them cool off before we could grind them.  BY HAND.  The coffee ceremony is one of the many (but the most common) ways Ethiopians honor guests or show hospitality.  Let me tell you... it isn't just throwing some beans into a grinder and then turning on the coffee pot.  THIS IS A LABOR OF DELICIOUS LOVE.  And, we will be having some coffee ceremonies at our house soon enough!
Next, while the lentil wat continued to smell like heaven in a pot  simmer and finish, we were able to make injera!  All Ethiopians know this isn't as easy as it looks.  There is a specific texture and technique for this unique bread.  The sweet lady demonstrating said we did great and it looked good, but suffice it to say, hers put all of ours to shame.  By the time we all gave injera making a try, the coffee beans had cooled long enough to grind.  So, we all took turns grinding away.  The beans were placed in a wooden bowl with a pedestal, almost like a small vase.  The beans go in the top and then, you just grind using a wooden or metal object.  Today, we used a long metal dowel, but I believe wood is far more common,  traditionally.  It took all us grinding to finally get the consistency right.  All of us, except Mark.  About the time the cooking started, he stepped just outside of our room into the fresh air, but we had the door propped open, so he could still be in our conversations.  I knew he wasn't feeling well.  One of the main components of a coffee ceremony is popcorn.... popcorn is always served before or with the coffee.  Mark had eaten a few pieces of popcorn, but not much.  Soon, we were drinking buna and eating injera and lentil wat.  It was a fun, educational day.  Meanwhile, Tyson was running around outside with Mengistu acting like he owned the place.  He has done a great job answering to "Tyson" all day and we continue to stand back in amazement at how far he has come in just a week of being in our care (can y'all believe it will be a week tomorrow?).  He nearly always says, "please" and "thank you" without prompting and without demanding.  That's a big change in a week!  He laughs so much and his giggle melts me every. single. time.  It really does all of us.  It was a great treat to be able to see Sebilu, Bethany's Africa director, while we were at the Bethany office for training today.  The last time we saw him was 4 years ago when him and his beautiful wife were at Chilhowee Hills visiting with us.  He commented on how happy he was to see us on this side of the globe this time.  We couldn't agree more.
As we were leaving our attorney's, Abdi and Tesfahun, both stopped to tell us about the update from the kebele, the government office that hasn't printed birth certificates (even for natives) since July.  So, even Ethiopians wanting a birth certificate can't get one, which means they can't apply for passports, get visas, or any other type of thing that may require a birth certificate.  The new news is that Tesfahun had plans to go by MOWCA today after lunch to get a letter from them that will be required to get our exit visa.  Typically this letter comes later in the process, closer to our departure, but it isn't nearly as hard to get as other things from MOWCA.  He also got a letter from the court asking them to print our adoption certificate (which is the new document they are giving rather than new birth certificates for adoption cases).  Then, his plan was to take those letters and our adoption decree (from passing court) to the kebele and ask them if they would print it since we had everything we needed and since we are staying in the country.  Tesfahun was successful at obtaining both letters (despite the power being out at MOWCA on his first attempt), which is great news.  He took the documents to the kebele that has seemed the most promising on producing us an adoption certificate, but he waited for the director until 5:30pm with no success of getting to see her.  Tomorrow morning two other families with Bethany have court appointments.  As soon as those court appointments are over Tesfahun is going to back to Kebele to present our documents.  He is going to ask if our coming will aide in speeding this up.  If so, they will arrange transportation for us and we will meet him at the kebele in the afternoon.  Your continued prayers for this one document are so appreciated.  Once we get this one document we will primarily be dealing with the US Embassy, so it is a much more streamlined, predictable process and is expected to take about 2 weeks.  SO, that means once we get the kebele document, we should be 2 weeks from coming home (maybe less.... but the US Embassy only sees adoption cases on Tuesdays, so if we get everything we need on a wednesday and the only thing remaining is that appointment, we have to wait to the following Tuesday to do that.  That's the final thing.  After the US Embassy appointment, we fly home... maybe even that same day!).
We are so incredibly grateful for the persistence and diligence of the team here on the ground in Addis to work so tirelessly with agencies that aren't super cooperative.
Moving on... after training, we walked just up the street to a pizza place that was SO CUTE.  We sat outside under a thatched roof that had chandeliers hanging overhead.  We agreed it looked it like something you'd see at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Tyson did well at lunch, but it got really long, as Mengistu walked another family back to Bethany for their court orientation in preparation for tomorrow and we waited for him at the restaurant.  All in all, we survived and I tried not to think about what the surrounding Ethiopians thought about our parenting techniques.  I don't want him to wear a shirt that says "I have only been with them a week," but part of me thinks it might be helpful.  I'm laughing just thinking about it.
I could tell Mark needed to get back to the guesthouse and rest.  He was unusually quiet and pale.  We arrived back to the guesthouse around 2:30pm and we played outside while Mark took a nap, hoping to sleep "it" off.  I came back up to the room to grab some water and check on him around 3:30 and he had a 101 fever.  Fearing he might have the plague be contagious and have more than gluten exposure, I went to the other families to see if anyone had Cipro I could give him.  Turns out another family did, so I gave him Tylenol and Cipro to try to knock every germ and bad microbe OUT OF HERE.  I ended up going back downstairs until dinner, hoping he could sleep and wake feeling better.  TURNS OUT IT WORKED.  He's definitely not 100%.  I think his exact words involved him and something about a Mack truck.  But, he managed to eat a few potatoes from dinner and no trips to the bathroom afterwords (insert Hallelujah Chorus here).  Tyson couldn't wait to carry "Daddy's medicine to him."  At one point Ty even looked at me and said, "Is Dad home today?"  Haha.  I reminded him he was sleeping upstairs and then he was good to go.
Tonight I sat with Tyson on my lap and Brycen, Regan, and Tyson played a LEGIT game of GO FISH.  We were able to actually teach him to play (by the rules!) and with his beginner's luck, he really did win every single game.  Nothing beats hearing him say (with those killer rolled "r"'s), "Regan, do you have dis one?"  as he holds up what he's wanting a match for.  The only thing that beats the GO FISH domination, are his dance party skills.  Brycen and Regan have taught him a line from the movie, "Despicable Me" where Vector says, "I am Vector, I commit crimes with force and magnitude" ( or something like that).  Then it's followed with a loud, "Oh, Yeah!" while doing this little dance that involves hips, hands, and thrusts.  AND IT IS HILARIOUS because Tyson gets so tickled by the time he gets to 'magnitude' it takes all he's got to say "Oh, yeah" and actually do the motions.  He laughs for days.
He has pushed our rolling luggage all of the room with his "motors" on top and we've played hide-and-seek, and he got a shower because, well, all the dancing caused all the sweating.  He is sound asleep in the bed beside Regan with his "Mr. Clutch" t-shirt and comfy pants on, covered up in white sheets and a white comforter looking so cozy.  And, smelling so good.  Between his cocoa butter lotion and his hair milk, I am not sure which smells the best, his arms or his hair.  He had a fun, action-packed day that ended with the feature selection this evening being "Home."  Which, is where we are wanting to go, ASAP.  I will keep you posted on what we hear from the kebele tomorrow.
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for this opportunity and these people.  But we miss our people.  Thank you for walking with us and for encouraging us so much while we are away.  It means so much to us.  I am off to bed!  Tomorrow is supposed to be a guesthouse day, unless we end up going to kebele in the afternoon.
Hugs from Addis....

Until WE'RE home,
carrie