Pictures!!!

Monday: Today started with breakfast and then we went to pick up our children! Merete was at the school, and he came running out of his classroom and into my arms right away. We took the kids back to the main guesthouse where we all just hung out and played until lunch. Merete is such a sweet happy little boy! And it is amazing how similar Merete and E are to each other. Even the other parents have commented on how similar their temperaments are. And then there are the things Merete chose to do. While the other kids all went inside, he stayed outside and tried out every form of bike or ride on toy available. He played with balls and ran around. Then he went inside, he found some cards and started laying them out, then picking them back up again. I can't tell you how many sets of cards E has at home that he's laid out in the exact same way. Then one of the dads pulled out these huge balloons and the kids had a blast! Merete and E played well together, although E accidentally hit Merete a couple of times. Poor little guy looked so sad for a couple minutes, but then went right back to playing. One of the social workers was there and she said that that is how he usually responds…no tears, just a "long face". Merete was always very eager to help the other children by handing them their balloon when it went astray. Then he started drawing shapes and showing me each one, smiling each time I named the shape correctly. At lunch time, the kids were made a special meal to match what they normally eat during the day. Merete had a special veggie mush, followed by lasagna, which is one of his favorites! He had two large bowls in record time. Aft wards, they played some more and then had to go back to the care center.

The afternoon was filled was tours. First we went to a CHSFS Mother and Child care center. There they treat children with various ailments, provide immunizations and family planning, and have a birth center. It is amazing how much they can accomplish with few resources, and everyone is so incredibly kind. It is true when they say that Ethiopians treasure their children.

We then went to a school funded by CHSFS. There are four recent college graduates staying in the small guesthouse with us, and all four ladies teach English at this school. It is a private school, and they have built a large conference center (which looks like a large gymnasium) so they can rent it out and make enough money to be self sufficient. They have a small library (and they are in need of books, in case anyone wants to send some over). School let out and we were suddenly
surrounded with tons of very excited and eager children. It's so wonderful to see the good that this adoption agency is doing in Ethiopia. They are so much more than just an agency; they really strive to improve the lives of Ethiopians. We then went to a museum, where I recorded as many exhibits as I could for Merete to view one day. After confirming our flights home at the Hilton, we went back to the guesthouse for dinner and chatting, and we're now calling it a night. Tomorrow is another big day, though I think at this point we are all looking forward to Wednesday, when we get to just sit around and be with our children (although a group of us is planning another shopping trip during the kids' nap time ;-).