What We’ll Be Up To

Our adoption agency is very well organized and has our trip all laid out for us. As adventurous as I am sometimes, this is definitely a trip I'm very happy to have someone else plan for us! We'll be staying at one of their guest houses (the smaller one), and we're lucky to have a bathroom of our own. Our meal will be prepared for us at the main guest house, and I hear we're in for some excellent cooking! We're bringing a ton of food for E just in case there isn't much he can have, although many people with food allergies and preferences have been well taken care of (but it's not like we can chance it!).

So here is a breakdown of what we'll be up to during our trip. This is based on the basic itinerary most families follow.

Wednesday

We fly out of Jacksonville and have a long layover in Dulles. We take off from there at 8:20 pm for the very long flight 15.5 hour flight to Rome (where we land but stay on the plane) and then to Addis Ababa.

Thursday

I hope the excitement keeps me up on the flight, because we land at 7:05 pm local time and hope to sleep that first night (I know, high hopes).

Friday

We meet Merete!! But first there is an orientation meeting, paperwork, etc. and we also view his life video (the agency gathers as much info about his life as possible, interviews people on video, etc.)

Saturday

Spend morning with Merete, afternoon shopping, evening dinner show at hotel

Sunday

Hossana trip south all day

Monday

Morning with Merete. Visiting sights, AHOPE, and CHSFS facilities in afternoon

Tuesday

Going-away celebration at care center, then Merete comes back to the guesthouse with us! Embassy appointment

Wednesday

Day with Merete, just hangin'

Thursday

Cooking class in the morning, then packing and heading home! We leave at 10:15pm Addis time, so the long flight home will be our chance to sleep. Uh huh, high hopes again. Although I have Benadryl and Ambian and I'm not afraid to use them.

Friday

Land in Jax in the afternoon