Lost in Addis and Shabbat #5!

I stand corrected.  The mystery of the internet is no longer a mystery and the issue has NOT resolved itself.

I found out tonight that the Ethiopian government is actually blocking blogspot.  It is not just mine—because, after all, what would Bamlak’s changing weight and our whereabouts really matter to it?   Apparently, it occasionally blocks all blogs for fear that negative information is going out. 

My not being able to access the blog happened at the same time that my portable internet adaptor that enables me to access the internet from my room and that was generously lent to me by the awesome Shaun Goldstone while he is on vacation in the U.S., went out of service.   The convergence of these two factors has made electronic communication much more of a challenge so I am sorry for the interruptions and  THANK YOU, DORRIE, for posting this!!

Tali Bamlak and I went over to Rick’s house mid-morning.  My original goal was to hang out with Rick’s cook and pick up a few culinary tips.  But it was such a sunny and beautiful day, TBK and I headed out for a walk.  The neighborhood is lovely and there are lots of quiet streets to roam, which is actually a rare thing in Addis. 

Like all good walks, we ended up at mall where I had a pizza for lunch and Bami slept in my arms.  While we were meandering back I somehow got all turned around and found myself, shockingly, lost.  So I did what I would do at home, I called a friend!  At home, I generally call EA when I am lost and in this case I called Fitz who capably explained to a random taxi driver how to return us to Rick’s.  Later when we saw Fitz at the house, he told me that he was going to buy me a map.  Why on earth, I responded, would I want a map when I have his phone number????

Since tonight is Friday, Tali Bamlak and I, for the 5^th week in a row, celebrated Shabbat with Rick and company.  Tonight’s crowd  also include Andy Kaufman, a neurosurgeon from Kansas City who hosted Rick and I in Vail last spring, a couple from NYC, and 15 Swedish Jews on a Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) Heritage Trip with Micha Feldman.   It was a wonderful evening.

 

Two of the Swedish women shared with me stories of how JDC saved their lives.  One of them described that she was an infant in Poland in 1960 and her father, a diplomat (and a Jew).  She became deathly ill with pneumonia and there were no antibiotics to be had.  Her mother begged her father to use his diplomatic status to get some meds for her but he refused to ask the Polish authorities for help.  He did agree, however, that he would turn to the Jews and called the JDC office in Switzerland.  Within 24 hours they had the needed medication.

This same woman also shared with me another very personal story.  She told me that when she saw me – as an ecstatic new mother with my adopted daughter -- she got very emotional.  It recalled for her, and for her husband, their experience 33 years ago when they brought home their first child…from Iran.  It was not very easy in Europe in those times for a Jewish couple to adopt internationally and they were in Iran for two weeks at a horrible time for that country. 

Their baby was quite sickly when she came home to Sweden at 4 months old but today is a mother of 3 beautiful children and is a lawyer who serves on the Swedish Supreme court. 

And to top off a great day, Jennifer Morris Sarah arrived tonight!!!  She is a fellow adoptive mother from NW Denver who is here to care for her 2 baby boys.  One of them has not been gaining weight and she and her husband Tom are very concerned about him.  So, she just got on a plane and is now here at the Semien.  Since we went to court together and passed the same week, we are assuming that we are on a similar schedule to get home: namely….SOON!!

In the meantime, we will be for each other a mini-support group and... how fun to have company!!

Love and Shabbat Shalom from Addis,

--Jen and Tali B

Blogging Blip and U.S. Embassy confirmation

So sorry for the blip in my blogging and for worrying some of you with my 2 day silence.  

All is well with us but for some unknown reason, I could not access the blog for a few days.  Since Dorrie has my log-in information, I sent Tuesday’s entry to her by e-mail and she was able to upload it.  Now the problem seems to be resolved.  Oh, the mysteries of the internet.
(And fyi~ You can now view the photos from yesterday's blog).

The amazing news from yesterday is that I received an e-mail from the Adoption Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Addis confirming that it is currently investigating our case!!  They ask that I wait at least  5 business days before contacting them to check in, which is Wednesday, Jan. 4. 

I have also authorized my state senator’s office to check as well and have asked Senator Bennet to do whatever is in his power push things along as far as the visa, passport and scheduling the exit interview.

I still have no idea how long it will take but I asked Gary to look into getting us home the week of Jan. 16.  A pipe dream, perhaps, but a girl’s gotta dream, right?

In the meantime, Tali Bami is doing GREAT.  She is filling out and smiling easily and much of the time. She loves and responds well to people and attracts a lot of attention.  Yesterday, after our afternoon shluffie, we wondered over to our juice spot in the umbrella stroller (which broke on the flight way over but I which fixed with masking tape—Tio Jorge should be proud).  There happened to be a lot of school children out and about on their way home from school and I felt like a celebrity as they all stared, smiled and were shy when I said hello.  Its Bami’s incredible cuteness but also probably the fact that I am the only ferengi with a baby in a stroller that they have every seen.

I have decided to stay put here at the Semien for the remainder of the time.  The staff treats us like family and that feels wonderful.  This place will always be a part of our Ethiopia experience and we will have to come back and visit year after year.

When Bami wakes us we are going to go to the foster home and check on a few of her friends and hopefully cut her little finger nails.

Love from Addis,

--Jen and Tali B

Day Tripping

Today Mark hired Million as our guide with a driver/van and we had a really great day trip outside of Addis. 

 

 

We drove 20 minutes through Addis and up a scenic, winding road lined with Eucalyptus tress into the Entoto Mountains, arriving at the Church of St. Mary.  The architectural design of the 1885 church is cool and we could not enter but the inner wall paintings of the church are supposed to be fascinating.

The church sits at about 10, 500 feet above sea level and there were lots of steps so walking around with my 11 lb baby got me a bit winded (Addis is 7,700 feet).  We found some locals drying out chili pepper to make berebe and other unique Ethiopian spices.

Near the church is the late 19^th century home of Emperor Menelik II and his wife, Empress Tiytu Betul.   They had wanted to establish the capital in that spot but because of a lack of firewood, water and the ability to encourage people to move there, Addis was actually founded in valley south of the mountain in 1886.  Legend is that it was Tiytu who chose the location and named it Addis Ababa which means “new flower.”

Mark and Million briefly went into the Entoto Museum, while TBK and I visited the van for a bottle.  Apparently, the drum that announced the march to Adwa against the Italian invasion is there, as is Menelik’s bed and ceremonial dresses of the king and the queen.

We then drove about an hour south to Debre Zeyit (“Mount of Olives,”) a resort area with five crater lakes and had lunch at a beautiful resort called Kuriftu on the shore of its namesake, Lake Kuriftu. The resort restaurant sits on a huge outdoor deck and spans over part of the lake.  TBK enjoyed a nap of a nice leather couch while I enjoyed fresh Nile perch pan fried which I ate with my hands.  Yummmy.

TBK slept most of the way back to Addis which was good because it was a long, hot, traffic and exhaust-filled trip home. When we got back into the city, Million and I jumped out and went into a nice modern grocery store and stocked up on Babelac formula and a small container of Vaseline for TBK’s slightly dry cheeks (another unsolicited piece of advise offered from an Ethiopian TBK admirer.)  As far as the formula goes, I am now paying 117 birr ($6.77) per container which is a bit better than the 180 birr ($10.41) that I paid at the pharmacy in our neighborhood. 

TBK and I dropped of Mark off at the Sheraton and we went home to get cleaned up for our evening.  An hour and a half later, we were back at the Sheraton.  Mark arranged another babysitter who walked in while Tali B was sitting up in the middle of the big bed watching a movie.  The gal could not get over how alert and cute the baby was.  Incidentally, they don’t believe in paying for child care in this country and we never got charged for the three nights of babysitting.  OIE (only in Ethipia!!)

Mark and I then met Fikru out at Habesha, a traditional Ethiopian restaurant with live singing and dancing.   Mark has been a bit worried about the food and so this was his first injera experience.  While I don’t think he is a convert, his stomach has held up so far.  And have his eyes, by the way, no conjunctivitis for him or Tali Bamlak. Phew.

After dinner we went to a really night club where the performers sing and, from what I could gather, do improv comedy.   Mark and I were out of the loop on the jokes but they seem to be gently making fun of people and making people laugh and smile.  Then the dancers came out and OMG. 

It is absolutely incredible how they can move their shoulders, chests and other parts while keeping the rest of their bodies still.  It was really fabulous and they insisted that we, and the other guests, got up and tried to dance ourselves.  We are not winning any Ethiopian idol contests for sure, but it was a great time.

I was so tired from my Ethiopian dancing (oh, and did I mention the honey wine???) debut that I was too tired to blog when we got home.

Mark left for Kenya this morning but changed his plans to come back for New Year’s Eve and day to spend Sunday with us!

Love from Addis,

--Jen and Tali B

House Call

Happy 7th night of Chanukah!

I feel very special today. 

Not only because I have a WHOPPING case of conjunctivitis.  But because, as a result, I got a house call from no less than 2 MDs and their amazing support crew.  How many people experience that privilege?  And all for the cost of lunch...OIE (Only in Ethiopia).

 

 

 

Berhanu, Dr. Rick’s right-hand-man for almost 15 years, spent about an hour doing foot research and found a Western-funded ophthalmological clinic not far from the Semien that could see me in the afternoon.

I was seen by Dr. Kefyalew Regassa who is an Opthomologic Surgen at the Mercy Care Health Center. (It is a Methodist NGO but they didn’t’ ask and I didn’t tellJ ).  Dr. Regassa proscribed two different eye drops: Gentamicine and Ivygentacin.  Since conjunctivitis is contagious and I was concerned about Bami as well as Mark, he gave me a prescription for each of them as well--just in case. 

You might be interested to know that the exam visit itself cost 30 birr (less than $2) and the medicine set me back 46 birr ($2.5).  Here is list of the costs of various treatments:  

When I got back from the doctor, around 4 pm, Misrat and Tigist (our chamber maids) were both on the floor playing with Bamlak having a ball.

We took a nap and then headed out, once again, to dine at the Sheraton.  We are getting very spoiled.  Tonight's fare was Italian.  OMG is all I can say.  Fikru and Million ended up joining us for a drink and then Fikru took Mark out on the town. 

At the restaurant an older Swiss couple that Mark had met earlier in the day took a liking to our little baby girl and they kept coming over and talking to her, asking questions about her, kissing her, etc.  At the end of the evening the woman put her hands on TBK's head and gave her a long Swiss blessing.  We will take all the blessings we can get!

OK, I could not, in the end, resist this shot.

Good night and love from Addis,

--Jen and Tali B

Out and About with Friends

Merry Christmas and Happy 6^th night of Chanukahto all!!

Another totally full and fun day was had on this side of the world.

Mark hired a wonderful guide, Million, who we met at Rick's, to take us around Addis to see the sights.  We started at the National Museum which houses Lucy and then to the Ethnological Museum on the campus of Addis Ababa University.  It is rumored to be the finest museum in Africa but frankly, I wouldn’t know because TBK decided to take a nap at that time and we had a lovely rest in the van.

After the museum we had coffee/tea at the Lucy café with Rondi...

 

Rondi had a lunch date with a fellow Ethiopian surgeon and his family and Mark, Million and I had lunch at the Lime Café. 

I then made contact with Fikru G. Mariam. I first met Fikru through Rick about a month ago in the lobby of the Hilton where Fikru enjoys Happy Hour every evening. 


Fikru is a very well known painter, splitting his time betwee Addis and Paris, and last year  donated a significant painting to A Dinner of Unconditional Love.  A Denver family purchased it and the proceeds went to support the work of JDC’s Dr. Rick Hodes.  This experience was very meaningful to Fikru and it was fun to talk to him about it.   He got a lot of press in Addis and has a few of the newspaper articles framed in his living room.  Included in the frame are two letters of thanks from JDC, one signed my yours truly:)

We went to his beautiful home which he designed and is building himself and he showed us his studio.  INCREDIBLY TALENTED to say the least http://www.fikru.fr/.  Then we hung out for a while, chatting in the garden over some St. George and had a great time. 

I was very sad to break the news to Fikru about Noel’s death as Noel visited Fikru last year and they had a nice connection.  I know that they were both inspired by each other.

In the evening, Mark and I met Fikru for a drink at The Office, one of the Sheraton bars, and then it was my turn to treat for dinner and the three of us had an amazing meal at the hotel’s French restaurant. (Yes, babysitter #2--I did better this time....)

For some reason, my eyes were really red and irritated last night and I was so exhausted that I fell alseep mid-blog so am sending this Monday morning.   I actually woke up this morning with very swollen eye that I could barely open. I am sparing you a photo--I can assure you that it is NOT a good look. 

I called Dr. Rick at 7 am and he is trying to find me an eye doctor to go see today.  The hotel chamber maids are currently lining up to babysit…stay tuned...

Love from Addis,
--Jen and Tali

Christmas Eve In Addis

Merry Christmas Eve to all who are celebrating!!  And Happy 5^th night of Chanukah.  Oh, and Happy Quanza, which is also today.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas is actually 3 weeks from now but the Sheraton (where we are poaching while Mark is a guest) has been all decked out for the holiday for a good month.  There are life-sized Santas everywhere, a huge gingerbread house, rotating reindeer and even a living, breathing Santa for the children (yes, he is black).  It would be a perfect photo op for our family Christmas card if only, well, you know…..

Anyway, this morning Tali Bamlak and I had a surprise visitor--one of the nannies from the foster home!!  Her name is Meherat and while her English is very limited, she managed to communicate that she just really loves us and wanted to visit.

She held Bamlak for a while and gave her a bottle while I packed for the day.  I then invited her to have breakfast with us in the hotel and while we did, the waitresses were asking her a lot of questions about the foster home, adoption and, most likely, me.  I think I passed whatever evaluation had taken place because they all agreed that I am a good mommy for Bami.  It feels good to get their approval and it touched on an issue that I think about all the time: how to Ethiopians feel about me/foreign adoptions.  I will save this subject for another post.  In any case, I am glad that this minuscule population of Ethiopians, at least, approve.

 
We said good bye to Meherat and she said she would stop by again next week and we got our stuff and headed over to the Sheraton to meet Mark.   As for our intrepid traveler, it only took a half an ambien to get him through this jet-lagged night and after a killer Sheraton Addis breakfast and strong Ethiopian coffee, he was in great spirits when we met him in the lobby.

We headed out to an art gallery and cafe to show Mark a painter that I like, and then we had tea and tiramisu in the garden.  Mark is one of the most gregarious people I know so we had new friends in no time. 

We saw a poster for an art exhibition and we asked our driver to take us there.  It was a gathering of a dozen or more Ethiopian artists and Mark tried to haggle for a painting but the artist wouldn’t budge. It was great seeing it all and Mark invited the driver for coffee.  We had a really interesting conversation.  It was a GREAT outing.

Later, Mark treated Rondi, Rick and me to an incredibly delicious Indian meal at one of Sheraton's outstanding restaurants. Do you realize what this means?? 

Our first babysitter!!! 

We arranged that through the hotel and I was on the phone with Senator Bennet's aid when Raquel arrived.  I could hear in the background Rhondi and Mark giving her proper instructions about the diapers, bottles, etc. while I was on the phone. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to tell her everything when I got off the phone.  OK, I MAY have even repeated myself and finally this sweet woman gently said, I understand and I have done this before....a  lot.  I have no doubt, I thought, but I HAVEN'T!!!  Before we headed out, I put the nanny-cam in place just on case (just kidding).

We had a great time at dinner (Mark befriended the Indian family next to us, of course) and I was only sorry that I missed the opportunity to Sype with Dorrie and her Chanukah brunch crew in Denver.  Thanks for trying, Dor!! xoxox

I pray that everyone is having a happy holiday tonight, whatever and wherever that might be. 

Love and Goodnight from Addis,
--Jen and Tali B

A Visitor Bearing Gifts

Happy 4^th Night of Chanukah!  We lit candles tonight at Dr. Rick’s with some special friends including Mark Wright who came all the way from Tampa, FL to meet Tali Bamlak!!!  (From left: Adam, a medical student from Australia; Rondi, a trauma surgeon from NYC and Mr. Wright, a nice Jewish lawyer).

Mark came bearing gifts for the foster home--a huge duffel bag full of clothes that his nephew, Jacob Halbert, from Harrisburg, PA, donated for all the children. 

Mark also brought a long-sought after digital scale for weighing the babies which made Sister and the medical staff very happy.  

We used Tali Bamlak as our ginny pig and, with clothes, she is a whopping 5.4 KG!!

 


Overall, it was a busy, fun and very social day for TBK.  She enjoyed playing with Mark
and Fitz got her to show us a tremendous smile!!

Love and Shabbat Shalom (#4) from Addis,
--Jen and Tali

Neighborhood Juice Spot

Happy 3^rd Night of Chanukah!

Try this little jingle to the tune of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and you’ll get the gist of Chanukah.  

 

“Judah Macabee was our solution,

To religious hate and persecution,

He led the Jews to victory”

Sadly, that MIGHT be extent of what I remember from Hebrew school.

I would like to thank two little Judah Macabees--Oliver Ansel Kraft in Medford, OR and Jacob Davis Lieman in Denver, CO--for being AWESOME heroes this Chanukah!!

OK, back to SUREALTY.  Today we had lunch with two other adoptive families which was nice.  One is Paula, the mother of Betselot, and the other is Jamie and AJ Fink. 

This YOUNG couple has a biological daughter, son and a third daughter who was adopted two years ago from Ethiopia.  They are here meeting their 2 beautiful new sons, Sena and Mohammed!!!!  Incredible.  AJ is about to go off on a 3-day adventure to the home towns of each of their babies to see if he can find out anything about their backgrounds and bring back information videos, etc. that he can show them when they are older.   I cannot WAIT to hear about that!!

 

After a long and wonderful afternoon nap, (yes, I patook,) we ventured out to buy some bottled water.  As we were crossing the street, one of our taxi drivers saw us and came over to see if we need a ride.  Nope, just walking to the market, I said. 

 

This reminded me of a story from India with Elizabeth.  One morning we were getting into a taxi to go to the JDC office and we were in the middle of a conversation and neglected to tell the driver where we were going.  The next thing we knew, we were in front of the office.  How many millions of taxis are there in Mumbai and we got into the same one twice?!?!?  After a short reflection, we realized that two fair-skinned American women in the neighborhood probably did NOTHING that went unnoticed and discussed by everyone.  Good to remember!!! 

Bami and I wandered into a tiny neighborhood “mini market”/grocery and it smelled like fresh juice so we made ourselves comfortable.  While I was enjoying my OJ, I chatted with another customer, Alemu, who turns out to be a physician visiting from a far southwestern city.  He was lovely and highly recommended the avocado juice.  Maybe that will be tomorrow’s adventure!

As we were getting ready to go, two gentlemen came in to buy some snacks.  They commented on the beautiful baby in my sling and asked where I was from.  When I asked them where they were from, they said Mumbai and we briefly discussed parallels between the two cities.  They were also staying in the Semien and we ended up on the elevator together.  They invited me visit their room later. :  # 606 . You know, in case we get the munchies.     

 

 

Love and Good night from Addis,

--Jen and Tali

U.S. Embassy update

Happy 2nd night of Chanukah to all....

I am very relieved to have learned from a number of you that we have a handy little tool in in the U.S. that actually suctions out nostril mucus and is called a bulb syringe.  This will save me A LOT of money now that I don't have to bring an Ethiopian law student/bellman to Denver to keep TBK's nostrils clear.  Phew.

NOT great new at the U.S. Embassy today.  According to Esther Bell, because of the Christmas holidays some of the Embassy staff has already left on vacation and others will leave this week, including Esther.  As a result, there is backlog of cases that need to be investigated before they can be processed.

Because of this, our case—along with others—is just sitting.  She has no idea when it will be but when my case comes up, I will receive an e-mail notifying me that the investigation has begun. After I receive an e-mail that the investigation has begun, it takes 7-10 days and that is assuming that there aren’t any problems with the case.  Just to make myself feel better, I asked her if I could REWRITE my e-mail address for her. She was kind enough to accept that.

I asked her if there is anything that I can do to speed things up and she said, no, it is a legal process.  After the investigation, it takes another amount of time to issue the passport, visa and schedule the exit interview.

Besides being frustrating, in and of itself, this make travel planning very difficult.   Gary has generously offered to come over and bring us home and has spent HOURS already on-line and on the phone with airlines.   The date is a moving target and because it is the holidays, the prices are outrageous.  I think we are going aim to get something for mid-January (with insurance to change if necessary) and just pray that we will be clear to leave by then.  I am VERY excited that Uncle Gary is going to see TBK in her life BD (before Denver) and hold our hands (and our bags:) the long trip home.

In the meantime, Tali Bamlak is just TOO much. I wish that I could upload video of her because the delicious factor is something that needs to be seen to be believed.  

We went to dinner tonight at a little restaurant and art gallery called Serenade.  Lucky for us, we were the only customers because, I learned, EVENINGS out are not a great idea. Poor thing was so tired and just couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep.   The staff could not have been nicer about a fussy little baby, the waiter took her from me and she totally entertained them with her smiles while I ate. 

Love from Addis,
--Jen and Tali

Happy Chanukah!

It is almost Chanukah in Addis but Tali Bami will have to make do with a few songs and lots of kisses this first night.  The only other menora-lighter in this city that I know went to Lalibella for a few days.  Hopefully we’ll light with Rick and his family later in the week.  A friend of mine from the U.S. is arriving on Saturday and promised to bring a chanukia (menorah) and candles so I am happy that the rest of the holiday will be more festive.
 

Tali had a bit of a restless night, not sure why.  She is drinking A LOT (more than twice what she was drinking at the foster home) and I think she may be experiencing a little gas and possible constipation which may have made her uncomfortable.  Yesterday afternoon Sister called to tell me that the Doctor was in so we went over to see her.  I told her that she seemed uncomfortable at times and I wondered if I was feeding her too much.  The doctor assured me that her appetite is appropriate and if she is acting colicky like that, to just lay her on her tummy, on my legs and rub her back.   She was pleased with the weight gain (up to 5 KG) and impressed with Tali’s alertness, responsiveness and gorgeous smiles.

TBK made up for the lack of sleep last night with two long naps today and is currently on her third.  We assume that the sleep is a sign of growth and that is very good.  

When I got to the foster home yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised that there were two new families there hanging with their babies.  One was a first-time single mom from near Worcester,, MA who was holding her baby girl for the first time.  Her baby is named Betselot.  This is a baby with eyelashes that don’t quit and who I have been watching closely.  As it turns out, Betselot and Bamlak share an early history and I told Paula everything that I know about their roots. 

The other family was Mark and his father.  They are from southwestern, IL.  This was Mark’s second visit which means he gets to go to Embassy and take Abdisa home on Saturday.  Mark and his wife Angie have 4 biological children and because they are all out of school for winter vacation, Angie couldn’t come.  Abdisa is 14 months and is a speedy crawler who has been keeping the nannies on their toes.  He seemed bit reserved yesterday with his dad and grandfather but when he is comfortable, his personality and smile light up a room.  I am certain that it is a matter of day, at most, until his new family sees that.  And what a Christmas it will be for them!!!

Today Tali and I went out for lunch to a lovely Italian restaurant called Risorante Casstelli in the Piazza area.   She behaved as beautifully as she fit into this window seat:

 
In 1935 the Italians invaded Ethiopia and the 5-year occupation has left its mark in Ethiopia in a number of ways, the most prominent being fabulous pizza and Italian food.  As a coincidence, the view from our room overlooks a large compound which is the Instituto Italiano Di Cultura where Eshetu (the agency driver) went to school.

When we got back from lunch I put TBK in the sling (she prefers to face forward so she can flirt with everyone) and when we got to the lobby Yared, the doorman, was there.  Yared is a law student with very good English and lots of advice;).  Although I couldn’t see it from my vantage point, TBK’s nose was running so Yared grabbed a napkin.  He then took me aside and I wondered what critique I was going to get.  Nothing in my widest dreams could have prepared me for what came next. 

WARNING, THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES

He said, "this is what you should do."  He then proceeded to put his entire mouth around her little nose and he sucked!   Yes, he sucked!!  And then he spit it out into the napkin.  He said, "See, that way you clear it right up and if you want me to do it again, no problem."

My immediate reaction: nausea. 

Perhaps I just don't have enough mommy-time under my belt but...GROSS!!!!!!! (I dare you to try THAT move at Whole Foods!)

I really am trying not to relive the moment and focus on the incredibly loving gesture that it was. 

Here's hoping that YOUR Chanukah doesn't suck! (sorry, couldn't resist!!)

Love from Addis,
--Jen and Tali B

One Giant Step

Whooohooo!!  Tali Bamlak passed the medical which means that she will not be spreading infectious diseases to her fellow Americans.  Aren’t you all relieved!!?  Additionally, Mr. Alemu is submitting all her paperwork to the Embassy...THIS AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Alemu advises me now to wait a few days and then start on-going contact with the U.S. Embassy to continually check on the status of our file and to push them a bit.  I have also asked, via an Angell named JimJ, Colorado State Senator Michael Bennet to do whatever is in his power to expedite the case.

I have no idea how long I can expect to wait.  I have heard that it takes 15-30 days.  But I have also heard that it can take a week if they really push it through.  Who knows, we’ll just have to wait and see!

After the doctor, we went over the agency offices where I went over all the paperwork that is being submitted to the Embassy with the checklist that Esther Bell gave me several weeks ago.  All the dates were consistent, each piece required was there and it looked all in order.  I did this more for my sense of well being than anything else.  There is not a lot in this process that adopting parents have control over so I want to take advantage of every little thing that IS in my power.  I also gave Mr. Alemu, in cash, the $405 U.S. Visa fee that he will have to submit with the paperwork.

While I was reviewing the paperwork, I took digital pictures of some of the documents.  (In case you are wondering, this time I asked permission thereby avoiding incarcerationJ).  For example, since I assume that her Ethiopian passport will be relinquished upon issue of her U.S. passport, I took a photo of that and some other papers which might be meaningful to her when she is older. 

One of my most loyal blog followers and commentators is my cousin Karen so I want to, regretfully, clarify something. 

When I first received my referral, I was informed that Bamlaks’s estimated DOB was July 11.  Even though I knew it was approximate, I was delighted.  Not only because 7/11/11 might mean annual free slurpees at 711, but also because that is Karen’s birthday (I am leaving out the #, Kar!!)

However, Bamlak's Ethiopian birth certificate and all other documentation says that her birthday is 7/26/2011.   I realize that this is also an estimate, but because that is on all the official documentation, we are going call her offical birthday July 26. 

Karen, I hope that you aren't too disapopinted and that everyone will still come to Denver to celebrate her Simchat Bat the weekend of July 13.  (BTW, if you are reading this, consider yourself invited!!)

So, Team Bamlak is feeling really ON OUR GAME today and this is how our MVP decided to celebrate:  

As for me, I am looking forward to exercising my right and training as a U.S. citizen to be as entitled and pushy as possible (in a nice way, of courseJ!) to get us HOME.

Love from Addis,

--Jen and Tali B

Mission Impossible

Fortunately, that is the name of movie the Hodes household saw this afternoon and not a description of my situation.  I spent the afternoon there and the kids are just wonderful with the baby.  I told them Friday night that there is a special prize for the first person to illicit that gorgeous giggle.  No winner yet but I love watching them try!

Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet Sunday.  Since I missed breakfast, Bami and I went for a walk to buy some bananas.  They are plentiful and tasty and, I assume, organicJ.  The kiosk owner asked me how many kilos I wanted and I pointed to 2 bananas and he just smiled and gave them to me (just like Israel!).  So we sprung for a bottle of water and walked back home.  That was our big adventure.  The entire hotel staff now greets her by name.   Here are few of her regular fans.   

Mr. Alemu called tonight to confirm that TBK and I will be picked up tomorrow (Monday) at 8:30 am for our Embassy doctor appointment and that I should bring the completed exam back to him.  I like the way things are moving!!!!

Love and Good night from Addis,

--Jen and Tali Bam