First Day In Ethiopia

Thursday night we flew from O'Hare to Dulles in Washington D.C. We stayed there overnight then flew to Ethiopia Friday morning. The flight was delayed an hour, so we did not arrive until 9:30 Saturday morning.  We stopped in Rome for an hour, but were not allowed to leave the plane.  After we settled into the guest house, we call the adoption coordinator here in Addis Ababa.  She arranged for a cab to take us to the house to see Elsa (Hephzibah).  We arrived there at 3:30 in the afternoon.  The orphanage is very small.  It looks the way Korea did in the 80's.  The man in charge called Elsa out to see us.  She took one look at us and started to cry.  It was typical "stranger fear", but you could tell she was very shy and clingy.  The whole time we were there, about 3 hours, Elsa clung tightly to the house mothers or older children.  We played with the other children, hoping that Elsa would warm up to us, but she did not.

Today (Sunday) was much better.  We went to the house at 1:30 and stayed for just an hour.  However, during this time, we got to hold Elsa.  She cried a lot at first, but we walked around with her and cuddled her and she settled down.  Then we shared a cracker with her and went for a walk, holding hands.  We also went swinging with her on the swing they have there.  She is very adorable.  We left her there at the AFAA house today.  Tomorrow, when we go to visit her, we will bring her back to the guest house with us.  Can't wait til then.