Wednesday, Jan. 28

Today has been a good day. On the schedule, today is a “free day.” We had all day to spend with Sitota in the guest house. Other than the parents not feeling quite 100%, the day has been outstanding. Sitota continues to be the easiest going child we have ever been around.
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The day started at 7:00 AM when Sitota decided to get up. He went to bed at 8:00 PM the night before, so apparently he is a good sleeper! We got him up, fed him some breakfast, and got him dressed. About the time he went down for his mid-morning nap (10:00), Shelli headed out with all the girls for one last shopping trip. She did amazing, getting a nice table cloth for home, and some nice gifts for some of the amazing “village” who has made this possible for us. Aaron took a nap with Sitota from 10:00 until 11:30 AM. Nice.

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After the family had some lunch, we played for a while and then it was Shelli’s turn to take a little nap with Sitota. Aaron learned about bootlegged movies that run rampant in Africa and found a copy of Traitor in the guesthouse. Excellent movie…another nice way to spend the afternoon. It has been so nice to rest some today. This week has been so full and quite emotional…it was nice to have a little slower day with Sitota.

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One more piece of good news to share. For all those who have been praying that we can meet with the lady we were supposed to meet with on Sunday, we are scheduled to meet here in Addis at 10:00 AM tomorrow (that would be 2:00 local Indy time). We are VERY hopeful that this meeting can take place as scheduled. It will be extremely important in telling Sitota his own story someday.

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This will most likely be our last post from Africa as we head to the airport in the late afternoon for our return journey tomorrow. We have about 28 hours of travel from the time we leave the guesthouse until we land in Indy. We are praying for a good and safe journey.

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Love to Everyone!

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The front of the Guest House; the Elliotts' window is the one on the right side of the balcony!

Inside the Guest House!

Sitota helping Mommy with the pictures!

"Treasu(red)" Sitota!

Tuesday, 1/27

Quick post today. We had a beautiful going away ceremony this morning at the care center. It was a lovely occasion where Sitota was “handed” over to us by his nanny dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing. We then had our embassy appointment at the U.S embassy for his visa... which he was granted (yeah)! Then we came back to our “home” at the guest house for a quick bath which was necessary because Sitota decided to have a major blowout right as we were being called into our embassy appointment (good timing).

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Bathtime for Sitota!

Monday, Jan. 26: Time with Sitota!!!

Today we got to spend the whole morning with Sitota. After eating breakfast at 8:00 AM, we headed over to the Care Center and picked up all the children to bring back to the Guest house. What this means is we were finally able to snap some pictures. Now is he amazing or what?

We were able to spend time with him all morning. He took a nap, we fed him lunch, we played, and we snapped pictures. We were able to get a good look at him too, and he looks pretty darn good top to bottom. Sadly we had to return him to the Care Center at about 1:00 PM. We had other things to do in the afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, we are having a ceremony at the Care Center with the Nannies who have cared for the kids and we will take the kids into our care for the rest of the time we are here. CHSFS does a fantastic job helping to transition the kids and parents into these new relationships. Tomorrow promises to be an emotional morning, but one we look forward to very much. Especially because Sitota will be with us from that point forward!!

Monday, Jan. 26: Tourist Stuff!

Lots of “touristy” things today! We went to the Women’s and Children’s hospital that our agency (CHSFS) has started. It is an amazing hospital that is funded fully by CHSFS partly through donations and through some of the adoption fees we paid. Last year, the hospital served 30,000 outpatients, performed 1,000 surgeries, and delivered 1,700 babies all on a budget of $500,000!!! Simply amazing. I was also able to meet with the pharmacist at the hospital and talk with him for a bit. He spends most of his time tracking down medications and then ordering them since medications are scarce and must be transported in from India.

We then went to the school that CHSFS sponsors and had a great tour. They offer an above average education for about 1/4 the cost of a usual Ethiopian private school. Their newest project is a library (which is very rare in a school here). They have a decent collection going, but could use more! They are very proud because they are the only school library in the country that allows children to check out the books to take home. Most of the books are sent from the states because the supply and selection here is so low.

Next stop was the National Museum where the famous skeleton of Lucy is stored. We had a lovely women give us a very informative tour that we enjoyed. We then stopped by the Hilton hotel in town to confirm our flights and then came back to the guesthouse for dinner. We are getting ready to head out with a few other couples to Metro Pizza (a yummy pizza restraunt where the pizzas are $4 and the beer only $1).

Shelli and her new pharmacist friend!


A classroom inside the school that CHSFS sponsors!

Aaron and Shelli at the National Museum!

The famous Lucy skeleton!

Sunday, Jan.25: A long, long day...

Today is a very important day in the CHSFS adoption program. At 6:00 AM we piled into the van to head 3 ½ hours South to the orphanage where Sitota and all the other children were taken into care. A meeting is facilitated between the adoptive parents and whoever may be connected to the child…most in our group have a parent or family member who has relinquished the child. We along with one other couple have children who were abandoned. Shortly after arriving from our long bus journey , we were informed that our person we were to meet with was not coming due to being sick with Malaria.
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Yeah…that feeling you just felt in reading this was what we felt…a lot of times over. We were quickly reassured that they were going to try and bring the woman to Addis later in the week to meet with us at another time. We have no idea if this will be possible or not. One person traveled 7 hours just to meet with one of the families today…and we have no idea what kind of trip it will be for our lady. We can only hope and pray because there would be some important things to learn on behalf of Sitota if we could meet with this woman.

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And yes, we were the only parents who did not have anyone show up for the meeting. It was not all disappointment in the trip. We were able to see the orphanage that Sitota was originally brought into…and were able to take some pictures (and pick up a rock for Momma Roush). We stopped by a traditional Ethiopian home on our way back made of mud and sticks. The Maasi have nothing on Ethiopians when it comes to hut building. It was an impressive place.

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We also got to experience some very sacred moments with some new friends. One of the more sacred was a ceremony where the folks who were giving the children said a prayer, then lit a candle and handed it to the parents. Then the parents read a prayer back. I am pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. And we did get to spend about 7+ hours on a bus. Not quite as sacred, but still quality time with our fellow travelers.

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So a long, long day…with not much to show but really sore backsides.

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Pray we can still meet with the woman we were intended to meet with.

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Aaron & Shelli on the bus (Note everyone yawning the background! :-)

The Mussie orphanage where Sitota was originally taken in.

Aaron & Shelli in front of the orphanage

A traditional Ethiopian home!

Shelli & some others inside the home!

Saturday, Jan. 24

Saturday was a long day. We woke early for breakfast then loaded the bus to travel the short distance (we could walk, but they must think Americans are lazy since we take a bus EVERYWHERE) to the care center where Sitota is currently staying. (You may have noticed we have posted no pictures of him yet. We are not allowed to take photos in the care center for privacy reasons and that is the only place we have been with him so far. On Monday he will come into our care and we can post some pics. )We went in the house, walked up to the 3rd floor where he shares a room with approximately 15 other infants, and went to pick him out of his crib. His whole face lit up when he saw us and his whole body started wiggling. He was so excited to see us and seems to be very content. He has only cried once. We had him on his tummy and asked “what would happen if we put this toy just out of his reach?” He is not currently crawling and we wanted to see if he would move for it. He didn’t and instead just started crying. He immediately stopped when we handed him his toy back. He is a bit behind in physical development... he is nearly 8 months and can not sit or crawl. I honestly think it is because he rarely sees the floor. The nannies at the care center seem to all love him very much and I think they hold him a lot because of it. Nearly every nanny we pass will stop, say his name, and kiss him while we are there. Seems he is a bit of a lady’s man! After spending time with him in the morning we went to the CHSFS offices to meet with his nurse, doctor, head nanny, social worker, and media team. We received a report, asked questions, and watched a video they had made for us about Sitota. It was amazing! He was so well cared for while here in Addis.

We then went back for lunch then on to a tour of AHOPE (the HIV/AIDS orphanage that our agency sponsors). We then went to exchange money and do some shopping. Aaron and I had our negotiating skills honed from many trips to Chichicastenango Guatemala and got some good deals! After shopping we went to Asqual, a traditional Ethiopian restaurant, and were treated to a superb meal and fascinating entertainment. There was live music, signing, and dancing. We all had a great time but were eager to get back to the guest house and to bed... we had an early morning the next day!

Random observations:
1. We are traveling with 7 other adoptive parent(s) and it is a great group!
2. This is a highly emotionally charged trip... and it can be a bit hard at times.
3. We saw a city bus with 3 goats tied to the top of it today going down the road. I am not sure how they got up there, or how they are going to stay on top of the bus.

CHSFS Main Office


The Market


Shelli's meal at Asqual, a traditional Ethiopian restaurant!


The dancers at the restaurant!

January 23, 2009 - Sitota!!!

We met Sitota!! (Spoiler alert…he is freakin awesome!)

We are sorry there are no pictures. We are not allowed to take cameras to the center where the kids are housed, so pictures will have to wait a few days. They did shoot a lot of film of us meeting him for the first time.

So this morning we met for breakfast at 8:00 AM, after getting to the guesthouse about 1:00am the previous night . Great flight last night…turned out to be a nice big jet, not just a puddle jumping thing. We were the last one’s in from our group. Most folks are suffering from serious jet lag however, and we are just a bit tired from not quite enough sleep. Anyway, after breakfast, we were off to the CHSFS offices to sign two consent forms…one that says we are allowed to be video taped, the other that says we will not give any gifts of any kind to any of the workers. After the papers were signed, we were off to the Center.

First of all, the center is gorgeous. It is a huge house that they have turned into an orphanage. There were so many beautiful children waving to us from the windows. They were a bit older than our little guy. After changing out of our shoes into some house shoes, we were taken downstairs to a big open room. Then they began to call us one at a time upstairs to meet our kid, all the while two cameras were rolling. You can imagine the feelings of anticipation in the room from the 8 to 10 couples (I need to count) and one single Mom who were waiting to meet their kids. Thankfully, we were called second!

After a quick wash of the hands, up we went and met Sitota. He was so easy to recognize from our photos, and he was all smiles. We got to take him downstairs and basically hang out with him for about 2 hours. He is beautiful, happy, and was really comfortable with us. I think he would be comfortable with just about anybody at this point…he really seems laid back. But Shelli was able to get him to laugh a lot with her hair, and Aaron was able to get him to crack up by being, well, Aaron. We touched his beautiful hair (we think he will be able to have the afro like Uncle Raspberry), he smiles with his whole face, and he is just about perfect.

After playing for some time, we had to take him back upstairs for his lunch and a nap. He rubs his eyes like Isabel does when he is tired. We attempted to feed him, but he wasn’t having it. It was the only time we saw him fuss. We think he didn’t like the funky stuff they were eating…he was literally fine until we picked up the spoon…each time we did, out came the fuss. The caretaker said we needed to feed Sitota fast, but we decided to watch first. Sure enough, she got him to eat just about the whole bowl of good. What a good eater, and only a few fusses.

We just had lunch, we have a stop at the office to turn over a bunch of paperwork for the embassy later next week, and then back to the center to hang with Sitota some more. We keep thinking about introducing him to his sisters, to his Grandparents, to his extended family of so many who read this and have prayed and supported in so many ways…y'all just wait…his name means “gift” and he is about the best gift we can imagine.

Safari- Maasai Mara Intrepids Camp 1/20-1/22

We left Nairobi Airport on Tuesday morning on a flight headed for the Masai Mara, a well known safari destination in Kenya. Our plane was a small 18 seater double propeller thing that I (Shelli) was a bit (ok, a lot) intimidated by. The flight was much smoother than expected and even included a beverage service (a cooler full of water bottles in the back isle) and light snack (mints the pilot himself handed back in a container). As we started our descent I realized we would be landing on a dirt runway (Emily- you would have had a total nervous breakdown!). The landing was bumpy and loud, but better than I expected, in that we didn’t just crash. We were greeted by several Maasai warrior men and our trusty driver, Aggrey (who told us he was named after a Canadian missionary). We were shuttled several minutes by Land Rover to our tent camp and after a quick look around we knew this was the type of camping we would enjoy. Our “tent” was set on a raised platform with wood floors, modern luxurious bathroom, lovely restoration dark wood furniture, and a beautiful four poster bed. We dropped off our luggage (careful to close everything in the bureau so the monkeys couldn’t come and pilfer anything) and went to sit on our front porch. After a whole minute or so we were greeted by two baboons who seemed uninterested in anything but scavenging for food on the ground near our tent. Being my first time in the African savanna, I was a bit scared (little did I know that we would be MUCH closer to many other critters much scarier over the next two days).

We then met up with Aggrey for our first game drive. We were paired with a lovely British couple, Alan and Janet, for several of the drives and had a great time. Our driver was fantastic. He was very knowledgeable and could really drive that Land Rover! On our drives we saw nearly every animal in the Mara with the exception of the Rhino. We saw a multitude of birds in many shapes and colors, lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, hippos, giraffes, buffalo, topi, various antelope, wildebeest, wart hogs, ostrich, hyena, jackals, crocodiles, mongoose, and gazelles. It was indescribable. If you ever have a chance to go on safari in Kenya... GO! It is an experience of a lifetime! The landscape itself is magnificent and then you add in all those animals... oh my!

Each morning we were woken up with hot chocolate and cookies in our tent. Each night we came back to shower then enjoy a delicious four course meal served by our wonderful waiter, Amos. After dinner we would return to our tent to find the tent fairy had the bed pulled down, tent closed up tight, and a hot water bottle under our covers. We never did see that elusive tent fairy but she visited our tent several times a day to take care of any needs. The service was above our expectations and every worker at the camp was so friendly, including the Maasai who would wonder the camp to chat with people and to ward off any unwanted guests (no one wants to wake up with a cheetah on their porch!)

Our first safari was on Tuesday night and we were able to see many animals. I couldn’t believe how close we would get to them. With the exception of the hippo and buffalo, we would get within feet of the animals! Apparently the hippo and buffalo will charge the vehicle and trust me... you do NOT want to go head to head with one of these animals! One of my favorite things we saw were a pride of lions who were working on a zebra kill. There were about 13 lions all feasting and lounging. They were so busy that we got within several feet of them and they seemed to barely take notice of us. On Wednesday morning we left at 6:30am for a drive and stopped along the Mara River to breakfast with the crocs and hippos. It was a bit scary to leave the safety of our car at first, but once we were out, we enjoyed the breakfast immensely. We spent over 9 hours out on safari this day and I loved every minute of it. On Thursday morning we had the Land Rover to ourselves for our last safari (with Aggrey of course).

On Wednesday we also had a chance to visit a Maasai village and go in the home of a Maasai family. We even danced with them in a traditional Maasai dance. The Maasai are a very interesting people who seem to take after the lions in that the women do most of the work. They cook, build the houses, tend the cows (which are sacred to them), take care of the children and do about every other imaginable task. The Maasai men can (and do) take multiple wives. We heard of a man who had 30 wives! Our Maasai guide (who spoke English) told us all about his village as he took us around. Imagine 20 small huts surrounding a mud/dung pit for the cattle to live in at night with the whole compound surrounded by a tree fence to keep the other animals out. Our guide was a wonderful young man and even offered us 10 cows for Isabel. Once I told him she was only 6 years old, he said “I will wait”. Needless to say, we didn’t take his offer but did find out from Aggrey that this was a great offer as most brides fetch far fewer cows!

We flew back (on the same scary little propeller plane- this time with another stop added) to Nairobi on Thursday before lunch. We were able to stop and see a friend of Carole’s and a pastor at Mavuno church on our way back to Carole’s house. We also stopped at Karen Blixon’s old plantation house (now a museum/restaurant) for a tour. We can’t wait to watch “Out of Africa” when we return to the states as we have now visited her house and the film itself was filmed in the Mara. We then showered, ate, and headed to the airport to catch our 10pm flight to Ethiopia. It is on this flight I am writing this post. We will arrive in Addis Ababa late tonight (Thursday) and meet Sitota for the first time tomorrow. We are very excited/nervous/scared for the meeting and can’t wait to see him in person. We continue to appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes. The trip has been seamless so far and we have enjoyed every minute of it. We have seen many friends and rested well at the Mara. Until later...

The scary little puddle jumper Aaron & Shelli took to get to the Masai Mara!

The canopied bed and bathroom (below) in the safari "tent!"

Aaron & Shelli and their safari driver, Aggrey!

The wildlife!

Mmmm...lunch time for the lions!

Shelli & Aaron posing with some "Hungry, Hungry Hippos!"

Some of the Maasai men!

A safari dinner!

Sunday 1/18: Nairobi, Kenya

Today was a fabulous day. We woke up feeling very refreshed. In fact, as we look back on the trip here, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. The flights were easier than expected, we had no problems or delays, and we have adjusted to the time change MUCH better than expected. We thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and ask that you continue to pray for our health (which has been great so far minus a freaky rash on Shelli’s arms that showed up after eating a passion fruit. Who is allergic to passion fruit, really?).

We woke up to a wonderful and tasty breakfast that Carole had made for us. We enjoyed fresh mangos, delicious sausages, samosas, yogurt, and mandazi. Yum. We then headed off to Nairobi Chapel for church. The service was fantastic and they do such a good job of welcoming guests. During the service they asked all guests to raise their hands and then invited us to a guest tent for tea/coffee and snacks after the service, which of course, we went to! Pastor Oscar spoke on how to be a disciple. His message was great. After the service we met with many of our Kenyan friends at Chapel and then headed off to Java House for lunch (think Starbucks with more yummy food). Then we drove out to the Rift Valley for a gorgeous view from 8,000ft up! Then back to Nairobi and to the Masai Market for a bit of shopping. We drove around a tour of Nairobi which is a beautiful city. The scenery here reminds me of Guatemala with all the beautiful plants and flowers. The weather is perfect. Sunny, warm, slightly breezy. I couldn’t ask for any better (especially compared to the -20 degrees we left in Indy). We then stopped by Carole’s aunt’s house on the way out to Marcy and Mo’s house for dinner. We really enjoyed visiting with Marcy and her boys and Janet and Tim who stopped by. We American’s could really learn a bit of hospitality from our Kenyan friends.

Ok, onto several random observations from the day.

1. While driving out of town to the Rift valley, we saw a Matatu (public transport bus) painted with huge faces of Celine Dion, Dr. Dre, and Osama bin Laden. Yes, you can make your own joke...

2. Many of the people we have met on the street are MUCH more excited for Obama to become president than most Americans. Take this conversation- Guy at Market trying to get me to buy something I didn’t need or want “So, you are not going to buy anything from me today?” Me- “no not today, so what do you think of Obama?” Guy- “I love him, he is a great hope for all people” Me- “Yeah, I voted for him” Guy- “oh thank you, have a great day” Then he left me alone. So, I continued to use the “I voted for Obama (which I really did do) line all afternoon. I was a local celebrity in the Masai market!

3. Americans eat crappy food. Seriously, the more I travel, the more I realize how poorly we eat. We have access to such amazing food and yet eat so poorly. Think about it, how many processed/refined items have you eaten today? I have eaten only fresh and homemade items here and it is wonderful.

Nairobi Chapel

Aaron & Shelli at church at Nairobi Chapel!

The Masai Street Market


Aaron & Shelli at "The Great Rift Valley View Point!"

Saturday 1/17: Arrived in Kenya!

KENYA!!!

We made it to Kenya! It was a bit dark when we landed (what happened to the last 20 some hours of my life?) so I couldn’t see much except palm trees. But, it is warm.... upper sixties even at 9pm! And yes, I am bragging about the warm weather. We are about to head off to bed but I wanted to share a few pictures from the day.

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This is the dinner Carole made us for our arrival! Yum!

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Here is Carole's apartment!

Friday Jan 16: Halfway Point of travel!

We are in the Amsterdam airport (yup thats us in the picture) and at about the halfway point of travel to Kenya. It is 2am Indy time but 8am local time. So far, an uneventful trip (which is good in my mind). The flight was long but smooth. We actually made up an hour in the air (yeah tail wind). We slept a few hours on the plane (yeah Nyquil) but feel quite sleepy/groggy right now (boo Nyquil) We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Boston airport (thanks to the LaGrange family) and have a 3 hour layover before getting on to Nairobi where we will arrive local time 8:35pm. Our gate is located near one of those escalator type walkways so every minute or so a lovely (read- annoying) woman’s voice reminds us to “mind your step”. After three hours of “minding my step” I may be crazy. Oh well. So far in the Amsterdam airport I have had a $4 cup of tea (and I thought Starbucks was the only place that could get away with such markups!) and Aaron found a giant lollipop he wanted to eat.

The girls got off well and are sure to have a fabulous time. You can see how excited they are in this picture! Saying goodbye wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be. It sure helps to see them so excited about being with their grandparents and know how much fun they will have on their Disney Cruise.

Well, I am off for now. Sorry this first post is so boring but lack of sleep is making my brain quite non-functional.

Aaron with his giant lollipop!

(A NOTE: Shelli doesn't have access to her blog in Africa, so she is emailing me (Emily) all of her posts and pictures and I'm attempting to put everything on her blog. The internet is so slow there that it often takes 20 minutes to send an email and even then sometimes everything doesn't come through and/or it's all scrambled up. So bear with me as I try to unscramble everything and put it in the best order I can figure out! The picture of them at the airport that Shelli refers to in the first paragraph, didn't come through. If I get it at some point I'll add it to this post.)

2 Days!

Yup, we leave in 2 short days! This is a picture of what I like to call Missions Control. As you can see, there is a bit of packing left to do. Yikes. 

7 Days till we leave!!!

We leave Friday Jan 16th for Africa! We are so excited to finally go meet and bring home our son. I plan to post updates while we are there so you can see what is going on. I hope to have things daily to share so check back often!