From Ethiopia - Post 9 - Sunday - Durame, Shinshicho, Families, and Theft

The day started early.  We left for Durame around 6:00 AM.  We filled 2 of Holt's white vans, with luggage strapped onto the roof of each.  I had heard horror stories about the drive, so I went back and forth about rather or not I should take some motion sickness medication.  It tends to make me dizzy and tired unless I REALLY need it, so I ended up opting not to take it.  Turned out that I really didn't need it.  The roads were a little more smooth and a lot less congested, therefore the drivers drove FAST - which was a little unnerving.  However, they weren't winding, hilly, and awful like I expected.  Until we were about 30 minutes outside of Durame anyway, then they got horrendously bumpy and winding. 

Sometimes it pays to be short.  Poor Mike.  During that last 20 miles or so, he had the options of bending his head forward or to the side thereby risking injury to his neck when we hit the bumps, or crashing his head into the roof of the van.  :-)  (Tall, future travelers, you may want to take a helmet. ;-)

As I expected and had heard, the drive was absolutely beautiful.  Like, breath-takingly beautiful!  Very lush and green.  Very spacious.  Gorgeous mountains off in the distance.  Wide open spaces.  Traditional mud huts, and occasionally a shanty town along the road. 

Traditional hut with "false banana" trees surrounding it

Ethiopian Countryside

Kids playing in the shade of a tree along the road to Durame

Mud hut surrounded by "false banana" trees

About half-way there, we stopped for coffee, snacks, and a bathroom break.  My anxieties about the day were building and I didn't feel much like talking.  Plus, I was tired - just tired of being there, tired of being tired, tired of being emotional.  

Shortly after we turned at the intersection to head towards Durame, we turned off the road and into the Shinshicho Health Center.  We all visited the restroom which was a "squat pot" outhouse area down over the hill behind the clinic.  Then, we met with the doctor who runs the Shinshicho Clinic.  He took us on a quick tour of the facility.  A few years back, Holt renovated and reopened the clinic after it had been closed for some time due to lack of funding by the government.  Currently, Holt continues to fund Shinshicho with some government funds also being contributed for supplies and materials.  The patients who come to Shinshicho do not pay for the services that they receive.  HIV testing is conducted on all the children who are treated, as well as all the pregnant women who come for prenatal care and/or delivery assistance.  Anyone who tests positive is referred to a larger HIV/AIDS clinic in the area.  Children receive some immunizations there when they are treated.  Most people travel far distances in order to come for treatment.

After touring the current facilities, we were walked out back to see the large construction area where Holt is leading the construction of a surgical center for the Shinshicho area.  It is a much needed facility in an area where there is little to no medical care available for most people.

Shinshicho Health Center sign at entrance

Shinshicho Health Center buildings

One of the examining rooms at Shinshicho

A room used to deliver high risk babies/pregnancies at Shinshicho

Other side of the delivery room

New Construction for the surgical center that is being built at Shinshicho

After being rushed through our tour of Shinshicho because we were running behind schedule, we loaded back into the vans and headed into Durame.  We stopped at the one and (I think) only hotel there for lunch.   They were expecting us and quickly sat us and offered us a choice of one of 3 different meal selections.  For the most part, we were all very subdued and quiet, nervously looking toward our upcoming meetings with the birth families.  Some of us looked over the questions that we had written down to ask.  I recopied ours onto a piece of paper with space to write the answers on the same sheet of paper.  Mostly, it was just busy work, trying to keep our minds off of the nervousness we were all feeling.

Durame

The street in Durame outside the hotel where we ate

A neighborhood child chasing the Holt van into the orphanage

 When we finished eating, we again loaded into vans to drive the very short distance to the orphanage in Durame where we would be meeting with the birth families.  Children from the surrounding community ran after the van and were shouting, "they're here. they're here." as we pulled into the gates.  We were ushered into a room that was set up for us with rows of chairs facing the front of the room where a TV sat in the corner and one of the staff persons was roasting coffee beans and preparing a coffee ceremony for us. Tesfaye, the coordinator of the day from Holt, explained the process to us and introduced us to the social workers/translators who would be facilitating our meetings. 

We were told that there would be three interview rooms being used at the same time.  The families were divided into three sessions of meetings, and there were translators in each room.  The birth families were waiting in a separate area, but would join us and sit with us for the remainder of our time together once our meeting was over.  We were in the second session of meetings.  We spent the time mostly in silence, praying for our friends who were in their meetings and for our upcoming meeting.  The majority of meetings lasted about 30 minutes or so. 

When it was our turn, they came and called for us.  We went into a tiny room where three people already sat.  We sat in chairs in a U-shape in the little room.  Markos' father sat in front of us with a translator on each side of him.  He appeared sad and defeated, but he did not cry.  He held some things in his hands and mostly looked down at his lap.

Markos was born in Wolayta and his family speaks Wolaytigna.  Therefore, there was a double translation required for our meeting.  We would ask a question.  Gelila would translate from English to Amharic.  Then, the social worker from Wolayta would translate from Amharic to Wolaytigna.  For the most part, we were just free to ask whatever questions we wanted to ask.  We asked about Markos family, about his birth, about his siblings, about his mother.  We asked about the extended family and family traits.  We asked his father's wishes and desires for Markos.  And, we asked about his life as a boy.  We asked these things for Markos.  For him to know details about the first few years of his life when he is older.  For him to know about where he's from.  For him to know what his first parents were like and what they went through.  The details are his story and will mostly remain private for him to tell if he chooses to do so when he grows up.

I will say though, that a parent's desires and wishes for their children are much the same regardless of rather one lives in poverty or wealth, in the United States or in Ethiopia, in hard times or in good times.  He wants the same things for Markos that we do.  Sadly, he just had to make a horrible, painful choice in order to make those things happen for Markos.

I mentioned before that we had purchased a Bible for Markos while we were in Ethiopia.  We took the Bible to our meeting with his father.  We showed it to him and explained that it was for Markos when he is older.  His father smiled and was happy to hear that his son would have a Bible.  We asked him if he would like to write or dictate a transcription for the front of the Bible for Markos to read when he is older.  So, he dictated a short letter to the translator and she wrote it in Amharic inside the front cover of the Bible for him.  Then, he wrote his name and signed the Bible.  Gelila translated the note for Eric and I later and we wrote it in English and sealed it in an envelope for Markos in the future.  Again, the contents of this special letter, from father to son, shall remain private for Markos.

Eric and I had both done fairly well with keeping ourselves together, but near the end of the meeting, as I tried to tell his father how very sorry I was for his loss and how much we would love Markos and care for him and do our very best to make sure that all his desires for his son would come true, I started to cry...and cry....and cry.  Eric started to cry, then noticed that Markos' father was giving him a strange look.  So, he somehow pulled himself together and finished the talking for the rest of the meeting.  We gave Markos' father a framed recent picture of Markos and a small photo book containing more pictures of Markos and pictures of our family and home.  He loved looking at the pictures of Markos. 

He presented us with a small gift as well.  He gave us a candle holder made of clay from the soil where they live.  Along with the candle holder, he gave us a bunch of grass.  The translator explained that in Ethiopia, it is customary to exchange a bunch of grass when one is making a promise or entrusting someone with a large responsibility.  By giving us the grass, he was asking us to make a promise, to assume a huge responsibility; and by our accepting it, we were accepting the responsibility and agreeing to the promise.  The three of us hugged and our meeting time was over, so we stepped outside together to have photos taken.  I wouldn't feel right posting Markos' father's picture on a public site, but here is a cropped picture of the two fathers holding their gifts.

There was mass confusion after the meetings because we had been told that Holt had a photographer who would travel with us and photograph these sorts of things so I hadn't taken my camera outside for our meeting.  When we went out, however, a Holt volunteer approached us and asked if we had a camera and wanted pictures taken.  I ran back into the room to get the camera because of course we wanted pictures of Markos' birth father for Markos to have.  All around us stood small groups of adoptive families with birth families embracing, crying, hugging, looking at pictures.  I was having a hard time keeping it together. 

We went back into the waiting room and sat together.  We had taken Eric's NetBook with us with pictures loaded onto it and short video clips of Markos playing so that he could watch them.  He loved watching them and seeing all the pictures of Markos smiling and laughing and playing.   During our meeting, he had told us that Markos most resembled him (which we could see the second we walked into the room), and as we watched videos and looked at pictures, he would occasionally point to Markos' eyes and then point to his eyes, etc., as if to say, "see - he has my eyes".  When we went into the room, I threw my camera on top of my open bag on the floor against the wall.  At one point, I couldn't take it anymore and I had to get up and leave and go outside to have a good sob.  I stood behind the building sobbing about all the loss in that place, about the sacrificial love that was given to save these children, about the world we live in that makes such choices even necessary.  Once I finally got myself semi- under control again, I went back in and sat with Markos' father and Eric again.  Eric gave Markos' father a bottle of water that he had in his computer bag.  He opened it and chugged half the bottle in one drink, then put the cap back on and put it under his chair to take with him when he left.

Once the majority of meetings were completed, a Holt staff person called for us all to come out for a group picture, so we all got up and filed out.  Pictures were taken and then we were basically told to "say goodbye now and get your things".  So, we hugged again, said goodbye, and went in to get our bags.  We all walked out the gate and next door to the orphanage as the birth families were ushered elsewhere.  As we entered the gates there, I went to get my camera out to take pictures and it was gone.  

Long story short - after we emptied our bags (several times), had our friends empty their bags (several times), went back and forth between the two buildings (several times), talked to every staff person who was anywhere near, it was determined that it was gone.  Someone had taken it.  During the search phase, I was in a panic - rushing around and trying not to completely freak out.  After we determined that we weren't going to find it, I lost it again.  I pretty much missed the entire tour of the Durame orphanage and instead, stood outside with Eric, crying on his shoulder and desperately wanting to get out of there and get to the hotel where I could just sob alone.

I really didn't care at all about the camera.  Our sweet new friends, Stephanie & Mike, graciously gave us their extra camera to use for the remainder of the trip.  I didn't really care about the pictures that were still on the camera from our trip to Durame.  I knew I could easily get copies of everyone else's pictures.  Thankfully, most of the other pictures had already been loaded onto the NetBook to show Markos' father so the only pictures that were on the camera were pictures from that day.  All I cared about were the pictures of Markos' birth father that were now gone and could never be replaced.  Yep, I was a wreck.  It wasn't pretty.

When the tour was over, we loaded back into the vans and again began driving.  This time, north, to Hawassa where we'd be spending the night before we returned to Addis Ababa the next morning.  The hotel was very nice.  I tried to calm myself with the fact that the one social worker had taken a picture of us with Markos' father so at least we'd have one.  She warned me that my eyes were closed in it, but that she did at least have it of his dad.  We ate dinner there and the room was fairly nice.  It was the only time the entire trip that we actually were able to pick up Wi-fi on the NetBook and connect to the internet.

The day seemed like it had lasted at least 2 or 3 days!  It was the most emotional, exhausting, devastating, and, at the same time, very special and memorable day EVER.  I think I cried so much that I was nearly numb by the time we went to bed that night.

The hotel we stayed in that night in Hawassa

A few more pictures from the drive:

Ethiopian countryside

Children trying to get water from a mostly dried up river bed

Beautiful traditional home in Southern Ethiopia

Countryside in Southern Ethiopia

People gathered around a well outside Durame

Traditional hut on drive out of Durame

Photo Break

We interrupt the current stream of posts from our Embassy trip in order to bring you this photo break.

We had our first family photo shoot as a family of 5 yesterday. The kids were wonderful and we are thrilled with the pictures. I was even asked to sign a Model release so they can use Markos' pictures in advertising and in the store for displays. (he's already a star!) ;-)

Markos - home 3 weeks, taken 2/19/2011

 

The Stark Family - taken 2/19/2011

Our kids - 2/19/2011

Happy Family

New collage for the living room

Photos taken at The Picture People in the South Hills Village Mall by Chrissie.  She's awesome!

From Ethiopia - Post 8 - The Rest of Saturday

After our visit to Workineh's church, he took us shopping to an area that he knew well. We wanted some different things than we had seen in the typical tourist shopping areas. He graciously helped us all negotiate prices for our purchases. I felt a little guilty about this whole process, because frankly, I'd have paid the originally quoted prices (which were generally significantly higher for us white folks). The thing is, they were still CHEAP! And, really, do I need the money more, or do they? But, Workineh kept insisting that, "no, it's not right. It's not worth that." and so he would squabble with the sellers, occasionally telling us "no. we're leaving." Mariah had me laughing at one point because she looked at me as we walked away and said with a sad face, "But I really wanted that!" Workineh said we'd go back later, and we did, and I believe she got the dresses (for less than the original price). I understand that bargaining is just part of shopping in some areas, but I'm just not a negotiator when it comes to buying stuff - which is why I generally hate shopping for cars!

Some of us had decided that we very much wanted to buy Bibles in Amharic while we were there, so we had Workineh take us some place where we could buy them. He took us to a very small book store, containing all religious material. When Eric and I had exchanged money for this trip, I insisted that we make sure that we exchange enough for this Bible - thinking that it might be a very pricey purchase. HA!!! No negotiating needed for the Bibles! In fact, I think we all WANTED to pay MORE! Price for a nice Amharic Bible.....80 birr. About the equivalent of $5.00. We bought 2 - one for us to keep, and one for Markos to have when he's older (more on this in the next blog post). Had we thought about it, we would have purchased a lot more and given them to Workineh for his church. Us and the 3 couples shopping with us all bought Bibles. I think someone bought some Ethiopian Christian music as well.

We returned to the guest house after shopping, and after a lot of confusion and things just not working out, I ended up canceling our visit to AHOPE for lack of time. I'm still a little disappointed that we didn't get to go, but it's just so busy when you're there and Holt really leaves very little free time during your scheduled days there. Unfortunately, in this case, part of the problem is also that AHOPE requires an appointment to take you on a tour, and Holt doesn't give you the schedule for you to even see when the tiny bits of free time are until you're there. Oh well. There's always next time.... ;-)

Around 2:30, we went to the care center to visit with Markos some more. He ran to see us when we arrived and the three of us went into that same room for the time we were there. No Miruk this time, so we were pretty much totally on our own the entire time we were there. Again, the head nanny/nurse was not there for us to talk to. We were told that she'd meet with us on Monday before we took custody.

As always, Markos loved playing with our camera and video camera.  He loved seeing himself on the video camera and would laugh at himself and us; he would sit very attentively looking at the pictures.  And, of course, as dads do, Eric had to run around, chasing him, and tickling him, and picking him up and swinging him around.  Markos loved it, and would just laugh and laugh.  He has the best giggle in the world!! 





Sometimes, when Eric would start to crawl after him to "get him", Markos would run to me and cling to my legs and hide behind me or want me to pick him up.  It was so sweet.  He would playfully scream, "ahhhhh, Emama, Emama!" while laughing and smiling as he clawed at me.  Of course, I would pick him up and protect him from the big, bad Ababa.  ;-)  The nice thing was, when I would chase him or pretend like I was going to get him, he would do the same to Eric - run to him for protection.  We felt that it was a good sign as to the bonding and attachment that was to come.

We had a fun time playing, but it also became a little awkward because all the other children were out in the courtyard playing while we were there. They had all just gotten up from their nap time. It was warm so the window to the room we were in was opened. As was the door....until the other kids came out. Then, Markos got very defensive of us and kept running to slam the door shut in any kids' face who dared to try to enter the room with us. He would actually push them and claw at them to get them out. I was really afraid that someone's fingers were going to get smashed, and I think the nannies got tired of intervening, so we eventually just left it closed.  I was a little sad because I really wanted to hug and kiss on the other kids - especially those whose adoptive parents I have met and who I knew were waiting to come get them and desperately wanting news of how they're doing, news of them getting hugs and kisses, news of them...well, pretty much ANY news. But, I also understood Markos' need to claim us as his own. Also, we had taken toys for him - more machinas (cars), the magna doodle, etc. - and when the kids see new toys, they kind of go crazy wanting them.  (By the time we left, after a few kids stampeded into the room a few times, all toys were gone, except one small machina.)


The kids didn't get mad or upset with Markos at all, they just begged and pleaded and yelled to him.  (BTW, if anyone is going to care center 3, seriously, all the kids seemed to LOVE little cars.  Take cars.  And punching balloons.  They loved those, too.)  Eventually Markos started sacrificing the toys in order to try to appease the kids and keep them away from us.  Not the machinas, he wasn't giving those up without a fight, but he did end up throwing all the punching balloons that we had blown up and were playing with out into the courtyard for his friends to play with.  He was also sweet and stood at the window for a while and blew bubbles out the window for his friends who were gathered outside.  (Of course, they were all still begging for the machinas!)





There was something very disturbing about trying to play with Markos and enjoy the time, while there was constantly a group of kids climbing up to the open window, yelling and begging for Markos' cars, reaching their arms in, desperately wanting what he had. Very sad. Very heart-breaking.

When the Holt driver showed up to pick us up, the kids had gone back inside.  The nannies were not around, and we had yet to really meet anyone there who actually spoke English anyway.  Markos ran to the door, grabbed his shoes to put them on, and was saying, "Markos, mini-bus; Markos, mini-bus" over and over again.  Eric and I gave each other a panicked look, realizing that Markos thought he was coming with us that day.  We kept trying to tell him that we weren't taking him yet, but he continued, "Markos, mini-bus.  Markos, ewedahalu (I love you)".  In a total panic and almost tears, I grabbed the driver who speaks some English and knows Markos and I told him that he had to explain to Markos that we'd be back and that we couldn't take him that day.  So, he picked Markos up and he talked to him and again explained that we had to go, but that we would be back after 2 sleeps to get him and take him in the mini-bus.  As this was going on, the nannies were leading all the other kids into the room where we had been so they could all sit and watch a movie.  Thankfully, Markos was ok after his talk with the driver and quickly joined the other kids who had gone into the room.  We saw him run over to his friends and sit with some of them against the windows, they watched us out the window and Markos smiled and waved and blew us kisses.  (shew!!!  Talk about calming a mother's heart!)

Those are the sort of things that are exhausting while you're there.  The extremely emotional moments.  They seem to come one after the other with no reprieve.  Then, when you have some tiny bit of downtime, you're so exhausted that you can't even begin to process anything, or think, or journal.

After getting back to the guest house, we basically had about an hour or so before the driver was coming back for us to take us to our big group Cultural dinner.  It's always fun to go to the Ethiopian restaurants and see the singers and dancers while you eat, but I will admit that between the exhaustion, the emotions, and the fear and anticipation about what the next day held, I did not enjoy the evening as much as I would have liked to have.

The food was ok (we had better at the other place we went last time we were there though).  The dancing and singing were great.  Very entertaining....although the part where the dancers come out into the audience and drag people up on stage to attempt the dances, or to get them to dance with them in the dining room might have been more entertaining.  Apparently we stood out, because Kendra and Allegra were both taken up on the stage at different times.  Stephanie, Mariah, and Dic were all chosen to dance in the dining room.  I think someone else was also chosen at the other end of the table, but I couldn't see them so I'm not sure who.  Also not sure which was funnier, the panicked looks on the chosen people's faces, or the "oh, wow, you are terrible" looks on the faces of the dancers as the chosen few attempted to copy the dancer's moves.  :-)  Actually, they all did great and were very good sports about it.  I have most of them on video, but due to my being incredibly unphotogenic and fearful of terrible retribution, I will not post them.  (And, once again, I was very thankful that I recognized the music preceeding the whole - go out into the audience and embarrass people - part of the night and was quickly able to make myself look invisible.)  ;-)

Next post - trip to Durame, birth parent visits, and other chaos

From Ethiopia - Post 7 - Christ Foundation Church

During our trips to Ethiopia, we had the pleasure of getting to know Workineh, one of the guest house staff persons.  He is a committed Christian and is very involved with his church - the Christ Foundation Church - an evangelical Christian church amidst a largely Orthodox country.  We wanted to give him some of the donations that we had taken because we knew that he takes them to his church and gives them out to those in need.  He wanted us (and we really wanted) to attend one of their worship services, but unfortunately, Sunday is the day that we had to drive south for our birth parent meetings so we were unable to attend with him.  We did, however, want to visit his church and take our donations so he took us on Saturday morning.

He explained that his church used to be located near the airport, but that the government had come and closed it down some time before.  The church then moved to it's current location - a tent inside a gated area.  Since moving, the church has "added on" three different times!  They have grown to membership of close to 1000 people, with an average of 700 attending each week!

the drive back through the gates to the church

We had to laugh at the "parking lot".  And to think how many times during our church involvement that we've had to hear complaints about the parking!  :-)  They reported that they also use this area to host a youth program every Wednesday night.

the "parking lot" (for an average attendance of 700 people!)

The inside of the sanctuary tent

The Sunday school room/prayer room

The pastor gave us a tour of the church.  Mike spent some time praying with/for him.  We were all moved to hear the pastor's prayer requests for their church -- all spiritual!  We somewhat expected requests like:  money, Bibles, a church building!  He reported that there is such great poverty that it is hard for the church to get people to see that the church is not there to meet their physical needs, but it is there to help to meet their spiritual needs.  He said that although they do provide for people in extreme need, they try not to give things out too much because they don't want people coming to the church just looking for "stuff".  His prayer requests:  that people would come to a relationship with Jesus and learn to trust God to provide for all their needs; and that people's hearts would be open.

We asked what it cost to operate their church.  He reported that it currently took about $2000 a month to operate their church.  1000 members, average attendance of 700 people, services on Sunday mornings and a youth program every Wednesday night, 3X needing to enlarge the church.  Money well spent!!

Workineh and his pastor

Side note:  the pastor's wife is pregnant with their first child.  He was practically beaming when he told us that they were expecting. 

the inside of their Bibles

Kids everywhere feel the need to color in the Bibles  :-)

Us girls

The men

When we first pulled up to the gates, some boys went running to help and open the gate for us.  They were hanging around the church, coming in and out of the gates.  We gave them lollipops and they were so happy.  We asked about them and discovered that they were just neighborhood boys who like to come and hang out there.  I felt it was special that they found sanctuary, solace, and comfort just hanging out at the church in the midst of their difficult lives.

Sweet neighborhood boys who come to the church to hang out

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28 - 30

From Ethiopia - Post 6 - Day 1 of official schedule

After our two free days sight-seeing around Ethiopia, the official adoption schedule started on Friday morning.  Holt sent two vans to drive our travel group to the office for orientation that morning.  We had the schedule explained to us; we were given a list of some common Amharic words and expressions that we might need to know when talking to our children; and we were walked through the process of filling out our paperwork for the Embassy interview.  Once all the forms had been completed and turned in to the Holt staff, we filed upstairs and paid for our trips to Durame for the birth family meetings.  Then we filed back into the vans and headed out to lunch before we went to meet with our children.

We went to a restaurant called, "The Face of Addis".  It sat high on top of a hill with a beautiful view of the city of Addis Ababa.  Eric and I could see the large area where the Timkat festival had been held.  We could see the airport.  It was very beautiful.  We all enjoyed a nice lunch, while anxiously awaiting our first visit with the kids this trip. 

View from The Face of Addis Restaurant

Travel group at The Face of Addis Restaurant for lunch

After dropping off the others at the Niana Care Center, Eric and I were taken to Care Center 3.  Miruk, the correspondence head for the Holt Ethiopia office, accompanied Eric and I to the care center to visit with Markos.  When we first arrived, we walked into the courtyard area and Markos was just walking out of his room.  He ran over to us and gave both Eric and I big hugs.  Miruk stated that they had gotten our comment sheet from our court visit and that one of the things that I had mentioned was that I was disappointed that we had not gotten a tour of CC3 and hadn't seen where Markos slept, etc., so she wanted to rectify that.  She showed us Markos' bedroom and allowed Markos to show us his bed.  I felt a little bad because it was nap time so all the other kids were trying to nap (or at least pretending to).  Markos' room was a small room with 6 or 7 toddler beds lining the walls.  The children slept 2 to a bed - either head to toe, or side by side - whichever they preferred.  Markos and his bed mate slept head to toe.  Markos showed us where he slept.  The other boys all peeked out from under the covers that they all had pulled tightly over their heads.

Care Center 3

Care Center 3

Markos showing us the bed where he slept

After we saw his room, we went back to the open room where we had played with Markos during our court trip.  He remembered all the toys that we had taken during our first trip and one by one, asked for the same things.  Thankfully, I had remembered the toys that he loved our first trip and had taken similar toys the second trip!  His slight disappointment over the machinas (cars) not talking this time was quickly abated by his delight over the magna doodle with a built-in light.  He really loves all electronic things with buttons.

Ababa and Markos

It was nice having Miruk there with us for most of the visit because Markos knows her and likes her a lot, so he was very comfortable and talked to her, and because she could translate for us!  She let Markos play with her phone last time we were there and he hadn't forgotten.  He played with her phone - taking pictures of us all and listening to her music.  We laughed when he started dancing in his seat and told her that "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" by Shania Twain was his favorite song on her phone.

Miruk letting Markos take pictures with her phone

Having her there to interpret allowed us to see a little of Markos' wit and intelligence.  One of the more funny moments occurred when Eric finally broke down and had to go to the bathroom.  Markos walked back into the little room next to the bathroom with him, so Miruk and I did too.  We could totally hear everything going on in the bathroom.  Eric had been holding himself for quite some time, so he was peeing and peeing.  Markos got a funny look on his face, turned to Miruk, and asked, "is my daddy getting a shower in there?"  She laughed and told me what he had asked.  Very cute.

Markos and his electronics

After a while, Markos ended up with our camera.  I think I must have deleted about 47 pictures of his feet, then once he got the camera turned around, his nose or eyes.  He did manage to get one or two (not so flattering) pictures of Eric and I.

Taking more pictures

Sadly, after a while, the van driver came back again to get us.  Miruk explained the process to Markos again, in detail -- Mommy and Daddy have some more to do, but they will be back to see you tomorrow, then you will have 2 sleeps and then they will come and take you with them.  She had him repeat back to her each detail to make sure that he understood.  He seemed to understand.  We hugged and kissed and said our goodbyes and headed back to the guest house.

We knew that once we took custody, we were not allowed to leave the guest house with the children so we would be eating most meals at the guest house, so we took advantage of the free evening to go out to dinner with Mariah and her mom, and Dic and Kendra.  We went to a Chinese restaurant that the guest house staff recommended.  It was definitely not the American version of Chinese food, but it was very good!  There was a grocery store next door, so we had planned to go try to buy a few things when we were done eating, but it was closed when we left.  However, Isaias took us to another grocery store on the way home so we could pick up some bottles of water, soda, and a few other things to have in the room after we took custody of the kids.  Then, we headed back to the room and crashed again, dreaming happy dreams of our kids.

at a Chinese restaurant for dinner