Attention

I don't know who keeps posting these comments..but I would ask you to STOP! They are a waste of time..I certainly have no intention of accepting them nor will I be linking to the site. I keep getting comments like this " see here" or "warning see here"...and there is a link to a site which I will not link to...thinking its probably a virus or something. Has anyone else been getting them? The last one I got was from a user name of "duran".

Louise

Rest of the Trip

Kids Hope

Kids Hope

Roses

Nathaniel sleeping just before we are ready to go

All my bags are packed, I'm Ready to go!

So the last few days in Addis, we spent shopping on Churchill Road as well as a little shop that Selamneh takes all the families to. The shop has a bit of everything in it. We went twice to here, and on the second time I found a beautiful necklace with round pieces of ebony wood..its two toned, one light wood colour and one black. It is another favourite piece that I brought home. The shop was full of lots of treasures.
On Thursday Hillary went to the Kids Hope in the morning, and in the afternoon we both went to AHOPE. I have no pics of AHOPE, just video, as we signed an agreement that we would not take any still shots of any one child individually. The children (for those who don't know) are all HIV positive. We were at the younger children's AHIPE (There are two separate ones). The youngest was 9 months and the oldest there was about 6 I believe. It was sooo hard to look at all these Children and know what struggles they would face in the Children. They were excited to have visitors, and one little boy showed me his picture and name, and also named off all his friends. Hillary helped feed the 9 month old...to this days she still gets very emotional when she thinks of this tiny little boy and wonders what has become of him. It was so very sad,...and these are the children who are getting help, the ones who are being cared for, treated, and given the medications they need...there are sooo many more who are not.
Saturday was a day we spent finishing up packing, visiting with the other families. We made one last trip to Churchill road as well...Hillary stayed home with Nathaniel that day so I could do some shopping solo....Nathaniel napped and I shopped...good combo hunh! The Weygoss Guesthouse put on a coffee ceremony for us that evening...and the other families were ready to depart by 9 pm that evening. We still had a few extra hours as our flight left at 4 the next morning. We had ordered one last meal from the well loved restaurant Ice Blue. Our waiter had become a friendly familiar face over the last week and we told him that today was our last day. That evening he once again demonstrated how kind and caring the Ethiopian people are. As a thank you he brought us 2 roses...one for each Hillary and I....I was soo touched by this gesture. It was so completely unexpected and so very sweet! We thanked him. Unfortunately because of customs we knew we would not be able to bring this back to Canada...dissapointing. We finished packing, and tried to sleep..unfortunately Nathaniel (aware of something happening) would not settle till 1130 that night and so I got only about 45 mins of sleep before having to start lugging the luggage downstairs. On the way down the stairs some very nice Italian families who had just arrived, helped me bring the bags down the two flights of stairs. Nathaniel slept right till we got to the airport. Selamneh and Berthe drove us to the airport. It was soo sweet of Berthe to stay up late and come along to say goodbye...she has become a friend (she also lives in Fredericton) and I am so happy to have shared our experience of bringing Nathaniel home with her. It was very hard to say goodbye..and we didn't want to leave. We trugged up the incline to the airport and loaded our luggage on the xray machine. The attendant offered to hold Nathaniel (who had woken up). So once all that was done, we went off to check in at the ticket booth, and then stood in line for immigration and passport check. There were about 40 women, children, and some men in line ahead of us. The guard by the diplomat line (which was empty), waved us over. I was confused, but went to him...he ushered us through the diplomat line. Hillary (who is very much into fairness and social justice) was put out that we bumped in line and didn't have to wait like everyone else. I agreed...but at the same time, I wanted to get Nathaniel settled and into the secured area. We waited in the airport restaurant, and then wandered around untill we were given the okay to go through security and into the secure area to wait for our flight. Nathaniel stayed awake the entire time. Once on the plane it didn't take long for him to settle to sleep. We actually met back up with a flight attendant who we had on the way down...so that was really neat to see her again.
Nathaniel did soo well on the flights, he slept 14 out of 18 hrs of flying.....I however only slept about 1 hr out of that same time..mostly because I was holding him and afraid I would drop him if I fell asleep. Hillary was quite sick on the way home...she actually had tonsilitis..but we didn't know. She had the hot flashes, and chills, was exhausted and feeling very unwell most of the way home...so was not able to help me much on the flights.
Arriving finally in Toronto, we were met at the Canadian immigration and customs by my Aunt and Uncle (who both happen to have worked and still work there for the past 25 years). So they were able to walk us right through the process at the special both for employees. It made it sooo easy and it was nice to have them there. We took the "secret way" as my uncle said, and snuck up behind my Dad and step mom to surprise them..that was funny! We all headed over to the Sheraton at the Airport and visited for about an hour, ordered way too much room service (which we did not eat half of...except the cheesecake and chocolate milk haha), and fell into our beds. I have to say that stopping I think is why we did not suffer much from Jet Leg. Nathaniel has slept on Canadian time since we landed in Toronto..So I feel very lucky.

Well that is it...the rest of my trip...I told you I would blog it eventually. In case you didn't know, my one year old can run circles on me...he is GO GO GO every minute of the day. Luckily he hasn't learnt to run yet...watch out!!!
Louise

Buy of the Week

So I thought I would start telling you about the great buys I sometimes get! I love to shop .....but right now on Parental Leave I don't have very much money...thus I love to shop bargains :) :)
So this week (I know I have barely been home for 2 days from Florida), Nathaniel and I went to Walmart and Zellers.
So in Walmart I got this train table by STEP 2. It is plastic, comes witha little automatic train and a bridge and train station. Nathaniel has become very adept at pulling off the train bridge.( Ahh oh well) It was normally 69.99 and I got it for 30.00 on sale. Good buy hunh!

Louise

Day 8...Wednesday

In the morning Hillary and some from the group went to Entoto mountain, I had decided to take the morning to just spend with Nathaniel at the guesthouse. Around 10, one of the other moms told me they were heading to the Sheraton to go to the Park there, we decided to join them.
The park really wasn't for Nathaniel's age, so we ended up exploring the Sheraton a bit more, and hung out by the fountains and enjoyed the fresh air. It was nice to have some quiet down time with him by myself. Hillary really enjoyed Entoto mountain and the church they went to.
The afternoon we went to Liga School...this was a highlight of our trip. Once again I found myself very emotional..especially while looking at all the sweet boys in the class thinking that this could have been my son. And these kids are the ones who are getting the help. This school does sooo much with so little. The rooms are litterally made out of corugated Sheet Metal...there are litterally 40 + kids in this tiny room. We brought granola bars and other things to hand out. The kids sang and danced for us. One little girl who was outside most of the time really touched my heart and the hearts of all the moms there. She was sooo sweet. Her name was Minuette. She was about 6 and had the biggest grin! Such a sweetie with I think a mischevious side to her.
Louise

Trying to Finish up the rest of our trip

Area where the Kechene Women's Pottery is Located

Surroundings

The big ditch

The materials for making the poottery






So I am feeling bad that I never finished Blogging about our trip..I will try to do so now!
Tuesday we went to the Pottery Factory. The other families had gone on Saturday while Hillary was ill, so we had yet to go. Selemnah took us...along the way we saw poverty unlike anything we had seen prior to this point. It was devastating to see what these people survived with. Their shops were smaller than my bathroom..and not only was it their shop..but it was also where they lived. They had soooo little...yet some still had smiles on the face. It really is something..that those who have the least are some of the kindest, happiest, gentle souls I have ever met. AND in comparison those who live in this country...who have everything never seems to be quite happy enough, never seem to have quite enough, always needing the newest, biggest, better thing. On the way to the Pottery Factory, Selamneh had to make a quick side trip to check out an area where Berthe was to go to for a meeting the next day. It was down a very bumpy road with deep ditches on either side. It was fun...untill he had to turn around...I don't know how he managed not to get those back wheels into the ditch..but he did it! Amazing....I am shocked how they get themselves into and out of the smallest or tightest spots. Driving in Addis is not for the light of heart. When we arrived in addis...my sister asked where the seatbelt was. Selamneh overheard her ask me this..and he said "forget Canada" hahaha.
The pottery shop was amazing. Nathaniel was sound asleep..and Selamneh offered to hold him so I could take a look around easily. We had a great time here..and I found my most prized possession from Ethiopia. A handmade Nativiy...it is simple and beautiful..but such a family treasure that will be passed down to Nathaniel when he has his own family someday.


In the afternoon, we took our donations and gifts back to the foster home. I felt quite teary here as I knew it was likely the last time Nathaniel would see the women who took care of him for the last 7 months for a while. Yes we will go back to visit, but when and I don't know if the same caregivers will be there. It was hard because I was taking him from all that was familiar to him, the sights, smells and sounds of the fosterhome and Ethiopia was all he has known. I presented Haregewain with the gift from everyone..and got a big hug from her as well. As we were leaving Sinyet (sp??) came into the hallway and saw Nathaniel...she called his name, and he turned his head. I leaned him into her and she held him for a short period. It was nice that she was able to see him again. Then he reached his arms out for me...which I have to say melted my heart...he really did know me :) :)
We said our goodbyes and were on our way back to the guesthouse.
I will add some pics of the day above.
Louise