Thursday, our last day to visit Aiden Yohannes was bittersweet. As promised, we had come in the afternoon hoping he would stay awake. Because we hadn’t seen him the day before, we were not sure how he was going to react. He cried a bit when we took him into the other room.
They brought some “food” (white bread soaked in a broth). We were both gagging when he tried to eat it. After putting down the food, he did interact a bit more.
He at least held the toys and he let Ryan talk to him about the picture book Emily had made.
He almost smiled at Owen’s duck noises and would stop to listen to them if he was about to cry.
As we were leaving, each of the kids kissed him and made him a promise: Owen promised to protect him, Alexa promised to help take care of him, and Ian promised him he wouldn’t have to wear girls’ clothes anymore. (Today, he was wearing a pink shirt that said ‘Mom’s social butterfly.’ Which was funny on so many levels.)
Ryan kissed the back of his head (without him screaming) and promised to be back soon.
I’m not worried. I know it will take some time. I know God
called us to bring him home. I know he is the boy God picked for us. Once we
get him home and in his forever environment, he’ll love us. What’s not to love,
right?
On Friday, our last day, we just sort of tried to wrap things up, commit all the things about Addis that we had seen, learned, and experienced to memory.
One of the most noticeable places (by sight and smell) was the city dump. It didn’t smell too bad during the day, but as soon as the sun went down the smell was worse than anything I have ever smelled. 10,000 people make the dump their home. I couldn’t get a good picture of the makeshift houses made out of plastic. 10,000 people – that’s its own mini-city!
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