Our Embassy Experience Day 1

Well I am slowly but surely writing about our Ethiopian experience, piece by piece.

While we were at the orphanage, Gananew (Ga Nan O) Shimelli's brother, came to us and said Julia's baby Michael was missing a photograph and we had to leave to orphanage early to get his picture authenticated and notarized for our embassy appointment that afternoon. So we took the kids and climbed into Alazar's 1986 Corolla hatch back. Filemon, Jordan and I climbed into the backseat and Merkeb climbed on my lap. Jeff took shotgun to next Alazar. It was easier for him to reach his air brakes there.

We sat outside the authentication office forever waiting, talking with the kids. What I remember most about this is Merkeb's giggles. She wouldn't stop giggling. We went to the embassy and met up with Julia, Brad and Michael, Kelly, Jason and Jayla as well as Tefera, the man in charge of all the embassy stuff for Shimellis. We went through security and sat outside the embassy. There were guards and signs prohibiting any pictures of the embassy. Luckily I had left my camera with Alazar in the car.

The only thing I can remember at this point was sitting on benches outside the embassy underneath this large sun shielding canopy. When it was finally our turn, we went into another building and through security again. Then we walked through a courtyard and up a flight of stairs. There were 8 windows around the room with Embassy employees waiting to help you. There were bigger than life size bust photographs of Dick Cheney, George Bush and Condaleeza Rice. And there were at least 5 rows of chairs, 10 in a row of people waiting. Once again, we sat there forever.

All three families were sitting together admiring their children as well as each other's children. Julia and Brad went first with baby Michael. It seemed like it took a really long time... Jeff says "Julia's not smiling." I thought surely nothing is wrong. They came back and sat down and said "Our fingerprints expired 10 days ago." Evidently they are also adopting from China and had fingerprints done 14 months and 20 days ago for China, then never thought about it again. Federal fingerprints are only good for 15 months. So we sat waiting and waiting with poor Julia's experience in our mind.

When it was finally our time, we went and stood at window 2 with McKenzie, the American Embassy worker, the kids and Tefera. Jeff and I raised our right hands and promised that everything that was in our paperwork was correct. I was holding Merkeb and she was giggling through the whole thing. I could barely hear what McKenzie was saying due to Merkeb's giggling. I remember Tefera saying "Merkeb's certainly happy." To tell you the truth, when we were given the OK at Window 2 in the Embassy, no one was more surprised than me. I was so worried all this time that something would go wrong; I never honestly believed that these children would be mine. God is good.