Arrival!

This morning we made the final leg--Dubai to Ethiopia. The flight was fine, but we had a frustrating airport experience. After working our way through one line, we were informed we hadn’t gone to the right line. The one we needed to be in was even slower! By the time we made it through customs, ours were the only bags left on the carousel. One of our bags was badly ripped, and our stroller won’t make it until tomorrow. I was fuming by the time we finally made it to the reception area (probably 1.5 hours after landing). The first thing we saw was a driver holding a sign that said: “Rainbs.” I remember feeling a little disappointed that Tegist (the orphanage director) wasn’t there--that she had just sent a driver. We then turned and saw two women with Bereket! He went right up to Darcie and was quite content for her to hug him and pick him up. He let Mark hug him. But Darcie is still regretting handing him to me, because I immediately received the arched back, let-me-out-of-here, treatment. Meeting him there was a truly wonderful surprise. We went to lunch, and it was great seeing him interact with his main caregiver (a young woman also named Tegist). It is clear that there’s a deep bond there. Ultimately, that’s very good news--as he’s clearly been loved--but we can already tell that parting is going to be very difficult! We are now getting settled in the guest house and have met two other families who are staying here. We are looking forward to a full day playing with Bereket tomorrow!!

From Mark (during a brief break from making friends at the guest house): When I first met him, I was happy and surprised that he was there. I thought it was funny how he would throw a stuffed animal on the floor over and over to make us pick it up.