Sorry, I've been kind of quiet the past few days. Things are going pretty well here. Yesterday, I thought we were going for Bereket's passport, though we hadn't heard anything about that since Monday. So we got everyone ready just in case. However, by 9:45, we still hadn't heard anything, so Karen called, and we learned that it had been rescheduled for the next day.
Now that our day was freed up, I decided to take both boys to the doctor. Bereket had a small rash that I suspected was fungus (it was) and Thomas had an infection that I figured needed antibiotics (it did). Karen had taken Ibssa to the pediatrician just down the road, so we decided I would do the same. When we got to the clinic, we had a short wait before being called to register. During that time, I filled out some paperwork, and the nurse weighed both boys. Bereket must be growing, because he is only 1 kg lighter than Thomas! After we were done with the nurse, we waited out in the courtyard until it was our turn to see the doctor. It must not have been a busy day, as we only waited about 30 minutes. Karen had waited 3.5 hours, so I was expecting a much longer wait!
The doctor was a friendly Ethiopian man in his forties who spoke excellent English. He had lots of questions about Canada, but mostly, he wanted to know if I knew anyone in Australia, as that is where he would like to move to practice medicine! lol. He seemed genuinely disappointed that I did not. He wrote out the needed prescriptions and we were on our way. Total cost for both boys: $200 birr ($10)!
I had sent a text to our friends to tell Dave and Faith to leave and start walking to meet us, as we were going to go for lunch together. Unfortunately, I hadn't been clear about which doctor we were going to (there are 3 on our street) and they went to the wrong one! After a bit of confusion, we eventually met up and walked to the pharmacy to get the boys' medicine. Two prescriptions, plus an anti-itch cream for my mosquito bites was under $200 birr. I guess I won't bother submitting my receipts to my insurance company! At this point, we met up with Karen, Paul and Ibssa to walk to a local restaurant for lunch. It was pretty busy, so we ended up eating at separate tables. After we were done eating, we left ahead of them, as we had a few stops to make on the way home.
We needed to go to the bank to exchange more USD for Birr. Usually I have managed that while Dave dealt with the kids, but this time he did the banking... I think next time I want my old job back! It takes about 15 minutes, and all three kids were going bonkers. I eventually had them standing in three different corners of the empty lobby, while I stood in the middle barking at anyone who left their "time out spot"... Oy. Not my finest moment. Or theirs!
We also needed to get some pictures printed to give to Bereket's birth mom. We walked quite a ways to find somewhere that would print them, and finally found a photo studio, but they said it was 30 birr per picture (about $1.50). Since I had about 40 pictures to print, that would have been expensive! So I asked Lee, the guesthouse manager and she said she could have them done for much less at her family's photo studio. But then she ended up sending them down the street today and it was only $3 birr per picture! It was probably the same place and we misheard! Lol. So only $7 or something for all of them!
Anyway, after all our walking, the kids were very tired, and so we headed back to the guesthouse. Bereket and I had a nap, the other kids played and Dave got a bit of a break and made meatballs for us to have for supper. When I got up, I made some sauce for the meatballs and we ate supper. Because Bereket had napped, he got to stay up and have some ipad time while the other kids went to bed. After he went to bed, Dave and I watched "Chasing Mavericks" on the laptop. It was a pretty good day!
Today, we had the re-scheduled passport appointment in the morning. I had asked, and only Bereket really needed to be there, so he and I went to the appointment and Dave and the other kids stayed home. This proved to be very wise, as it took about 3 hours altogether, and they would have been very bored. But, we got it done, and hopefully the passports will be back in a few days, and then on to Nairobi for the visa! Woohoo!
After the immigration office, we decided to stop for groceries, since we had a van and could go to a "real" grocery store. The van also meant we wouldn't have to carry all our purchases, so both Candy and I walked all around the store picking out all sorts of goodies. I was done first, and when I went to pay, I realized I didn't have quite enough money along! Oops! I picked out two of the more expensive items and had them take them off my bill and paid for my groceries. One of the items was a block of cheese that Candy and I were going to share, so I brought it over to her and told her to buy it if she had enough cash and I would pay her back at the guesthouse. However, she ended up having the same problem! Almost worse, in a way, because she had to find several medium priced items to take off, and all the groceries were already bagged and back in her cart. Between the two of us, I felt like we gave the grocery store staff lots to gossip about on their coffee break! haha!
I have to say, though, it's the fault of their currency here! The largest bill is $100 birr, which is basically $5. And most things cost about the same as here! So imagine the thick wad of $5 bills you would have to take with you to the grocery store! My bill was about $1700 birr ($95) for a small grocery cart of items... 1700 anything just seems like a lot of money, but not really, I guess!
Anyway, we made it home with our groceries, and then Dave and the kids and I walked to Kaldi's for lunch. We picked up a few other things we needed, like more minutes for our phone, and got back home around 3. It was too late for a nap, so we decided to plan on an early supper and just get everyone to bed on time.
We ordered in Greek food with the two other Canadian families and had a little party in our apartment to celebrate getting the passport applications done today. It was so yummy, but didn't arrive until 6:30, so so much for an early bed time. It was after nine before they were in bed, and now I'm just typing this up and heading to bed myself!
Tomorrow, Dave, Bereket and I are heading to Adama to meet his birthmother. Faith and Thomas are staying here with Karen and Paul. I am a little nervous about the meeting, so I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers! Please pray especially that our driver shows up on time, and that the social worker and his birthmom are in Adama when we get there! Communication is so tricky... people say they understand, when they really don't, and it results in lots of confusion...
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