Day 2 at the Orphanage

Today. was. wonderful.

Yesterday, as full of joy as it was, was difficult after traveling for 2 days, our group was tired - meeting each of our kiddos for the first time was surreal after 3 years of waiting. But of course expectations got the best of me. We had imagined this day for so long - and though I knew that Angelo wouldn't know us yet, I still had this secret hope that he would laugh or smile or give us some indication that he was happy to see us.

Reality: he cried.

His little lower lip quivered and he seemed distant and afraid. Of course, thinking with some perspective now, who could blame him? He has been through so much and doesn't yet know that we can be trusted.  That he is safe.

So the hard part is that he cried. And the good part?

He cried! That means he is accustomed to knowing that when he expresses a need, it will be met - otherwise he wouldn't cry. He has been cared for with love. We could tell by the way the nannies laughed and responded to the children.

Later, we learned that right before that first meeting, he not only had been woken up from a nap, but  he was hungry too- no wonder our little man was tearful. We fed him and rocked him and his little frame relaxed into mine. It was heaven.

Today, when we arrived at the orphanage, the nannies had Angelo and the other kiddos about to be adopted sitting outside on mats on the orphanage steps. He was sitting up all by himself!

We played with a little "Tow-Mater truck" with him and fed him some noodles. his eyes brightened. One of the Nannies showed us he likes to clap his hands. He LOVES to move. Once we figured that out, we were bouncing him around like a jumping bean (He has definitely gained several pounds since our last update)...and then came the smile we have been waiting for.  We are in love.

The orphanage staff understandably wants to keep the kids' schedules as normal as possible so we only have about 2 hours each day to visit. The rest of the day we had activities as a group:

Visiting West Sands' School. Here we are with the coordinator - a wonderful and articulate man. They currently have grades K-3 and hope to add one grade each year.

Eating delicious Ethiopian food prepared by Our agency's director's mother.  Mamitu is such a warm and generous woman.  We enjoyed lentils with Berbere spice and injera bread which is gluten-free!