Day 6 - Addis - Last day: Friday, December 23rd

This was our last day to see our girls. Bittersweet especially since we were going to be leaving ET without the finality we were expecting. We made sure to be there by 9am to make the most of our time with them. It was a day full of cuddles, and they put their heads on our shoulders which was so sweet. There was as adorable baby boy sitting out sunning, sitting up but leaning against one of the ladies and he had the biggest tummy, looked as content as could be and she was just rubbing his belly round and round in circles. I cracked up and said to all the caregivers "Buddha!" not knowing if they'd understand, and then they all cracked up nodding and saying "Buddha!" Go figure! It was a very funny moment. We'd brought the twins little Santa suits, but we weren't sure what the caregivers reaction was going to be. They saw them, laughed and said "Santa Claus!" Another thing that transcends cultures, but I wasn't sure that would be the case in ET! The girls' caregiver helped get them dressed (apparently we didn't look either fast or proficient enough again - refer back to previous feeding episodes) and Solomon took photos for us. I can't wait to be able to post them. Hopefully sometime soon..... When we went back up to their room to feed them again Bean started crying and was so upset. When we'd been downstairs she'd been sitting and cuddling on the grass with a little girl, perhaps about 2, maybe three, and the Bean was feeling so badly because she said that she was watching John and I and looked so sad. My heart broke for both of them, and though I tried explaining that she would be matched with a family already and if the family didn't already know it they would soon, and this little girl might actually have met them and not known it was she that they were visiting. The Bean was pretty inconsolable. We fed the girls, put them down to sleep and then had to leave which was so terribly, horribly hard. It was just impossible not to be upset, but we hugged the caregivers and left. Just so hard. We had no idea, and still do not, how long it would be until we got to hold them again.

Outside we found Solomon and explained about what had happened to make Emma so sad. He was wonderful as usual and said to come with him into the toddler room, point her out and he would ask the caregivers in there if she had a family. She was relieved but still not entirely fine to find out she had been matched with a family, but I don't know about being referred. I have to admit John and I were very relieved that she had been so we didn't have the pressure from the Bean to adopt a fifth daughter!!! She had a 3 syllable name I believe, it began with 'A' and ended in a 'T.' If she's yours or find out down the road she is, we'd love know of you. I have a photo of the two of them together.

Solomon took us to lunch at his favorite restaurant where he likes to eat several times a week, though he says now he's married he eats there less! He eats the raw beef cut from huge sides of beef hanging, he ordered us the tibbs, cut from this fresh beef and cooked with onions. We washed our hands a this large, metal trough and sat down to this really tasty meal. Both dishes were served with injera and berbere in oil for dipping. Luckily I knew to dip sparingly but Solomon plunged his in!

After lunch we went back to Bejoe to pack. I thought we'd have a lot of extra room in the suitcases but we did buy a lot of stuff! Now that we'd seen most of the things on our list and we couldn't see the girls again I was ready to go. It was hard to believe that it was Christmas Eve the following day. We took the 7:30pm flight to Dubai, landing at half past midnight and a 3:15 am flight into LA. With being up all day, this was a bit of a killer since for the Bean to catch flights through the night. I think next time I'll try to catch the 8am flight out of Dubai and stay at the airport hotel for a few hours sleep. The flight home felt a lot longer. We were really tired when we landed, but given that we'd arrived at 7:30 am it gave us the chance to get home, nap 3 hours, and still be ready for bed a the normal time so it pushed us right onto the proper time zone. Now we can't wait to find out when we can go back.

Later today or tomorrow I'm hoping to write a list of the souvenirs we got, places we went or will go to next time, and a packing list.