So we got back on Monday evening and resettled in to Yeka guest house and got you all updated via Facebook.
The middle of the night into Tuesday morning was “not good times” for Erin. Bad, bad, things were happening in my internals. I woke up ill enough on Tuesday morning that there was no way I could go.
There were tears. I was concerned that I had to have enough hours of “Trent time” clocked before court, but apparently this wasn’t the case, just that I did have to meet him before court.
Ted went on without me and did a great job getting pictures and videos of their time together. For now, all of those pictures will have to wait until next week.
While he was gone, I epic slept. After epic sleeping and drug taking, I was eventually able to get to a sitting position and then progress to a showering position. By the time he got back 5 hours later, I was at least clean and functioning. He and I had our family meeting about the little man and his observations regarding what we were dealing with.
Then I went back to night night time for another 5 hours. I was feeling normal enough that evening to accompany him to Habesha 2000 traditional restaurant, where I enjoyed an endless buffet of Sprite. Ted, however, was able to enjoy more of the local fare.
Towards the end of our time, I was even a good sport with the female dancer in front of the crowd, and Ted was smart enough to not video tape this situation.
Wednesday, May 20th
We felt very accomplished to wake up this morning around 5am instead of 11:30pm or 2:30am which has been our normal so far. This was very exciting.
**** I’ll post these photos once I have permission to after I have my court decree hopefully early next week*****
We were off to Miskaye this morning at 8am for me to finally meet Trent!! He gave me a wonderful welcome and we will have a video to show you when we have the internet connection to upload it for you and permission to share it. He went to me willingly, but he was pointing for Dad not long after that, because he rather liked Dad the day before (my feelings were not hurt).
We will continue to share regarding Trent’s abilities and disabilities as we move forward with his care. We felt after 2 days of observation, that we will be able to parent this child. In some ways, it is helpful to attachment that he is so toddler-like and seems open to us helping him “regress” so that he can re-learn activities through the view of a loving parent. Miskaye workers continued to ask us if we really were “okay” with his level of disability. I don’t think anyone will be throwing parties over this, but he is within the spectrum of what we expected and were prepared for. He is actually smaller than I anticipated, which is to my advantage. He seems taller than he actually is. He is definitely not strong, nor are any of his muscles tight. He is kind of a rag doll baby, but he does hold on when you pick him up to some extent. After an hour, we loaded back up and kissed him goodbye. He didn’t seem very excited to go back with his nanny, but he doesn’t really understand that we are Mom and Dad, just that we were 2 people that gave him undivided attention for 2 hours of his life and maybe that was it. After our time together, I don’t think he will have any issue coming with me. He is so hungry for attention that he will happily go where the attention goes.
So we got back, we chatted, we downed some protein shakes.
This afternoon, Sisay picked us up with nothing but a little Ethiopian burr in Teds pocket just in case. We were on our way to the large “Merkato” central market of Addis. This is not a normal tourist destination, as it’s not the safest place in the world. We didn’t take any electronics or wallets or purses.
I really wish I could have strapped a “Go Pro” camera to my head for you to see this. It was like something you would see on a travel documentary (that I once saw featured on Andrew Zimmern “Bizarre Foods” as one of the potentially nastiest places he has seen while during the raining season when it’s a solid mix of human and animal waste, mud, and rotten food). We really just wanted to see it, but not be ugly Americans WHILE seeing it. There is a time to have your camera out (like, while seeing your kid) but this is where every day Ethiopians are just trying to do business and survive and they are not a zoo for our enjoyment. We intentionally didn’t take money, so that when we said we didn’t have anything, we were being truthful.
Ironically, no beggers approached us, which was odd because I’m usually a beggar magnet. We didn’t see a single other “ferenji” and I was of course, a spectacle just by being there. Most people were really sweet. A few practiced their English on me. We got a few “Brad and Angelina!!!” calls. Ted had one older man get right up in his face and yell “WHAT IS THIS??!!” Ted was like “a receipt?” then the guy threw it in his face and walked away.
We were surprised that the inner spaces of this hub. They packed as many human beings and animals and goods into every square inch. While walking through the inner paths that are only about 12” wide (don’t be fat in Ethiopia, it’s not built for you), there were many women and children on the ground grinding spices under tables and up above tables. If you wanted your share of poultry, you would find giant wooden cages full of chickens balanced on peoples heads.
Basically, we learned that anything and any amount of things can be balanced on ones head if you work hard and believe in yourself.
From what we understood from Sisay, this was all whole-sale bulk items and were priced as such. This is where almost every restaurant and store along the side of the road in Addis goes to by the ingredients for their livelihood. Per Sisay, this is also where all of the importers sell all of the stuff they have brought into the country. It was quite the spread.
Half of my time was spent looking at my next step on the ground to avoid poo, nails, stepping on a person or their goods.. or trying not to get hit by a car. I about got trampled by some donkeys. I can see how that place would get very messy very fast during the rainy season. This is also a place I would really not want to be after dark.
After about an hour of marching through all of this, I was hot enough and swetty enough, winded from the altitude, and still dehydrated from yesterday enough that loopiness began to set in, as though I had just run a 10 miler. I had to signal that it was time for liquid. Sisay got us out of the area, where Ted and I downed 2 liters of water in 5 minutes.
Following all that, we wandered back to our car and set out for Tomoca coffee where we also chugged to Macchiatos. It would have been nice to show you the awesomeness that Tomoca and these Macchiatos were, but we were still Americans without cameras, and it probably isn’t the last time I’ll be stopping by there before I go back home.
We got back to the guest house with just enough time for a Facebook update before we left for a meeting with Trent’s neurologist for the past few years.
My brain is still very full from this detailed visit. All of those details will fit under Trents developmental issues and disabilities that will continue to come out moving forward. For now, Ted is comfortable that no new information came out that wasn’t already on our radar. At some point, I’ll have him put all that out there as it involves big words. We snagged some take out, and we are back here at Yeka currently without internet for the first time.
We will be picked up tomorrow morning at 8am to head to court to become Trent’s legal parents. Whether we are ready for this or not, Trent becomes a Sibley tomorrow!
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