Ughhhh, feeling tired and want to come home. The little man slept through the night….again, mama didn’t. As the call to prayer chant began at 5:00 a.m. I rolled over, turned off the lamp and finally fell asleep. Then he woke up. I am sooo tired.
Today we hung around the Guest House until about 11:30 and then made our way to Layla where we again dropped the little guy off for lunch and a nap. Horrible parents. But it is a bit of a necessity since we are not allowed to take the guy out in public. Believe me, it is hard to do, but I quickly see that he is very content there. Our plan today was to make our way over to the Hilton for lunch and to shop and then head up to Churchill Street for some shopping. Todd has a past student who is working in the Peace Corp in Ethiopia and we were lucky enough to spend the afternoon shopping with her. She is normally stationed in a village about 5 hours away from Addis but is working with “Operation Smile” this week translating. Because she is fluent in Amharic she was a huge help negotiating a fair price, as Ferengi (foreigners) are typically charged twice the Ethiopian price. We picked up some really cool stuff…..even a drum for Grayson….her one request. Great afternoon.
Then, my heart broke. We have not been able to talk to Grayson much….it is nearly impossible to make happen. Papa Joe tried calling yesterday but was not able to get through. So, we borrowed the cell phone from Ritmo and paid to have minutes put on and called. It was 7:30 a.m. in Montana and Grayson had just gotten up. When she got on the phone she was sobbing. We asked questions, told her we loved and missed her, but she was unable to talk because she was crying so hard. Then we talked briefly to Papa Joe. Grayson got back on the line after that and had stopped crying and she squeaked out “Mama I love you” and as I began to respond the phone went dead. Great timing. I was near tears when Brigette (the Peace Corp gal) jumped up handed me her cell phone and insisted I call her back. That girl is awesome. So, I called Grayson back and told her I loved and missed her, she talked to her Dada and everyone felt much better. However, my heart is still aching and I cannot wait to cover my little empress in hugs and kisses. I have to remind myself that this place is no place for a sweet little empress.
Water out again today. The lady who runs Layla and owns the Guest House has not had water at her house for 5 whole days. They are used to it….that is Addis. Me, I can take the periodic power outages, but water is essential. Even cold water. I have been able to sneak in one little cold trickle of a shower yesterday, both before and after have been the always lovely baby wipe shower. The first thing I am gonna do after checking into the hotel on Saturday in DC is take a long hot shower. The second thing I am gonna do is bathe my smelly little guy. Hopefully , Todd will follow suit.
Tomorrow morning Layla is having a going away party for the man at 10:00 a.m. and all his little cronies are invited as well as his nannies and the staff. How sweet is that? Then we get Greer’s visa and we are ready to fly. Home so soon, but a living hell getting there. Not looking forward to it. Nope, not at all. Tomorrow night at 10:00 we get on the flight and at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning we land in DC.
Our time in Ethiopia has been amazing. The people are all sooooo amazingly beautiful. Every last one. They have got to be the most beautiful people in the world. They live such a hard life, which we have been able to experience only a sliver of. I consider myself pretty open to anything, but this place has been really hard on so many levels. I know that had I gotten sleep, eaten properly and stayed hydrated like I should have that perhaps I would have been able to work through the rest. I am glad we don’t live here. I am glad we are going home. I am so thankful for our beautiful son and the opportunities we can provide him. And, I feel changed, like more appreciative of my blessed life. Now that I have seen the way in which they scratch to survive and not just heard it, I believe it is imperative that a change in our world happen. In the very least, all the people of the world deserve water.
Thank you Ethiopia.
We love you baby….we will see you real soon. xoxo Mama, Dada and Baby Greer.
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