Meeting Robel

I haven't had the words to write an appropriate post about our Ethiopia trip.  So many emotions, not many that I can accurately express.  It is such a surreal feeling flying across the world to meet your child.  Ethiopia is such an amazing place, I cannot wait to go back.  It's overpopulated, animals walk around everywhere, it smells like burnt gasoline and it's exactly what I imagined it to be.  I had prepared myself for the culture shock and knew that I had to look past that in order to take every piece of my son's home in.  I wanted to experience everything about the culture that I could possibly cram in the short amount of time that we were there.  What I didn't expect was to fall in love with the people.  Ethiopians, and I'm assuming Africans as a whole are the most content people.  They have a sense of peace and a calmness about them that is so desirable.  Their way of life is slow and meaningful.  They value relationships and community.  They enjoy life and don't get bent out of shape over things that just don't matter.  I want that.  I want to not feel rushed everywhere I go and I want to be content with the amazing life I have.  I want to invest in meaningful relationships and enjoy this life that I have been given.  I constantly prayed that God would permanently etch in my brain the things that we experienced there, so that the next time I take anything that we have in America for granted, I will be humbled by those memories.


Meeting Silas Robel did not go exactly as I had imagined.  We walked through the door of his room and all of the kids were playing in their cribs.  He was standing in his, staring at us.  I walked over, huge smile on my face, tears in my eyes and said, "hey buddy"!  He looked at me, threw himself on the mattress and started kicking and screaming.  Kodak moment.  The orphanage director picked him up and pushed him towards me saying, "Robee!  Mommy and Daddy"!  I scooped him up and we cried together.  The director reassured me that he reacts this way to all strangers.  I'm not sure if that's really true or if she was trying to make me feel better.  He eventually warmed up and we spent a couple of hours playing with him and all of his little roommates.  I left feeling pretty good about our relationship.  The second day I walked in his room and the second he saw me, he threw himself down and started kicking and screaming.  Wow, glad to see you too!  We've got some work to do.

The Hubby asked me what I expected him to do and I said that I expected him to throw his arms up and yell Mommy and run towards me!  Totally kidding.  Wishful thinking?  After seeing how nervous he was, I knew in my gut that I had to come back on the second trip.  We had planned all along that for financial reasons, the Hubby would make the second trip by himself and hopefully my brother would be able to go and document the trip for us.  Having met him, and can only imagine how hard that week with him in Ethiopia is going to be, we both agree that he is going to need his Mommy!  I also decided that maybe I should actually read one of the many attachment books I have ordered since starting the adoption process.  Looks like it's going to be harder than I expected.  But, God's grace is always sufficient and I am on pins and needles waiting to bring our sweet Robee home.  Here's the video of the first time I got to hold my little Ethiopian...