Day 4 in Ethiopia (Monday)

Biniam slept in Mesfin and Legesse’s room as it was their last night here, and I have a feeling they never actually “slept”. We all met up in the morning for a nice breakfast in the hotel. It turned out to be a pretty nice morning and we all went for a walk around the hotel and ended up at the kids playground for a while. The boys were all pretending they were “George” from George of the Jungle and were swinging around and hollering like monkeys.

I agreed to take all the kids to the pool so Sandra and Rick could pack up their rooms and Brian could run errands. I even got in the water this time and was surprised at how warm it was. Isaiah liked it a lot too.

Brian was able to run to the bank, buy water and go to the Ethiopian Air office at the Hilton. . He purchased tickets for him and Biniam to fly to Bahir Dar on Thursday and return on Friday.

At 3:00 we all headed over to Layla for the going away party for Mesfin and Legesse. We also got to meet with Sarah, the social worker who is trying to help arrange a meeting with Biniam’s relatives. So far she hasn’t gotten a hold of anyone, but is trying to through the Ministry of Children’s Affairs.

Today would have been Meskerem’s 1st birthday, so our family slipped away from Layla a little early and went out to her grave. We wanted to bring flowers but couldn’t find fresh flowers anywhere, so we bought a bouquet of plastic red roses. Not exactly as classy as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing.

We found the area where her grave is pretty easily, but due to the rainy season everything was completely grown over and muddy. Brian and Dawit and Biniam walked around to find the grave but decided it was too precarious for me and the little kids to try and navigate.

We met back up with Sandra and Rick and the boys just as they were saying their final goodbye’s at Layla. It looked like a pretty emotional moment for them all, but the boys were handling it well. The boys requested we go back to Habesha for their final Ethiopian meal (and of course I didn’t mind). Denise Baker, the infamous former volunteer joined us for dinner and we all had a great time. By the time we finished dinner Emma and Isaiah both fell asleep so Brian and I had our arms full.

We made it back to the Sheraton in time for Rick and Sandra to catch their shuttle to the airport, so we said our final goodbyes in front of the hotel. This was an emotional time and I could tell it was really hard on Biniam. Mesfin and Legesse were very tender with him, and were very sweet to give all of us hugs goodbye. They are amazing boys.

Sarah had given us the phone number for Biniam’s uncle, so when we got to our room we tried to reach him. It appears the number is not correct, but the person on the phone may know Biniam’s uncle. We will check with Sarah to see if she can get a more current number.