ET - Day 4 - U.S. Embassy Day

 
(Monday, August 23)

Luckily, I woke up before anyone else.  It gave me a chance to quickly get ready.  G woke up at 6:45, which was perfect.  He woke up happy, and we quickly got him dressed and headed down for breakfast.  I had the usual, 2 hard boiled eggs, and he had some french toast.  By 7:45, we were all on the bus headed to the US Embassy.  G seemed fine on the bus.  He just sat quietly soaking it all in.  Of course, he had his cup and my sunglasses for comfort. 

When we arrived, we passed through security and then sat outside on some benches for about 20 minutes.  G was good, but we definitely had to be on our toes.  Finally, it was our turn to go into the building.  We passed through some more security and went to a waiting room.  It was full of people, but not overflowing.  They had a little play area, and G occupied himself in there a while.  He mostly enjoyed coloring and looking at a book that I had brought.

Then, we heard - Bonners - window #9.  It was our turn.  We grabbed G and went upstairs.  It wasn't quite as intimidating as I had imagined.  It was kinda like a series of bank tellers behind glass windows, except #9 was a little more private and would determine whether or not G would be allowed a U.S.Visa.

The Consular was extremely nice and spoke directly to G.  We later found out that he had adopted a child from Ethiopia himself.  He had us raise our right hand, and then he asked us a series of questions: when did we meet G; if we knew what happened to his parents; if his dad showed up for court; and if we suspected any fraud within the process or agency.  After that, he spoke with us about the investigation that they had done.  He assured us that G's paperwork was correct and that he was fully ours.  He gave us G's birth certificate and some other paperwork.  He told us that G's visa and immigration papers would be coming to us via AGCI, and that we were NOT to open it.  The immigration officials would open it when we entered the U.S. 

The whole thing took about 7 to 10 minutes.  I couldn't help but tear up when he was saying that G was all ours. 

We were the 2nd family to go in our group, so we had to wait on the 6 other families.  Luckily it wasn't raining, so we could play with G outside in a small area.  That was a blessing as G really loves being outside.

As we all headed back to the bus, we were met by the same group of teenages who had helped us off the bus.  They all clapped and cheered for us when they learned that all of the children had passed and were headed to the U.S.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided that G probably didn't want lunch.  We had given him lots of snacks during the 2ish hour wait at the U.S. Embassy.  Instead, we "thought" we'd put him down for a nap.  He had been napping for 2 hours a day at HH's, and we knew he was exhausted.  Well, after about 45 minutes of trying, I gave up.  I tried to entertain him in the TINY room, but he wasn't having any of it.  FINALLY, S got back from lunch.  He was only gone for about 1 1/2 hours, but it felt like forever.  We decided that this boy needed some fresh air.  S took him outside, and I had a bite to eat - nothing like some peanut butter and crackers.

When they got back in the room, we decided that we would try a bath.  Deep breath!  I bribed him with some m&ms.  Even though he wasn't thrilled, he let us give him a bath using an hand-held shower head.  After that, we got dressed and went for dinner.  He loves the beef - injera - not so much.

We had Toy Story pjs for him tonight, and he was so excited to wear them. 

  

S had forgotten his shampoo, and had to go back and forth with my shampoo and G's African hair shampoo.  I don't think I have ever seen his hair so shiny.  It provided some much needed comic relief :)

S was going to try to put him down tonight.  Again, you know nighttime is going to be hard, but nothing quite prepares you for it.  It is HARD!  One minute I can hear them both laughing in there and the very next minute - crying - hard - like please don't throw-up hard.  I was just praying.  Finally, I went in the bedroom.  By that point, he was all sweaty and exhausted.  He quickly fell asleep in my arms.  After I KNEW he was asleep, I put him down in his bed.

We passed the U.S. Embassy, and we made it through another day!  It's all baby steps.  Thanks be to God!  The Joy of the LORD is my strength!  I pray for wisdom and for God's healing touch.