Adoption....and more

After reading Barb's (Pete's sister) blog, I decided that I ought to give this another shot. I really liked her thought on sharing cultural information about Korea while they await their adoption and also what stage they are at.

As for the stage of our current adoption, we are still very early in the process. We have been to the PAC (Pre-adoption Class), and are working on our homework. Once we complete that, our homestudy will begin. When that is approved, we will need to complete a dossier. When the dossier is accepted, we will wait for a referral. Our child will come home 2-3 months after we accept a referral. In short, we have a long road ahead.

For us, I want to share tidbits on African-American culture and a bit about Ethiopia. I hope that this will be interesting information for our family and friends, and those friends who are on the adoptions journey with us.

On January 1st we celebrated Kwanzaa. For those of you who don't know, Kwanzaa is not a religious celebration, but a celebration of African heritage. Many people have commented to me on the fact that many of the African-American people they know don't celebrate Kwanzaa. We will continue to celebrate Kwanzaa to teach Michael (and our future child) about their rich heritage and build the positive self image they deserve. Anyhow, we had a wonderful time. We all tried our hand at making an African or African-American food to share so we ate very well. Some families wore traditional dress. A wonderful gentleman came and taught us about drumming, and how they were used to communicate. Then the children got to drum and play some traditional instruments. Everyone had such a great time, we can't wait until next year!

Now, onto Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a landlocked country on the horn of Africa. It is the second most populous nation in Africa. The capital is Adis Ababa. Ethiopia was the original source of the coffee bean, which remains its largest export. There are 84 indigenous languages (wow)! Approximately 61% of Ethiopians are Christian, followed by 32% Muslim, and the remainder recognize traditional faiths.