Care Team Meetings, Saturday, August 8

Today all the families had meetings with their children's care teams. Care teams include the doctor, one of the primary nannies, and the social worker. We had an opportunity to ask questions, and watch a video containing information about our children's lives prior to coming into care. Watching the video was the most emotional part of this day. Life for many in Ethiopia is hard at best. Makes you really grateful for the many blessings we have in our daily lives. While we waited for other families to complete their meetings, we were able to spend more time with Sid.

While this trip is to pick up our children, it is also about learning about their history, Ethiopian culture & lifestyle. The afternoon was spent on a shopping outing. We went to an open air market. It was quite crowded, the people in the shops were trying to get passers by to shop in their store, and people would approach you trying to sell various items. Adults with things like maps & sunglasses, children selling packs of gum & tissues. While it is expected to barter a bit at these shops, I always find that a difficult task when I feel so blessed. It was a very interesting experience. A little intimidating, too. Below are pictures from the Merkado, the largest market in Africa. This is NOT where we shopped, but they took us through so we could see it.