LifeChange

Day 5: Chaos & Progress

Wow, today was a crazy day.  It got off to a wonderful start as we all had an outstanding night of sleep.  The girls are turning out to be wonderful sleepers like their big brother Noah.  Thank you to everyone that has been praying specifically for this as your prayers are working!

First thing on the schedule was the U.S. Embassy which we have been told (and from our experience in Ethiopia) should be straight forward and quick.  I knew it was going to be a long day because while we were at security a Special Agent came out from the embassy, introduced himself and pulled my mom and another guy in the group aside.  They had taken pictures of the embassy and the Special Agent was checking to see if they had security cameras in the picture.  The other guy in our group was fine, my mom was not... she had to delete her picture.  Can't take my Mom anywhere without her causing trouble! :)  He was nice and helped her take this picture of the embassy though.

Over the next 6 hours we were in the embassy at the US Consulate Office three times and the Rwandan Immigration office three times.  Thankfully the two buildings are only about 4 blocks apart, but carrying bags, kids and lots of paper work made for a very stressful time.  Every family in our group had paperwork issues at some point.  For most of the day it looked like we would have to stay in Rwanda a few extra days and our trip to Ethiopia would also be extended.  However, even through all the chaos, stress, tears,and uncertainty God showed up countless times.  Instead of giving a detailed account of what happened (as that would take awhile) I'll just share some of the ways God intervened today:

• We forgot a receipt we needed... the Consulate let us not pay the amount today and wait until Ethiopia next week.  She shouldn't do this!  Also, tonight my good friend Michael Dean spent two hours looking for the receipt and sending me electronic copies of it!
• Rwandan Passports were ready on time!  This wasn't expected as we turned in our applications yesterday.
• One family needed a passport re-issued... happened in 1 hour.  That NEVER happens... especially in a country where time has little meaning.
• The Consulate stayed 3 1/2 hours late just to help us!  She missed a 9/11 celebration, embassy cookout, and shortened a meeting with her boss (the US Ambassador to Rwanda) to accommodate us.
• Extreme favor with security guards, the Consulate, the Rwandan Immigration office, and our driver.  All these individuals played key roles in our day and while at first were not willing to cooperate, and should not have done what they did... in the end they DID! 

I know so many of you are praying for us.  I am confident that today would not have been possible without God's intervention which I believe was a result of you praying.  Thank you so much!  Our paperwork journey here in Rwanda is over, but there is still much to be done in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  We appreciate your continued support and prayers.

Some lessons for future adoptive families about this stage of the process:

• Take your USCIS I600A Filing Receipt.  This is a $670 mistake if you don't.  Our agency did not tell us to bring this.
• Actually, take ALL your adoption documents and receipts with you on the trip.  It's better to have everything then to need something that is back at home.
• Don't sign your I600 or even fill it out until you are at the Consulate.  And then DON'T sign it until you are standing in front of him/her and she tells you to.
• Double check all information on the passport for your adoptive child(ren)'s application to make sure it matches your other adoption documents (birth certificate, court ruling, letter from the ministry, etc.)
• When you get your passport, double check the information on it... especially the birth dates.
• Before you go to the Immigration Office or Consulate make sure all the birthdates for your children match on your various Rwandan documentation.  Keira's birthday is in May but do to documentation issues it will be January 1st on all her official documentation.

Day 4: Paperwork & Running Around

The girls are doing great. They slept well last night (mom & dad didn't though) and they're eating fairly well. After four days we actually got our first smile out of Keira today! The highlight seems to be how the two of them are bonding to each other. They enjoy playing, sitting and sleeping together. Check out this picture... they started sleeping about two feet apart and ended up holding each others hand :) This morning our sole purpose was to submit the paperwork to obtain Rwandan Passports for the girls. As with most things in Rwanda it was more complicated and took longer then expected. After arriving at the Immigration office and waiting for about 45 minutes we finally were able to talk to the agents. Our paperwork was fine however they would not accept the passport photos of the girls (the other families had the same issue.) The pictures were taken on a white cloth background where you could seen some folds in the cloth, they required a complete white background. They gave us 30 minutes to have new photos and return. All of us rushed to load up in the car, drive across town, get digital pictures taken, printed and return. It was quite a comedic event with 11 adults and 7 children loading in and out of our van. We drove super fast and it was probably the most in danger I've ever felt riding in a foreign country... we made it though! Typical passports take 5-10 days to process, however because we couldn't get our Letter of Travel from the Ministry until yesterday we need them done in 24 hours. We requested them to be expedited and after significant back and forth we think we will get it done. We will check back at 1PM tomorrow to see if they're done... if not it would mean we'd have to stay in Rwanda a few extra days next week. In the afternoon we all took much needed naps. Tonight we drove outside the city of Kigali to the country side. We also saw the area where two of the children (Keira being one of them) was found. Tonight we had another great dinner which lasted 2 1/2 hours. We're all learning a new level of patience and to enjoy the experience and not be rushed. :) Tomorrow we will go to the U.S. Embassy and file our Petition to bring an Orphan home and also pick-up our passports.

Day 3: Oprhanage, The Ministry & Memorial

Today was an amazing day in many regards.  Most importantly we picked-up our little girls this morning for the final time.  We will no longer have to take them back in the evening to the orphanage which has been a very difficult process for all the parents and the kids. 

After picking-up the kids we went the Rwanda Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to pick-up the Travel Letters required for us to travel out of the country with our kids.  Here is a picture with the lady named Veronique (sp?) that does all the processing of our adoption  paper work here in Rwanda.  We also stopped by the Immigration Office to get passport applications for the girls which we will turn in tomorrow morning.

We ate at a restaurant called Africa Bites that had a lot of traditional African food.  It was outstanding (even though my Mom was very hesitant at first, she even ate some food!)  This afternoon my Mom and Sister watched the girls while they took naps.  Courtney and I, along with the Higgins, went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial.  This was an amazing, emotional experience.  My heart for this country continues to grow every day.  I am so thankful that we chose to follow God's lead and adopt from Rwanda, and that was confirmed today in a major way.  I'm still processing much of what I saw and experienced at the Memorial and all I'm learning about the genocide in 1994 and the events that led up to it.

  Tonight we gave the girls a bath (see video below), ate dinner at this coffee place and got the girls ready for bed. (we also had  a bad diaper experience... actually two of them... let's just saw neither of our beds have comforters any more.)  The girls are now sleeping.  They started about 18 inches apart but are now nearly sleeping in each others arms.  It's super cute.

The Last Two Days

The last two days have been a whirlwind.  Thought we'd try to give you brief summary of what we've done and experienced. 

Yesterday we arrived to Rwanda about 1 in the afternoon.  Our flight form DC was delayed and we almost missed our flight, but thankfully the flight from Ethiopia was also delayed so we barely made it.  When we arrived we did find out that our stroller didn't make the journey with us, and the Higgins also lost a suitcase (neither of which we have recovered yet.)

Nyanja, the America World liaison and our host while in Rwanda, met us at the airport.  She is extremely nice and helpful.  She has a huge heart for orphans and amazing life story of her time in Rwanda during the genocide, living in the US, and how God has intervened and led her through it all. 

We then checked in at the hotel, unloaded our luggage, rested for about 45 minutes and then went to the orphanage where we met our children for the first time!  You can watch the video here so I won't say much about that experience other then it was amazing.  Just like with our son Noah who we adopted from Ethiopia, it's on of those life changing moments that you will never forget.

After staying at the orphanage for a few hours we came back to the hotel, had dinner here and a relaxing evening so we could get to bed early.  Much like the rest of my experiences in Africa, meals usually take a really long time.  Everything in Africa seems to move slower, as they don't have the same sense of urgency and time-oriented thinking as we do in the US.  They are more concerned about the experience and relationships then quickly accomplishing a task.  For Americans this can be frustrating at times, but it's something that I've come to appreciate and something you should just expect if you travel over here.

Today, after breakfast at the hotel (which was good) we went to the orphanage and got the girls.  They spent the whole day with us!  They just had finished eating when we got there and were getting tired (they usually nap from 11AM - 3PM each day!) so we took naps (actually Maya never did, Keira slept like a champ... I think she takes after her big brother Noah.) 

Then we went to lunch at this pizza place and souvenir shopping.  I'm convinced that all African souvenirs are mostly the same... most of what we saw today were the same type of items we saw in both Uganda and Ethiopia on past trips :)  After lunch we went back to the orphanage where we returned the girls.  We ended the day with dinner at this really good Chinese place called Flamingos

Tomorrow I'll write more about the girls and their personalities.  Tomorrow is also the day they will permanently come with us!  Some things to pray for:

• Our bonding with the girls
• Keira to adjust to her new environment.  Maya made a lot of progress today.  Keira is still very quiet and reserved, not interacting very much. 
• Sleep - for Mom and Dad, and the girls in their new environment
• Paper Work - over the next two days we have to get passports and travel letters.  The process should go smoothly but it's Rwanda so you never know what could happen.
• Keira - she seems to have a cold.  Pray for healing.

Video of Meeting The Girls For The First Time

Pictures of Each Family After Meeting Their Children!

Here are pictures of each family traveling with us and their new little ones.  Introducing...

Kara & Ryan Higgins and their two little ones Etienne and Ezekiel.

Justin & Heidi Limmer and their little guy Moses.

 

My sister Shelley and Mom Sharon with our little ones Maya and Keira.

Us with Maya and Keira.

Pictures: The Girl's Room

While we are flying over the ocean we thought we'd share some pictures of the room Courtney has been working hard to prepare for Maya and Keira.  Thanks to Courtney's Mom for helping paint and to everyone that helped with contributing furniture.  It all went together perfectly!

 

Where We Will Stay in Africa

Thought some of you might be interested in our accommodations while in Africa.  After checking out their websites I must say I'm excited.  These places look nice.

Rwanda - Hotel Chez Lando

Ethiopia - Yebsabi Guest House

Adoption Travel Flight Itinerary

The best place to view our itinerary and check flight status is here on TripIt.  For some reason if you can't view it I've also copied it below. 

A huge thanks goes out to our friends Ross and Brittney for taking us to the airport at 4:30AM Sunday morning!  If anyone wants to meet us at the airport when we return we'll be arriving at 1:49PM Friday, September 18th!

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Flight There:  Indianapolis --> Rwanda

Lv: Indianapolis        6:00AM    Sept 6  
Flight: United 7608
Ar: Washington DC   7:33AM    Sept 6

Lv: Washington DC   10:05AM   Sept 6 
Flight: Ethiopian Airlines 503
Ar:  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia    8:20AM   Sept 7 
(yeah that's right, 20 hours, includes a stop in Italy to refuel but we don't get off the plane)

Lv: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  10:30AM   Sept 7 
Flight:  Ethiopian Airlines 807
Ar: Kigali, Rwanda             11:55AM   Sept 7

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Mid-trip Transition:  Rwanda --> Ethiopia

Lv: Kigali, Rwanda            4:15PM   Sept 13
Flight: Ethiopia Airlines 806
Ar: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 7:45PM   Sept 13

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Return Home: Ethiopia --> Indianapolis

Lv: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  10:15PM  Sept 17
Flight:  Ethiopian Airlines 500
Ar: Washington DC             7:55AM   Sept 18

Lv: Washington DC            12:10PM  Sept 18 
Flight: United 7696
Ar: Indianapolis                   1:49PM   Sept 18

iPhone & Computer Tools We'll Use From Africa

One of the highlights from our last adoption from Ethiopia was the interaction with everyone back at home.  This time we hope to do even a better job of providing updates and sending pictures/video back to allow others to share in the journey with us (this assumes we have internet connections which we've been told we will in both Rwanda and Ethiopia.)  Thought I'd share some of the tools we'll use to communicate with everyone back home:

TripIt - this is both a website and application for the iPhone that allows you to upload and get real time updates on your itinerary.  We'll use this to monitor flight delays, weather and our flight time line.  You can see our itinerary here. 

Skype - this is a software application (and also app for the iPhone) that allows you to make phone calls over the internet.  Calls to other Skype users are free and to landlines and cell phones are very cheap.  This is the primary way we plan to call back home as using our cell phone costs $4 per minute!

Twitter - this is how we will provide most of our updates.  We can post updates via either our laptop or text messages.  People can either follow @scotthimes on Twitter or monitor the right side of our adoption blog.  All of our twitter posts also automatically post to my Facebook page.

AudioBoo - this is a iPhone app that lets you record audio updates and post them.  It integrates with Twitter and Facebook so it will show up as a link that people can click on to listen to.  Not sure how much we'll really use this but it's something we'll play around with.  We'll need an wifi connection to upload these updates so it's a little limited.

BrightKite - another iPhone app that integrates with Twitter.  You can 'check-in' and it posts your actual location along with a picture that shows up as a link.  Also shows you interesting locations and other users in the area you are at... not sure there will be many other users in Rwanda or Ethiopia, but we'll see.  Same as AudioBoo, not sure how much it'll get used but something to play with.

Typepad Blog - you most likely are reading this post on my blog.  This is where you can view our Twitter updates (right side), see what time it is in Rwanda (top left) and hopefully we'll be able to post some more detailed updates, photos and videos.