Saturday...March 10th!!!

It was Saturday morning. The sun was shining brightly on our faces outside. We were waiting to go to the care center to see Ariyat & then our driver pulled up with another IAN family!! The Matlock family was here to bring home their two precious little ones!! We waited while they put their things in their room & then we all headed to see our kiddos!! Once we were there, we played with all of the kids...by now, they all knew how much we loved jump-roping!! We played for a few hours & then Ariyat came with us again for a few hours back to our hotel:) The kids absolutely loved every minute spent with her. Their connection was undeniable. Even though language was an obvious barrier, love is all the same. They spoke one anothers language perfectly. They knew how to make each other laugh until they were rolling on the floor. They knew how to comfort her. they loved holding hands together. Here they were...only a few days after we had all met...and you would think we had always been together. This morning we woke to a few pic's from a traveling mom....she had given Ariyat a few pics we had sent her of all of us together while we were there...she said Ariyat was so happy!! Kate was so pleased to see that Ariyat is still wearing her sister necklace:) After she spent the afternoon with us, I stayed back at the hotel to get some rest...I was feeling quite miserable on this day...and Kasey took the kids with him back to the care center. They had quite the story once they were back!! On the way to the care center, apparently Kasey & our friend/driver Binyam were talking about crime in Addis...Binyam said it's not very common, maybe pick-pocketing here & there, but nothing too serious. Right then, they looked out the window...a man that had a market type shop on the side of the road was hit from behind with a very large rock, right to his head. He fell to the ground & then everyone chased the man down who had done this. I guess, after seeing this happen..the kids were completely shocked & so was Binyam. He said all they would do was chase after him, punch him a few times & that was that. They try not to get the police involved, because he said he'd probably be in prison for 3 years or so!! Anyhow, had to include that in this post....it was a moment that the kids definitely remember. That evening we went to a really neat restaurant..."Top View" overlooking the city...with our friend Sam!! We had met Sam last time we were in Addis. She was the receptionist at the Yebsabi Guest House, where we had stayed. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her & look forward to seeing her again. We all slept well that night, ready for Sunday!!!