Karen's Ethiopian Journal cont.

March 28th 3am Monday Court Day Yesterday was a good day. We did not get much sleep at all Saturday night. Tariku slept for 5 hours, then was up pretty much the rest of the night. He may have had a few 30 min. - 1hour naps the rest of the night and all day Sunday. Once Aaron got up around 730am, I went straight to the other room to sleep. I was so out of it at 9am when Aaron came and woke me and said they wanted us to eat breakfast. I felt awful. So we all went upstairs and had donuts and French toast, hot tea, and skipped the fruit, fearing it has been washed in tap water. We stayed in our bedroom almost all afternoon and morning. After we ate lunch, we all laid down. Tariku finally took about a 1 1/2 hour nap. I had him and Natalie in the small bedroom, while Aaron had the other 3 kids. When Tariku woke up, Aaron took him in with him and I was able to take a 4 hour nap. Felt so nice. We then moved our clan to the living space and fixed supper. Pepperoni and crackers back from home. Leftover potato soup from last night and other snacks. Breakfast is provided here, you have to order lunch or supper- which we haven't done. I brought a ton of food. Will probably take 1/2 of it home with us. Better too much than not enough. I was told by Sue before we came that the babies don't go to court. But when I talked to Dereje, he told us to be ready at 9am and I asked about what the babies would do and I guess we weren't understanding each other. Maybe he'll watch them in the car. Who knows. I so hope we pass. I don't mind so much of our MOWA letter isn't there, and it is late. I more fear the birth mothers changing their minds. We changed our sleeping arrangements last night. I hope Aaron got to sleep. he and Natalie are in the small bedroom with Abenezer. Since he wakes up once and just wants another bottle, he is easy to take care of. Madelyn slept on a few thick blankets on the floor and Hannah slept with me. Tariku is using the bouncy chair since there isn't another crib. I used ear plugs and the eye mask from the plane. I can hear the baby crying through the earplugs, but I can sleep through the constant dogs fighting, babies crying in the close apartments and the Muslim call to prayer which starts about 5am. I went ahead and gave Madelyn her bath this morning. I took a bath and will wash my hair later and it is the middle of the night here. That will save us time this morning getting ready for court. I wash the girls hair and body myself and they are not allowed to talk at all during the bath. I also hold the water bottles while they brush their teeth so they don't accidentally use the sink. I have the faucet covered with a folded paper plate. Tariku went to sleep around 10pm. last night and slept until 3am. Yes! Best nights sleep yet. We all got up at 3 (that is Hannah, Madelyn, and me) Madelyn fed Tariku his bottle after I changed his diaper. He laid on the blanket and fell asleep watching Hannah color while Madelyn and I bathed. Back to the bouncy chair and when I am done writing this, I think we will all try to sleep again while Tariku sleeps. It is so pretty here. The town is at 8000 feet and the surrounding mountains at 15000 ft. But the mountains look smaller than the Smokies because we are so high up in the town. The tops of the mountains are bare and brown with a few trees here and there. The weather is perfect. Highs in the mid 70s, sunny, breezy. I hope I can come back and get the boys before rainy season. I can't imagine trying to go down these dirt, pothole, back roads in the mud. Their idea of good roads and our ideas differ. They said the road to Tariku's orphanage was good and asphalt. Yet, it takes 4 hours to drive 120 miles. Hmm. While in the living room last night, the TV was on . I think it was a music video station. Well, Abenezer was dancing away. Not just bouncing like most babies. He had hand movements and everything.