My Family, My Journey: Amharic

Showing posts with label Amharic. Show all posts

Friday, September 18, 2009

No News Yet...

Thought you might like a real post with actual words so here are a few random thoughts on this lovely, but rather chilly, Friday...

We're getting quite good at this waiting business, and it's a good thing because even after we get the sought after call, there will be more waiting for a court date, and then more waiting to pass court, and then more waiting to travel. But there will also be lots of retail therapy during that stage of the wait! Seriously, we're hanging in there, and if anything was ever worth the wait, this is it!

Some of you have been wondering how we are learning Amharic so I thought I would share a few links. First there is Simple Amharic for Adoptive Families. Great CD and little book with practical, every day phrases that you might want to know if you are adopting toddlers or older. I will warn you, pronunciation is a bear and all those years of Latin and Spanish that I took aren't helping one iota, but the more I listen to the CD, the more it sinks in, and it helps to focus in on a few key phrases a week. This CD will never make me a fluent Amharic speaker, and the dogs look at me funny every time I say enhay ehnahtekh negn (I am your Mommy), but I am having fun.

The other CD I have is Talk Now! Beginner Amharic, which is OK. Good for building your vocabulary with every day words. If you were only going to get one I would recommend the Simple Amharic for Adoptive Families.

Lastly, in case you were wondering if all this waiting has made me loose my sense of humor, I share with you a picture of the freaky toe and its cousin, freaky claw!

I know, ew! I probably just lost half my readership, but I couldn't resist! Freaky claw turned up on my plate a couple days after I wrote Random Fact #3!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Another Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Friday, April 24, 2009

My Top 10 List

I have learned a lot over the past several months by reading other people’s blogs. I wrote about this in my very first blog entry, but I will say it again…I can’t imagine how difficult this wait would be without the virtual support group I have found by way of the Internet! I especially love it when I find a nugget of information on someone’s blog that helps me with my own journey, so I have decided to compile a list of My Top 10 Favorite Things To Do While I Wait, in hopes that there is a nugget in there for someone else (and because there is really only so much one can say about "the wait"!).

1. Learn how to cook Ethiopian dishes in case little ones have a hankering for something spicier than the local fare. Some good recipes, including two recipes for making your own berbere, can be found here.

2. Learn how to say key phrases in Amharic in case little ones aren’t so little and are already speaking or comprehending in language unknown to Mom and Dad!

3. DVR Adoption Stories on the Discovery Health Channel and watch back to back episodes uninterrupted by commercial breaks…cry cathartic tears…think about adopting more children before regaining senses (temporarily? we'll see...).

4. Remodel, reorganize, consolidate and purge! Our remodel is coming along slowly but surely. Lately we have been hindered by the nice weather that beckons us outside instead of finishing the project, but we will finish…soon!

5. Gather pictures and write the story of our family, home, dogs, etc. to be sent to the children once we know who they are. Thinking of having book printed or Snapfish or purchasing “Who Loves Baby” book at Toys R Us or creating my own book and having the pages printed, laminated and bound at FedexKinkos. Leaning toward the latter option.

6. Stalk the FBI list, the Gladney Africa Yahoo Group and several blogs. Referrals seem to have slowed down lately, but on the plus side people seem to be sailing through court appointments. Hoping we get a flurry of referrals next week to balance out the last few weeks!

7. Enjoy our last months as a childless couple by taking advantage of our freedom as much as possible. This is not always easy on a tight, save-for-the-adoption, lousy recession budget. The discounts at this site have helped some.

8. Live vicariously through other adoption friends. We are overjoyed for our friends who passed court yesterday on their very first try! They travel to get their daughter in two weeks!!! Wait till you see this kid...she is beautiful!!!!

9. Complile lists of things that we might need to pack when it is our turn to travel. Here are a couple links to other blogs with helpful information on this topic.

Grace's Comprehensive Packing Guide

How to Pack for Baby

How To Really Pack a Suitcase

10. Wonder about the children. Will they be boys, girls or one of each? How old will they be? What will they look like? What are their names? What will they like to eat? Will they like the songs I plan to sing for them? Will they like their room, their toys, the dogs? Will they like bath time, the beach, listening to stories? Will they like to cuddle? And on and on it goes… (OK, I know this one is a given, but it was harder to come up with ten things than I originally thought!)

I hope this helps some of you on the path to your own little ones! To quote this person on one of my favorite blogs, we are all in this together :-)

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.