Hello, jet lag. The girls were first awake at 1:30am. I managed to get them to go back to sleep until 3:30, when the rooster started crowing next door. They snuck out int the living room to whisper at each other. I can’t fault them… They are only seven, and they made their own breakfast and whispered for an hour and a half. But by five o’clock, they were singing and jumping on the sofa. So my day started at 5 am. By the time daddy was up… It’s his birthday! So he got to sleep in! We had their journal entries done for the day, they were showered and dressed, had swept the whole courtyard, and had packed up their bags for travel.
As soon as the guest house staff were up, the girls ran out to play soccer. Bless our hotel manager… He kicked our soccer ball around with the girls, in his pyjamas, out in the lane, for a good half hour , just to help them wear off some energy.
So the girls were up very early, and by the time we hit the road for Nakemt, they were halfway through their day.
We made one stop along the way, at the hotel where we lived for two months those years ago. Sure enough, the guard (sweetest man ever,) recognized the girls immediately. He still has pictures of them that we have sent him over the years. It was pretty sweet that we got another picture, and I promised to send it to him for his collection.
Then west, on the road to Nakemte. Thank goodness the road is better than the last time we drove out here… The whole trip took only 6 hours. My fathers GPS told us that we averaged 48km/hour..I can only imagine what the average would have been when it took 9 hours last time.
But it’s still a long, long trip.
I’ve driven the road out to Ambo many times, and out to Nakemt once before. But we’ve never traveled in harvest season before. It was pretty neat to see the farmers cutting the crops with handheld knifes, stopping the grain with cattle to thresh it, and then sorting it by hand on straw mats. The birthday boy, who also has a degree in Agriculture and grew up farmi, found it fascinating.
Tomorrow, we go to see the girls’ family… It’s a huge day for them. We have an open adoption, and exchange information with their family, but this is the first time they will see anyone for four or more years. So it’s a big deal.
Crossing our fingers for good visits tomorrow!
