Ethiopia - Day 4, orphanages

Deacon slept much better the 2nd night. We fed him more during the day, and wore him out keeping him busy. He only woke up once at around 4 am to be fed. It turns out the Gladney home had already been feeding Deacon some rice cereal. But all we brought was formula, so his stomach probably feels a little emptier than usual.

Today was mostly spent visiting 3 different orphanages in Addis Ababa. According to Ryan there are 18 U.S. adoption agencies working in Ethiopia, and 40 total [including other countries]. There were a lot of kids at the first orphanage, and one of the Gladney families was picking up there son there today. He was about 7 years old, and was excited about joining a family in the U.S. All the kids went crazy when the digital cameras came out.

The second one we visited was where Silas Bottomly lived for a short time. There were fewer kids at this one. They were all very well behaved and enjoyed having us as visitors.

After lunch we went to the orphanage where Deacon stayed from about 1 month to 6 months of age. There were a lot of kids at this one, and some older kids as well. Deacon was quite the ladies man when he was there, and all of them remembered him. One young lady picked him up and carried him around the whole time we were there.

For dinner we ate at a neat art gallery called "Kamush." By far, the highlight of the day occured there. Margo had dressed Deacon in a shirt that said "Automatic Sprinkler." That shirt came true at dinner. Margo was changing him at the table before the food came [which is cool in Ethiopia], and sure enough, he sprung a leak on her leg. It's her own fault for putting him in that shirt.