Ato Teklu (the director from the agency) is coming to get us shortly for the airport. We took the morning to pack, repack, and double check everything again. I still can't believe the stuff I've lost on this trip... a pair of cheap flip flops, and my favorite comb...weird? I can't think of where I would have put this sort of thing. Perhaps Melat "helped." with the packing. Either way, no major losses. (Rob, I was able to recover your north face backpack.) The only thing that was problematic was the mobile phone that was stolen--which cost me $100 to replace, but seriously, that's all the pickpocket took--not money, not passports, nothing else.

Tomorrow is Meskel (The Cross Finding Day) and the city is full of sheep again, so everything's running at half speed.

We're ready to go to America--even Melat is ready, she pulled out her favorite dress to wear (even though she fell down the mud-covered steps and had to change into something else). The guesthouse is going to be empty for a little while. They've got volunteers coming soon,
but right now, the adoption courts reopen on Monday, so there will be a lag of a couple of months before families start arriving.

They had a coffee ceremony for us early this morning, and they were so sweet. Tigist has been running around taking photos all day so she doesn't forget anything. She packed some incense that Tigist gave her. I think it looks like crack rocks, so I hope we don't have any trouble
with customs.... (Incense is a very important part of the coffee ceremony). We discovered that her coffee pot that she purchased was cracked, so ran out and got another. I looked again for Amharic children's music, but no luck--it's OK, I've got a nice CD of traditional music that Melat likes a lot (she knows the dances).

Melat wants me to carry her everywhere now. It's too bad this didn't happen earlier--when she was lighter. I'd argue she's doubled her weight since we got her. She completely fills size 3T clothes now (they were hanging on her before). Her little belly sticks out of her
pajamas--and they too are 3T.

She's been all snugly on me at night, it's very sweet---except that she seems to have very sharp corners and I always have an elbow in my neck or an ankle in my ribs. I don't mind though, it sure beats labor.

We weren't able to locate her mom, which makes me sad, but perhaps we can have some kind of correspondence later--I'll send photos of Melat at home, so she can feel reassured.
Well, I should close for now in case she needs a familiar movie to fall asleep to on the airplane.

We'll all see you soon!

Jess