Ethiopia trip, day 2

Sunday, January 30

We made it!! Hooray! I am sitting in our room at the guest house, looking out the window at a beautiful country. The weather is gorgeous, sunny but not too hot, and such a nice change from the bitter cold. We arrived about 7 this morning, and got our visas, exchanged some money and began the search for our luggage. The search that is unfortunately on-going. Our bags are 0 for 4, thankfully we each had a carry-on, and Aaron has all his stuff in his, but I just have one extra outfit. That has honestly been pretty hard for me, not having what I need. So ridiculous to care so much about stuff, but when everything else is so unfamiliar, it's just nice to have what makes you comfortable.
We were able to rest quite a bit today and walked around a bit. We also searched and searched for cheap shoes for me. All I have are tall gray boots that were perfect for the plane and walking around London, but not so much for Ethiopia. Two things I have learned: I apparently have big feet, and shoes are expensive! We finally found some after looking for quite a while and going to several different places.
The guest house is great. And everyone who works here is super nice and accommodating. We have eaten all of our meals here so far and the food has been really good and reasonable. Tonight we shared dinner with another adoptive mom from a different agency who is here for her embassy appointment. She has had quite the adventure so far, and has really gone through a lot. Her husband had to return to the states because things were just taking so long, and she still doesn't have an exact date of when she will be returning home and has been here 2 weeks today. It made me think a lot about spiritual warfare, and how there is truly a battle going on here. There are so many kids who need families, and it just seems like Satan is working really hard against that. It also makes me pray, pray, pray. That is truly our greatest weapon and tool, and I don't want to take anything for granted in terms of this trip, and our adoption.
Hope is also 6 months today! It's hard to believe we will actually get to see her tomorrow, and I am so anxious to be with her. They have pretty strict rules about these visits, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but I know we will get to see her and hopefully hold her.