A great way to pass some time while waiting to travel is to do some reading about the sights and activities in the Addis area and plan some things that you would like to do. Most people choose to do some shopping. You can read about bargaining here. I found a beautiful mesob that I was able to bring home. There are also museums, restaurants,... more

Thanks to the people who commented and let me know that my comment button is not actually broken! The winner of the book is Melissa (4givenagain). Will you please email me to tell me which book you would like?

~~~~~~

And now on to some recent adoption news. This has been a year of big change in international adoption. Due to slowdowns and rule changes in various countries, most notably in Russia, Guatemala, and China, there has been a tremendous increase in Ethiopian adoption.

An article at StarTelegram.com... more

Lots of parents of adopted kids get the opportunity to give a presentation at their child's elementary school to help their child's classmates get a little better acquainted with the country their child is from. This can be a great opportunity to talk about adoption if you desire, or just to share some neat things about Ethiopia.

Part 1: Show and Tell You can begin with a very brief talk about Ethiopia. Show the children where Ethiopia is on the map, and tell a little of what you know about the country. Try to balance positive and negative. For example, along with mentioning that many children in Ethiopia aren't able to go to school, you can mention the skills... more

One of the things parents are often curious about is the meaning of their Ethiopian children's names. Most Ethiopian names have beautiful meanings. Here are a few basic rules of Ethiopian names. There are no inherited surnames. People take their father's first name as a second name. Women keep their maiden name on marriage. Names ending in '-u' are often male as this is the masculine form of 'you'. Women's names often end with '-esh', the feminine form of 'you are'.

Children will often answer to two different names, however. One name will be given at birth and be used at home, and a totally different name will often be given to the child at an older age and be used at school.

Children... more

In the past, most families who have flown to Ethiopia to adopt children have been able to take custody of their children as soon as they arrive. This makes sense: in general by the time families arrive in Ethiopia, the adoptions are already complete in Ethiopian courts.

However, recently some adoptive families have reported that at least one agency is currently requiring that parents stay in the agency-sponsored guesthouse if they wish to take custody of their children immediately and keep them the whole time they are in Ethiopia.

There are rumors that the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs is concerned about the high visibility of adoptive families in Ethiopia, and... more

Here are some news highlights from Ethiopia this week. I've included a summary of each piece. You can click on the title of each story to go read the full story. As always, links are only good for a few weeks, unless you subscribe to the news service.

~~~~~~

Ethiopia: Malnutrition Still Alarming

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa) 5 November 2007

New research conducted by Save the Children found that between one-third and two-thirds of children under age five in Ethiopia suffer from chronic malnutrition. Feeding a... more

In a post awhile back about 'true orphans' and living parents, I wrote about some of the reasons that might cause a living parent to relinquish a child. There were lots of thoughtful comments on this post, but I got a particularly insightful one from an Ethiopian woman who is now living in the United States. I thought this woman's perspective was valuable enough that I wanted to share it with those of you who haven't gotten back to read the comments on this post.

She told me that there is a very strong tradition of Ethiopian parents "giving up" their children to be raised by other people.... more

There has been a lot of speculation about how adoption laws might change once the courts in Ethiopia open again after the Ethiopian New Year. There have been rumors about single women not being allowed, about families with more than 5 kids not being allowed, about requiring a two year difference in age between existing and adopted children, and about requiring no more than 43 years age difference between parent and child.

Reports are now starting to filter through the adoption e-groups about the first court cases. It seems that so far the proposed rule changes are still just proposals. Even the most likely... more

When it is finally time to book airfare, your head can be in such a whirl that the little details can be hard to remember. Here are a few reminders. First of all, if you check prices at a website like Expedia.com or other popular sites to book travel, you will probably find prices to be quite a bit higher than if you get tickets through a travel agent who specializes in travel to Africa. It is possible to get tickets in the range of $1400-$2500 for a flight from the U.S. to Ethiopia, including connecting flights. In general, airfare is highest in summer, and as far as airlines go, Ethiopian Airlines usually has the lowest prices.

One of the perks of using a travel agent who is... more

Recently I have learned more about a new airline option from the U.S. to Ethiopia. In the past I have blogged about Ethiopian, Lufthansa and British Airways. But these days some families are opting for Emirates Air.

Emirates is a really top notch airline. Families say that it is luxurious even in coach, and does a great job of accommodating babies and children.... more