(Part one here)

That first leg of the journey to London went really well. Both girls spent large portions of the time sleeping--hooray. My 13-year-old and I dozed a bit too. We didn’t even have to get out very many of the new toys I’d saved just for the way home. All in all, that first leg could not have gone much better.

Once in London, our layover was much shorter than last time-- only about 3 hours. We bought chocolate and odd gummy bears covered in powdered sugar, I dashed off a very short email to John on a computer I paid by the minute for, and we did laps with Tsion. We rode down to one... more

Here is the story I wrote after arriving home from Ethiopia in June of 2005. On that trip I had my 13 year old son and my 3 year old Tsion with me to pick up 6 month old Bizunesh.

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The walk to the Addis terminal from the parking lot is up a hill that feels big when you’re pushing something heavy, but my 13-year-old muscled our cart full of luggage manfully up. Just inside the entrance we had to unstack and send it all through security, including taking Tsion out of the stroller and sending the stroller through too.

The after- security load... more

My light posting lately has been partly due to my laptop. Some glitch in the software has forced me to do a destructive rebuild — twice — in the last day. Destructive, meaning…I had to erase EVERYTHING. Thankfully I keep the bulk of my files on my big ‘puter. But still... inconvenient... irritating... grr...

Anyway, this weekend I thought I'd share my daughters' homecoming stories. This first one was from my first Ethiopian daughter who came home at the age of twenty months in 2004. On that trip I also had my then-thirteen year old daughter with me. We flew Lufthansa and had a good experience... more

Here are some news highlights from Ethiopia this week. As always, links are only good for a few weeks, unless you subscribe to the news service.

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Ethiopia: Airline Taking Measures to Meet High Market Demand

The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa) February 7, 2007

The Ethiopian AirLines (EAL) said it has been taking various measures to meet the high market demand in air transport sector at the international level.

Chief Operation Officer Tewolde Gebre-Mariam told ENA yesterday that Ethiopian has been undertaking activities... more

I was thrilled today to get a report from Shana about the hotel where she and her husband stayed while they were in Ethiopia in January to pick up their baby. The hotel is called The Damu, and is located on Bole Road not far from the airport. It opened less than a year ago. Along with a great travel story currently being written on the installment plan, Shana wrote me this excellent and very helpful review of the hotel:

We rented a "superior" room, which I think just means it had one king bed versus two twins. I really can't say enough good things about the hotel. It is much... more

I'm standing just outside security at the airport, eyes trained on the passengers coming from the concourse. Always before, I've been the one walking off the plane, eagerly bringing a new baby home to meet the rest of the family. This time it is my turn to do the waiting, camera ready to document the homecoming of a friend and her new baby boy.

I love airports. There are a thousand reasons people take a plane on any given day. But for me, airports have almost always meant a baby. I scan the exiting passengers. Men in camouflouge freshly home from Iraq walk alongside wives who were allowed to greet them at the gate. Businessmen with briefcases stride briskly through the crowd... more

I've written before about the extreme poverty of the people in Ethiopia, and how difficult it is to see little children begging everywhere. I found the experience of being surrounded by beggars overwhelming at times, and at times refused to give out money for fear of being mobbed. But looking back, I can think of some of the specific people I saw, and wish I had done more. This evening I happened upon this... more

The latest Blogger from Ethiopia is Shana at the White Family News is currently in Ethiopia getting her son. Her mom has posted a couple emails this week talking about her week there in Ethiopia. They are heading home today. Here's wishing her safe and happy homecomings....

One of the things that I regret about my time in Ethiopia is that I did not know much Amharic. I learned how to say 'thank you', and 'OK', and 'what's your name?' - and that's about it. I've seen a few lists here and there, and even shared some phrases with you. But I was delighted by the thoroughness of today's post on the Ethiopian Adoption Travelogue. It contains LOTS of Amharic phrases complete with pronunciation. Print it... more

Here are some news highlights from Ethiopia this week. As always, links are only good for a few weeks, unless you subscribe to the news service.

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Ethiopia: Trade Ministry to Decide On Ghion's Fate Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa) January 16, 2007

Minister of Trade and Industry, Girma Birru, is expected to decide on the fate of Addis Abeba's Ghion Hotel; a chain of 11 hotels built by Emperor Haile Sellase 57 years ago to host African leaders at the Organization of African Union (OAU) summits.

Ethiopian Airlines has shown a strong... more