Day 3

As I woke up on this morning I felt very excited knowing this was the day that hopefully everything would be approved by the US Embassy. Meaning Eden would be awarded her Visa and Passport so she could come home with us. I of course spent time with her in the morning holding her and falling more in love with her. Everyday I felt more drawn to her and found myself becoming more comfortable with her. She smiled pretty easily and just seemed like a very content little girl. She was definitely bored with the toys I had brought by this point. I had packed quite a few toys/books but some little guy that lived in our house succeeded in unpacking most of the toys in the suitcase. He is sneaky like that. Eden was noticeably better by Thursday. The first two days I had spent with her she had fever and was incredibly congested. I had spoken with her pediatrician and she assured my she would be okay but of course I was still nervous. Seeing that the fever had broken was a calming factor to me on this otherwise nerve wracking day.

In the afternoon we arrived at the Embassy and met up with the lawyer. By now I was feeling kind of lonely and was just longing to talk to someone without broken English. You know, me being a talker and all. We went through security and were ushered in to a room to wait for our names to be called. What a wonderful surprise upon entering the room - there were multiple American couples also waiting!! This was a win win situation for me. Eden was going to be granted her passport/visa and I could communicate to my hearts content!! I met some really amazing families that afternoon. One of my favorite things about the trip was meeting other adoptive families and hearing their stories. I left the Embassy that afternoon feeling full again. My interview was incredibly easy. Only two questions. And the bonus was I connected with other people. Adding to the ease of the interview was that Eden did exceptionally well. I changed my first poopy diaper at the Embassy and was a little unprepared for the lack of "stuff" upon opening her diaper. After three boys well........you get the point. When we arrived back at the orphanage I was congratulated many times by anyone who knew we had just returned from the Embassy. It was another surreal moment and one step closer to being allowed to come home with our little girl.

Now, I must tell you about the food I was eating while there. It was out of this world good!! My cook studied for two years in Germany and obviously knew what he was doing. Every morning I had a big glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, toast and eggs. At lunch I had a huge salad, my main course that often looked like the picture above and some kind of fresh fruit (papaya, mango, pineapple,banana). For dinner it was soup, bread, a main course and fresh fruit again. I was completely stuffed after every meal. And of course if you didn't come close to eating all of it they were concerned that you didn't like everything. I had told them on the second day that I am not a big meat eater. I am okay eating meat sometimes but I sure do not need it everyday. So what did they do? Made meat everyday at both lunch and dinner. I could not wait for Mark to get there!!! It was a nice break from cooking everyday and everything was well balanced and utterly scrumptious.

This is what my salad looked like everyday. Very, very yummy!!

And this.....well....I have this phobia about driving behind logging trucks, trucks hauling construction equipment or supplies, etc. Lets just say this truck ranked right up there with all my other phobias!! I was not happy driving behind this truck. This truck turned on the street we needed to go on and I was feeling a little bit of anxiety knowing we would be following it up an incline. Apparently my driver thought the truck was moving too slowly - so he honked (warning any pedestrians who were walking) and just whipped out around the truck to pass him. At least we were no longer behind the truck but the fright I received while passing the truck was not too much better. By the end of my trip I was wishing I could try driving amongst the mayhem. But alas, that was not possible. Although my one driver said he got his license on the black market. He was probably just kidding but it gives me hope in case I ever return.