The day we met

Getting on that plane was incredibly difficult.  Saying goodbye to my kids just about ripped my heart out.  The first night we were gone Alice said, "I don't miss them...I wonder why my eyes are watering so much..."  They were trying to be brave.  27 hours after saying goodbye, we landed in Uganda.  It was hard to believe the trip we had dreamt about was finally here.  Francis, our driver, and who also happens to be the nicest man I've ever met, was waiting for us.  My stress started melting away in the warmth of his smile.  He talked to us about what they think of Obama "he's not black at heart", and Hollywood, "your cops are really tough on people" and we peppered him with questions about his country.  We found our way to our guest house and struggled with our mosquito net for awhile but finally fell sound asleep for the night.

Today we woke up with excitement, anticipation and a lot of anxiety.  We met two other families staying here who are adopting and completing there 6th week here...yikes.  We ate omelets and drank Fanta for breakfast and then went with Francis to get internet capability, SIM cards and cell phones.  The ATM ate our card because I couldn't figure out the exchange rate in time...it's not an easy one to do!  Then, it was time.  We drove to Nsambya Babies Home.  I couldn't believe it was actually time.

They showed us to the room where they were eating lunch.  There were two tables of children eating sweet potatoes and beef for lunch. They were eating with their hands but they were possibly eating with less mess than my own children.  Justine, the social worker there, told him this morning that today his Mommy and Daddy were coming to see him.  When we walked in all the kids shouted hi and we sat down and watched.  Then, we saw him.  His big brown eyes stayed on us much longer than everyone else's.  James was sitting right behind him and he kept turning around, grinning and touching his knee.  We could tell he knew who we were.  James asked if he could do a high five and he grinned and gave him a mighty high five with major gusto!  You could tell he took great pride in the quality of his high fives.  Then, they gave each other knuckles and he went back to eating.  All the while, he kept sneaking peaks at James.

After lunch, it is normally nap time, but we took Kirabo (pronounced Cheerabo) out to the lawn and played soccer with him.  Man, he can really boot the ball!  We gave him a stuffed monkey we bought for him, the first thing he can call his own.  He cuddled that thing the whole time and wouldn't let it go.  He jumped on the trampoline and sang us a song and showed us how he swings on the swing. He giggled and laughed and we giggled and laughed harder.  Then we took him with us to meet with Justine in her office to ask her questions about his life there.  He cuddled on our laps (we kept stealing him away from each other unable to get enough of him)as we talked with her about his hard life these past years.  We learned how far he has come and how much happier he is now and how resilient his heart can be.  

His first toy

First hugs

lonely eyes

Showing us his sign language..."eat"

Then, the hard part came.  Justine told him in Lugandan we needed to leave for the day but would be back tomorrow.  His smile immediately faded and he cuddled in close to me.  I had finally got rid of the anxiety pit in my stomach and now I had it back.  Only this time it was because I already felt a loss in saying goodbye.  How could that be?!  We kept giving him tight hugs and cuddles and promising to be back the next day.  He left and put himself to bed and we blew him kisses good night.  

He didn't want to say goodbye...neither did we.

Joseph is the boy on the top bunk

After that, we ate a Ugandan lunch of beef stew and rice, potatoes and plantains and of course-Fanta.  We finished our errands, skyped with our kids at home (7:00am their time), met with our private investigator and came back to our guest house for dinner. 

All in all, we had a wonderful first day in Uganda.  The weather is beautiful, the people are so friendly and we met our little boy with eyes that are both bright and twinkling and then sad and lonely.  We can't wait to give him more love tomorrow!  

Justine, Sister Ana, Betty, ?

The younger kids napping

The two children that came with Kirabo to the orphange