Mr Messy and Drama Teen are off travelling (Tuesday 9th June)

Mr Messy and Drama Teen woke up at 5am to get ready to set off at 5.30am on their trip to where Baby comes from. Our Guest House owner has arranged for a driver affiliated with the Guest House to drive them the 12 hours to get there, and to be a translator/guide for them on arrival. After saying goodbye I managed to get a little more sleep, before Baby woke up at 7.30am. Little Prince was already awake and playing. We were once again faced with a day without electricity :-( Baby was not happy, she would not be put down and only slept for minutes at a time, and was constantly sick. Not easy to deal with on my own! And not having power for the Guest House staff to wash all the sicked on clothes! Very stressful!! I tried ringing the British Embassy in the morning and just got the engaged tone. I tried again in the afternoon and got the same. So I rang the Visa Application Centre, who explained that the Embassy can have phone/communication problems when there is no power! Great!!! They advised me to try ringing again tomorrow.

During the morning I heard the Guest House female staff all start to scream and fuss, then the manager dragged Little Prince in - he had drunk detergent!! We gave him lots and lots of water and then milk to drink and he seemed to have no ill effects - I was a nervous wreck!! His behaviour has been deteriorating that much that I decided that he was not allowed out of my sight!! Which made it a looooong day and a looooooong few days looming ahead!!!

At 4pm I got a text from Mr Messy and Drama Teen to say they had arrived and were safely checked into their hotel. Their twin room was 160birr per night including breakfast (less than £10!!!). Their room was a ok but a bit shabby, and overlooking the noisy market. I hope they get some sleep!! Mr Messy said that the poverty they saw on the drive was indescribable and very hard to take in. The scenery however was fantastic. Drama Teen slept most of the way there, so didn't see the worst of the poverty, which we think she would have found very distressing. Drama Teen says where they are is like Ankh-Morpork without the pollution lol.

During the evening one of the other UK adopters currently in Addis rang. One of their children has been ill, but is improving. They have been at the hospital again and got more medication. We arrange to meet tomorrow or Thursday for a drink and cake at Kaldi's. They didn't manage to get their children's Ethiopian birth certificates today :-(

During the late afternoon Little Prince played with K, an American here to adopt with his wife, Little Prince then talked K's socks off for the rest of the evening!!! Talking to the staff in the evening S remembers Baby Sister and said she liked her :-) A says she likes Little Prince and wants a photo with him :-) Little Prince had a HUGE meltdown when dinner was served, as he'd asked for a cheese sandwich and was served fries!! I felt it was too late to do much about it, so I tried to persuade him to eat the fries, not a chance!! Luckily his new friend K gave him a powerbar which calmed him down. And then S brought in a cheese sandwich for him, which calmed him down again. He went to bed nicely, although a little upset that his new friends K & K were leaving very early in the morning to go travelling for a few days before their child arrives. Baby didn't settle down well at all and cried a lot, and needed hugging to sleep.

Got more texts from Mr Messy who said he, Drama Teen and Driver ate out, Mr Messy's steak and chips cost 20birr and the whole meal including drinks cost 73birr!!