Recommended Reading

Kevin and I are aware that, in adopting a child from Ethiopia, we are becoming a transracial family and, by extension, making everyone in our broader network of family members of a transracial family. This article by one of the caseworkers at our agency and might be an interesting read for those of you who are interested in "What It Means to Be a Transracial Family."

Other books I've been reading about raising African American kids in our culture include:
Black Baby, White Hands by Jaiya John
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla by Marguerite A. Wright

I've also been reading books on Ethiopia so that I'll have a better understanding of our child's culture and be able to relay aspects of Ethiopian culture to him or her. A few are:
Held at a Distance by Rebecca Haile
Woman Between Two Worlds by Joan Olmstead
There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene (Kevin is also reading this one and recommends it! Tiru no!*)

*Our Amharic phrase of the day is "Tiru No" - "It's good!"

Woosha!

Today's word is woosha. It means dog. Someone who recently adopted pre-school age kids from Ethiopia commented that she had not yet introduced her children to her dogs, but was bracing herself for quite a scene. In the few days since the children arrived home, everytime her small cat ran through the room the kids went wild, pointing and yelling, "Woosha! Woosha!" So who knows how they'll react to the big, actual DOG. I wish them luck!

Tesfa

Selam!

Today's word will be tesfa. It means "hope," and there are a number of philanthropical organizations withe Tesfa in their names. It is also a first name (for boys, as far as I can tell).

Basic Amharic for Adoptive Families

Tenastilign! Kevin and I are trying to learn some Amharic as we await the referral of our son or daughter. We have been listening to a CD called Simple Amharic for Adoptive Families. I also have a list of words at work and am trying to learn a new phrase each day. If you would like to learn along with me, I'll post some words on our blog, too. Other helpful resources for learning a bit of Amharic:

• http://ethiopianadoptiontravelogue.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/amharic-words.pdf
• http://www.village-ethiopia.net/about_ethiopia.htm#Communicating
• Our First Amharic Words
• http://www.amharickids.com/Toys.aspx (Scroll down to see Amharic Bean Bags)

We'll start ambitiously with three words:
Tenastilign = Hello/How are you?
Emaye = Mom
Abaye = Dad

Welcome to our Blog.

Tenastilign!

Kevin and I decided it would be nice to have a blog where our families and friends can learn along with us about the adoption process and read the latest updates in our experience. In November 2008 for National Adoption Day we presented a service at our church, Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists. It provides a brief and somewhat organized overview of our experience up to that point. You can read it at the following site:

http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/an-adoption-journey/

Thanks for joining us on this journey.

Julie (Emaye-to-be) and Kevin (Abaye-to-be)